Thomas Edmondston Saxby

Dr. Thomas Edmondston Saxby, Esq. OBE JP FRFPS[1] (1869-1952) was a Scottish medical doctor, working on Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Islands, and an ornithologist.[2]

He was a member of a Shetland family with many doctors and naturalists, dating back to the sixteenth century. [3]

Biography

Thomas Edmondston Saxby was born on 9 March 1869 at Unst, Shetland Islands, Scotland.[4]

He was the third son of Jessie Margaret Edmondston (1842-1940) and Henry Linckmeyer Saxby (1836-1873). His mother became a wellknown author, and was a sister of the botanist Thomas Edmondston (1825-1846). His father was a physician and ornithologist. His grandfather Laurence Edmondston (1795-1879) was also a physician and ornithologist.

Thomas E. Saxby went to school at George Watson's College in Edinburgh. Afterwards he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and went on to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In 1897 he received the Scottish Triple Qualification. He continued his studies for a short period at St. Mary's Hospital, London and returned to the Shetlands in 1898.[2]

Thomas Edmondston Saxby married to Julia Maude Furniss (1867-1939) on 4 January 1898. They had four children.[4]

They lived on Halligarth, the family home of Thomas's parents.[5]

From 1898 to 1950 Saxby worked as the only medical doctor on Unst. Apart from caring for the inhabitants of the island, he also served the crews of fishing boats that came to Baltasound.

In World War I Saxby also worked temporarily as an Admiralty Surgeon and Naval Agent.[6]

Like other members of his family Saxby was a naturalist, who published in The Zoologist and The Annals of Scottish Natural History.

Thomas Edmondston Saxby died 11 October 1952 in Baltasound, Unst. He was buried at Halligarth Cemetery, Baltasound, Unst.[4]

Honors

Saxby is said to have been invited to become a court physician to the King of Sweden, but he preferred to work on Unst. For his work among the Swedish fishermen he was created a Knight of the Royal Order of Vasa in 1911 by the Swedish King.[7]

On 10 June 1948 Thomas E. Saxby became an Ordinary Officer of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.[8]

Bibliography
  • Saxby, T. Edmondston (June 1900). "Ornithological Notes from Shetland". The Zoologist. 4th series, vol. 4 (708, section "Notes and Queries"): 281.
  • —— (October 1901). "Ornithological Notes from the Shetlands". The Zoologist. 4th series, vol 5 (issue 724, section 'Notes and Queries'): p. 391.
  • —— (January 1904). "Occurences of the Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) – Shetland". The Annals of Scottish Natural History. 1904 (49, section "Zoological Notes"): 53.
  • —— (July 1904). "On the occurrence of the Hawfinch and other birds in Unst, Shetland". The Annals of Scottish Natural History. 1904 (51): 154–157.
  • —— (January 1907). "Bird Notes from North Shetland for 1906". The Annals of Scottish Natural History. 1907 (61, section "Zoological Notes"): 50.
  • —— (September 1917). "Little Bittern in Shetland". The Scottish Naturalist. 1917 (69): 214.

Footnotes
  1. F.R.F.P.S.: Fellow of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons; also: L.R.C.P. & S. Edin. (License of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Edinburgh): "The Shetland Isles". Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Scotland. 1903. p. 1348. Archived from the original on 2021-01-10.
  2. An. (1952).
  3. Alastair Hamilton (2018-03-29). "Naturalists and doctors – a successful combination". shetland.org. Archived from the original on 2021-01-09. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  4. Genealogical data about Thomas Edmonston Saxby and family:
  5. "Options appraisal report on Halligarth" (PDF). The National Trust for Scotland. September 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-09. Retrieved 2021-01-09.; see also: "Halligarth: the home of a naturalist". Unst Partnership Ltd. 2015. Archived from the original on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  6. Thomas Manson, ed. (1920). Shetland's Roll of Honour and Roll of Service (PDF). Lerwick: T. & J. Manson. p. 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-01-10.
  7. "Times Past". The Shetland Times. 2011-12-01. Archived from the original on 2012-01-29. Retrieved 2021-01-11. See also An. 1952 and Sven H. Gullman (2020-07-23). "Minnessten över svenska fiskare avtäckt på Shetland" [Memorial stone for Swedish fishermen uncovered in Shetland] (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-11, with a photo of the grave of Saxby. Translation of the Swedish text: "Dr. T. Edmondston Saxby (1869 - 1952) was the only doctor on Unst, the northernmost island in Shetland, for more than half a century, from 1898 to 1949. He lived in Baltasound and became the one that all Bohuslän fishermen got help from when they had been injured at sea. For his efforts, he became a knight of the Order of Vaasa, which is also stated on the tombstone. Saxby received permission to set up a private cemetery in his garden and there both he and his family rest. The photo was taken by Elisabeth Nicolson."
  8. "Supplement to the London Gazette, 10 June 1948". The London Gazette. p. 3377. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-10. See also: "Medical Birthday Honours". British Medical Journal. 1 (4563): 1200. 19 June 1948. Archived from the original on 2019-12-03.

Sources
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