Arthur Edmondston
Photo kindly supplied by the Shetland Museum and Archives.
Reference #: SM01096
Arthur Edmondston (b. 10 November 1775, Lerwick, d. 17 February 1841, Lerwick), doctor, Lerwick Town Councillor and author of A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands (2 vols., 1809), two treatises on opthalmia, and other works. He was born on the 10th of November, 1775, the eldest son of Laurence Edmondston (b. 5.8.1740), merchant in Fetlar, and Mary Sanderson (b. 6.3.1751) of Buness House, Unst.
Edmondston studied medicine in Edinburgh, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He then served as an army surgeon in Egypt under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and subsequently settled in Lerwick, where he was a well-known and notoriously litigous figure. He was the uncle of Thomas Edmondston and Jessie M. E. Saxby.
Arthur Edmondston also published Observations on the nature and extent of the cod fishery carried on off the coasts of the Zetland and Orkney Islands, Edinburgh, 1820.
He died on 17 February 1841 in Lerwick.
Arthur's brother, Laurence, had a great-grandson, also called Laurence, who represented Unst in the Zetland County Council.
Political Career
External Links
| Provosts | ||
|---|---|---|
| New position | Senior Bailie for Lerwick Town Council 1818-1823 |
Succeeded by Charles Ogilvy |
| Leaders of the Lerwick Town Council | ||
|---|---|---|
| Councillors | Arthur Edmondston (1818-1823) • Charles Ogilvy Snr (1823-1827) • William Spence (1827-1832) • Charles Ogilvy Jr (1832-1844) • Joseph Leask (1844-1847) • William Sievwright Snr (1847-1856) • Charles Duncan (1856-1862) • Joseph Leask (1862-1865) • Charles Duncan (1865-1874) • William Sievwright Jr (1874-1876) • Thomas Cameron (1876-1883) • John Robertson (1883-1890) • Charles Robertson (1890-1895) • John Leisk (1895-1904) • James Goudie (1904-1907) • Arthur Porteous (1907-1910) • Arthur Laing (1910-1913) • Robert Stout (1913-1915) • Peter Goodlad (1915-1920) • Robert D. Ganson (1920-1924) • James Laing (1924-1927) • John Sinclair (1927-1930) • William Sinclair (1930-1933) • Robert Ollason (1933-1936) • James A. Smith (1936-1941) • Magnus Shearer (1941-1946) • James Aitken (1946-1950) • Robert A. Anderson (1950-1953) • George Burgess (1953-1956) • William Conochie (1956-1959) • Robert Blance (1959-1962) • Harry Gray (1962-1965) • Andrew Nicolson (1965-1967) • Eric Gray (1967-1971) • Bill Smith (1971-1974) • James Taylor (1974-1975) | |
