Person Lettsom; John Coakley (1744 - 1815); physician and philanthropist Lettsom John Coakley physician and philanthropist Lettsome 1744 - 1815 British Male Little Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands, Greater Antilles, North and Central America 22 November 1744 17441122 His house, Sambrook Court, Basinghall Street, London, England, United Kingdom 01 November 1815 18151101 Burial: The Friends' Burying-ground, Coleman Street, Bunhill Row, London, England, United Kingdom

Newington Green, London, England Grove Hill House, Camberwell, London, England Sambrook Court, Basinghall Street, London, England

Physician; author; philanthropist; abolitionist Medicine Natural history Agriculture Education: Born in a Quaker colony in the Britsh Virgin Islands and sent to school in Lancashire, England age 6; apprenticeship to Yorkshire apothecary and surgeon Abraham Sutcliff (1761-1766); University of Edinburgh (1768); Leyden University, MD (1769); licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (1770) though excluded from Fellowship as a Quaker Career: Practiced medicine on Tortola, British Virgin Islands (1767); son of a plantation and slave owner, became an abolitionist and freed the enslaved people he inherited on his father's death (1767); set up a successful medical practice at Basinghall Street, London (from about 1770); wrote for the Gentleman's Magazine under the name of "Mottles"; wrote his medical thesis on the undesirable effects of tea drinking; founder of the Medical Society of London (1773); founder of the General Dispensary; built Grove Hill House, botaical gardens, museum, library and greenhouses in Camberwell (1779), later sold; helped establish the Royal Sea-bathing Infirmary at Margate (1791), for rehabilitation of tuberculous patients; physician to the Camberwell volunteer infantry (1803); wrote on a wide number of subjects including social commentary, education, nutrition and bee keeping as well as medicine; supporter of mass inoculation for smallpox and aided in the foundation of the Society for General Inoculation; involved in the introduction of the mangel-wurzel into agricultural cultivation; predeceased by his son Pickering Lettsom and inherited the fortune his son made in the West Indies shortly before his own death Memberships: FSA (1770); Medical Society of London (founder member 1773, President 1775-1776, 1784-1785, 1808-1811 and 1813-1815); Royal Humane Society (founder member 1774); Royal Jennerian Society (for vaccination); Philosophical Society of London (President 1812); American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1788) Son of Edward Lettsom and Mary nee Coakley; Married (31 July 1770) Anne Miers; father of father-in-law of John Elliot FRS (1811); grandfather of Charles Morgan Elliot FRS (1851); friend of Benjamin Franklin (FRS 1756); enjoyed patronage of John Fothergill MD (FRS 1763) Fellow 18/11/1773 28 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Wikipedia; UCL LBS References: A D Atkinson, 'Dr Johnson and the Royal Society' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 131-138 N G Coley, 'George Pearson MD, FRS (1751-1828): 'The greatest chemist in England'? in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 161-175 T Pettigrew, 'Memoirs of the life and writings of the late John Coakley Lettsom : with a selection from his correspondence' (London) 1817 'Dr John Coakley Lettsom', Legacies of British Slave-ownership database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146649667 [accessed 15th July 2020] ©The Royal Society International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/image-rs-13976 22 Nov 1744 - 1 Nov 1815 NA7114 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 17/12/2025 RS_NET\VirginiaM yes http://viaf.org/viaf/49990442 22113749-d1ba-4764-853d-601e053d59bc