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{{Short description|British writer and physician}}
'''John Ferriar''' ([[1761]], near [[Jedburgh]], [[Roxburghshire]] - 4 February 1815), was a Scottish [[physician]] and a [[poet]], most noted for his leadership of the [[Manchester Infirmary]], and his studies of the causes of diseases such as [[typhoid]]. M.D. Edinburgh, 1781; his essay on [[Massinger]] reprinted in Gifford's edition (1805); physician of the Manchester Infirmary, 1789-1815; introduced many sanitary reforms when on the Manchester board of health; published works including ''Medical Histories and Reflections'' 1792-5-8, and ''Illustrations of Sterne'' 1798. His obituary, published in 1815, read:
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox person
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| name = John Ferriar
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| caption = John Ferriar
| birth_name =
⚫
| birth_date = 1761
| birth_place = [[Jedburgh]], [[Roxburghshire]]
⚫
| death_date = 4 February 1815
| death_place = [[Manchester]], [[Lancashire]]
| nationality =
| other_names =
| alma_mater = {{ubl | [[University of Edinburgh]] }}
| occupation = {{hlist | [[Physician]] | [[Poet]] }}
| years_active =
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⚫
}}


'''John Ferriar''' (1761 – 4 February 1815) was a Scottish [[physician]] and a [[poet]], most noted for his leadership of the [[Manchester Infirmary]], and his studies of the causes of diseases such as [[typhoid]].
⚫
:Died, on the 4th of February, aged 52, JOHN FERRIAR, M. D. Senior Physician of the Manchester Infirmary. The eminent rank which he held in his profession, not only in that town and its immediate neighbourhood, but through a widely extended district of the surrounding country, was founded on long and general experience of the efficacy of his counsels. He was endowed by nature with an acute and vigorous understanding, which he had matured by a life of diligent study, and of careful and well-digested observation, into a judgment unusually correct and prompt in its decisions. The purposes of his sagacious mind were pursued, also, with a steadiness of determination which generally secured their accomplishment; and unexpected difficulties, in the treatment of diseases, he encountered with firmness, and with great fertility of invention. As a professional author he had obtained a high station, and the world is indebted to him for a large fund of valuable knowledge, conveyed in a style, which, for perspicuity, aud for manly strength and simplicity, deserves to be proposed as a model to medical writers. His character as a polite scholar will be preserved, in the literary annals of his country, by writings, in which he has displayed correct taste, extensive and various readings and original views of the subjects of his investigations. In the relations of private life he will long be remembered as a man of inflexible honour and integrity; a faithful arid steady friend; find a tender and most indulgent parent.<ref>"Biographical Notice of the Late John Ferriar, M.D." in Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 11, 2nd edition (1815) p. 263.</ref>


==Background==
He also published ''An essay towards a theory of apparitions'' in 1813 in which he argued that [[Apparitional experience|apparitions]] could be explained by [[optical illusions]].
Ferriar was born near [[Jedburgh]], [[Roxburghshire]] in 1761. He obtained his [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]] in 1781, and became a physician (and later senior physician) at the [[Manchester Infirmary]], from 1789 until 1815. He was a founder of the [[The Portico Library|Portico Library]] and acted as its first Chairman alongside its first Secretary, [[Peter Mark Roget]].

==Manchester Board of Health==
In 1795, he helped to set up a Board of Health in Manchester which rented houses in Portland Street for use as a fever hospital. He described to the Committee for the Regulation of the Police the appalling living conditions of the poor in cellars without lighting, sanitation or ventilation. People newly arrived from the country were particularly vulnerable to fevers. Consequently, he introduced many sanitary reforms.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brockbank|first1=William|title=Portrait of a Hospital|date=1952|publisher=William Heinemann|location=London|pages=28–38}}</ref>

His obituary, published in 1815, read:

<blockquote>
⚫
Died, on the 4th of February, aged 52, JOHN FERRIAR, M. D. Senior Physician of the Manchester Infirmary. The eminent rank which he held in his profession, not only in that town and its immediate neighbourhood, but through a widely extended district of the surrounding country, was founded on long and general experience of the efficacy of his counsels. He was endowed by nature with an acute and vigorous understanding, which he had matured by a life of diligent study, and of careful and well-digested observation, into a judgment unusually correct and prompt in its decisions. The purposes of his sagacious mind were pursued, also, with a steadiness of determination which generally secured their accomplishment; and unexpected difficulties, in the treatment of diseases, he encountered with firmness, and with great fertility of invention. As a professional author he had obtained a high station, and the world is indebted to him for a large fund of valuable knowledge, conveyed in a style, which, for perspicuity, aud for manly strength and simplicity, deserves to be proposed as a model to medical writers. His character as a polite scholar will be preserved, in the literary annals of his country, by writings, in which he has displayed correct taste, extensive and various readings and original views of the subjects of his investigations. In the relations of private life he will long be remembered as a man of inflexible honour and integrity; a faithful arid steady friend; find a tender and most indulgent parent.<ref>"Biographical Notice of the Late John Ferriar, M.D." in Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 11, 2nd edition (1815) p. 263.</ref>
</blockquote>

==Works==
His essay on [[Massinger]] was reprinted in Gifford's edition (1805), and his other published works includes ''Medical Histories and Reflections'' 1792-5-8, and ''Illustrations of Sterne'' 1798. In 1813, he also published ''An essay towards a theory of apparitions'' in which he argued that [[Apparitional experience|apparitions]] could be explained by [[optical illusions]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ferriar|first=John|url=https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/pdf/b21051902|title=An Essay Towards a Theory of Apparitions|year=1813}}</ref> A review of this essay appears in ''The Quarterly.''<ref>{{cite journal|title=Review: ''An Essay towards a Theory of Apparitions'' by John Ferriar, M. D.|journal=The Quarterly Review|volume=9|date=July 1813|pages=304–312|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b661436;view=1up;seq=316}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
Line 12: Line 50:
*[http://www.thornber.net/cheshire/ideasmen/ferriar.html Biography of John Ferriar]
*[http://www.thornber.net/cheshire/ideasmen/ferriar.html Biography of John Ferriar]
*[http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/2554012R John Ferriar's ''Medical histories and reflections'' (Philadelphia, 1816)]
*[http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/2554012R John Ferriar's ''Medical histories and reflections'' (Philadelphia, 1816)]
*[https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/pdf/b21051902 Towards a Theory of Apparitions (1813)]

{{s-start}}
{{s-npo|pro}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Thomas Barnes (Unitarian)|Thomas Barnes]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the [[Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]] |years=1787–92 }}
{{s-aft|after= [[James Watt junior|James Watt Jnr]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
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| NAME = Ferriar, John
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
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| DATE OF BIRTH = 1761
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
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| DATE OF DEATH = 4 February 1815
| PLACE OF DEATH =
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}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferriar, John}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferriar, John}}
[[Category:1761 births]]
[[Category:1761 births]]
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[[Category:Scottish literary critics]]
[[Category:Scottish literary critics]]
[[Category:Scottish medical writers]]
[[Category:Scottish medical writers]]
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[[Category:18th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:Physicians of the Manchester Royal Infirmary]]

[[Category:Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]]
{{Scotland-med-bio-stub}}
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[[Category:18th-century Scottish medical doctors]]

[[id:John Ferriar]]

Revision as of 03:21, 15 July 2024

John Ferriar
John Ferriar
Born1761
Jedburgh, Roxburghshire
Died4 February 1815
Manchester, Lancashire
Alma mater
Occupations

John Ferriar (1761 – 4 February 1815) was a Scottish physician and a poet, most noted for his leadership of the Manchester Infirmary, and his studies of the causes of diseases such as typhoid.

Background

Ferriar was born near Jedburgh, Roxburghshire in 1761. He obtained his MD at the University of Edinburgh in 1781, and became a physician (and later senior physician) at the Manchester Infirmary, from 1789 until 1815. He was a founder of the Portico Library and acted as its first Chairman alongside its first Secretary, Peter Mark Roget.

Manchester Board of Health

In 1795, he helped to set up a Board of Health in Manchester which rented houses in Portland Street for use as a fever hospital. He described to the Committee for the Regulation of the Police the appalling living conditions of the poor in cellars without lighting, sanitation or ventilation. People newly arrived from the country were particularly vulnerable to fevers. Consequently, he introduced many sanitary reforms.[1]

His obituary, published in 1815, read:

Died, on the 4th of February, aged 52, JOHN FERRIAR, M. D. Senior Physician of the Manchester Infirmary. The eminent rank which he held in his profession, not only in that town and its immediate neighbourhood, but through a widely extended district of the surrounding country, was founded on long and general experience of the efficacy of his counsels. He was endowed by nature with an acute and vigorous understanding, which he had matured by a life of diligent study, and of careful and well-digested observation, into a judgment unusually correct and prompt in its decisions. The purposes of his sagacious mind were pursued, also, with a steadiness of determination which generally secured their accomplishment; and unexpected difficulties, in the treatment of diseases, he encountered with firmness, and with great fertility of invention. As a professional author he had obtained a high station, and the world is indebted to him for a large fund of valuable knowledge, conveyed in a style, which, for perspicuity, aud for manly strength and simplicity, deserves to be proposed as a model to medical writers. His character as a polite scholar will be preserved, in the literary annals of his country, by writings, in which he has displayed correct taste, extensive and various readings and original views of the subjects of his investigations. In the relations of private life he will long be remembered as a man of inflexible honour and integrity; a faithful arid steady friend; find a tender and most indulgent parent.[2]

Works

His essay on Massinger was reprinted in Gifford's edition (1805), and his other published works includes Medical Histories and Reflections 1792-5-8, and Illustrations of Sterne 1798. In 1813, he also published An essay towards a theory of apparitions in which he argued that apparitions could be explained by optical illusions.[3] A review of this essay appears in The Quarterly.[4]

References

  1. ^ Brockbank, William (1952). Portrait of a Hospital. London: William Heinemann. pp. 28–38.
  2. ^ "Biographical Notice of the Late John Ferriar, M.D." in Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 11, 2nd edition (1815) p. 263.
  3. ^ Ferriar, John (1813). An Essay Towards a Theory of Apparitions.
  4. ^ "Review: An Essay towards a Theory of Apparitions by John Ferriar, M. D." The Quarterly Review. 9: 304–312. July 1813.
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Professional and academic associations
Preceded by Secretary of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
1787–92 		Succeeded by
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