Dr Robert Jackson - Thursby 1827

[emmsthheight]

Hi Tatty5

I had an interesting little run down the road to Thursby Thank You!

It was a lot more hilly than I remembered and loads of huge old stones still standing - the really tall ones like large doors - beautifully kept but sandstone so hard to read. 

There were builders so hartd to get to some they're doing renovation and there's also been a fire so I didn't go in.

I knew it might take a couple of trips to cover it all, and no look  - then I looked down the other side of the church  to the left and at the back and there he was - certainly a stone - a few!

One of the huge tale monuments.  walls up to my thighs with a huge stone on top - and sure enough, it was Robert.  Date as you said, beautifully inscribed.

On someone else's computer, so haven't the full details but a v short inscription, just for him, main other information is - not quite clear, but going back ion better light - he worked in military hospitals and was of Thursby.

Did you know that?


There's a gap at the bottom as if it was meant for someone else.


I'll go back in better light as it's sandwiched between the wall, the church and the builders fence!


I did do some photo's but haven't downloaded yet.

Best wishes

Emms

[emmsthheight]

Hi Goeffe

Thank you for the links.  Fascinating reading!

The stone is justy out of sight behind the back left hand corner of the church.

Best wishes

Emms

[emmsthheight]

Hi

I think it might be the rectangle behind the church here.  Not sure if there was another one, but I'll get mine downloaded.  Don't have softwear on here.

Emms


http://www.rootschat.com/links/09jj/

[emmsthheight]

Hi

Photo's inside here - since the fire.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/09jk/

If you decide to come in the foreseeable future it would be worth checking that corner's accessible. - or wait until it's finished!

Emms

[Tatty5]

Wow - this is so exciting.  But it is devastating to see the damage to the church.  Thank you so much for taking trouble to find the grave and the links for me.

This is the second go at posting a reply.  Lost the last one but here goes again.

Robert Jackson has been described as the father of modern military medicine and was the author of a number of books and pamphlets which lead to major reforms in the handling of soldiers' welfare, health and in-the-field medical care.  He was the first to propose the use of cold water treatment to control fever.  He fought a life-long campaign against the snobbery and ignorance of the then medical establishment who refused to acknowledge the observations and experiences Jackson had built up serving as an army surgeon in the West Indies and North America during the War of Independence - and who constantly rebuffed his ambitions to become an army physician.  He was eventually promoted to the position of army physician in 1794 by the Duke of York, who recognised his "abilities"  - over the heads of the surgeon-general and the physician-general who subsequently made life very difficult for him.    Mind you, that's probably not surprising as Jackson was on a campaign against the monopoly of the College and the corrupt administration of the army medical department, which ended in a new regime in 1810 - following the debacle of the Walcheren campaign which failed because of army medical incompetence which allowed debilitating disease to decimate the ranks.

I have read an account of his life by an (almost) contemporary historian who was told by my great x 4 grandfather that Jackson was a "close relative".  There are certainly tantalising connections in Jackson's life which link very closely to my family and the area where they lived.  I just haven't found the evidence - so finding his grave is very exciting.  However, relative or not, I am really enjoying learning more about this man.  He certainly seems to have been quite a character and had many adventures - including going on the "Grand Tour" - on foot!  There is even a rather unkind cartoon of him by Rowlandson harassing the Surgeon General and the Physician General following the Walcheren debacle! He was hauled up in court (and imprisioned for six months!) for accosting the Surgeon General about the shoulders and head with his "gold-topped cane" on Berkeley Street in London, such was his fury at the incompetence shown by the man in the Walcheren affair.... But Jackson was vindicated and he went on to become medical director in the West Indies and then inspector-general of medical hospitals.

I have a picture of him - but haven't worked out how to attach it (lost my last message while trying!)....

Anyway - these are just a few facts about the man in the kirk yard. 

Best wishes
Tatty5

[Tatty5]

Dear Geoff-E

For some reason, I have only just spotted your second post with the links.  Apologies - and thanks.  I have Jackson's will and it make very interesting reading - if only to confirm the "pepperiness" of his character!  Again it provides tantalising links to other Jacksons in the "right" area - and further research opportunities....

I'm much obliged.

Will definitely plan a detour off the motorway to Thursby the next time I journey north.

Best wishes

[emmsthheight]

Hi Tatty 5

Thank you for the story about him.

It makes fascinating reading!  Certainly a character!

I've now downloaded to my computer.  There's a fault with the screen on the camera so I wasn't sure what I'd got.

In fact the photo's of the grave have comeout grand - though as I've said I'd love to try osome mpore in a different light, as you can't choose your angle with it being squashed between the wall and the builders' partition and one side being blocked off by the builders.  You can't get to photograph it from the foot.

If you'd li9ke to have copies, and you don't mind giving me an email (by pm), I can attach them.

The batteries actually ran out so the ones from a distance woth the church didn't come out, but I'll have another go.  Only a few fields away.

Best wishes

Emms

[emmsthheight]

PS You said youi weren't sure about the li9nk to your family.

If you've a few more details I could have a look.

I've done quite a bit on various Jacksons locally and I'vwe got notes on various ones I discounted.  If you have mo0re details for him or the ones you're trying to link to I could have a look.

Best wishes

Emms

[Tatty5]

Many thanks Emms for your offer.  As you probably guess, I'm a newbie at this forum chat so not sure what the etiquette is...  pm = private mail?

My Jacksons are from Lanarkshire, Scotland - with the earliest proven link a marriage in Coulter in 1802 between William and Margrat Paterson.  This was the man who was a 'close relative' to Robert Jackson.  He was a tenant in Coulter Mill and had, according to 'Biggar and the House of Fleming', a brother called James - a blind fiddler who used to entertain locally with his music and tales.  I have no proven birth record for William or James.  There was another Jackson at the same time in Coulter called Laurence who might have been family  - I have a birth record for him in Crawford, just down the road, in 1791 to Laurence (Lawrie), another miller and Rose Blacklaw, who also had a son William in 1780 - which all fits; but no brother James!  Grave stones for Laurence and William lie side by side in Coulter kirk yard.

According to various biographies of Robert, he was born in Stonebyres in 1750.  Stonebyres was/is in the parish of Lesmahagow, very close to Lanark not 10 miles from Coulter and Crawford.   I can find no birth record of a Robert Jackson in the Lesmahagow parish files for that year.  However, I can find a Robert Jackson born to a Laurence Jackson in 1750 - a miller in Wandell, Lamington, just a mile or so south of Coulter and where the young Robert Jackson attended school according to one account.  The statistical review for Coulter counted Robert Jackson as one of its own - mentioning that he wasn't born in the parish but came to live there as a young boy..... all very intriguing.  There were Jacksons in mills in villages all in very close proximity to Culter, Wandell and Crawford (also known as Mudlock Milne) throughout the 18th century.  Unfortunately, they were all Laurences, Williams or Johns!  There were also connections with Hoddam in Dumfries.  At the moment, it feels like I have jigsaw pieces but not many that fit together.

Robert had children by his first marriage to Agnes Stephenson (1785 Edinburgh) but again, according to the various accounts of his life, these predeceased him. I get the impression that his children disappointed him as there is a reference to dubious parenting by Agnes!  His second marriage was in around 1825 to a Miss Tidy, daughter to the Rev. Thomas Tidy, rector of Redmarshall, Durham and an army chaplain..

If there are any links to other Jacksons in the Thursby area, that would be very interesting - if only to add to the mystery of his life!  He had a general practice near Stockton on Tees (in Eaglesham) but I would like to know why he ended up his days in Thursby....it might be because of family connections...?

Best wishes
Tatty5