John Liddell (Royal Navy officer)

Sir John Liddell, KCB, FRS (1794 – 28 May 1868) was a Scottish medical doctor who served as Director-General of the Medical Department of the Royal Navy (30 April 1855 – 21 January 1864),[1] and senior medical officer of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich.[2]

John Liddell by Camille Silvy, April 1861
Gravestone of Sir John Liddell in East Greenwich Pleasaunce, London

Born in Dunblane in 1794,[3] Liddell was educated at the University of Edinburgh before joining the Royal Navy where he saw service on HMS Asia at the Battle of Navarino (1827). For his preparations for the battle, he was subsequently one of the first recipients of the Gilbert Blane Medal in 1832.[4]

During a period as director of Malta's Bighi Naval Hospital (1827–1844), he served on HMS Barham during Sir Walter Scott's 1831 voyage to Naples.[5] He was appointed inspector of fleets and hospitals in 1844.[6]

He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 18 June 1846,[7] knighted in 1848,[8] appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1850[9] and promoted to Knight Commander on 9 February 1864.[10]

Succeeding Sir William Burnett, his time as Director-General coincided with the Crimean War, which brought him into contact with Florence Nightingale with whom he was subsequently in occasional contact regarding hospital design; at his request, Nightingale inspected Haslar Hospital in January 1857, and he later accompanied her on a visit to Chatham hospital.[11]

Liddell died at his London home at 72 Chester Square,[12] and was buried on 2 June 1868 in the Greenwich Hospital's cemetery[2] (today East Greenwich Pleasaunce). In 1837, Liddell had married Fanny, daughter of Robert Clement Sconce; a great-grandson was the writer Robert Liddell.[13][14][15]

References
  1. The organisation of the Medical Department of the Royal Navy, in William Loney RN - Victorian naval surgeon http://www.pdavis.nl/Ranks.htm (accessed: 19 June 2012)
  2. "Obituary: Sir John Liddell, KCB, MD". British Medical Journal. 1 (338): 574. 6 June 1868. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.388.574-a. PMC 2310099.
  3. Archbold, W. A. J.; Herrick, Claire E. J. (September 2010). "Liddell, Sir John (1794–1868)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16642. Retrieved 16 December 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. Penn-Barwell, Jowan (2016). "Sir Gilbert Blane FRS: the man and his legacy" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service. 102 (1): 61–66. doi:10.1136/jrnms-102-61. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  5. Sultana, Donald (1972) The Journey of Sir Walter Scott from Abbotsford to Malta Melita Historica. [Malta Historical Society]. 6(1972)1(1-21) http://melita3historica.x90x.net/19721.html Archived 22 February 2013 at archive.today
  6. Sir John Liddell. lordbyron.org
  7. "List of Fellows of the Royal Society 1660–2007" (PDF). Royal Society. July 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  8. "No. 20858". The London Gazette. 19 May 1848. p. 1941.
  9. "No. 21127". The London Gazette. 16 August 1850. pp. 2242–2243.
  10. "No. 22817". The London Gazette. 9 February 1864. p. 611.
  11. Cook, Sir Edward (1871), The Life of Florence Nightingale, (London, MacMillan) pp. 348-9.
  12. Genealogy Data Page 19 (Notes Pages). peterbarker.plus.com
  13. Life and Letters of Robert Clement Sconce, Sarah Susanna Bunbury, vol. II, Cox & Wyman, 1861, p. 34
  14. Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain, for 1870, including all the titled classes, Whittaker & Co., 1870, p. 404
  15. Smith, Clive; Liddell, Fanny; Sconce, Robert Clement (1982). "Travels of an English lady : The letters of an English lady to her father 1837-1842".
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