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wife (some 16 years his senior) died a few months later on 21 January 1809, leaving all her property to her father-in-law, John
Lettsom. By a twist of fate, shortly before his own death, Lettsom, who had freed all the slaves he had ever owned, found himself the owner of another 1,000 slaves. Lettsome himself died before he could decide what to do with them and they were inherited by his grandson, William Pickering Lettsom.
33:
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At the end of his life, Lettsom's son, Pickering
Lettsom, returned to Tortola to practice law and there he married a wealthy widow, Ruth Georges née Hodge, who had inherited some 1,000 slaves from her grandfather, Benzaliel Hodge. Pickering Lettsom died about a month after the marriage, and his new
161:
in the
British Virgin Islands, where he freed the slaves he had inherited and provided medical care for the local population. As the only doctor in the islands at that time, he was able to earn a considerable sum, his diligence and industry enabling him to resume his studies in Europe. John Coakley
286:
As founder, President (1775–76, 1784–85, 1808–11 and 1813–15) and benefactor of the London
Medical Society, Lettsom was the mainstay of the society from 1773 until his death in 1815. His influence remained strong and his example inspired the next generation of fellows — men such as Dr
262:
for homeless children. Numerous other clubs, societies, hospitals, dispensaries, and charitable institutions in the United
Kingdom and North America benefited from Lettsom's patronage, while from his pen there flowed a stream of "Hints", pamphlets, diatribes, and letters promoting
222:
in London and marriage to Ann (Nancy) Miers (1748-1830), daughter of John Miers. She was born in
Crooked Lane, London in about 1760: "A plain stumpy little woman whose only attraction was the large fortune she was known to possess!", but actually a singularly sweet person.
426:
When his good friend, William
Thornton, sought his advice about setting up a colony for freed slaves on the west coast of Africa, Lettsom counselled against it and suggested spending the money acquiring and manumitting the slaves in North America instead.
98:
in 1773, convinced that a combined membership of physicians, surgeons and apothecaries would prove productive. As the oldest such in the United
Kingdom, it is housed in London's medical community at Lettsome House, Chandos Street, near
692:
Naamlijst van West-Indische studenten te Leiden, Utrecht, Groningen en
Harderwijk 1701–1813 / door L. Knappert. – In: Bijdragen voor Vaderlandsche geschiedenis en oudheidkunde, zesde reeks, tiende deel, 1930, p. 294, no.
702:
Bronnen tot de geschiedenis der
Leidsche Universiteit, zesde deel, 10 Febr. 1765-21 Febr. 1795 : Catalogus promotorum ex die 14. Februarii anni 1765 / P.C. Molhuysen. – 's-Gravenhage:Martinus Nijhoff, 1923, p.
210:) survives, at the junction with Grove Hill Road. A side-street, Lettsom Street,; Lettsom Gardens, a community garden; and a nearby housing estate are named in his honour. The cottage is Grade II listed.
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279:. In the diversity of his interests, as physician, philanthropist, botanist, mineralogist and collector, Lettsom was in the mould of that giant of the previous generation of London physicians, Sir
455:
The naturalist's and traveller's companion, containing instructions for collecting and preserving objects of natural history and for promoting inquiries after human knowledge in general
142:, in 1744. John and his brother were the sole survivors of seven sets of male twins, sons of Edward and Mary Lettsom. John alone was sent to England at the age of six to be educated.
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423:, and as the only physician on the island amassed a small fortune of £2,000 in a mere six months, whereupon he gave half to his mother (who had remarried) and returned to London.
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153:. Having completed an apprenticeship to a Yorkshire apothecary, Lettsom came to London in 1766 and through the influence of Dr Fothergill commenced his medical training at
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Society (for vaccination), and gave his support to the Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of Medical Men, the Society for the Relief of Debtors, and the
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the antics of the young Lettsom attracted the attention of the Quaker preacher Samuel Fothergill, who introduced his protégé to his brother, the London physician,
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and had a villa at Grove Hill, away from the pollution of London. The villa was demolished when the estate was broken up in the early 1800s, but one of its
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John Coakley Lettsom (1744-1 Nov 1815), physician, with his family in his garden at Grove Hill, Camberwell, Surrey. Oil painting by unknown English artist,
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973:, edited by Christopher Lawrence and Fiona A. Macdonald. The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London, 2003
411:. In 1767 he had returned to the British Virgin Islands after the death of his father, and found himself the owner of a share of his father's
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295:, who followed in Lettsom's footsteps as President of the Society and physician to the General Dispensary. In 1791 Lettsom won the society's
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English-speaking students of medicine at the University of Leyden / R.W. Innes Smith. – Edinburgh/London:Oliver and Boyd, 1932, p. 140.
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103:. Lettsom was its mainstay, as founder, president (1775–1776, 1784–1785, 1808–1811 and 1813–1815) and benefactor.
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on 8 June 1769, and received his Medical Doctor degree there on 20 June 1769. His thesis concerns the
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John Coakley Lettsom was born into the Quaker community on the island of Little Jost Van Dyke in the
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Lettsom, John Coakley. The Naturalist's and Traveller's Companion, first published in 1772
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settlement. The son of a West Indian planter and an Irish mother, he grew up to be an
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Sambrook Court: the letters of J.C. Lettsom at the Medical Society of London
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article by J.F. Payne 'Lettsom, John Coakley (1744–1815)', rev. Roy Porter,
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Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland
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by Nancy and Simon Scott. Cruising Guide Publications, Inc., 2008 p. 94.
827:"Transactions & studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia"
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Album Studiosorum Academiae Lugduno Batavae MDLXXV-MDCCCLXXV, kol. 1097.
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National Union Catalogue: NL 0302108; NcD-Mc; PPC; DNLM; TU; MH-A.
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Lettsom is reported to have written the following about himself:
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By the age of 30 Lettsom's reputation as a physician, author and
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The 2009–2011 Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands, 14th Edition
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For at least some of his years working in London, he lived in
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Diseases of Great Towns and the Best Means of Preventing them
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Koninklijke Bibliotheek Centrale Catalogus: UBL: 239 D 3 17.
267:, female industry, provision for the blind, a bee society,
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in 1787. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
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by Richard Woodman. Sheridan House, Inc., 2000, p. 30.
78:) was an English physician and philanthropist born on
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Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
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957:History of Medicine: The Medical Society of London
800:"Details from listed building database (1378433)"
230:was established. Furthermore, he had founded the
444:The naturalist's and traveller's companion, 1774
218:Lettsom's career accelerated with membership of
965:Tales of Tortola and the British Virgin Islands
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275:, while condemning quackery, card parties, and
902:Her Own Woman: The Life of Mary Wollstonecraft
1104:Members of the American Philosophical Society
853:American Philosophical Society Member History
772:. Lettsom Gardens Association. Archived from
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989:Postgraduate Medical Journal 2004;80:350–354
904:by DIANE JACOBS. Simon & Schuster, ch. 2
419:. Lettsom then set up a medical practice on
1000:"Lettsom, John Coakley, M.D. F.R.S. F.A.S."
1010:Three poems in the 'Camberwell' sequence:
379:attributes similar words to the fictional
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193:Lettsom's villa at Grove Hill, Camberwell
959:. London: Postgraduate Medical Journal.
946:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
883:. American Academy of Arts and Sciences
878:"Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter L"
676:
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395:Sometime they live, sometimes they die,
1054:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
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333:and others intent on social reform.
312:American Academy of Arts and Sciences
254:(1791), became a pillar of the Royal
133:The house where J.C. Lettsom was born
7:
1099:British Virgin Islands slave owners
369:If, after that, they please to die,
994:A quaker viewpoint on John Lettsom
805:National Heritage List for England
457:. London: E. and C. Dilly (1774).
391:When people's ill, they come to I,
14:
1059:British Virgin Islands physicians
745:The Secret History of Our Streets
393:I physics, bleeds and sweats 'em;
242:. He was a founder member of the
177:Lettsom became a close friend of
16:English philanthropist, 1744–1815
948:, Oxford University Press, 2004
367:Blisters, bleeds and sweats 'em.
325:clustered round a green and its
397:What's that to I? I let's 'em.
1069:British Virgin Islands Quakers
857:American Philosophical Society
747:. Episode 2. 13 June 2012. BBC
528:Junction with Lettsom Street:
308:American Philosophical Society
206:, 'The Hermitage' (number 220
74:(1744 – 1 November 1815, also
1:
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1089:Fellows of the Royal Society
356:) painted by Lettsom in 1757
162:Lettsom matriculated at the
955:Hunting, Penelope (2004) .
510:GPX (secondary coordinates)
306:Lettsom was elected to the
228:Fellow of the Royal Society
220:Royal College of Physicians
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198:In 1779 he bought land in
1006:. 1816. pp. 203–204.
505:GPX (primary coordinates)
480:Map all coordinates using
407:Lettsom was also a noted
329:. There he met the young
291:, his biographer, and Dr
240:Medical Society of London
96:Medical Society of London
61:Medical Society of London
30:
1094:Leiden University alumni
950:accessed 27 October 2015
488:Download coordinates as:
299:for a treatise entitled
246:in 1774, initiated the
849:"John Coakley Lettsom"
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140:British Virgin Islands
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84:British Virgin Islands
1074:British entomologists
1064:British abolitionists
500:GPX (all coordinates)
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260:Philanthropic Society
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1079:Quaker abolitionists
644:51.46577°N 0.08314°W
596:51.46659°N 0.08140°W
548:51.47008°N 0.08619°W
350:ring-necked parakeet
321:, a village full of
244:Royal Humane Society
80:Little Jost Van Dyke
69:John Coakley Lettsom
25:John Coakley Lettsom
963:Florence Lewisohn,
776:on 26 February 2020
639: /
591: /
543: /
415:, whom he promptly
331:Mary Wollstonecraft
297:Fothergillian Prize
155:St Thomas' Hospital
741:"Camberwell Grove"
649:51.46577; -0.08314
601:51.46659; -0.08140
553:51.47008; -0.08619
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371:I, John Lettsome.
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354:Psittacula krameri
323:English Dissenters
232:General Dispensary
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151:Dr John Fothergill
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607:"Lettsom Gardens"
365:I, John Lettsome,
346:The Ring Parakeet
293:Henry Clutterbuck
236:Aldersgate Street
179:Benjamin Franklin
174:of the tea-tree.
164:Leyden University
94:. He founded the
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327:Unitarian church
289:Thomas Pettigrew
208:Camberwell Grove
183:William Thornton
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1049:1815 deaths
1044:1744 births
862:14 December
833:22 November
647: /
599: /
551: /
453:. He wrote
281:Hans Sloane
248:Sea-bathing
168:Netherlands
120: 1786
1038:Categories
780:6 December
671:References
653: (
631:51°27′57″N
605: (
583:51°28′00″N
557: (
535:51°28′12″N
435:Entomology
417:manumitted
200:Camberwell
147:Lancashire
811:5 October
770:"History"
634:0°04′59″W
586:0°04′53″W
538:0°05′10″W
314:in 1788.
256:Jennerian
59:Founding
1015:(2020).
461:See also
271:and the
238:and the
204:cottages
76:Lettsome
887:28 July
693:XIII.2.
421:Tortola
252:Margate
166:in the
159:Tortola
82:in the
1023:
967:(1966)
829:. 1965
413:slaves
337:Humour
214:Career
88:Quaker
881:(PDF)
473:Notes
1021:ISBN
942:ODNB
889:2014
864:2020
835:2014
813:2013
782:2020
753:2013
703:81*.
181:and
107:Life
48:Died
43:1744
40:Born
495:KML
234:in
72:FRS
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855:.
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798:.
761:^
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348:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
