Alexander Keiller (physician)

Dr Keiller's house at 30 Northumberland Street, Edinburgh
The grave of Alexander Keiller, Warriston Cemetery

Alexander Keiller FRSE LLD (1811 – 26 September 1892) was a Scottish physician and gynaecologist who served as President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 1875–77.

Early life

Alexander Keiller was born in Arbroath on 11 November 1811 the fourth child of John Keiller (born 1768), a merchant[1] and his wife, Isabella Anderson.[2]

His early education took place at Dundee Grammar School before studying Medicine at both the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews. In 1833, Keiller became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and two years later obtained his Doctorate in Medicine from St. Andrews as well as becoming a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Keiller then practised medicine in Dundee for the next seven years.[3]

Career

Alexander Keiller returned to Edinburgh in 1844 and became a most successful and versatile teacher in the Extra-mural School. He and Dr Skae succeeded Dr Knox in the department of anatomy. Keiller then taught gynaecology, materia medica, medical jurisprudence and diseases of women and children. He lived at 30 Northumberland Street in Edinburgh's Second New Town.[4]

In 1851 he was appointed a physician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where his skill as a gynaecologist resulted in his ward becoming wholly gynaecological. On retiring from the Royal Infirmary, he was appointed one of the physicians to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

Dr Keiller was a regular contributor to the medical journals and gave many papers to medical societies.

In 1865 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being Thomas Croxen Archer.[1]

He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1849 and was President from 1875 to 1877.[3] He received an honorary doctorate (LLD) from St Andrews University in 1886.

He died in North Berwick on 26 September 1892.[3] He is buried with his daughters in Warriston Cemetery in the north of Edinburgh.[1] The partly toppled monument lies in the area west of the sealed eastern entrance.

Family

He married Maria Elizabeth Roy in 1846.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
  2. ↑ "Dr Alexander Keiller (1811-1892)". Find A Grave Memorial. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  3. 1 2 3 "Alexander Keiller, M.D., LL.D." (PDF). British Medical Journal. 2: 795. 8 October 1892.
  4. ↑ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1850–51
  5. ↑ "Family Search".
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