| Description Of Item | Oil on canvas, 127 x 101 cm
Born in Edinburgh, James Begbie (1798–1869) was educated at Edinburgh's High School and Edinburgh University. Introduced in general practice as an apprentice to Dr John Abercrombie, he later became his assistant.
After 25 years of general practice, he decided to devote his time to consulting work. In an article on 'Anaemia and its Consequences', he gave the first description in this country of the disease which later was called exophthalmic bronchocele (exophthalmic goitre). He was medical adviser to the Scottish Widows' Fund and Life Assurance Society. His paper 'Mortality of the Scottish Widows Fund' opened up a new field in vital statistics and helped to fuse the link between medicine and life assurance. Dr Begbie was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1822 and of the Royal College of Physicians in 1847. The Physicians elected him President in 1854. He had the honour of being Physician in Ordinary to Queen Victoria in Scotland.
Artist: Unknown |