John Fothergill (1712 - 1780)

Born 8 Mar 1712 in Bainbridge, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Died 26 Dec 1780 at age 68 in London, England

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Biography

Origins and Early Life

John was the son of John Fothergill and Margaret Hough. He was born on 8 Mar 1711/2 (1712 in our reckoning) at Carr End near Bainbridge, Wensleydale, Yorkshire^[1][2][3]

John was educated at Sedbergh School, then in Yorkshire.^[1][4] He then became an apprentice of Benjamin Bartlett, a Quaker apothecary and botanist who was based in Bradford, Yorkshire and who was also a Quaker minister.^[1][4] Benjamin Bartlett released him from the apprenticeship^[1] and he went on to study medicine at Edinburgh, graduating in 1736, and then moved to London where he continued his medical studies at St Thomas's Hospital.^[1][4]

Physician

In 1744 John became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, London.^[4] He established a medical practice in London, where his patients included some of the most prominent people of the time, such as Robert Clive (Clive of India), Benjamin Franklin, John Wesley and members of the Penn family.^[4] But he also treated the poor without charging a fee.^[1] He became a fellow of the College of Physicians, Edinburgh in 1754.^[4]

Among John's medical writings were:

• Account of the Sore Throat attended with Ulcers (1748), which gave an account of scared fever and also include an early description of diphtheria^[4]
• Of a Painful Affection of the Face, an account of trigeminal neuralgia, which was sometimes known as "Fothergill's disease" - originally presented as a paper to the Medical Society, London in 1773^[4]
• Remarks on that complaint commonly known under the name sick headach (1784), dealing with migraine

Scientific Interests

John set up an extensive botanical garden at Upton, Essex. In recognition of his contribution to botany, Linnaeus named an American genus of witch hazel Fothergilla.^[1][4] Several plants are named after him.^[1] He also built up a large collection of shells and minerals: this was acquired after his death by the anatomist William Hunter.^[4]

John was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1763.^[4] He gave significant financial support to Joseph Priestley, who declared that without this he would have had to abandon his scientific work.^[1]

Other Activities

Apart from his medical and scientific interests, from 1743 John was English correspondent for the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends, and he gave political advice to Quakers in the Pennsylvania Assembly.^[1][4]

John was actively interested in American affairs. In 1760 John became a trustee of the Pennsylvania Land Company.^[1] In 1771 John helped to raise money for the foundation of New York Hospital.^[1] His having Benjamin Franklin as a patient led to the two men becoming close, and in 1775 they made unsuccessful attempts to avert the American Revolutionary War.^[1][4]

In 1764 John financed the publication of a translation of the Bible by a Quaker called Anthony Purver.^[4]

At the end of the 1770s he was instrumental in the founding of Ackworth School, a Quaker establishment, with the help of, among others, the Quaker banker David Barclay.^[1][4]

John was an advocate of the abolition of the slave trade, was involved with prison reformers, and campaigned for improvements to public hygiene.^[1]

Death and Burial

John died at Harpur St, London on 26 December 1780 and was buried at Winchmore Hill Quaker Burial Ground, Middlesex on 4 January 1781.^[1][5] It is said that some 70 carriages were in the funeral procession.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Fothergill, John', print and online 2004, revised online 2007
2. ↑ England & Wales, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Births 1578-1841, YORKSHIRE: Monthly Meetings of Richmond, Coverdale, Masham, Swaledale: Wensleydale, RG6/1403, FindMyPast and accompanying image: note that the transcript wrongly gives the year as 1711
3. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F759-WHJ : 11 December 2014), John Fothergill, 08 Mar 1712, Birth; citing p. 49, Aysgarth, Yorkshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15} J M S Pearce,. Quakers in Medicine, William Sessions, 2009, pp. 33-38
5. ↑ England & Wales, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Burials 1578-1841, LONDON AND MIDDLESEX: Monthly Meeting of Westminster: Burials, RG6/833, FindMyPast and accompanying image

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Fothergill, John', print and online 2004, revised online 2007, available online on subscription and via some libraries
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 20, pp. 66-68, [1]
• Pearce, J M S. Quakers in Medicine, William Sessions, 2009, pp. 33-38
• Wikipedia: John Fothergill (physician)
• Quakers in the world website, entry for 'John Fothergill', accessed 8 June 2020