Lectures and Papers of Professor Sir Thomas Grainger Stewart (1837-1900)

The material includes: lectures on the practice of physic, 1879-1880, 1883-1885,1885-1886, 1889-1890, and 1897-1898 and some undated; notes of lectures taken 1876-1877; letter to Miss Ferguson, 1882; and, a letter to Professor Geikie about an examination in the practice of physic, 21 March 1898.

Thomas Grainger Stewart was born in Edinburgh on 23 September 1837. He was educated at the city's Royal High School and then studied at Edinburgh University from which he graduated in 1858 with the degree of MD. He then studied at universities in Berlin, Prague and Vienna. On his return to Edinburgh he became a house physician under Professor John Hughes Bennett (1812-1875) and Professor Thomas Laycock (1812-1876) at the city's Royal Infirmary. In 1861 he was lecturing on materia medica and dietetics. Stewart was appointed as Pathologist to the Infirmary in 1862, as well as Physician to the Sick Children's Hospital, and in 1866 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. At this stage in his career he had worked a great deal on the kidney and kidney conditions, on dilation of the bronchi, and on acute atrophy of the liver. In the 1870s he conducted lectures on Clinical Medicine at the Infirmary and on the Practice of Physic at the extra-mural school, and in 1876, on the death of Professor Laycock, he was appointed Professor of the Practice of Physic at Edinburgh University. Stewart was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh from 1889 to 1891. His publications include A practical treatise on Bright's Disease of the Kidneys (1869), and An introduction to the study of the diseases of the nervous system (1884). Stewart was also interested in Scottish history and archaeology and he wrote a drama around the Regent Moray entitled The good Regent: a chronicle play (1898). In 1882 he was appointed Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria in Scotland on the death of Sir Robert Christison (1797-1882) and was knighted in 1894. Professor Sir Thomas Grainger Stewart died on 3 February 1900.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

Brown lectures transferred from the former Central Medical Library, January 1966, Accession no. E66.2. Letter to Ferguson, Index dated at 27 February 1969, Accession 27.2.69. Donald lectures purchased September 1984, Accession no. E84.33. Hughes lectures acquired April 1986, Accession no.E86.18.

At the time of writing this description, the letter was not viewed. The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of national biography. Vol. 22. Supplement. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1909. (2) The dictionary of national biography. The concise dictionary. Part 1. From the beginnings to 1900. Reprinted. London: OUP. Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1953.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.

The local Indexes show other references to Sir Thomas Grainger Stewart related material (check the Indexes for more details): signature at Dc.4.14/3, f.50; testimonial in favour of A. Wilson, 1879, at Dc.4.98/2, f.56; report of cases in winter session 1884-1885 in Ward 23 under the care of Stewart, at Dc.6.94; notice in Sir J. S. Flett's account of student days, 1886-1894, at Dc.6.116, f.64; and portraits at Phot.Ill.157/23, and in JY 1202.

In addition, the UK National Register of Archives (NRA), updated by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, notes: lecture notes, 1876-1898, Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine, Ref. MSS 4707-12; lecture notes, 1883-1887, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Ref. Stewart NRA 16015 Coll of Physicians; correspondence, National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts Division, Ref. MSS 7178-79; and, letters to H. W. Acland, 1888-1898, Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, Ref. MSS Acland NRA 22893 Acland.