Dr. Henry Duncan Goodsir (1778-1818) A Distinguished Medical Officer of the British Army

Henry Duncan Goodsir was interested in the study and practice of medicine from an early age. His father, Dr. John Goodsir was a well-known and popular Doctor in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland in the early 18th century. It is no wonder that his sons would follow in his footsteps. His two younger brothers, Archibald (1779-1820) was also a Surgeon in the Fifeshire Militia and John (1782-1848) was a well-known Surgeon in Anstruther, Fife. Henry, the third son of Dr. John Goodsir attended medical school at the University of Edinburgh and spend his professional life in the military serving firstly in the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales Volunteers) and then serving in the Royal Sicilian Regiment as a Surgeon in Malta and lastly in the 89th Regiment of Foot seeing service in Ontario, Canada during the War of 1812. Goodsir retired from military service in 1817 and lived a quiet life in Edinburgh after a long adventurous life in the British Army. Like his father, he looked upon his profession as an extended series of duties to the many soldiers of the British Army that he cared for. By the end of his illustrious military career he was a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, the Peninsular War and finally the Anglo-American War of 1812. This then is the narrative of the life and times of a medical officer in the British Army, Dr. Henry Duncan Goodsir.