John Forrest (doctor)

John Forrest
CB, QHP
Born (1804-06-20)20 June 1804
Stirling, Scotland
Died 10 December 1865(1865-12-10) (aged 61)
Bath, England
Resting place Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath
51°23′07″N 2°23′07″W / 51.385181°N 2.385399°W / 51.385181; -2.385399
Monuments Forrest Hospital, St Julian's, Malta
Nationality Scottish
Occupation British military medical officer
Military career
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  British Army
Years of service 1825–1861
Rank Inspector-General of Army Hospitals
Battles/wars Expedition against the Rajah of Kolapore
Expedition against the insurgent Boers beyond the Orange River
Kaffir War
Crimean War: Affair of Bulganac
Crimean War: Battle of Balaclava
Crimean War: Battle of Alma
Crimean War: Battle of Inkerman
Crimean War: Siege of Sebastopol
Awards South African Medal
Crimea Medal with clasps Alma, Inkermann and Sebastopol
Turkish Crimean Medal
Companion of the Order of the Bath
4th Class Order of the Medjidie
Signature

John Forrest, CB, QHP (20 June 1804, Stirling, Scotland[1] – 10 December 1865, Bath, England[2]) was a British military medical officer.

Forrest served in the Army Medical Staff for 36 years supporting the British Army during a number of conflicts including the Crimean War, briefly being in charge of Scutari Hospital where Florence Nightingale was stationed, and was subsequently made an Honorary Physician to the Queen. He was described in the Medical and Surgical Reporter as "One of the most distinguished medical officers of the British Army".[3]

His past revealed, however, that as a medical student, whilst seeking a cadaver to further his understanding of medicine, he was convicted of grave-robbing – although he was later pardoned by the King.

Childhood and education

John Forrest was born on 20 June 1804 in Stirling, Scotland, the son of John Forrest, a physician, and Elizabeth Glas.[1]

In 1822, when he was a student of medicine at Edinburgh University Forrest was involved in the removal of the body of Mary Wotherspoon from Stirling Churchyard.[nb 1] The crime was discovered and John along with James Shiels, a street sweeper, Daniel Mitchell, a servant and changekeeper, and James McNab, the local gravedigger, were implicated as the culprits.

A trial was held at the Stirling Spring Circuit Court on 19 April 1823; however, Forrest had absconded and was absent from the hearings. He was assumed to be heading for Paris whilst McNab and Mitchel were held prisoners in the Stirling Tolbooth. The court documents do not mention Shiels however. The crime had been discovered when the grave of Mary Wotherspoon, who had been buried a week before, had been observed to be a couple of inches below the surface. A rope was discovered near the surface and digging down to the coffin revealed it had been broken open and the body removed, however the clothes had been thrown back inside.[nb 2][6]

In McNab's statement he described Forrest as the ring-leader who had approached him a number of times trying to persuade him to assist in the removal of bodies from the church yard, offering him up to four guineas per body. In McNab's role as the church gravedigger he would have held the keys to the church yard which would be of great use in such a crime. Although McNab admitted being with Forrest, Mitchel and Shiels on the night before the crime was discovered, he protested his innocence and claimed the crime was conducted after he left the group.[6]

Mitchel's statement supports the claim that Forrest had offered a number of times three of four guineas for assistance in the removal of bodies from the graveyard. Mitchel also mentions one of Forrest's accomplices being "a tallish man with a great white coat with a number of capes and whom he heard to be called Mr Johnston from Edinburgh". This man was not located and assumed to be a fictitious character.[6][nb 3]

Mitchel goes on to describe how Forrest had offered him a large amount of whisky and being intoxicated, agreed to go with him, McNab and Shiels to the church yard where Mr Johnston gave him a pound note (which he admits he split with Shiels the following day). However, Mitchel denies assisting with the crime, saying he left immediately afterwards.[6]

As all evidence pointed towards Forrest being the principal offender in the case and that he had absconded, the court decreed that he should be outlawed.[7]

The Lord Advocate also decided that because Forrest was absent, the trial against McNab and Mitchel who had merely been acting as agents was halted pro loco et tempore. In Scots law this phrase refers to a case where the trial is stopped but the prosecution retains the right to bring a fresh indictment against the accused. They were freed from jail, however this incensed the local populace who formed an angry mob and started to riot in the streets. The 77th Regiment were brought down from the Castle to disperse the rioters who fired on the mob in Spittal Street, but no-one was injured, the soldiers intentionally firing over the people's heads. For their own safety McNab and Mitchel had to take refuge in the jail they had just been released from.[8][9]

Although Forrest had been outlawed, this did not affect his progress in education, and in 1823 he became a licentiate of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.[10]

On 7 July 1824, Forrest was pardoned by the King.[11] The reasons are not clearly documented, only referring to John Forrest's contrition of the crime and "favourable circumstances".[12][13]

Forrest continued his education, and in 1825 was awarded a Doctorate from Edinburgh University.[10] His dissertation, written in Latin, was on the subject of gangrene.[14]

Early military career

Much of Forrest's military career is documented in his obituary in the British Medical Journal:[15]

Forrest joined the British Army as a Hospital Assistant on 10 November 1825. Through his diligence he was promoted to Assistant Surgeon into the 20th Regiment of the Foot on 9 February 1826. This period of history was relatively peaceful, and regiments were posted around the British Colonies to ensure order was maintained. The 20th Regiment was based in India and Forrest was involved in the expedition against the Rajah of Kolapore in 1827.[15]

On 3 September 1829 Forrest was transferred into the 23rd Regiment of Foot where he was attached until 11 October 1831 when he transferred to the 8th West India Regiment of Foot.

Forrest transferred into the hospital staff in St. Ninians, Scotland on 9 July 1832 where he remained for a number of years.[15] There he married, on 7 March 1839, Ann Mclachlan [16] daughter of Captain Donald Mclachlan. The following month[17] they left Stirling with Captain Donald and family in the barque Arione and journeyed to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa where Forrest and his new wife disembarked. Her father and family continued to Australia reaching Port Phillip towards the end of 1839 where they settled.[18]

Forrest was promoted to surgeon of the 2nd class into the 75th Regiment of Foot where he was attached from 2 July 1841 until 13 May 1842 when he transferred to the hospital staff in Cape Town.[15]

Whilst in Cape Town, Forrest and his wife Ann had two children, Mary Anne (born 1840)[19] and John (born 2 February 1841).[20] However, Ann died soon after on 1 August 1842[21] and was buried at St George’s Anglican Church, Cape Town on 2 August 1842.[22]

Forrest's role as hospital staff in Cape Town included involvement in the expedition against the insurgent Boers beyond the Orange River in 1845, and in the Kaffir War of 1846, for which he received the South African Medal.[15]

He also became the Medical Attendant to Lady Sarah Lennox (1792–1873), daughter of the Duke of Richmond, and wife of Sir Peregrine Maitland. Sir John Hall describes Forrest in a letter dated 17 January 1847:

Dr Forrest, who belongs to the Medical Staff here, and has made a good deal of money, I hear, by private practice, is indignant at being passed over by Atkinson, who is junior to him in the Service, and is going to make an application to return home on account of his health, to which I suppose I shall be compelled to give my assent. The other day he sent a regular reprimand to Sir James McGrigor for overlooking his individual merits, and promoting a junior Officer over his head, which he sent to me for transmission home. I, of course, returned it to him with a message that, however much he fancied Sir James deserved censure for the promotion he had made, I was not the channel through which such a communication should pass, but that if I could forward his views in getting an exchange, or even promotion, it would afford me much pleasure. It was rather a knowing dodge of the canny Scot, as all Sir James's anger would have fallen on me, and very properly, for transmitting such a document; but I have been severely bitten once by one of his countrymen for my good nature, and I will forgive the next who persuades me to commit myself again for his advantage.[23]

On 21 May 1850 Forrest was promoted to Surgeon of the First Class and served as hospital staff in Glasgow and Chatham, Kent.[24]

Crimean War

Lithograph of the hospital at Scutari

On 28 March 1854, Forrest was promoted to Deputy-Inspector of Army Hospitals and on 13 April 1854 was ordered to be in medical charge of the 3rd division of the Eastern army in Gallipoli and Bulgaria, accompanying the expedition to the Crimea on 17 September 1854.[15][25]

In his capacity of Principal Medical Officer, Forrest was present at the affair of Bulganac, capture of Balaklava, battles of the Alma and Inkerman, and siege of Sebastopol. Forrest was noted in Lord Raglan’s despatch after the Battle of Inkerman, “for his able exertions, as deserving to be most honourably mentioned”.[15]

In December 1854, he was posted to Scutari hospital. One of the junior doctors in his division, George Lawson, wrote a letter home describing his high opinion of Forrest:

You will be surprised to hear that Dr Forrest has left us. He received orders to proceed to Scutari to take the Medical Superintendance of that station. The Scutari Hospital has been much grumbled at, and from the number of sick now rapidly being sent down there, it requires a man of good capabilities to take charge. Had he been there before there would never have been a complaint against the place ... He has kindly promised to have me removed there, but this I am obliged to keep to myself, as it requires some management to be sent down. I shall first get sent down to Scutari with wounded and sick, and he will detain me there and give me, I have asked of him, one of the surgical wards.[26][27]

It was not long before the extent of the conditions at Scutari became clear to Forrest, as described in his letter to Dr. John Hall on 4 January:

I fear that this place will prove too much for me. There are now three large Hospitals open containing close upon 5000 sick. Two Staff Surgeons are ill with fever I shall therefore require to replace them, and also a 1st Class Staff Surgeon to superintend the Sultans Palace Hospital, and an Hospital about to be opened over the East stables – calculated to contain 70 patients.[28]

Florence Nightingale, a nurse at Scutari who worked hard to make improvements for the overworked staff against official indifference, wrote of Forrest in her letter to Sidney Herbert on 8 January 1855, stating:

I beseech you to keep this letter to yourself, while making enquiries to which it may lead you. The Commission has done nothing – probably its powers were limited to enquiry. Cumming has done nothing. Lord Wm Paulet has done nothing. Lord Stratford, absorbed in politics, does not know the circumstances. Lord Wm. Paulet knows them, but partially. Menzies knows them & will not tell them. Wreford knows them & is stupified. The Medical Officers, if they were to betray them, would have it 'reported personally & professionally to their disadvantage'. Lord Wm. Paulet & Dr Forrest the new Medical Head, I see, are desperate.[29]

The conditions are revealed also in a letter dated 16 January from Forrest to John Hall:

We are going on very quietly here. Miss Nightingale & Co have not disturbed me. I hope you will not send any more sick down here until our numbers are reduced, as there is no room for them in the hospitals – the weather here is very stormy and I pity the troops in camp with all my heart – their sufferings must be great and I can see nothing before them but certain death.[28]

Forrest had contracted a severe illness and unable to remain at his post he resigned. His letter to Hall on 23 January stated:

I am sorry I find I must divert to England for a change in climate as I am quite unfit to carry on duty here. Lawson and others seem to think there is serious disease of the kidney going on and I daresay they are right.[28]

Forrest was granted a medical certificate and returned to England on 26 January 1855.[25]

Forrest was awarded the Crimea Medal with three clasps which was personally presented to him by Queen Victoria at the presentation ceremony on Horse Guards Parade, London, 18 May 1855.[30][31] He was also awarded the Turkish Crimea Medal.[15]

Later career

Gravestone of John Forrest, Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath

Forrest spent much of the remaining time in service as Principal Medical Officer stationed in Malta.[15] He was made an Ordinary Member of the Military Division of the Third Class (Companion of the Order of the Bath) on 5 February 1856[32] and received the fourth-class Order of the Medjidie on 2 March 1858 for his efforts in the Crimean War.[33]

Forrest remarried on 12 August 1858 in Gibraltar, Emma Jenkin, daughter of George H. Jenkin.[34]

He was promoted to Inspector-General of Army Hospitals[24] on 31 December 1858 and shortly after on 16 November 1859 was given the title Honorary Physician to the Queen.[35]

In 1860, the hospital at Villa Spinola in St. Julian's was adapted into a 42-bed army hospital to serve the newly opened barracks at Pembroke and by serving as a sanatorium to absorb some of the overflow from Valletta General Hospital. This hospital was named Forrest Hospital after Forrest.[36]

Forrest died at 10 Queens Parade in Bath, Somerset on 10 December 1865,[2] leaving £8,000 to his daughter Mary Anne, £5,000 to his second wife Emma, and the remaining £5,000 of his estate to his son John.[37][38] He is buried at Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath.[39]

Career timeline

Medals awarded to Forrest
Date Position Attached
10 November 1825 Hospital-Assistant to the Forces[24]
9 February 1826 Assistant Surgeon[24] 20th Regiment of Foot[40]
3 September 1829 Assistant Surgeon 23rd Regiment of Foot[41]
11 October 1831 Assistant Surgeon 8th West India Regiment of Foot[42]
9 July 1832 Assistant Surgeon Hospital Staff[43]
2 July 1841 Surgeon[24] 75th Regiment of Foot[44]
13 May 1842 Surgeon Hospital Staff[45]
30 April 1847 Surgeon 91st Regiment of Foot[46]
21 May 1850 Surgeon Major[24] Hospital Staff[47]
28 March 1854 Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals[24] 3rd Division of Eastern Army
31 December 1858 Inspector-General of Hospitals[24]
9 November 1861 Placed on Half-Pay[24]

Notes

  1. ↑ Before the Anatomy Act of 1832, the only legal supply of corpses for anatomical purposes were those condemned to death and dissection by the courts. While in the 1700s, hundreds had been executed for trivial crimes, by the 19th century only approximately 50 people were being hanged each year. With the expansion of the medical schools and private anatomical schools, as many as 500 cadavers were needed. This led to body snatching to fill the shortfall. Stealing a corpse was a misdemeanour at common law, not a felony, and was therefore only punishable with fine and imprisonment, rather than transportation or execution. The trade was a sufficiently lucrative business to run the risk of detection, particularly as the authorities tended to turn a blind eye to what they considered a necessary evil.[4]
  2. ↑ One method body-snatchers used was to dig at the head end of a recent burial, digging with a wooden spade (quieter than metal). When they reached the coffin they broke it open, put a rope around the corpse and dragged it out. They were careful not to steal anything such as jewellery or clothes as this would leave them open to a felony charge.[5]
  3. ↑ The character described could have been John Forrest's brother-in-law Dr. Alexander Johnston. Johnston was married to John's elder sister Marion and was four years older than John. He had obtained his degree at Edinburgh University and it could be assumed he was still living there and so fitting the description of "Mr Johnston from Edinburgh". The "white coat" may imply a doctor's outfit, however prior to the late 19th century doctors actually wore black.

References

  1. 1 2 "Births & Baptisms: Stirling, Scotland: 1804 ". In Old Parish Registers. National Archives of Scotland. OPR Ref. 490/0030 0336. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Deaths: Bath, Somerset, England: 1865". In Statutory Register. General Register Office for England and Wales. GRO Ref. 1865/Q3/5C/431
  3. ↑ Butler, Samuel Worcester (Ed.) (1865). "Obituary". In Medical and surgical reporter 13. Philadelphia: Alfred Martien. p278. OCLC 10212984 Google Book Search. Retrieved on 27 February 2012.
  4. ↑ Wise, Sarah (2004). The Italian boy: murder and grave-robbery in 1830s London. London: Jonathan Cape. pp30-31. ISBN 978-1-84413-330-7 Google Book search. Retrieved on 27 February 2012
  5. ↑ Wise, Sarah (2004). p96.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Trial papers relating to Daniel Mitchell, James McNab, John Forrest for the crime of violation of sepulchres at Church yard: Stirling, 19 April 1823". In High Court of Justiciary processes. National Archives of Scotland. Ref. JC26/1823/15
  7. ↑ Shaw, Patrick & Dunlop, Alex. (eds.) (1824). "Court of Justiciary: West Circuit: No.99". In Cases decided in the Court of Session 2. Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute. p. 103. OCLC 316371051 Google Book Search. Retrieved on 27 February 2012
  8. ↑ "Riot in Stirling" (1823). In Broadside. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved on 27 February 2012.
  9. ↑ Drysdale, William (1898). "The Resurrectionists in Stirling". In Old Faces, Old Places and Old Stories of Stirling. Stirling, Scotland: E. Mackay. p254. OCLC 6454360 Internet Archive. Retrieved on 27 February 2012
  10. 1 2 Medical Register (1859). The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. p105 OCLC 29553918
  11. ↑ "British Chronicle". In The Edinburgh Magazine, and Literary Miscellany. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable. p244. OCLC 13409687 Google Book Search. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  12. ↑ "Registrum Magni Sigilli (Paper Register), 17 Jun 1820 – 26 Sep 1825". In Great Seal Register (Registrum Magni Sigilli) Paper Register. National Archives of Scotland. Refs. C3/25/00191R, C3/25/00191V
  13. ↑ "Book of Adjournal, 27 Jan 1823 – 12 Jul 1824". In Books of Adjournal – Series E. National Archives of Scotland. Refs. JC4/14/00405/L, JC4/14/00406/R
  14. ↑ Forrest, John (1825). Dissertatio medica inauguralis, quaedam de gangraena complectens. Wellcome Library. Ref. 27096473
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Obituaries". British Medical Journal 2(247). p323
  16. ↑ "Marriages: St. Ninians, Scotland: 1839". In Old Parish Registers. National Archives of Scotland. OPR Ref. 488/0060 0300. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  17. ↑ "Mclachlans of Salachan". In Notes and Queries 171. London: Oxford University Press. p192. OCLC 220711676
  18. ↑ Mclachlan, Allan Ronald (1937). "Donald's History". In The Argus 26 November 1937. Melbourne, Australia: Wilson & MacKinnon. p16. OCLC 493524643
  19. ↑ 1881 England Census, Public Records Office. Ref. RG11/2440/27/13 (age transposed with Husband’s)
  20. ↑ Gravestone of John and Eveline Forrest, Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire
  21. ↑ "Deaths". In The Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette. 5 August 1842. Cape Town, South Africa: W. Bridekirk. OCLC 46704873
  22. ↑ Burial Register. St George’s Anglican Church. Cape Town, South Africa
  23. ↑ Mitra, Siddha Mohana (1911). The Life and Letters of Sir John Hall. London: Longmans, Green & Co. p104. OCLC 14783965. Internet Archive. Retrieved on 27 February 2012
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hart, Colonel H.G. (1863). The New Annual Army List, and Militia List 24. London: John Murray. p529. OCLC 606571703 Google Book Search. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  25. 1 2 "Returns relating to Officers in the Army (Crimea)". In Accounts and Papers: 1857 9. London: HMSO. OCLC 6071490 Google Book Search. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  26. ↑ Bonham-Carter, Victor (Ed.) (1968). Surgeon in Crimea: The Experiences of George Lawson recorded in letters to his family 1854–1855. London: Constable. p110. ISBN 978-0-09-456090-1
  27. ↑ Shepherd, John A (1911). In "Scutari Hospitals (II)". The Crimean Doctors: Volume 2. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p361. ISBN 978-0-85323-167-7. Google Book Search. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  28. 1 2 3 "Reports from Deputy Inspector General John Forrest at Scutari (Dec 1854 – Jan 1855)". In Royal Army Medical Corps Muniments Collection. Wellcome Library, London. Ref. MSS RAMC/397/F/CO/21
  29. ↑ Vicinus, Martha & Nergaard, Bea (Eds.) (1989). Ever yours, Florence Nightingale: Selected Letters. London: Virago Press. p101. ISBN 978-0-86068-671-2. Google Book Search. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  30. ↑ Cormack, John Rose & Wynter, Andrew (Eds.) (1855). "News and Topics of the Day". In Association Medical Journal 3(126). London: Thomas John Honeyman. p523. OCLC 475538409 Google Book Search. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  31. ↑ Mitchel, Neil & Duckers, Peter (1996). Presented by the Queen: The Crimea Medal Award Ceremony, 18 May 1855. Oldham: Jade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-900734-06-6
  32. ↑ London Gazette (21846). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p427. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  33. ↑ London Gazette (22107). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. pp1251-1253. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  34. ↑ "Army Returns, Marriages, Gibraltar: 1850–1959". In Statutory Register. General Register Office for England and Wales. p1129.
  35. ↑ Edinburgh Gazette (6937). Edinburgh: The Stationery Office. p1143. OCLC 500343919 Edinburgh Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  36. ↑ Cassar, Paul (1964). Medical History of Malta. London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library. p99. OCLC 2649845
  37. ↑ "Last Will and Testament of Dr John Forrest (1865)". In Wills & Testaments. National Archives of Scotland. Ref. SC70/6/4. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  38. ↑ "Inventory of Dr John Forrest (1865)". In Edinburgh Sheriff Court Inventories. National Archives of Scotland. Ref. SC70/1/127. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  39. ↑ Gravestone of Dr John Forrest. Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, England.
  40. ↑ London Gazette (18221). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p362. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  41. ↑ London Gazette (18615). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p1789. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  42. ↑ Edinburgh Gazette (4007). Edinburgh: The Stationery Office. p279. OCLC 500343919 Edinburgh Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  43. ↑ London Gazette (18957). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p1674. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  44. ↑ London Gazette (19995). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p1721. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  45. ↑ London Gazette (20099). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p1297. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  46. ↑ London Gazette (20729). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p1585. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
  47. ↑ London Gazette (21097). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p1452. OCLC 185636318 London Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2012
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