James Donnet
Encyclopedia
Inspector-General of Fleets and Hospitals Sir James John Louis Donnet KCB
(1816-11 January 1905) was a British Royal Navy surgeon. His work on Yellow Fever was the foundation of modern medical practice in dealing with this disease.
Donnet was born in Gibraltar in 1816 the son of Henry Donnet, a Royal Navy surgeon. He was educated at the University of Paris and at Anderson College, Glasgow. He joined the Royal Navy as an assistant surgeon in 1840 on the HMS Benbow
. He was sent to the Mediterranean during the Oriental Crisis of 1840
aboard the HMS Vesuvius
and after the capture of Acre
he was placed in charge of a temporary shore hospital.
By 1849 Donnet had been promoted to Surgeon and aboard the HMS Calypso
he was in the West Indies during an outbreak of yellow fever. Between 1850 and 1851 he was surgeon on the HMS Assistance
on a voyage to the arctic under Sir Erasmus Ommanney
. In 1854 was on the HMS President
in the Pacific Ocean.
Between 1866 and 1867 was staff surgeon at the Port Royal Hospital in Jamaica
where he studied Yellow Fever and his study was published in the Health Report in 1867 and he later published Notes on Yellow Fever. In May 1867 he was promoted to deputy inspector-general and in 1870 he was appointed an honorary surgeon to Queen Victoria.
In 1873 he was in-charge of the medical wards of the Royal Navy Hospital Haslar hospital in Gosport which had an outbreak of smallpox and enteric fever and was also looking after cases of fever and dysentry following the Third Anglo-Ashanti war. Promoted to Inspector-General in 1875 and was awarded a good-service pension in 1878. In the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours
he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. He retired to Bognor and died at home on 11 January 1905.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(1816-11 January 1905) was a British Royal Navy surgeon. His work on Yellow Fever was the foundation of modern medical practice in dealing with this disease.
Donnet was born in Gibraltar in 1816 the son of Henry Donnet, a Royal Navy surgeon. He was educated at the University of Paris and at Anderson College, Glasgow. He joined the Royal Navy as an assistant surgeon in 1840 on the HMS Benbow
HMS Benbow
Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Benbow, after Admiral John Benbow:* HMS Benbow was a 74 gun third rate ship of the line, built in 1813...
. He was sent to the Mediterranean during the Oriental Crisis of 1840
Oriental Crisis of 1840
The Oriental Crisis of 1840 was an armed conflict in the eastern Mediterranean between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. It was triggered by Wāli Muhammad Ali Pasha's aims to establish a personal empire in the Ottoman province of Egypt.-Origins of the conflict:...
aboard the HMS Vesuvius
HMS Vesuvius
Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Vesuvius or HMS Vesuve, after the volcano Mount Vesuvius. Another was planned but never completed, while doubt exists over the existence of another:...
and after the capture of Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
he was placed in charge of a temporary shore hospital.
By 1849 Donnet had been promoted to Surgeon and aboard the HMS Calypso
HMS Calypso
The following ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name of HMS Calypso, after Calypso, a sea nymph in Greek mythology:*HMS Calypso , a 16-gun sloop of 342 tons burthen bm, launched at Graves, Deptford 27 September 1783...
he was in the West Indies during an outbreak of yellow fever. Between 1850 and 1851 he was surgeon on the HMS Assistance
HMS Assistance (1850)
HMS Assistance was an Arctic discovery barque of the Royal Navy, and the sixth vessel to carry the name. She began her life in 1835 as an Indian-built merchant vessel, was purchased in 1850 and participated in two Arctic expeditions before being abandoned in the ice in 1854.-Merchant Navy...
on a voyage to the arctic under Sir Erasmus Ommanney
Erasmus Ommanney
thumb|right|Sir Erasmus OmmanneyAdmiral Sir Erasmus Ommanney KCB, FRS, FRGS, JP was a Royal Navy officer and an Arctic explorer of the Victorian era.-Early life:...
. In 1854 was on the HMS President
HMS President (1829)
HMS President was ordered in May 1818 to be built as a 58-gun frigate to the exact lines of the previous President, captured from the Americans in January 1815; this prize ship was re-classed as a 60-gun fourth rate in February 1817 but was taken to pieces in June 1818...
in the Pacific Ocean.
Between 1866 and 1867 was staff surgeon at the Port Royal Hospital in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
where he studied Yellow Fever and his study was published in the Health Report in 1867 and he later published Notes on Yellow Fever. In May 1867 he was promoted to deputy inspector-general and in 1870 he was appointed an honorary surgeon to Queen Victoria.
In 1873 he was in-charge of the medical wards of the Royal Navy Hospital Haslar hospital in Gosport which had an outbreak of smallpox and enteric fever and was also looking after cases of fever and dysentry following the Third Anglo-Ashanti war. Promoted to Inspector-General in 1875 and was awarded a good-service pension in 1878. In the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours
1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours
The Diamond Jubilee Honours for the British Empire were announced in 22 June 1897 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria on 20 June 1897....
he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. He retired to Bognor and died at home on 11 January 1905.