Clark , Sir , Andrew , 1826-1893 , Knight , physician

Andrew Clark was born on 28 October 1826 in Aberdeen, the only son of Andrew Clark, a doctor practicing in St Fergus, Aberdeenshire. His mother died during his birth and his father died when Clark was seven years old. Two bachelor uncles directed his education; he went to school in Aberdeen and at the age of thirteen was apprenticed to a doctor in Dundee. During his apprenticeship he attended the Tay Square Academy and the wards of the Royal Infirmary. In 1842, and then from 1843-46, he studied at Edinburgh University as an extra-academical student, winning medals in most of his classes. He took the diploma for membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (MRCS) in 1844, and developed an interest in pathology. He returned to Edinburgh and was for some time assistant to the eminent physician John Hughes Bennett, in the pathological department of the Royal Infirmary.

Due to the appearance of the early symptoms of phthisis Clark sort an outdoor life, and from 1846-53 he held a commission as an assistant surgeon in the medical service of the Royal Navy. He made a voyage to Madeira in 1847, but for most of the six years was employed on pathological work at the Royal Navy Hospital at Haslar. Here he taught the use of the microscope in clinical and pathological work.

In 1853 Clark retired from the navy and was appointed to the new curatorship of the museum at the London Hospital. He remained in this position for eight years, although the impetus of his initial enthusiasm was lost when in 1854 Clark was also elected assistant physician to the hospital. It has been said that his new appointment revealed the true nature of his genius', and he quickly built up a huge reputation in both the wards of the hospital and in private practice (Munk's Roll, 1955, p.93). He had begun practice in Montague Street, Bloomsbury, and became famed for hisremarkable powers of observation, thoroughness and scientific approach' (ibid, p.94). He also became well known for giving elaborate directions to his patients as to their diet, despite this being considered by some of his contemporaries a rather antiquated therapy. He believed that many maladies were due to poor diet and lifestyle. It was also in 1854 that he graduated MD from the University of Aberdeen, and became a member of the Royal College of Physicians.

From 1855-56 Clark was assistant physician at the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest. He held the lectureship in physiology at the London Hospital from 1856-62. In 1858 he was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. In 1860 he was Lettsomian Lecturer at the Medical Society of London. He was joint lecturer in medicine at the London Hospital from 1865 to 1870, and was promoted to full physician there in 1866. By then Clark had also acquired `a larger practice than any other physician of his time' (DNB, 1901, p.23). During the cholera epidemic of 1866, which raged throughout the East End of London, he became friends with, and physician to, the Gladstones. William Gladstone, statesman and four times prime minister, was one of Clark's many famous patients.

Although he published no large medical work Clark made many contributions to medical knowledge, through lectures, addresses, and articles. His special interest was in pulmonary diseases, in particular phthisis. At the Royal College of Physicians in 1867 Clark delivered the Croonian Lectures, on the subject of pulmonary diseases. In the same year he moved home and practice to a large house in Cavendish Square, where his private practice continued to expand. In 1871 he became president of the Medical Society of London.

Clark was made a baronet in 1883, at the instigation of Gladstone, then Prime Minister, in recognition of his services to medical science. Two years later he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and was Lumleian Lecturer at the Royal College of Physicians, again lecturing on pulmonary diseases. He also served as censor at the College. In 1886 Clark was made consulting physician at the London Hospital, after twenty years service as physician. He continued to give lectures in his capacity as Emeritus Professor of Clinical Medicine, until his death.

In 1888, Clark became president of the Royal College of Physicians, serving in this office until his death. He became consulting physician both of the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, in 1892, and of the East London Hospital for Children. He was made honorary president of the Naval Medical Examining Board, and had been president of the Metropolitan Counties Branch of the British Medical Association. In recognition of his position and status in the medical profession, the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Cambridge awarded him the degree of LLD, whilst Dublin awarded him an honorary MD. He was elected president of the Medical and Chirurgical Society in 1892, and was presiding over this body and the Royal College of Physicians at the time of his death.

Clark had married Seton Mary Percy Forster in 1851, and they had had one son and two daughters. His first wife died in 1858, and in 1862 he married Helen Annette Alphonso, with whom he also had a son and two daughters. Clark suffered a stroke in October 1893. During his illness the Queen desired that she daily be kept informed of his condition. He died just over 2 weeks later at his home in Cavendish Square in London on 6 November 1893. After a service at Westminster Abbey he was buried at Essendon, Hertfordshire, where he had recently bought a country house.

Publications:
He authored a number of tracts & chapters in medical publications.
Fibroid Diseases of the Lung, including Fibroid Phthisis, Sir Andrew Clark, Wilfred James Hadley & Thomas Hancock Arnold Chaplin (London, 1894)
Medical Nursing; edited by E.F. Lamport, with an introductory biographical note by Sir Andrew Clark, James Anderson & Sir Andrew Clark, Ethel Lamport (ed.) (London, 1894)
The Physician's Testimony for Christ, with a preface by Sir Dyce Duckworth, Sir Andrew Clark & Sir Dyce Duckworth (London, 1894)