William Falconer (writer)
Encyclopedia
William Falconer was an English physician, miscellaneous writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society.
on 23 February 1744, the younger of two surviving sons of William Falconer of the Inner Temple
, recorder of Chester, by marriage with his second cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Randle Wilbraham Falconer
of Townsend, near Nantwich
, Cheshire
. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, where he took the degree of M.D. in 1766. From Edinburgh he went to Leyden, where he attended the lectures of Hieronymus David Gaubius
and Bernhard Siegfried Albinus
, proceeding M.D. there on 28 May 1767. He had been previously admitted an extra-licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians
on 12 March 1767. In the same year he was appointed physician to the Chester Infirmary
.
After building up a good practice in Chester, Falconer, at the suggestion of Dr. John Fothergill
, removed to Bath, Somerset in January 1770, where he was equally successful. On 18 March 1773 he became F.R.S. On 12 May 1784 he was elected physician to the Bath General Hospital, an appointment which he retained until 10 February 1819. He died at his house in the Circus, Bath, on 31 August 1824, and was buried at Weston, near the city.
His wife, Henrietta, daughter of Thomas Edmunds of Worsbrough Hall, Yorkshire, had died on 10 September 1803. He left a son, Thomas Falconer
. His portrait by Daniel was engraved by James Fittler
.
, who procured from the Cambridge University Press
the publication of his ‘Miscellaneous Tracts,’ 1793, and who wrote of him in his ‘Remarks on the Statement of Dr. Combe,’ pp. 71–83, as ‘a man whose knowledge is various and profound, and whose discriminations upon all topics of literature are ready, vigorous, and comprehensive.’ In his will Parr referred to him in most flattering terms. Edmund Burke
addressed a letter to Falconer, dated 14 Nov. 1790, thanking him ‘for the temperate, judicious, and reasonable paper [on the French revolution] which appeared in the Bath prints some time since.’ In 1800 Charles Dunster
inscribed to him his ‘Considerations on Milton's Early Reading,’ besides mentioning him in his lines on Durdham, written in May 1801.
Falconer was a frequent contributor to the transactions of learned societies. His separate writings are as follows:
Falconer also wrote an ‘Appendix’ for Dr. Matthew Dobson's ‘Medical Commentary on Fixed Air,’ 1787. His ‘Thoughts on the Style and Taste of Gardening among the Ancients,’ in the ‘Transactions’ of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
(i. 297), was enlarged and published separately. ‘A Table of the Greek Names of Plants’ drawn up by him is to be found in v. 552–79 of Dr. Alexander Hunter's ‘Georgical Essays,’ 1803–1804.
Life
Falconer was born at ChesterChester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
on 23 February 1744, the younger of two surviving sons of William Falconer of the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, recorder of Chester, by marriage with his second cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Randle Wilbraham Falconer
Randle Wilbraham Falconer
Randle Wilbraham Falconer was a British medical writer.-Life:Falconer was the fourth son of Thomas Falconer, M.D. . He was for many years one of the leading physicians of Bath, Somerset, where his grandfather, William Falconer, had also practised. He began the study of medicine at Edinburgh...
of Townsend, near Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, where he took the degree of M.D. in 1766. From Edinburgh he went to Leyden, where he attended the lectures of Hieronymus David Gaubius
Hieronymus David Gaubius
Hieronymus David Gaubius was a German physician and chemist.-Life:He was a native of Heidelberg. He studied medicine and sciences at the Universities of Harderwijk and Leiden, where he was a pupil of Hermann Boerhaave and Bernhard Siegfried Albinus...
and Bernhard Siegfried Albinus
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus was a German-born Dutch anatomist.Albinus was born at Frankfurt , where his father, Bernhard Albinus , was professor of the practice of medicine...
, proceeding M.D. there on 28 May 1767. He had been previously admitted an extra-licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
on 12 March 1767. In the same year he was appointed physician to the Chester Infirmary
Chester Royal Infirmary
The former Chester Royal Infirmary is located in City Walls Road, Chester, Cheshire, England. The original hospital building has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.-History:...
.
After building up a good practice in Chester, Falconer, at the suggestion of Dr. John Fothergill
John Fothergill
John Fothergill may refer to:*John Fothergill , English physician and botanist*John Fothergill , English merchant*John Milner Fothergill...
, removed to Bath, Somerset in January 1770, where he was equally successful. On 18 March 1773 he became F.R.S. On 12 May 1784 he was elected physician to the Bath General Hospital, an appointment which he retained until 10 February 1819. He died at his house in the Circus, Bath, on 31 August 1824, and was buried at Weston, near the city.
His wife, Henrietta, daughter of Thomas Edmunds of Worsbrough Hall, Yorkshire, had died on 10 September 1803. He left a son, Thomas Falconer
Thomas Falconer (scholar)
Thomas Falconer was an English clergyman and classical scholar.-Life:The son of William Falconer, M.D., F.R.S., of Bath, Somerset by Henrietta, daughter of Thomas Edmunds of Worsborough Hall, Yorkshire, he was born on 24 December 1772, and educated at the cathedral school, Chester, the grammar...
. His portrait by Daniel was engraved by James Fittler
James Fittler
James Fittler , was an English engraver.Fittler was born in London in 1758, and became a student at the Royal Academy in 1778. Besides book illustrations, he distinguished himself by numerous works after English and foreign masters, chiefly portraits. He engraved also landscapes, marine subjects,...
.
Works
He was intimate with Samuel ParrSamuel Parr
Samuel Parr , was an English schoolmaster, writer, minister and Doctor of Law. He was known in his time for political writing, and as "the Whig Johnson", though his reputation has lasted less well that Samuel Johnson's, and the resemblances were at a superficial level, Parr being no prose stylist,...
, who procured from the Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
the publication of his ‘Miscellaneous Tracts,’ 1793, and who wrote of him in his ‘Remarks on the Statement of Dr. Combe,’ pp. 71–83, as ‘a man whose knowledge is various and profound, and whose discriminations upon all topics of literature are ready, vigorous, and comprehensive.’ In his will Parr referred to him in most flattering terms. Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
addressed a letter to Falconer, dated 14 Nov. 1790, thanking him ‘for the temperate, judicious, and reasonable paper [on the French revolution] which appeared in the Bath prints some time since.’ In 1800 Charles Dunster
Charles Dunster
Charles Dunster was a British writer, and translator. -Life:He was the only son of the Rev. Charles Dunster, prebendary of Salisbury.He was admitted at Oriel College, Oxford, as a commoner in 1767, took his B.A...
inscribed to him his ‘Considerations on Milton's Early Reading,’ besides mentioning him in his lines on Durdham, written in May 1801.
Falconer was a frequent contributor to the transactions of learned societies. His separate writings are as follows:
- ‘An Essay on the Bath Waters in four parts, containing a prefatory Introduction on the Study of Mineral Waters in general,’ London, 1770; 2nd edit. 1772. This, his first work, was dedicated to Dr. John Fothergill.
- ‘Observations on Dr. Cadogan's Dissertation on the Gout and all Chronic Diseases,’ London, 1772; 2nd edit., with additions, Bath, 1772.
- ‘An Essay on the Bath Waters: on their External Use. In two Parts. I. On Warm Bathing in general. II. On the External Use of the Bath Waters,’ [Bath?], 1774.
- ‘Observations and Experiments on the Poison of Copper,’ London, 1774.
- ‘An Essay on the Water commonly used in Diet at Bath,’ London, 1776.
- ‘Experiments and Observations, in three parts—I. On the dissolvent power of water, impregnated with fixible air, compared with simple water, relatively to medicinal substances. II. On the dissolvent power of water impregnated with fixible air, on the Urinary Calculus. III. On the antiseptic power of water impregnated with fixible air,’ &c., 8vo, London, 1776.
- ‘Observations on some of the Articles of Diet and Regimen usually recommended to Valetudinarians,’ London, 1778.
- ‘Remarks on the Influence of Climate, … Nature of Food, and Way of Life, on … Mankind,’ London, 1781. It was translated into German.
- ‘An Account of the late Epidemic Catarrhal Fever, commonly called the Influenza, as it appeared at Bath in … May and June 1782.’
- ‘A Dissertation on the Influence of the Passions upon Disorders of the Body,’ London, 1788. To this essay was awarded the first Fothergillian gold medal. Several editions were published, the third in 1796.
- ‘An Essay on the Preservation of the Health of Persons employed in Agriculture, and on the Cure of the Diseases incident to that way of Life,’ Bath, 1789. First printed in the fourth volume of the ‘Letters and Papers’ of the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society. It was also printed in vol. iv. 430–529 of Dr. Alexander HunterAlexander Hunter-Life:Born at Edinburgh in 1729 , he was eldest son of a prosperous druggist. He was sent to the grammar school at ten, and at fifteen to the university, where he remained until he was twenty-one, having devoted the last three years to medicine...
's ‘Georgical Essays,’ 1803–4. An Italian version was published in London, the third edition in 1794. - ‘A brief Account of the newly discovered Water at Middle Hill, near Box in Wiltshire,’ 1789.
- ‘An Account of the Efficacy of the Aqua Mephitica Alkalina in Calculous Disorders,’ &c., 3rd edit. London, 1789; 4th edit., with additions, London, 1792; 5th edit. 1798. Translated into Italian, and published at Venice in 1790.
- ‘A Practical Dissertation on the Medicinal Effects of the Bath Waters,’ Bath, 1790; 2nd edit., with additions, Bath, 1798; 3rd edit., with considerable additions respecting the ‘Use of the Waters in Hip Cases,’ Bath, 1807.
- ‘Miscellaneous Tracts and Collections relating to Natural History, selected from the principal writers of antiquity on that subject,’ Cambridge, 1793.
- ‘An Account of the Use, Application, and Success of the Bath Waters in Rheumatic Cases,’ Bath, 1795.
- ‘Observations respecting the Pulse, intended to point out … the indications which it signifies, especially in feverish complaints,’ London, 1796. Translated into German, Leipzig, 1797.
- ‘An Essay on the Plague; also a Sketch of a Plan of Internal Police,’ London, 1801.
- ‘An Examination of Dr. Heberden's Observations on the Increase and Decrease of different Diseases, and particularly the Plague,’ Bath, 1802.
- ‘An Account of the Epidemical Catarrhal Fever, commonly called the Influenza, as it appeared at Bath in the Winter and Spring of … 1803.’ Reprinted at p. 253 of Thompson's ‘Annals of Influenza’ (Sydenham Soc., London, 1852).
- ‘A Remonstrance addressed to the Rev. Richard Warner on the subject of his Fast Sermon’ [against war], Bath, 1804, published anonymously.
- ‘A Dissertation on the Ischias; or the Diseases of the Hip Joint, commonly called a Hip Case, and on the use of the Bath Waters as a Remedy in this Complaint,’ London, 1805. To this essay the Medical Society of London awarded its silver medal (Memoirs of Med. Soc. Lond. vi. 174).
- ‘Arrian's Voyage round the Euxine Sea, translated and accompanied with a Geographical Dissertation and Maps. To which are added three Discourses,’ &c. [edited by Thomas Falconer, M.D.], Oxford, 1805.
- ‘Observations on the Words which the Centurion uttered at the Crucifixion of our Lord. By a Layman,’ Oxford, 1808.
- ‘Dissertation on St. Paul's Voyage from Cæsarea to Puteoli; on the Wind Euroclydon; and on the Apostle's Shipwreck on the Island of Melita. By a Layman,’ Oxford, 1817. The second edition, with additional notes by his grandson, Thomas FalconerThomas FalconerThomas Falconer was an English jurist and explorer.Born in Bath, England on 25 June 1805, Falconer was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1823, and to the bar in 1830...
(1805–1882), London, 1870, contains a very complete list of Falconer's separate writings, as well as those contributed to serial publications, an enlargement of a list which had appeared in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ for November 1845.
Falconer also wrote an ‘Appendix’ for Dr. Matthew Dobson's ‘Medical Commentary on Fixed Air,’ 1787. His ‘Thoughts on the Style and Taste of Gardening among the Ancients,’ in the ‘Transactions’ of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit & Phil, is a learned society in Manchester, England.Established in 1781 as the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, by Thomas Percival, Thomas Barnes and Thomas Henry, other prominent members have included...
(i. 297), was enlarged and published separately. ‘A Table of the Greek Names of Plants’ drawn up by him is to be found in v. 552–79 of Dr. Alexander Hunter's ‘Georgical Essays,’ 1803–1804.