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John was the son of John Fothergill and Margaret Hough. He was born on 8 Mar 1711/2 (1712 in our reckoning) at Carr End near Bainbridge, Wensleydale, Yorkshire[1][2][3]
John was educated at Sedbergh School, then in Yorkshire.[1][4] He then became an apprentice of Benjamin Bartlett, a Quaker apothecary and botanist who was based in Bradford, Yorkshire and who was also a Quaker minister.[1][4] Benjamin Bartlett released him from the apprenticeship[1] and he went on to study medicine at Edinburgh, graduating in 1736, and then moved to London where he continued his medical studies at St Thomas's Hospital.[1][4]
In 1744 John became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, London.[4] He established a medical practice in London, where his patients included some of the most prominent people of the time, such as Robert Clive (Clive of India), Benjamin Franklin, John Wesley and members of the Penn family.[4] But he also treated the poor without charging a fee.[1] He became a fellow of the College of Physicians, Edinburgh in 1754.[4]
Among John's medical writings were:
John set up an extensive botanical garden at Upton, Essex. In recognition of his contribution to botany, Linnaeus named an American genus of witch hazel Fothergilla.[1][4] Several plants are named after him.[1] He also built up a large collection of shells and minerals: this was acquired after his death by the anatomist William Hunter.[4]
John was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1763.[4] He gave significant financial support to Joseph Priestley, who declared that without this he would have had to abandon his scientific work.[1]
Apart from his medical and scientific interests, from 1743 John was English correspondent for the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends, and he gave political advice to Quakers in the Pennsylvania Assembly.[1][4]
John was actively interested in American affairs. In 1760 John became a trustee of the Pennsylvania Land Company.[1] In 1771 John helped to raise money for the foundation of New York Hospital.[1] His having Benjamin Franklin as a patient led to the two men becoming close, and in 1775 they made unsuccessful attempts to avert the American Revolutionary War.[1][4]
In 1764 John financed the publication of a translation of the Bible by a Quaker called Anthony Purver.[4]
At the end of the 1770s he was instrumental in the founding of Ackworth School, a Quaker establishment, with the help of, among others, the Quaker banker David Barclay.[1][4]
John was an advocate of the abolition of the slave trade, was involved with prison reformers, and campaigned for improvements to public hygiene.[1]
John died at Harpur St, London on 26 December 1780 and was buried at Winchmore Hill Quaker Burial Ground, Middlesex on 4 January 1781.[1][5] It is said that some 70 carriages were in the funeral procession.[4]
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