Andrew Halliday (physician)

Sir Andrew Halliday, KH (also spelt Hallidie; 17 March 1782 in Copewood, parish of Dryfesdale, Dumfries – 7 September 1839 in Dumfries) was a Scottish physician, reformer, and writer.^[3][4][5]

Biography

He was born in Copeland, Dryfesdale in Dumfriesshire.^[6][7]

When he was nine years old, Halliday had to earn his own living by tending cattle because of his father's financial problems. He later advanced himself by qualifying as a schoolteacher.^[3] Halliday subsequently entered the University of Edinburgh and started training for the Presbyterian ministry, but switched to medicine, his preference. He graduated with an MD on 24 June 1806 from the University of Edinburgh with a thesis entitled De pneumatosi that he later published as a book. After travelling in Russia, he set up in practice at Halesowen, Shropshire.^[8]

In 1807, he became a surgeon in the 13th Light Dragoons.^[3] Whilst in the British Army, Halliday served in the Napoleonic Wars in Portugal, Spain, and the West Indies, at the Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1814) and the Battle of Waterloo.^[8][9][10]

He was later the domestic physician to the

He was appointed Deputy Inspector-General of hospitals in the West Indies in 1832, but returned to his native Dumfries in 1837 because of ill health.[3] He died at Huntingdon Lodge in Dumfries on 7 September 1839.^[8]

Halliday was the first physician to the

Halliday also contributed obituaries to The Gentleman's Magazine.^[16]

References