Alexander Manson

Alexander Manson

Alexander Manson FRSE (1774 – 19 March 1840) was a Scottish physician based in Nottingham who pioneered the use of iodine in medicine.[1]

Life

Memorial to Alexander Manson in St Mary's Church, Nottingham

He was born in Kirkcudbright the son of William Manson and his wife, Ann McGowan. He was christened in Kells on 8 February 1775. He studied Medicine at Edinburgh University.[2]

Alexander Manson served in the Royal Navy from 1798 to 1810 HMS Phoenix, HMS Superb, HMS Sophie, HMS Amethyst and HMS Penelope and at the Invasion of Martinique (1809).

He graduated as MD from University of Edinburgh in 1811.[3]

He was a physician at Nottingham General Hospital from 1813 to 1832, and at St. Mary's Workhouse Dispensary on Mansfield Road. He pioneered the use of iodine as a cure for certain medical conditions. His note books carry records of his cases.

In 1825 he published a reference book about his medical researches into the “effects of Iodine in Bronchocele, Paralysis, Chorea, Scrofula, Fistula, Lachrymalis, Deafness, Dysphagia, White-swelling, and Distortions of the Spine.” [4]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 7 April 1828 his proposer being Dr Robert Jameson.

During the Reform Riots, Dr. Manson, who was thought to be a supporter of the anti-reformists, was stoned by an angry crowd of demonstrators on 21 September 1831 in his carriage on Pelham Street in Nottingham.[5] Later that same evening his home in Stoney Street, Nottingham was attacked.

He resigned his appointments in 1832 and went to live in Darley Dale, Derbyshire, where he died in 1840 at the age of 66. He is interred in the churchyard of St. Helen's Church, Darley Dale.

A monument was erected in his memory in St Mary's Church, Nottingham.

Family

He married Ann Nevill Grist, daughter of Thomas Grist[6] on 8 February 1814 in St Mary's Church, Nottingham.

Publications

  • Dissertatio Medica Inauguralis de Synocha, sive Febre Flava. Alexander Manson, Edinburgh. Adam Neill. 1811.[7]
  • Medical researches on the effects of iodine, in bronchocele, paralysis, chorea, scrophula, fistula lachrymalis, deafness, dysphagia, white swelling, and distortions of the spine. Alexander Manson. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1825

References

  1. ↑ George Green: Mathematician & Physicist, 1793–1841 : the Background to His Life and Work. Doris Mary Cannell. SIAM, 2001
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ The Edinburgh medical and surgical Journal, Volume 7 Arch. Constable & Company, 1811, p.497
  4. ↑ Medical Researches on the Effects of Iodine in Bronchocele, Paralysys, Chorea, Scrofula, Fistula, Lachrymalis, Deafness, Dysphagio, White Swelling, and Distortions of the Spine. Alexander Manson, M.D. Physician to the General Hospital, &c., Nottingham. London 1825. Andersons Quarterly Journal of the Medical Sciences. January 1826. Volume III, No. IX, p.237
  5. ↑ Nottingham University Manuscripts and Special Collections 4998 – Copy letter from Dr. Alexander Manson, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, to J. H. Barker, Mayor of Nottingham; 9 October 1831
  6. ↑ The New monthly magazine, Volume 1. Allen and Ticknor, 1814
  7. ↑ The medico-chirurgical review and journal of medical science, Volume 8. Burgess and Hill, 1826
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