Title Nelson's surgeon : William Beatty, naval medicine, and the battle of Trafalgar / Laurence Brockliss, John Cardwell, and Michael Moss

Published Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005

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Description 1 online resource (xviii, 216 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations Contents The Naval surgeon during the French wars -- Origins and early career -- The Mediterranean and Trafalgar -- Beatty and Nelson's apotheosis -- Later career Summary In the lead-up to the bicentenary of Trafalgar a number of important new studies have been published about the life of Nelson and his defeat of the Combined Fleet in 1805. Despite the significant role played by the health and fitness of the British crews in securing the victory, little has been written hitherto about the naval surgeon in the era of the long war against France. This book is intended to fill the gap. Sir William Beatty (1773-1842) was surgeon of the Victory at Trafalgar. An Ulsterman from Londonderry, he had joined the navy in 1791. Before being warranted to Nelson's flagship, Beatty had served upon ten other warships, and survived a yellow fever epidemic, court martial, and shipwreck to share in the capture of a Spanish treasure ship. After Trafalgar, he became Physician of the Channel Fleet, based at Plymouth, and eventually Physician to Greenwich Hospital, where he served until his retirement in 1838. As the book makes clear in drawing upon an extensive prosopographical database, Beatty's career until 1805 was representative of the experience of the approximately 2,000 naval surgeons who joined the navy in the course of the war.; The first part of the biography provides a detailed and scholarly introduction to the professional education, training, and work of the naval surgeon. But after 1805, Beatty became a member of the service elite, and his career becomes interesting for other reasons. In the final decades of his life, Beatty was far more than a senior naval physician. As a Fellow of the Royal Society, director of the Clerical and Medical Insurance Company, and director of the London to Greenwich Railway, he was a prominent figure in London's business and scientific community, who used his growing wealth to build a large collection of books and manuscripts. His later life is testimony to the much wider contribution that some naval and army medical officers made to the development of the new Britain of the nineteenth century. In Beatty's case, too, the contribution was original. By publishing in 1807, his carefully crafted "Authentic Narrative of the Death of Lord Nelson", he was instrumental in forging the myth of the hero's last hours, which has become a part of the national consciousness and has helped to define for generations the concept of Britishness Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 202-212) and index Notes English Print version record Subject Beatty, William, -1842. SUBJECT Beatty, William, -1842 Beatty, William, -1842 fast Subject Surgeons -- Great Britain -- Biography Surgery, Naval -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century Trafalgar, Battle of, 1805. Surgery. General Surgery History, 19th Century Naval Medicine -- history General Surgery -- history surgery (health care function) MEDICAL -- Surgery -- General. BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Medical. Surgery Surgeons Surgery, Naval Slaget vid Trafalgar 1805. Navalmedicin -- historia -- Storbritannien -- 1789-1815. Kirurger -- Storbritannien -- biografi. SUBJECT Great Britain -- History -- 19th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85056819 United Kingdom Subject Spain -- Cape Trafalgar Great Britain Genre/Form Biographies History Biographies. Biographies. Form Electronic book Author Cardwell, J. Stewart (John Stewart), 1938- Moss, Michael S. ISBN 9781429471039 1429471034 1280759208 9781280759208 019151604X 9780191516047

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