Sir James Clark, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir
James Clark, Bt.
, MD
(14 December 1788 - 29 June 1870) was a British
physician
who was Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria between 1837 and 1860.
, Scotland
, and was educated at Fordyce
school. He studied at Aberdeen University, where he took an arts degree with the intention of studying law, and graduated with an M.A.
, before discovering a preference for medicine. He then went to Edinburgh University, and in 1809 became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
.
He then entered the medical service of the Royal Navy
. He served at the Royal Hospital Haslar
, in Hampshire
, until July 1810, when he was appointed assistant-surgeon aboard HMS Thistle
. After the ship was wrecked in 1811 south of Sandy Hook
in New Jersey
, he returned to Great Britain
, where he was promoted to the rank of surgeon, and served successively on the HMS Colobrée, which was also wrecked, as well as on the Chesapeake and Maidstone.
Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars
in 1815, he continued his studies in Edinburgh
, where he graduated in 1817 with an MD. In 1818, he travelled to the south of France
and Switzerland
with a gentleman suffering from phthisis (tuberculosis). He began collecting meteorological and other data, and noted the effects of changes in climate on the disease.
He settled in Rome
in 1819, and developed a medical practice there, with steadily increasing reputation and pecuniary success. One of his patients was the poet John Keats
, who arrived in Rome in November 1820. Clark thought that "mental exertions and application" were "the sources of his complaints", which he believed were "situated in his Stomach". When he finally diagnosed consumption, he put Keats on a starvation diet of an anchovy
and a piece of bread a day, to cut the flow of blood to his stomach. He also regularly drew blood
from him, and took away Keats' supply of laudanum
for fear that he would take a deliberate overdose. It has been suggested in recent years that Clark's treatment of Keats contributed to the poet's agonising death from tuberculosis in February 1821.
In 1822, while in Rome, Clark published Medical Notes on Climate, Diseases, Hospitals, and Medical Schools in France, Italy, and Switzerland, comprising an Inquiry into the Effects of a Residence in the South of Europe in Cases of Pulmonary Consumption. He also made contact with members of the European royal families and aristocracy, among them Prince Leopold
, later King of the Belgians, as well as English aristocrats travelling in Europe. At Carlsbad (now Karlovy Vary
), Prince Leopold found Clark examining the waters, and was struck with the desire to learn their uses. On his return to England, he appointed Clark as his physician.
Clark returned to London in 1826, and was admitted as a Licentiate of the College of Physicians and appointed physician to St George's Infirmary. He steadily built up a medical practice in London, and in 1829 published what was described as his "best and most important work", The Influence of Climate in the Prevention and Cure of Chronic Diseases, more particularly of the Chest and Digestive Organs. In it, he systematised and popularised all that was really known upon the subject, and gave a more correct view of the powers of climate and of mineral waters in the treatment of disease than had hitherto existed in the English language
. The book established his reputation in London and with the members of his own profession. He promoted the use of mineral waters to treat disease, and became both famous and popular for the care he took in his prescriptions. He thought it "not beneath his notice or his dignity to study the art of prescribing practically, and by repeated trials, and his prescriptions compared favourably with those of most of his contemporaries." He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1832.
, and her daughter, Princess Victoria. This appointment led to a large increase in his business and reputation. He published his Treatise on Pulmonary Consumption, comprehending an Inquiry into the Causes, Nature, Prevention, and Treatment of Tuberculous and Scrofulous Diseases in general, in eight volumes in 1835. Upon Victoria's accession to the throne, on 11 November 1837, Clark was appointed the Queen's Physician-in-Ordinary, and was created baronet
of St George's Hanover Square, London.
His popularity was undermined by scandal when, in January 1839, he was asked to diagnose an abdominal swelling suffered by the unmarried Lady Flora Hastings
. Clark said that he could not diagnose her condition without an examination, which Flora initially refused; however, Clark assumed that the swelling was a pregnancy. Flora's enemies, Baroness Louise Lehzen and the Marchioness of Tavistock then spread the rumour that she was pregnant, and the Queen wrote in her journal that she suspected that John Conroy
, a man she loathed intensely, was the father. It was assumed by the public at the time that Clark had "given support to a slander against [Flora]’s character by sharing suspicions which his medical knowledge should have dissipated." When Flora finally consented to an examination, it was discovered that she was not pregnant but had an advanced, cancerous liver tumour, from which she died a few months later. Conroy and her brother, Lord Hastings, stirred up a press campaign against both the Queen and Clark which attacked them for insulting and disgracing Flora with false rumours, and for plotting against her and her family. The effect upon his practice was immediate; it was years before it passed off, and was never wholly obliterated; but within his lifetime it became generally understood that he had been wrongly blamed.
In 1840 Clark was also appointed physician to Prince Albert
, and he became a trusted advisor to the royal family on all medical matters. Reportedly, "he gradually became most unwittingly a power in the State. Always about the Court, high in the favour of the sovereign, and known to be greatly esteemed by the prince consort, he became the person to whom statesmen constantly referred for advice connected with medical matters and polity. He was always ready with advice, with suggestion, and wise, carefully-considered counsel." He served on several Royal Commissions, and on the Senate of the University of London
from 1838. He was credited with developing the medical section of the University. Clark also played an influential role in establishing the Royal College of Chemistry
in 1845, and served on the General Medical Council
from 1858 to 1860.
, Surrey
, which the Queen had lent him for life. His wife, Barbara Stephen, known as Minnie, who he had married in 1820, died in 1862. They had one son, John Forbes Clark. Sir James Clark died at Bagshot Park in 1870, aged 81, and was buried at Kensal Green
.
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
James Clark, Bt.
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, MD
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
(14 December 1788 - 29 June 1870) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
who was Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria between 1837 and 1860.
Early life and career
He was born in Cullen, BanffshireBanffshire
The County of Banff is a registration county for property, and Banffshire is a Lieutenancy area of Scotland.The County of Banff, also known as Banffshire, was a local government county of Scotland with its own county council between 1890 and 1975. The county town was Banff although the largest...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and was educated at Fordyce
Fordyce, Aberdeenshire
Fordyce is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that is slightly inland from the point where the Burn of Fordyce meets the sea between Cullen and Portsoy...
school. He studied at Aberdeen University, where he took an arts degree with the intention of studying law, and graduated with an M.A.
Master of Arts (Scotland)
A Master of Arts in Scotland can refer to an undergraduate academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the ancient universities of Scotland – the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh, while the University of...
, before discovering a preference for medicine. He then went to Edinburgh University, and in 1809 became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is an organisation dedicated to the pursuit of excellence and advancement in surgical practice, through its interest in education, training and examinations, its liaison with external medical bodies and representation of the modern surgical workforce...
.
He then entered the medical service of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. He served at the Royal Hospital Haslar
Royal Hospital Haslar
The Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, England was one of several hospitals serving the Portsmouth Urban Area. The Royal Hospital Haslar officially closed as the last military hospital in the UK in 2007...
, in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, until July 1810, when he was appointed assistant-surgeon aboard HMS Thistle
HMS Thistle
Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Thistle, after the thistle, the national flower of Scotland:*HMS Thistle was a 10-gun schooner launched in 1808 and wrecked on 6 March 1811 on Maransquam Beach, 30 miles south of Sandy Hook, due to an inaccurate chart...
. After the ship was wrecked in 1811 south of Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit along the Atlantic coast of New JerseySandy Hook may also refer to:-Places:United States* Sandy Hook , a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut* Sandy Hook, Kentucky, a city in Elliott County...
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, he returned to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, where he was promoted to the rank of surgeon, and served successively on the HMS Colobrée, which was also wrecked, as well as on the Chesapeake and Maidstone.
Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1815, he continued his studies in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, where he graduated in 1817 with an MD. In 1818, he travelled to the south of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
with a gentleman suffering from phthisis (tuberculosis). He began collecting meteorological and other data, and noted the effects of changes in climate on the disease.
He settled in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1819, and developed a medical practice there, with steadily increasing reputation and pecuniary success. One of his patients was the poet John Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
, who arrived in Rome in November 1820. Clark thought that "mental exertions and application" were "the sources of his complaints", which he believed were "situated in his Stomach". When he finally diagnosed consumption, he put Keats on a starvation diet of an anchovy
Anchovy
Anchovies are a family of small, common salt-water forage fish. There are 144 species in 17 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Anchovies are usually classified as an oily fish.-Description:...
and a piece of bread a day, to cut the flow of blood to his stomach. He also regularly drew blood
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...
from him, and took away Keats' supply of laudanum
Laudanum
Laudanum , also known as Tincture of Opium, is an alcoholic herbal preparation containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight ....
for fear that he would take a deliberate overdose. It has been suggested in recent years that Clark's treatment of Keats contributed to the poet's agonising death from tuberculosis in February 1821.
In 1822, while in Rome, Clark published Medical Notes on Climate, Diseases, Hospitals, and Medical Schools in France, Italy, and Switzerland, comprising an Inquiry into the Effects of a Residence in the South of Europe in Cases of Pulmonary Consumption. He also made contact with members of the European royal families and aristocracy, among them Prince Leopold
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
, later King of the Belgians, as well as English aristocrats travelling in Europe. At Carlsbad (now Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately west of Prague . It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370...
), Prince Leopold found Clark examining the waters, and was struck with the desire to learn their uses. On his return to England, he appointed Clark as his physician.
Clark returned to London in 1826, and was admitted as a Licentiate of the College of Physicians and appointed physician to St George's Infirmary. He steadily built up a medical practice in London, and in 1829 published what was described as his "best and most important work", The Influence of Climate in the Prevention and Cure of Chronic Diseases, more particularly of the Chest and Digestive Organs. In it, he systematised and popularised all that was really known upon the subject, and gave a more correct view of the powers of climate and of mineral waters in the treatment of disease than had hitherto existed in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. The book established his reputation in London and with the members of his own profession. He promoted the use of mineral waters to treat disease, and became both famous and popular for the care he took in his prescriptions. He thought it "not beneath his notice or his dignity to study the art of prescribing practically, and by repeated trials, and his prescriptions compared favourably with those of most of his contemporaries." He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1832.
Physician to Queen Victoria
In 1834 he was recommended by the King of the Belgians for the post of physician to the Duchess of KentPrincess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was the mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.-Early life:...
, and her daughter, Princess Victoria. This appointment led to a large increase in his business and reputation. He published his Treatise on Pulmonary Consumption, comprehending an Inquiry into the Causes, Nature, Prevention, and Treatment of Tuberculous and Scrofulous Diseases in general, in eight volumes in 1835. Upon Victoria's accession to the throne, on 11 November 1837, Clark was appointed the Queen's Physician-in-Ordinary, and was created baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
of St George's Hanover Square, London.
His popularity was undermined by scandal when, in January 1839, he was asked to diagnose an abdominal swelling suffered by the unmarried Lady Flora Hastings
Lady Flora Hastings
Lady Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings was a British aristocrat and lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, whose death in 1839 caused a court scandal that gave the Queen a negative image....
. Clark said that he could not diagnose her condition without an examination, which Flora initially refused; however, Clark assumed that the swelling was a pregnancy. Flora's enemies, Baroness Louise Lehzen and the Marchioness of Tavistock then spread the rumour that she was pregnant, and the Queen wrote in her journal that she suspected that John Conroy
John Conroy
Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet KH was a British army officer who became the chief attendant of the Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Kent who were the parents of Queen Victoria. When the Duke died, he became comptroller of the duchess' household and was rumoured to be her lover...
, a man she loathed intensely, was the father. It was assumed by the public at the time that Clark had "given support to a slander against [Flora]’s character by sharing suspicions which his medical knowledge should have dissipated." When Flora finally consented to an examination, it was discovered that she was not pregnant but had an advanced, cancerous liver tumour, from which she died a few months later. Conroy and her brother, Lord Hastings, stirred up a press campaign against both the Queen and Clark which attacked them for insulting and disgracing Flora with false rumours, and for plotting against her and her family. The effect upon his practice was immediate; it was years before it passed off, and was never wholly obliterated; but within his lifetime it became generally understood that he had been wrongly blamed.
In 1840 Clark was also appointed physician to Prince Albert
Prince Albert
Prince Albert was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria.Prince Albert may also refer to:-Royalty:*Prince Albert Edward or Edward VII of the United Kingdom , son of Albert and Victoria...
, and he became a trusted advisor to the royal family on all medical matters. Reportedly, "he gradually became most unwittingly a power in the State. Always about the Court, high in the favour of the sovereign, and known to be greatly esteemed by the prince consort, he became the person to whom statesmen constantly referred for advice connected with medical matters and polity. He was always ready with advice, with suggestion, and wise, carefully-considered counsel." He served on several Royal Commissions, and on the Senate of the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
from 1838. He was credited with developing the medical section of the University. Clark also played an influential role in establishing the Royal College of Chemistry
Royal College of Chemistry
The Royal College of Chemistry was a college originally based on Oxford Street in central London, England. It operated between 1845 and 1872....
in 1845, and served on the General Medical Council
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council registers and regulates doctors practising in the United Kingdom. It has the power to revoke or restrict a doctor's registration if it deems them unfit to practise...
from 1858 to 1860.
Retirement and death
He began a process of gradual retirement in 1860, and moved to Bagshot ParkBagshot Park
Bagshot Park is a royal residence located near Bagshot, a village south west of Windsor and approximately north east of Guildford . It is the current home of The Earl and Countess of Wessex. Bagshot Park is on Bagshot Heath, a fifty square-mile tract of formerly open land in Surrey and Berkshire...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, which the Queen had lent him for life. His wife, Barbara Stephen, known as Minnie, who he had married in 1820, died in 1862. They had one son, John Forbes Clark. Sir James Clark died at Bagshot Park in 1870, aged 81, and was buried at Kensal Green
Kensal Green
Kensal Green, also referred to as Kensal Rise is an area of London, England. It is located on the southern edge of the London Borough of Brent and borders the City of Westminster to the East and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the South....
.