Dr John Yule MD FRSE FRCPE MWS (1762–1827) was an 18th/19th century Scottish physician remembered as a botanist. He specialised in conifers and was the first to academically differentiate larch, spruce and fir.[1]

Life

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23 York Place, Edinburgh (centre)

He was born in 1762 the son of Elizabeth Rose and George Yule, who were tenant farmers at Gibslees close by Fenton Tower near Dirleton in Haddingtonshire, where his family had been resident for centuries. He was baptised at Dirleton on 27 Sep 1762.[2]

He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh gaining his doctorate (MD) in 1785. After qualifying he worked in Sheffield for several years before returning to Edinburgh around 1800. He was one of he earliest corresponding members of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland during his time in Sheffield.[3]

In 1798 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh.[4][5] In 1801 he was living on Nicolson Street in Edinburgh's South side.[6]

In 1815 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, Thomas Allan, and Alexander Christison.[7] He was then living at 23 York Place.[8]

He died at home 23 York Place on 23 February 1827,[9] and was buried in the churchyard of the parish church at Dirleton.[10]

Publications

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  • The Aspect of the Proper Pines (1820)

Family

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Relatives of John Yule include his nephew, the orientalist Henry Yule, and his great-nephew, the statistician Udny Yule. [11]

References

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  1. ^ Behavioural Neuroscience 1820
  2. ^ Baptism record for John Yule, familysearch.org (free registration required).
  3. ^ Amy Frances Yule, Memoir of Sir Henry Yule, in Henry Yule (translator), The Book of Ser Marco Polo, 3rd ed (1903), p. xxix
  4. ^ Minute Books of the Harveian Society. Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
  5. ^ Watson Wemyss, Herbert Lindesay (1933). A Record of the Edinburgh Harveian Society. T&A Constable, Edinburgh.
  6. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1801, p. 210
  7. ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  8. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1815, p. 300
  9. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1826, p. 208
  10. ^ History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vol. 8 (1876-8), p. 210
  11. ^ "George Udny Yule 1871-1951". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 8 (21): 308–323. 1952. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1952.0020. S2CID 178300526.