John Williamson

John Williamson was baptised on 16 March 1773 in Caithness, the son of William Williamson of Halkirk. He undertook medical studies between 1790 and 1793 but left without taking a degree. He served with the Army Medical Service as a regimental mate between 1794 and 1798 and later relocated to Jamaica. He obtained his MD from the University of St Andrews on 20 October 1813 and was admitted a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh on 2 November 1813, before being elected a Fellow on 1 February 1814. He worked in Jamaica as a hospital mate and assistant surgeon in 1813 and later as an apothecary in 1824. He published 'Medical and miscellaneous observations relative to the West India Islands' (1817), on the causes, treatment and prevention of tropical illnesses among enslaved people. He was dismissed by court martial in Jamaica in 1825, but died on 9 April 1825 before the sentence was confirmed.