Clark, Sir James (1788-1870)

The twenty-eight letters and documents are as follows:

1: Letter from James Clark to Dr Peebles introducing him to a friend (25 August 1829);

2: Statement by James Clark to ? on the health of Dr Willis (11 January 1837);

3: Letter from James Clark to the President and Committee of the College, Regent's Park (3 July 1837);

4: Letter from James Clark to George Harrison (April 1839);

5: Letter from James Clark to ? in response to an invitation to dinner (11 November 1839);

6: Letter from James Clark to ? about borrowing the Management of Females during Pregnancy (1840);

7: Letter from James Clark to ? introducing Dr Thompson (19 January 1840);

8: Letter from James Clark to ? about the vaccination of Victoria, Princess Royal against small pox (22 December 1840);

9: Letter from James Clark to ? about the vaccination of Victoria, Princess Royal (29 January 1841);

10: Letter from James Clark to ? about presenting a book to the queen's librarian (4 October 1842);

11: Part of a letter from James Clark to ? (17 November 1842);

12: Letter from James Clark to Mr Richardson (13 January 1845 ?);

13: Letter from James Clark to ? (5 June 1853);

14: Letter from James Clark to Dr Symonds, Clifton, Bristol, about English physicians in Paris (30 September 1853), includes envelope;

15: Letter from James Clark to ? about finding a wet nurse for the queen's next baby (Beatrice) (19 January 1857);

16: Letter from James Clark to Mr Joseph introducing Mr Thompson, surgeon (1 July 1858);

17: Letter from James Clark to Dr Richardson about Richardson's health (24 November 1861);

18: Letter from James Clark to Mr Charles James Baker in response to an invitation (11 February 1866/ 1860 ?);

19: Letter from James Clark to Dr Joseph Hooker about visiting him at Kew Gardens (4 June 1866);

20: Letter from James Clark to Mrs Hopkins (27 December 1866);

21: Letter from James Clark to the President and Vice Presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons declining an invitation (24 January 1867);

22: Invitation from James Clark to Murchison (2 November 1869);

23: Letter from James Clark to ? (23 November 18?);

24: Letter from James Clark to ? (no date);

25: Letter from James Clark to Cameron asking him to call (no date);

26: Letter from James Clark to ? (no date);

27: Letter from James Clark to ? about a visit to Windsor Castle (no date);

28: Letter from James Clark to ? (no date);

This material was formerly held in the Western Manuscripts Department Autograph Letter sequence.

25 August 1829 - 2 November 1869

1 file

Purchased from: Stevens, London, January 1929 (acc.89269), September 1930 (acc.73169), April 1931 (acc.68567), September 1932 (acc.89090); Sotheby's, London, July 1931 (acc.57468), July 1931 (acc.67540), February 1932 (acc.76088); Glendining, London, September 1933 (acc.67769), December 1933 (acc.67818), January 1935 (acc.67947), August 1935 (possibly an error for 1934) (acc.67878); Mrs. Watson, Burnley, March 1945 (acc.72200), presumably once part of the Thomas Madden Stone autograph collection. Provenance details not recorded (acc.67430). Transferred from Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, c.1939 (acc.91800).

Sir James Clark was born on 14 December 1788 in Scotland. He qualified as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh in 1809 and entered the medical service of the Royal Navy. He worked on several ships, first as assistant surgeon and then, from 1811, as full surgeon. In 1815 Clark entered the University of Edinburgh graduating as a Doctor of Medicine in 1817. After graduating, Clark began his observations on the influence of climate on disease and moved abroad. In 1826 he returned to London where he was admitted a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. He was also appointed as physician to St George's Infirmary. In 1832 Clark was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

While in Rome, Clark met Prince Leopold, later king of Belgium, who appointed Clark as his physician. This in turn led to Clark's appointment, in 1835, as physician to the Duchess of Kent. When her daughter, Victoria, came to the throne in 1837 Clark was appointed as her physician and created baronet of Tillypronie.

Clark was a founder of the College of Chemistry in 1845; was awarded an honorary degree by King's College, Aberdeen, in 1848; elected assessor to the senate of King's in 1856; served on the senate of the University of London from 1838 to 1865; and was a member of the General Medical Council from 1858 to 1860. Clark retired from practise in 1860 and was made KCB in 1866.

In 1820 Clark married Barbara Stephen (d.1862) in Rome. They had one son, John Forbes Clark (1821-1910).

Clark died in June 1870 aged eighty-one years.

This information is taken from the Munk's Roll and the Dictionary of National Biography where full accounts of Clark's life and work can be found.