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James Esdaile
James Esdaile, M.D., E.I.C.S., Bengal (1808–1859), an Edinburgh trained Scottish surgeon, who served for twenty years with the East India Company, is a notable figure in the history of "animal magnetism" and, in particular, in the history of general anaesthesia.
The eldest son of the Rev. James Esdaile, D.D. (1775–1854), a minister of the Church of Scotland, and Margaret Blair (1781–1843), he was born in Montrose, Angus, Scotland on 6 February 1808. He died in Sydenham, Kent on 10 January 1859.
He had three brothers, David Esdaile, D.D. (1811–1880) — an ordained cleric, who, along with James Esdaile (his brother), founded Edinburgh’s Ministers’ Daughters’ College (later known as Esdaile School), dedicated to the education of the daughters of Ministers of the Church of Scotland, and of Professors in the Universities of Scotland — John Esdaile (1813–1877) and Robert Esdaile (1816–1882), both of whom migrated to Canada, and one sister, Janet (1818–1819).
He married three times.
He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating M.D. in 1829.
In 1830, he was appointed as Civil Assistant Surgeon to the East India Company, and arrived in Calcutta, Bengal (which was, then, the capital of Company government), in 1831.
Having suffered from chronic bronchitis and asthma since his adolescence, Esdaile thought that India's different climate would be of benefit. Five years later, he suffered a total breakdown while working at Azamgarh, in Uttar Pradesh, and, later, was given an extended furlough from 1836 to 1838. During this time he travelled extensively; and his 1839 work, Letters from the Red Sea, Egypt, and the Continent, was written as a result of these travels.
He returned from his furlough to Calcutta, and was soon appointed as Civil Surgeon to the small Hooghli Imambara Hospital; and, through this appointment, he was also responsible for the hospital at Hooghly Jail. From November 1839 to December 1841 Esdaile also served as the Principal of the prestigious Hooghly College, located in the palladian mansion in Chinsurah that had been originally designed and built for "General Perron". The College had been founded in August 1836 by the Bengali philanthropist Haji Muhammad Mohsin, and Esdaile replaced the College's original principal — another surgeon, Thomas Alexander Wise, M.D. (1802–1889) — who had been promoted to the position of Principal at the Dacca College. He was serving as the Registrar of Deeds for Hooghly in 1843, and as Secretary of the Hooghly Branch of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India in 1843.
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James Esdaile
James Esdaile, M.D., E.I.C.S., Bengal (1808–1859), an Edinburgh trained Scottish surgeon, who served for twenty years with the East India Company, is a notable figure in the history of "animal magnetism" and, in particular, in the history of general anaesthesia.
The eldest son of the Rev. James Esdaile, D.D. (1775–1854), a minister of the Church of Scotland, and Margaret Blair (1781–1843), he was born in Montrose, Angus, Scotland on 6 February 1808. He died in Sydenham, Kent on 10 January 1859.
He had three brothers, David Esdaile, D.D. (1811–1880) — an ordained cleric, who, along with James Esdaile (his brother), founded Edinburgh’s Ministers’ Daughters’ College (later known as Esdaile School), dedicated to the education of the daughters of Ministers of the Church of Scotland, and of Professors in the Universities of Scotland — John Esdaile (1813–1877) and Robert Esdaile (1816–1882), both of whom migrated to Canada, and one sister, Janet (1818–1819).
He married three times.
He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating M.D. in 1829.
In 1830, he was appointed as Civil Assistant Surgeon to the East India Company, and arrived in Calcutta, Bengal (which was, then, the capital of Company government), in 1831.
Having suffered from chronic bronchitis and asthma since his adolescence, Esdaile thought that India's different climate would be of benefit. Five years later, he suffered a total breakdown while working at Azamgarh, in Uttar Pradesh, and, later, was given an extended furlough from 1836 to 1838. During this time he travelled extensively; and his 1839 work, Letters from the Red Sea, Egypt, and the Continent, was written as a result of these travels.
He returned from his furlough to Calcutta, and was soon appointed as Civil Surgeon to the small Hooghli Imambara Hospital; and, through this appointment, he was also responsible for the hospital at Hooghly Jail. From November 1839 to December 1841 Esdaile also served as the Principal of the prestigious Hooghly College, located in the palladian mansion in Chinsurah that had been originally designed and built for "General Perron". The College had been founded in August 1836 by the Bengali philanthropist Haji Muhammad Mohsin, and Esdaile replaced the College's original principal — another surgeon, Thomas Alexander Wise, M.D. (1802–1889) — who had been promoted to the position of Principal at the Dacca College. He was serving as the Registrar of Deeds for Hooghly in 1843, and as Secretary of the Hooghly Branch of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India in 1843.