Updated (partial) on January 1, 2013
Notable Doctors From the First 100 Years
A Biography of
George Mackay
Qualifications: M.D., University of Glasgow (1835); M.R.C.P., London, (1860)
Mackay (b.dt/unk. – d. April 26, 1879, Wellington, Somerset) was given charge of the medical ship HMS Melville at the end of the Second Opium Ward (1856-1860) and remained till 1865. Melville arrived Hong Kong in 1857 and began its service as a military hospital ship attached to the East Indies Squadron until she was sold in 1873. The proceeds of the sale were used to acquire the Seamen's Hospital, which reopened as the Royal Naval Hospital. Mackay was no stranger to China and Hong Kong, he served as assistant surgeon of HMS Samarang during the First Opium War and was awarded the China Medal 1842 along with twenty other officers and 136 sailors and marines on board. Samarang took part in the capturing of Chuenpee Hill Forts 穿鼻炮臺 on July 1, 1841 and the bombardments of the Bocca Tigris 虎門 on February 26, 1841. In fact, Mackay was never too far away from combats while on sea duties ever since he joined up the Royal Navy right after graduating from Glasgow: surgeon, HMS Bellerophon, bombardment of Odessa, landing at Varna; senior surgeon, HMS Agamemnon (1854), landing at Old Fort, battle of Alma; inspector of transports, bombardment of Sebastopol, capture of Kertch and Yenikale, blockade and fall of Sebastopol; all during the Crimean War. After leaving Hong Kong, Mackay became Deputy Inspector at Royal Hospital Haslar, and Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets. On February 3, 1870, he was appointed Honorary Physician to the Queen. He became Surgeon-Major of Madras Establishment in an unknown year and was promoted to Deputy Surgeon-General on February 26, 1876. He died at home in Wellington, Somerset, from pneumonia on April 26, 1879. The journal Mackay wrote while serving as surgeon on HMS Powerful, “ Medical Journal of HMS Powerful, from 1 October 1849 to 8 March 1851, by George Mackay” won him a Gilbert Blane Gold Medal in 1851. Blane, a Glasgow alumnus himself (M.D. 1778) was the founder of Blane Medals for best Journals by Navy Medical Officers.
There was another George Mackay, M.D., F.R.C.S. Edinburgh, F.S.A.S. (Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland) who existed later than our Mackay (he was still around in 1941, while our Mackay died in 1879), and who might be a descendant of Sir Donald MacKay of Farr. I do not know if the two George Mackay(s) were related. Should be interesting to find it out.
References:
- anglochinesewar42.com [blog].
- The Edinburgh Gazette, February 8, 1870.
- List of the Fellows, Members, Extra-Licentiates, and Licentiates of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1872.
- The London Gazette, February 25, 1876.
- Naval Database, Melville, 1817 [internet].
- Proceedings of the Society, April 13, 1908, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
- University of Glasgow [internet].
"History is mostly guessing, the rest is prejudice.", Will and Ariel Durant.
Pages
Featured Photo
Ella Zoyara (b.1840-d.1879) was the star trick-rider of the Great World Circus, the first circus to ever come to town in Hong Kong. Six shows were given by the circus from March 27, 1868 before it left for its next destination - Manila. Unbeknown to the circus-goers in Hong Kong, the St. Louis born Zoyara was in fact a man named Omar Kingsley and that he was even married - to a woman named Sallie Stickney. Zoyara's "true" gender was discovered in Manila and as a result both she (he) and the circus master Adolf Gonsalez were thrown into jail.
This is one of the over 600 fun facts about Hong Kong, as far as the first of its kind events go, that are included in the Welcome page under Who's Who and What's What.
Featured Biographies
Repository
- This Blog
- Reading Room
- Who's Who & What's What
- External
- Australia National Library / Trove Digitized newspaper
- The Chinese Repository (1834-1851)
- The Guardian (1899-1999)
- Historical Laws of Hong Kong Online
- History 1739-1844 from the Newspaper
- Hong Kong and the West until 1860
- Hong Kong Government Report Online (1842-1941)
- Hong Kong Journals Online
- Hong Kong Public Libraries / Multimedia Information System
- Index to CO129, Great Britain. Colonial Office, Original Correspondence: Hong Kong
- Pre-1950 HK Books (English), Special Collections, HKU Libraries
- Singapore National Library / NewspeperSG
- UK Gazettes (London, Edinburgh, Belfast)
- University of British Columbia, Theses and Dissertations
- 香港年鑑 第一回至第四十七回 (Hong Kong Year Book 1948-1994)
Popular Posts (7 Days)
- Inspecteur Quincey And His Master Dramatist Son
- Notable Doctors From The First 100 Years
- Finding Freemasons in Hong Kong, 1841-1941
- First Man Killed By Shark
- Job And James Henry Witchell: The Story Of A Corrupted Police Inspector And His Son, A Briton Wanted In The USA For White Slavery
- The First Ferrari Imported to Hong Kong
- The First Ladies
- First Car in Hong Kong
- Philadelphia Quaker, Soldier Of Fortune
- Newsies In The Nineteenth Century
From Rudi Butt
Don't forget to add “Hong Kong's First” to your subject blank when you email me. I have a habit of deleting messages from people I don't know, and I don't want to throw away yours. Thank you.
rudibutt@hotmail.com
Hong Kong
I am taking the rest of the summer off and will reply to your email/comments when I am back. Thank you for your patience and I hope you too will have an enjoyable summer. (6/24/2016)
rudibutt@hotmail.com
Hong Kong
I am taking the rest of the summer off and will reply to your email/comments when I am back. Thank you for your patience and I hope you too will have an enjoyable summer. (6/24/2016)
Other Websites by Me
Search This Blog
Powered by Blogger.
Live Traffic Feed
Labels
1840s
1850s
1860s
1870s
1880s
1890s
1900s
1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
A
aviation
B
building structure
C
China
community
D
disaster
doctor
education
entertainment
everyday live
F
finance and economics
First Lady
G
government
governor
H
History
Hong Kong
I
IPO
J
K
L
land transportation
law enforcement
legal
listed building
M
Marine Life
maritime
media
medical
military
minister
N
O
organization
P
pastor
people
places
Pre-1840
Q
Qing
R
S
science
sociocultural
spiritual
sports
Stock
Stock Exchange
T
U
V
W
Women
world
World War II
Y
0 comments:
Post a Comment