Sir William Newbigging FRSE FRCSEd FRGS (25 April 1773[1] – 23 October 1852) was a Scottish surgeon who served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1814 to 1816. He was a keen amateur geographer.

Sir William Newbigging
29 Heriot Row, Edinburgh
The grave of William Newbigging, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh

Life

edit

He was born in Lanark in 1773 to Robert Newbigging and Jean Brownlee.[1] He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and was apprenticed to Dr Forrest Dewar at Hunters Square, just off the Royal Mile, around 1790.[2]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1799 and served as their President in 1814. He was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh in 1815 and served as President in 1823 and 1838.[3][4] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1824, his proposer was Robert Jameson. In 1833 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club.[5] He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1838.[6]

He lived with his wife and family at 29 Heriot Row, in a large Georgian townhouse in the Edinburgh's New Town.[7]

He died aged 79 on 2 October 1852 at 29 Heriot Row, Edinburgh, and is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in central Edinburgh[8] in the western extension close to the grave of his colleague Dr John Gordon.

Family

edit

He married Lilias Stewart on 8 August 1801 at Corstorphine, Midlothian, Scotland, She died on 26 August 1832 in Edinburgh. Their many children included Patrick Newbigging, John Steuart Newbigging and Dr George Stewart Newbigging.[9]

Artistic Recognition

edit

He was painted by Sir John Watson Gordon in 1838. The painting hangs in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The painting was engraved by George Baird Shaw for multiple reproduction.[10]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
  2. ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1790-91
  3. ^ Minute Books of the Harveian Society. Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
  4. ^ Watson Wemyss, Herbert Lindesay (1933). A Record of the Edinburgh Harveian Society. T&A Constable, Edinburgh.
  5. ^ Minute Books of the Aesculapian Club. Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
  6. ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
  7. ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1851-52
  8. ^ "Sir William Newbigging (Unknown-1852) - Find A..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  9. ^ Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; University of Glasgow. Library (1874). List of fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh [electronic resource] : from the year 1581 to 31st December 1873. University of Glasgow Library. Edinburgh : Printed by George Robb.
  10. ^ "Sir William Newbigging - Person - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2018.