Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1791 - 1804, 1988, 2004 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
0.1 metres
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Thomas Garnett was born at Casterton, near Kirkby Lonsdale in Westmorland. He attended the village school at Barbon and Sedbergh School before entering Edinburgh University in 1785 to study medicine, attending lectures by the eminent chemist, Professor Joseph Black. After graduating MD, Garnett set up practice as a physician in Bradford and later in Harrogate. In addition to his medical practice, Garnett gave lectures on natural philosophy and chemistry and published works on the medicinal properties of the spa waters in Yorkshire. In 1796, Garnett was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy in the newly founded Anderson's Institution in Glasgow. There he resumed his medical practice and undertook a tour of the Highlands of Scotland in 1798, publishing his observations on this tour in 1800. As Anderson's Institution could offer only short term contracts, Garnett moved to London in December 1799 to become Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry at the Royal Institution. This appointment was short lived and Garnett resigned in June 1801. He set up practice as a physician and was appointed Physician to St Marylebone Dispensary, where he contracted typhus fever and died in June 1802. His 'Popular Lectures on Zoonomia' were published posthumously for the benefit of his orphaned family.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Published articles by Garnett; correspondence; marriage certificate; map of Garnett's tour of the Highlands in 1798; receipts and insurance certificate; cartoon by Gillray.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Mainly photocopies.
Finding aids
Item level typed list available in reading room.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Photographs of Thomas Garnett (ref: GB 249 OP4/5-9)