John Gordon Smith (surgeon)

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John Gordon Smith (1792–1833) was a Scottish surgeon and early professor of medical jurisprudence.

Medical jurisprudence branch of medicine that deals with application of medical knowledge to aid in the administration and furthering of justice.

Medical jurisprudence or legal medicine is the branch of science and medicine involving the study and application of scientific and medical knowledge to legal problems, such as inquests, and in the field of law. As modern medicine is a legal creation, regulated by the state, and medicolegal cases involving death, rape, paternity, etc. require a medical practitioner to produce evidence and appear as an expert witness, these two fields have traditionally been interdependent.

Contents

Life

He was educated at Edinburgh and graduated in the university in 1810 with the highest honours in medicine. He entered the army as a surgeon, and was attached to the 12th Lancers at the battle of Waterloo, where he treated their commanding officer Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby.

Edinburgh Capital city in Scotland

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian, it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.

Battle of Waterloo Battle of the Napoleonic Wars in which Napoleon was defeated

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in Belgium, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition: a British-led allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and a Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal Blücher. The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby British Army officer

Major General Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, styled The Honourable Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby from 1806 to 1828, and The Honourable Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby from 1828, was an Anglo-Irish military officer, the second son of The 3rd Earl of Bessborough and Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough.

Smith retired from the army on half-pay when peace was concluded in 1815, and settled in London. Here he found it difficult to establish himself in practice, as he held a Scottish degree only, and was therefore not entitled to practise in England. He accepted the appointment of physician to the Duke of Sutherland, and resided with him for four years, writing on forensic medicine. At the same time he acted as surgeon to the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital. He also lectured on medical jurisprudence at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1825 and again in 1826, and at the Mechanics' Institute; and in 1829 he was elected the first professor of medical jurisprudence at the London University in Gower Street. None of the licensing bodies in London required any evidence of instruction in forensic medicine, and there was consequently no class. Smith lectured for two years, and then resigned his office.

George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland British diplomat

George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland KG, PC, known as Viscount Trentham from 1758 to 1786, as Earl Gower from 1786 to 1803 and as The Marquess of Stafford from 1803 to 1833, was an English politician, diplomat, landowner and patron of the arts from the Leveson-Gower family. He was the wealthiest man in Britain during the latter part of his life. He remains a controversial figure for his role in the Highland Clearances.

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For a time Smith edited the London Medical Repository . He died a debtor in the Fleet Prison, after fifteen months' confinement, on 16 September 1833. A reformer in politics and medicine, Smith was a pioneer of the study of medical jurisprudence, which Robert Christison was trying at the same time to set on a scientific basis. Smith campaigned, unsuccessfully, to place Scottish and English degrees and licences in medicine on an equal footing.

Fleet Prison 12th-century prison in London

Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the River Fleet. The prison was built in 1197, was rebuilt several times, and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.

Robert Christison British toxicologist and physician

Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, FRSE FRCSE FRCPE, was a Scottish toxicologist and physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and as president of the British Medical Association (1875). He was the first person to describe renal anaemia.

Works

Smith published, besides contributions to the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal:

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References

<i>Dictionary of National Biography</i> Multi-volume reference work

The Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and online, with 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives.

Attribution

Wikisource-logo.svg  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : "Smith, John Gordon". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

The public domain consists of all the creative works to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable.