Andrew Fernando Holmes : Protestantism, Medicine, and Science in Nineteenth-Century Montreal

This is the first comprehensive study of the life and work of Andrew Fernando Holmes, famous for his work on congenital heart disease. Physician, surgeon, natural historian, educator, Protestant evangelical. Andrew Fernando Holmes’s name is synonymous with the McGill medical faculty and with the discovery of a congenital heart malformation known as the "Holmes heart." He also played a critical role in the creation of a scientific culture in early-nineteenth-century Montreal. Born in captivity at Cadiz, Spain, Holmes immigrated to Lower Canada in the first decade of the nineteenth century. He arrived in a province that was experiencing profound social, economic, and cultural change as the result of a long process of integration into the British Atlantic world. A transatlantic perspective, therefore, undergirds this biography, from an exploration of how Holmes’s family members were participants in an Atlantic world of trade and consumption, to explaining how his educational experiences at Edinburgh and Paris informed his approach to the practice of medicine, medical education, and medical politics. Cover Half Title Page Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: The Anniversary 1. From Cadiz to Lower Canada: Holmes’s Atlantic World Cadiz to Quebec La Prairie and Quebec City Montreal Conquest and Consumption: Building a Transatlantic Culture The Religious Culture of Montreal 2. “Well and Sufficiently Taught” Alexander Skakel and the Aberdeen Enlightenment in Montreal Daniel Arnoldi and Holmes’s Apprenticeship Medical Edinburgh Courses and Clinical Instruction Extramural Teaching The Royal College of Surgeons Societies Paris and the Medical Grand Tour 3. The Origins of McGill Medicine The Early Years of the Montreal General Hospital Lord Dalhousie and the Reorganization of the Montreal Medical Board 4. Family and Religious Life Susannah Holmes Wilkes and Juliet Wadsworth Holmes Mark Willoughby, the Newfoundland School Society, and Trinity Chapel “Their Valued Fellow-Laborer”: The Colonial Church and School Society80 Bishop Fulford’s Opposition to the CCSS The Sabrevois Mission Andrew F. Holmes: Transatlantic Evangelical 5. “The Wonders of Creation” Botany Montreal Natural History Society Collecting Minerals Holmes, William Logan, and the Geological Survey of Canada An Evangelical in Science 6. McGill and the Politics of Medicine The Montreal School of Medicine and Surgery, 1843–9 The Death of Julien Champeau Playing Politics Taking Care of Business St Lawrence School of Medicine The McGill Medical Tradition 7. The Practice of Medicine The Holmes Heart More Cardiology Cases Cholera, 1832 Childbirth and Obstetrics A Vision for Medicine Conclusion Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index "Despite his importance to understanding the history of early 19th century medicine, science and Protestant identity, Andrew Fernando Holmes has never been the subject of a comprehensive study. This study is based on a wide-ranging examination of primary sources, both manuscript and printed, (some of which were unknown to previous historians) that illuminate key aspects of Holmes' public life: as a student at Edinburgh in the late 1810s, as a young physician and surgeon in private and hospital practice, as a assiduous collector of botanical and mineralogical specimens and mainstay of the Natural History Society of Montreal, as one of the founding members and first Dean of the McGill medical faculty; and as a leader in the Montreal Protestant community. This study is situated at the intersection of religious, scientific and medical history. While providing an analysis of his role in the early formation of McGill's medical faculty, it seeks to move beyond a narrow institutional focus to address questions about how Holmes thought about and actually practiced medicine and surgery; how he engaged in public medical controversies, and how his religious beliefs intersected with his scientific and medical work."-- Provided by publisher "Despite his importance to understanding the history of early 19th century medicine, science and Protestant identity, Andrew Fernando Holmes has never been the subject of a comprehensive study. This study is based on a wide-ranging examination of primary sources, both manuscript and printed, (some of which were unknown to previous historians) that illuminate key aspects of Holmes' public life: as a student at Edinburgh in the late 1810s, as a young physician and surgeon in private and hospital practice, as a assiduous collector of botanical and mineralogical specimens and mainstay of the Natural History Society of Montreal, as one of the founding members and first Dean of the McGill medical faculty; and as a leader in the Montreal Protestant community. This study is situated at the intersection of religious, scientific and medical history. While providing an analysis of his role in the early formation of McGill's medical faculty, it seeks to move beyond a narrow institutional focus to address questions about how Holmes thought about and actually practiced medicine and surgery; how he engaged in public medical controversies, and how his religious beliefs intersected with his scientific and medical work."-- Fourni par l'éditeur This is the first comprehensive study of the life and work of Andrew Fernando Holmes, famous for his work on congenital heart disease.0Physician, surgeon, natural historian, educator, Protestant evangelical. Andrew Fernando Holmes's name is synonymous with the McGill medical faculty and with the discovery of a congenital heart malformation known as the "Holmes heart." He also played a critical role in the creation of a scientific culture in early-nineteenth-century Montreal. Born in captivity at Cadiz, Spain, Holmes immigrated to Lower Canada in the first decade of the nineteenth century. He arrived in a province that was experiencing profound social, economic, and cultural change as the result of a long process of integration into the British Atlantic world. A transatlantic perspective, therefore, undergirds this biography, from an exploration of how Holmes's family members were participants in an Atlantic world of trade and consumption, to explaining how his educational experiences at Edinburgh and Paris informed his approach to the practice of medicine, medical education, and medical politics