- Thomas Girdlestone
Thomas Girdlestone (born
Holt, Norfolk , 1758, died25 June 1822 ) was an English physician and writer.Education and career
After a classical education at
Gresham's School , Holt, Girdlestone joined the army as a surgeon's mate, serving under Colonel Sir Charles Stuart, governor ofMinorca , and inIndia . In 1787 he enteredLeiden University to study medicine, and after qualifying settled atGreat Yarmouth ,Norfolk , where he practised as a doctor, wrote books onmedicine , and was also apublisher .It has been suggested that Girdlestone first advocated
arsenic salts as a treatment forPsoriasis andLepra in 1806, but arsenical preparations have been used for skin diseases since the time ofGalen .In appearance, Girdlestone was tall and thin, liked to dress in black, with a white cravat, silk stockings and half-gaiters. He had a powdered head and pigtail and carried a gold-headed cane.
Publications
*"Essays on the Hepatitis and Spasmodic Affections in India: founded on observations made whilst on service with his Majesty's troops in different parts of that country" (1787)
*"A Case of Diabetes, with an Historical Sketch of that Disease" (printed by I.D. Downes, for G.G. and J. Robinson, London, 1799)
*"The Odes of Anacreon" (translation, 1803)
*"Fowler's Solution" (1806)
*"Facts tending to prove that General Lee was never Absent from this Country for any Length of Time during the Years 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and that he was the Author of Junius" (1813)Family
Girdlestone married the widow of the Reverend John Close, and they had one son.
References
*"Thomas Girdlestone (1758–1822), physician and writer" by Gordon Goodwin, revised Claire L. Nutt, in "
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography " (Oxford University Press, 2004)
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