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- Title
John Forrest (1804-1865): From resurrectionist to Queen's physician.
- Authors
Searle, Henry K. C.; Demetriades, Andreas K.
- Abstract
The career of John Forrest (1804-1865) followed a fascinating trajectory from resurrectionist to Queen's honorary physician. Before the 1832 Anatomy Act, cadavers were in such short supply that many medical students felt compelled to widen their knowledge of anatomy through the dark practice of paying for exhumed bodies. It was considered necessary by some medical schools but evil by the public, causing friction and unrest. Whilst studying in Edinburgh, Forrest was unfortunate to be indicted as a resurrectionist and outlawed from Scotland for arranging for the body of Mary Stevenson to be exhumed from the graveyard of the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling in 1822. Despite a criminal record, Forrest secured a Royal Pardon in 1824 and returned to The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, completing his Doctorate in 1825. Cadaver dissection prepared him well for a prestigious military career as a surgeon on the bloody battlefields around the British Colonies, including service against the Boers and in Crimea where he served as Principal Medical Officer at the Scutari Hospital. He was one of Scotland's leading surgeons and despite being appointed honorary physician to Queen Victoria in 1859, he remains a rather shadowy albeit heroic figure.
- Subjects
CAREER development; FORREST, John Forrest, Baron, 1847-1918; MEDICAL students; MEDICAL schools; MEDICAL education
- Publication
Vesalius: Acta Internationales Historiae Medicinae, 2018, Vol 24, Issue 1, p11
- ISSN
1373-4857
- Publication type
Article