David Christison

David Christison
Birth and education

Christison was born on 25 January 1830 in Edinburgh's New Town, at 3 Great Stuart Street on the Moray Estate. He was the second son of Henrietta Sophia Brown and Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, and distinguished physician. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy,[1] and then studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He began his medical career in the Old Royal Infirmary where his peer group included Joseph Lister, Patrick Heron Watson and Alexander Struthers, brother of the anatomist John Struthers.[2] Christison gained his first doctorate (MD) in 1851.[3]
Crimea
In 1854, Christison volunteered as a physician in the
South America
From 1867 onwards, in an effort to improve his health, Christison took trips to South America. His travels included journeys to
Archaeological observations
After retiring from the medical profession, Christison took an interest in archaeology,[6] becoming a strong advocate for methodical and rigorous observation in the discipline. He undertook a systematic study of Scotland's hillforts through field research, visiting a large number of sites over several years. He published accounts of his findings on a regular basis in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. His careful expositions often include direct witness of examples of thoughtless loss, damage and degradation to unprotected sites in his lifetime, as for example the following on the Castle of Doon, Ayrshire, in 1893:
"This interesting ruin is situated on a small, smooth rock-island in Loch Doon, and the whole space between the walls and the water [...] is covered with loose blocks, certainly not derived from the castle wall of enciente, which still stands to nearly its full height; although, alas! tottering to its fall, the stones of the pediment having been disgracefully allowed to be torn away a few years ago — a wanton destruction of one of the most interesting ruins in Scotland which is to be lamented."[7]
In 1894, Christison delivered the

Christison was Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1891 when the society's sizable collection of objects of historical and cultural interest to Scotland was transferred to the newly opened National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. This was housed in Robert Rowand Anderson's distinctive custom-built red sandstone gallery building, designed also for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, with each institution at that time occupying one half of the building side-by-side.[8]
Recognition
In 1874 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh.
Christison was Secretary of the Scottish Society from 1888 to 1904[9]
In 1906 Christison was awarded an honorary doctorate (LLD) by Dean
His portrait in stained glass by
He died on 21 January 1912 and is buried in the family plot at New Calton Burial Ground.
Family
In 1870, Christison's residence in Edinburgh was at 40 Moray Place.[12] In later life he lived at 20 Magdala Crescent in Edinburgh's West End.[13] Part of Edinburgh's Christison dynasty, he married his cousin Susannah Hodgson Brown. Together they had three daughters and a son. In 1914, their son, John Alexander Christison, died suddenly of malaria while in Uganda.
Selected publications

- A Journey to Central Uruguay (1880)
- The Gauchos of San Jorge, Central Uruguay (1881)
- The Life of Sir Robert Christison (1885)
- Thunder Squalls in Uruguay (1887)
- The Size, Age and Rate of Girth Increase achieved by trees of the Chief Species in Britain, particularly in Scotland (1893)
- On the Geographical Distribution of Certain Place Names in Scotland (1893)
- The Prehistoric Forts of Scotland (1894) the
- Early Fortifications in Scotland: Motes, Camps and Forts (1898) Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/6404
- Excavation of the Roman Station at Ardoch, Perthshire (1898) https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/6712
- (1902). The Carvings and Inscriptions on the Kirkyard Monuments of the Scottish Lowlands; particularly in Perth, Fife, Angus, Mearns, and Lothian. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 36, 280–457.
- The Excavation of Rough Castle on the Antonine Wall (1905) https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/6956
References
- ^ BMJ: obituaries February 1912
- ISBN 0-7073-0584-5
- ^ http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n85-39125/ [bare URL]
- ISBN 0-7073-0584-5
- ^ Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh March 1878
- ^ The Crimean Doctors by John Shepherd
- ^ David Christison, "The Prehistoric Fortresses of Treceiri, Carnarvon; and Eildon, Roxburgh", in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 28, (8 January 1893), p.106.
- ^ "David Christison, 1831 - 1912. Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland".
- ^ "AT THE SIGN OF THE OWL". The Antiquary: A Magazine Devoted to the Study of the Past. 1905–15. London: Elliot Stock . 1912. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
Scottish antiquaries have good reason to regret the death, on January 21, of Dr. David Christison, Secretary of the Scottish Society from 1888 to 1904, and author of Early Fortifications in Scotland and The Prehistoric Forts of Scotland.
- ^ BMJ: obituaries February 1912
- ^ Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 1990 p.206
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1870
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1910
- ^ "List of 133 Lecturers". The Rhind Lectures. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- jstor"DR DAVID CHRISTISON, one of the foremost antiquaries of Scotland, died January ... chose as the subject of his course "The Prehistoric Forts of Scotland."