James Anderson (botanist)
James Anderson (17 January 1738–6 August 1809[1]) was an 18th-century Scottish physician and botanist. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He spent his later life in India.
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Life
He was born on 17 January 1738 in Long Hermiston, west of Edinburgh. the son of Dr Andrew Anderson, the local physician.[2] He was educated locally at Ratho school then studied Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.[2][3]
Anderson became an East India Company naval surgeon in 1759, and moved to the Madras Presidency in 1765. He was made surgeon-general of Madras in 1781, and ultimately physician-general.[3] He died at Madras and a monument to him by Chantrey is installed at St George's Cathedral in Madras.[4]
Interested in medicinal plants and horticulture, he set up a botanical garden in Madras where Anderson introduced mulberry trees, and experimented with making silk. After his death, the garden was maintained by his son-in-law Dr. Andrew Berry. He introduced apple trees also, and sought to produce local cochineal. He wrote on the cultivation of sugarcane, coffee and cotton.[3]
Botanical reference
William Roxburgh (1751–1815) named the genus Andersonia after him.
References
- Crawford, D.G. (1914). A history of the Indian Medical Service, 1600-1913. Volume 2. London: W. Thacker and Co. p. 22. Note:Gives date of death as 5 August 1809.
- "Memoirs of Dr James Anderson physician at Madras", in The Bee, or Literary weekly intelligencer, Edinburgh, May 9, 1792, p. 16
- Desmond, Ray. "Anderson, James (1738–1809)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/476. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Cotton, Julian James https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.32088/page/n90 (1905). Inscription on tombs or monuments in Madras. p. 70.
- IPNI. Anderson.
- Ray Desmond (1994). Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists including Plant Collectors, Flower Painters and Garden Designers. Taylor & Francis and The Natural History Museum (London). ISBN 0-85066-843-3