John Vaughan Thompson

John Vaughan Thompson
Doctor John Vaughan Thompson wearing the uniform of an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Painting by D. Roux, London, circa August 1835.
Born (1779-11-19)November 19, 1779
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Died January 21, 1847(1847-01-21) (aged 67)
Sydney, Australia
Resting place Headstone was at Glouster St., Cemetery NO. 451 later removed to La Perouse, Sydney.
Residence 136 Liverpool Street, Sydney
Nationality British
Alma mater University of Edinburgh (1797–1798)
Known for Pentacrinus Europæus, Crab metamorphosis, Barnacles, Polyzoa
Spouse
  • Martha Solomon (married 1817–1832)
  • Deborah Cox (married 1835)
Children 8 children

John Vaughan Thompson FLS (November 19, 1779 – January 21, 1847) was a British military surgeon, marine biologist, zoologist, botanist, and published naturalist.[1]

Early years

John Vaughan Thompson was born in British controlled Brooklyn on Long-Island in the Province of New York, North America on the 19 November 1779. The family returned to England sometime after the American victory in the American War of Independence.

He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh (1797–1798), reading anatomy, surgery, midwifery and botany before joining the Army in 1799.[2]

Work

He grew up around Berwick-upon-Tweed where he wrote his first book A Catalogue of Plants Growing in the Vicinity of Berwick Upon Tweed which was published in 1807.[3] In each of his military postings such as the West Indies and Guiana (1800–1809), Mauritius and Madagascar (1812–1816), he continued his natural history studies with two of his papers being read before the Linnean Society on London in 1807, the first On the genus Kaempferia in April 1807 and the second An Account of Some New Species of Piper in June, both of these were submitted on his behalf by Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth F.R.S and L.S.[4]

In 1816, he was posted to Cork in Ireland as Surgeon to the forces and later as Deputy Inspector General of Hospitals. While in Cork he published several works including "Zoological researches and illustrations" (1828)[2] which is listed as having been taken by Charles Darwin on his famous Second voyage of HMS Beagle[5]

Selected works

Death

In 1835, he was transferred to Sydney, Australia as Deputy Inspector General of Hospitals in New South Wales, a position he held till he retired in 1844. He Died at his home in Sydney, New South Wales on 21 January 1847.

References

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  1. "John Vaughan Thompson". wilson-mciver.com. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 Wheeler, Alwyne (30 August 1975). "Thompson: Marine Biologist". British Medical Journal. BMJ1975 3 (5982): 534. doi:10.1136/bmj.3.5982.534.
  3. 1 2 Thompson, John. A Catalogue of Plants Growing in the Vicinity of Berwick Upon Tweed. London. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 "An Account of some new Species of Piper, with a few cursory Observations on the Genus". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 9. 1808.
  5. "Books on the Beagle". Darwin Correspondence Project. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  6. "Author Query for 'J.V.Thomps.'". International Plant Names Index.
  7. "A Forgotten work by John Vaughan Thompson" Proceedings of the Royal Society of Arts & Sciences of Mauritius Vol1, Part 3, 1953
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