John Fothergill (physician)
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- For other people called "John Fothergill" see John Fothergill.
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John Fothergill (March 8, 1712 – December 26, 1780), was an English physician, plant collector, philanthropist and Quaker.
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[edit] Early life
He was born of at Carr End, Misterton in Yorkshire, the son of John Fothergill (1676–1745), a Quaker preacher and farmer, and his first wife, Margaret Hough (1677–1719) [1].
After studying at Sedbergh School, he was apprenticed to an apothecary.
[edit] Medical career
He took the degree of M.D. at Edinburgh in 1736, followed by further studies at St Thomas' Hospital, London and after visiting continental Europe in 1740, settled in London, where he gained an extensive practice.
In the epidemics of influenza in 1775 and 1776 he is said to have had sixty patients daily.
His pamphlet entitled Account of the Sore Throat attended with Ulcers (1748) contains one of the first descriptions of diphtheria in English, and was translated into several languages. His rejection of ineffective traditional therapies for this disease saved many lives [1].
[edit] Other interests
In his leisure, John Fothergill made a study of conchology and botany; and at Upton, near Stratford, he had an extensive botanical garden where he grew many rare plants obtained from various parts of the world (now West Ham Park [1]). He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1763.
He was the patron of Sydney Parkinson, the South Sea voyager, and also of William Bartram, the American botanist.
A translation of the Bible, known as the Quaker Bible (1764 sq.) by Anthony Purver, a Quaker, was made and printed at his expense.
He founded Ackworth School, Pontefract, Yorkshire in 1779.
[edit] Death
He died in London aged 68 on 26 December 1780.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
