Robert Anstruther Goodsir

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Robert Anstruther Goodsir
Born(1823-07-07)7 July 1823
Anstruther, Fife, Scotland
Died17 January 1895(1895-01-17) (aged 71)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
University of St Andrews
Occupation(s)Medical practitioner, author
Known forArctic voyages in search of brother

Robert Anstruther Goodsir (7 July 1823 – 17 January 1895) was a Scottish medical doctor, explorer and writer. He made two voyages to the Arctic in search of his brother Harry Goodsir who was lost with the Franklin expedition.[1][2]

Early life and family[edit]

11 Danube Street, Goodsir's home in Edinburgh from 1883

He was born in Anstruther, Fife, Scotland, the son of Dr. John Goodsir (1742–1848), a medical practitioner and his wife Elizabeth Dunbar Taylor.[3] His oldest brother John Goodsir (1814–1867) became professor of anatomy at the University of Edinburgh and was a pioneer of cell theory, the doctrine that cells form the basis of living organisms. He collaborated on this with another brother, Harry Goodsir (1819 – c. 1848), a doctor and museum curator who served as assistant surgeon and naturalist on the Franklin expedition, and was lost in the Arctic.[4] His youngest brother, Archibald (1826–1849) also qualified in medicine as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Another brother Joseph Taylor Goodsir (1815–1893) became a Church of Scotland minister. He had one sister Jane Ross Goodsir (1817– 1894) who was an amateur genealogist and botanist.

On 21 February 1838, Robert Goodsir was indentured to John Mill, an Edinburgh merchant, for a five-year apprenticeship. He was discharged from this arrangement on 27 January 1843, having performed his duties "properly and faithfully".[5]  He then went to London where he worked  as a clerk in a banking house.[6]

Between 1845 and 1849 he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh but, as was common at the time, did not progress to graduation. In 1849 he was elected president of the Royal Medical Society, a student society where undergraduates and postgraduates could present research work.[4] His studies were interrupted in March 1849 when he travelled on his first expedition to the Arctic to search for his older brother Harry.[7]

Arctic voyages[edit]

Determined to play an active role in searching for his missing brother Harry,[8] he wrote to Lady Jane Franklin to offer his services.[9] Through her he was introduced to Captain William Penny, who hired him as surgeon on the whaler Advice for the 1849 Arctic season.[10] Advice and the whaler Truelove together formed the British Whaling and Franklin Search Expedition. This voyage, while profitable for the Advice, was not successful in its search for Franklin.[11] The expedition failed to find Franklin largely because of ice in Lancaster Sound which forced it to turn back.[12] Goodsir described this voyage in detail in his book An Arctic voyage to Baffin's Bay and Lancaster Sound : in search of friends with Sir John Franklin.[8]

Grave of Robert Anstruther Goodsir, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

Goodsir's second voyage to the Arctic took place in 1850. Although he had not yet qualified in medicine, he was appointed surgeon aboard the brig Lady Franklin, again under the command of William Penny. Along with the brig Sophia they were part of the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1850–1851. This expedition had been backed by the Admiralty after pressure from Lady Franklin, who had helped finance it.[12][13] On this expedition Goodsir explored the east and north coasts of Cornwallis Island.[14] During this journey he made the discovery on Beechey Island of the graves of three members of the Franklin Expedition, John Torrington, William Braine and John Hartnell.[15] This showed for the first time that Sir John Franklin's ships had spent the 1845–46 winter on the site.[13] He published an account of this find in 1880.[16][17]

In 1852 he qualified MD from the University of St Andrews, on the basis of his earlier studies at the University of Edinburgh, but there is no evidence that he ever practised medicine.[18]

Later life[edit]

He went in Australia in the 1850s. According to a source there, “He visited Australia at the height of the gold fever, saw a good deal of life at the diggings, turned to squatting and for many years led an active and restless life.”[19] He had 210 acres at Ten Mile Creek near Albury by 1879.[20]

He was back in Edinburgh by 1882 where he stayed at 11 Danube Street with his sister Jane.[5][21] He died on 17 January 1895 and is buried in the Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.[22][23]

Selected bibliography[edit]

  • An Arctic Voyage to Baffin's Bay and Lancaster Sound, in Search of Friends with Sir John Franklin. London: J. Van Voorst, 1850 [24]
  • A Fragment From The Tale of Franklin's Fate. Australia: The Australasian, 25 December 1880. (Credited as An Arctic Man of Two Voyages)[17]
  • Only an Old Chair: Its Story As Taken Down in Choice Shorthand and Done into English. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1884.[25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Scott Polar Research Institute Archives, University of Cambridge. Robert Goodsir collection – Archives Hub". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  2. ^ "The Real Terror: Shedding light on the Scots who perished in tragic quest for North West Passage". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. ^ Scotland's People. Baptismal Record of Robert Anstruther Goodsir, 27 August 1823, Anstruther Easter Parish Records, Old Parish Records 402/0040 0038.
  4. ^ a b Kaufman MH. Harry Goodsir and the last Franklin expedition, of 1845. Journal of Medical Biography 2004; 12: 82–89
  5. ^ a b University of Edinburgh Centre for Research collections Collections. Gen 302/7
  6. ^ Royal Scottish Geographical Society. HDS Goodsir Archive.
  7. ^ Moore, P. G. (2020). "The Goodsir brothers from Fife, Scotland: contributions to anatomy, marine zoology and Arctic exploration in the nineteenth century". Archives of Natural History. 47 (1): 76–91. doi:10.3366/anh.2020.0623. ISSN 0260-9541. S2CID 216332167.
  8. ^ a b Goodsir, Robert Anstruther (1850). An Arctic Voyage to Baffin's Bay and Lancaster Sound, in Search of Friends with Sir John Franklin. London: John Van Voorst.
  9. ^ Elce, Erika B. (Ed.) (2009), As affecting the fate of my absent husband: Selected Letters of Lady Franklin Concerning the Search for the Lost Franklin Expedition, 1848–1860. McGill-Queen's University Press
  10. ^ Holland, Clive A. (January 1970). "William Penny, 1809–92: Arctic Whaling Master". Polar Record. 15 (94): 25–43. doi:10.1017/S003224740006037X. ISSN 0032-2474.
  11. ^ Ross, W. Gillies (1 January 2002). "The Type and Number of Expeditions in the Franklin Search, 1847–1859". Arctic. 55 (1): 57–69. doi:10.14430/arctic690. ISSN 1923-1245.
  12. ^ a b Ross, W. Gillies (18 July 2019). Hunters on the Track: William Penny and the Search for Franklin. MQUP. doi:10.2307/j.ctvkjb2d0. ISBN 978-0-7735-5832-8. JSTOR j.ctvkjb2d0. S2CID 200114993.
  13. ^ a b Freebairn, Alison. "Robert Anstruther Goodsir. Part one: Australia, 1880". There stood no friendly post to guide us. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  14. ^ Sutherland, Peter (1852). "Journal of a voyage in Baffin's Bay and Barrow Straits, in the years 1850–1851 : performed by H.M. ships "Lady Franklin" and "Sophia," under the command of Mr. William Penny, in search of the missing crews of H.M. ships Erebus and Terror : with a narrative of sledge excursions on the ice of Wellington Channel : and observations of the natural history and physical features of the countries and frozen seas visited". catalog.hathitrust.org. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  15. ^ Strachan, Graeme (19 July 2021). "The Terror: Covid puts brakes on search for Harry Goodsir sunken treasures". The Courier. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  16. ^ Freebairn, Alison (4 January 2021). "Robert Goodsir and the Franklin graves on Beechey Island". THERE STOOD NO FRIENDLY FINGER-POST TO GUIDE US. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  17. ^ a b "THE EXPLORER". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946). 25 December 1880. p. 7. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  18. ^ University of St Andrews Special Collections. UYUY350-374,
  19. ^ "Personal - Obituary". Freeman's Journal: 21. 16 March 1895.
  20. ^ "Approved claims for undefined pre-emptive leases". New South Wales Government Gazette (195): 2409. 7 August 1874.
  21. ^ "The Herring". Argus (Melbourne): 5. 12 April 1882.
  22. ^ Scotland's People. Death Record of Robert Anstruther Goodsir, 17 January 1895, Edinburgh St. George Parish Records, Statutory Deaths 685/01 0096
  23. ^ "Robert A. Goodsir, M.D". British Medical Journal. 1 (1778): 232–233. 26 January 1895. ISSN 0007-1447. PMC 2508084.
  24. ^ "An Arctic voyage to Baffin's Bay and Lancaster ... – Canadiana Online". www.canadiana.ca. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  25. ^ "Only an old chair". Wellcome Library. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
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