James Anderson (botanist)
James Anderson (17 January 1738–6 August 1809[1]) was an 18th-century Scottish physician and botanist. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1794, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2] He spent his later life in India.
Life[]
He was born on 17 January 1738 in Long Hermiston, west of Edinburgh. the son of Dr Andrew Anderson, the local physician.[3] He was educated locally at Ratho school then studied Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.[3][4]
Anderson became an East India Company naval surgeon in 1759, and moved to the Madras Presidency in 1765. He was made surgeon-general of Madras in 1781, and ultimately physician-general.[4] He died at Madras and a monument to him by Chantrey is installed at St George's Cathedral in Madras.[5]
Interested in medicinal plants and horticulture, he set up a botanical garden in Madras where Anderson introduced mulberry trees, and experimented with making silk. After his death, the garden was maintained by his son-in-law Dr. Andrew Berry. He introduced apple trees also, and sought to produce local cochineal. He wrote on the cultivation of sugarcane, coffee and cotton.[4]
Botanical reference[]
William Roxburgh (1751–1815) named the genus Andersonia after him.
References[]
- ^ Crawford, D.G. (1914). A history of the Indian Medical Service, 1600-1913. Volume 2. London: W. Thacker and Co. p. 22. Note:Gives date of death as 5 August 1809.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Memoirs of Dr James Anderson physician at Madras", in The Bee, or Literary weekly intelligencer, Edinburgh, May 9, 1792, p. 16
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Desmond, Ray. "Anderson, James (1738–1809)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/476. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Cotton, Julian James https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.32088/page/n90 (1905). Inscription on tombs or monuments in Madras. p. 70.
- ^ IPNI. Anderson.
- Ray Desmond (1994). Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists including Plant Collectors, Flower Painters and Garden Designers. Taylor & Francis and The Natural History Museum (London). ISBN 0-85066-843-3
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