James Hamilton was born in 1740 in Dunbar, East Lothian. After a medical apprenticeship he served in the Royal Navy as a surgeon's mate on HMS Isis. He received an MD from King's College, Aberdeen, and practised in Dunbar while preaching as a Methodist. He was also elected as a Town Councillor, a role he held until his wife's death in 1779. After remarriage, Hamilton moved to Alnwick, Leeds, and in 1795 to London, where he became physician to the London Dispensary and helped found the Wesleyan Missionary Society. He died in London in April 1827.

Maxwell Garthshore was born in Kirkcudbright in 1732. Apprenticed to an Edinburgh surgeon, he later served as a surgeon's mate in the army. Garthshore received his MD from the University of Edinburgh in 1764 and practised in London, also serving as physician to the British Lying-in Hospital. He died in 1812.

John Gregory was born in Aberdeen in 1724. Gregory studied at King's College, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Leiden. He was then awarded MD at King's College in 1746. After his return to Aberdeen he was appointed as Professor of Philosophy at King's College and established a private practice in the city. He then moved to London in 1754 and established his practice there, during which time he changed his surname from Gregorie to Gregory. Gregory was then elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1756. After a brief return to Aberdeen, Gregory moved to Edinburgh in 1763 and in 1766 was elected Professor of the Practice of Physic at the University of Edinburgh. In the same year, he appointed first physician in Scotland to George III. Gregory wrote on the subject of medical ethics, most notably 'Observations on the Duties and Offices of a Physician and on the Method of Prosecuting Enquiries in Philosophy' (1770). He died in Edinburgh in 1773.

Also recorded as John Gregorie.

John Morgan was born in Philadelphia, the son of a Welsh merchant. After an arts degree at the College of Philadelphia and six years' apprenticeship to Dr Redman, he served as surgeon to the Pennsylvania troops. He graduated MD at the University of Edinburgh in 1763 with a thesis on the formation of pus.

Painting: John Morgan

John Stedman was the son of the Reverend John Steedman of the Tron Kirk. He trained at the University of Rheims and received an MD in 1740. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1765 and later served as a Censor. He briefly held a physician's post at the Royal Infirmary. His publications include 'History of the Royal Infirmary' and 'Physiological Essays and Observations'. His nephew was the soldier and author John Gabriel Stedman.

Also recorded as John Steadman.

After an early career as a surgeon and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1751, James Hay received an MD from the University of St Andrews in 1758 and became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1765. He later served as Treasurer and as President from 1786 to 1788. In 1805 he claimed the title of fourth Hay Baronet and was active in the planning of Edinburgh's New Town.

Joseph Black was born in Bordeaux on 16 April 1728. Educated in Belfast, he studied medicine and chemistry under William Cullen at Glasgow, becoming Cullen's laboratory assistant. From 1752 he continued at the University of Edinburgh, investigating alkalis and beginning work on heat theory. He practised as a physician, acted as substitute Professor of Chemistry, and in 1766 became Professor of the Institutes of Medicine at Edinburgh. His research established the concepts of latent and specific heat. Black was active in the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, including revising editions of the Pharmacopoeia, and served as a manager of the Royal Infirmary. He died on 6 December 1799 and is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

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Biography: Joseph Black

Arthur Nicolson received an MD from Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1763 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1767. He was recorded as practising in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1770 and appears to have died by 1779.

James Makittrick was born in Inverness and raised in Edinburgh. After some time as a surgeon's mate in the Royal Navy, he returned to Edinburgh and earned his MD from the University of Edinburgh in 1766 with a thesis on Yellow Fever. After spending some time in Hampshire and then in the USA where he befriended Benjamin Franklin, he settled in Monks Hill, Antigua, where he worked as a doctor and judge. He was also a plantation owner and published an anti-abolitionist treatise. At some point in his adult life, he assumed the surname Adair, claiming from his mother's family. Makittrick had a number of public feuds during his lifetime. He died in Ayr in 1801.

William Shippen Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1736, son of Dr William Shippen, a delegate to the Continental Congress. After studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1761 he returned to Philadelphia, becoming the first Professor of Anatomy, Surgery and Midwifery at the College of Philadelphia and founding North America's first maternity hospital. During the American Revolutionary War he served as Director of Hospitals for the Continental Army and was later court-martialled over supplies. He helped found the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and was its President from 1805 until his death in 1808.