John White (surgeon)

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John White (born 1756 or 1757 in Drumaran , † February 20, 1832 in Worthing ( Sussex )) was a British surgeon and botanist of Irish descent. Its official botanical author's abbreviation is " J.White ".

Live and act

After attending school in Enniskillen , he became a member of the Royal Navy in 1778 . In 1780 he was promoted to surgeon, he received his diploma in 1781. He served in India and the Caribbean, among other places. On the recommendation of Naval Officer Andrew Snape Hamond , White became a surgeon on the Charlotte ship . The ship belonged to the First Fleet , which was the first English settler fleet to sail to Australia in 1787. After arriving in 1788, White held the office of Surgeon-General in the newly formed colony of New South Wales .

White was the first to describe numerous species of Australian fauna and flora, including the coral finger tree frog . In 1790 he published the country description Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with 65 copperplate engravings of Australian animals and plants.

However, as his diary shows, he hated Australia dearly. He described it as "a country that is so repulsive and abominable that it deserves nothing but disgust and curses" ("a country and place so forbidding and so hateful as only to merit execution and curses") . In 1794 he left Australia and returned to England. From 1796 to 1800 White was a surgeon on the HMS Royal William , then a surgeon at the shipyards in Sheerness (1799-1803) and later Chatham . In 1820 he retired.

He had a son from a relationship with Rachel Turner, who had come to Australia as a prisoner on the Second Fleet , and another son and two daughters from a marriage after his return to England.

Fonts (selection)

literature

  • SA Mellick: John White and Matthew Flinders, voyageurs avantureux in New South Wales 1788–1799. In: The Australian and New Zealand journal of surgery. Volume 70, Number 12, December 2000, pp. 875-882, ISSN  0004-8682 . PMID 11167576 .
  • EC Nelson: Historical revision XXII: John White (c. 1756-1832), surgeon-general of New South Wales: biographical notes on his Irish origins. In: Irish historical studies. Volume 25, Number 100, 1987, pp. 405-412, ISSN  0021-1214 . PMID 11617226 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ SA Mellick: John White and Matthew Flinders, voyageurs avantureux in New South Wales 1788–1799. In: The Australian and New Zealand journal of surgery. Volume 70, Number 12, December 2000, pp. 875-882, PMID 11167576 , p. 876.
personal data
SURNAME White, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English surgeon and botanist
DATE OF BIRTH 1756 or 1757
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 1832
Place of death Worthing ( Sussex )