Thomas Jamison (abt. 1753 - 1811)

Born about 1753 in Co. Down, Ireland

Descendants

Died 27 Jan 1811 at about age 58 in London, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Thomas Jamison entered the Navy in 1777.^[1]

He married Rebecca, surname unknown and they had children Mary, John and Jane.^[2]

Appointed surgeon first mate of the ship Sirius on 30 December 1786, Thomas arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in January 1788.

He was stationed at the first settlement at Norfolk Island from March 1788 until October 1799. At Norfolk Island he had a common law marriage with Elizabeth Colley, a convict who had arrived on the Lady Penrhyn in 1788. Thomas and Elizabeth had four or five children on Norfolk Island.^[3]

He returned to Sydney in 1799 and was granted twelve months leave. He returned to England for a short while, until appointed to succeed William Balmain as surgeon-general of NSW. Jamison left England in the appallingly overcrowded convict ship Atlas, and after a quarrel with the master, Richard Brooks, Jamison left the ship at Rio de Janeiro and took a passage in the Hercules. In June 1802 he arrived at Sydney, and brought a civil action against Richard Brooks and the convict Sir Henry Browne Hayes for assault; also action against Richard Brooks for the damage to his property and for the losses he sustained on being obliged to leave the Atlas at Rio de Janeiro.^[4]

In 1804 Jamison, with Surgeons John Harris and John Savage, carried out the first successful vaccination of children against smallpox.^[5]

Thomas published the first medical paper to be printed in Australia, General Observations on the Smallpox, in the Sydney Gazette, on the 14th October 1804.^[6]

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
SMALLPOX,
~~~~~~~
BY THOMAS JAMISON, ESQ. PRINCIPAL
SURGEON.

AN erroneous opinion in relation to the Small Pox, being generally received, and an inference, deduced therefrom, equally fallacious with the principle upon which it is founded, I conceive it a duty incumbent on me, as Principal Surgeon of this Colony to remove prepoſeſions which, if adhered to must be productive of the moſt calamitous conſequences to the Riſing Generation of theſe Colonies.

Firſt, it is conceived by a number of parents and others, having the care of children, that they have had the ſmall pox in a natural way; and ſecondly, that little danger is to be apprehended from its effects in this climate.—In refutation of a conjecture fatal to be indulged, I muſt obſerve the diſease by some conſidered as the ſmall pox is no other than an eruptive appearance of the skin, proceeding from climate and other conſtitutional cauſes:—Others may be deceived by the chicken pox—an error that may be readily imbibed by thoſe who are not converſant in the natural ſmall pox : for I most poſitively affirm, on my own perſonal knowledge for ten years paſt, that not a ſingle instance of the latter disease has occurred in this country.

It was generally accreditted by the Medical Gentlemen of the Colony on its firſt eſtabliſhment, that the ſmall pox had been introduced among the Natives by the crews of the French ſhips then lying in Botany Bay; but ſince that period no veſtige of that diſeaſe has ever appeared.

In contradiction to ſo ridiculous an idea as that the natural ſmall pox ſhould not carry with it, and be productive of effects baneful and deſtructive in the extreme, I have here to obſerve, that at the Cape of Good Hope (the latitude being nearly the ſame with this place) the inhabitants dread the appearance of the ſmall pox as in other countries they do a plague, from the fatal malignancy of its tendency and effects; and I have no doubt, that ſhould the diſeaſe ever visit this Colony in a natural ſtate, and particularly in the ſummer ſeaſon, it would carry off nine-tenths of thoſe who might receive the infection.

From the foregoing facts and circumſtances, I would earnestly recommend Parents to avail themſelves of the bleſſing held out to them by the provident care of the Parent Country, by having their Children inoculated with the Vaccine or Cow Pock—an infallible Preventative of that loathſome, diſguſting, and too often fatal diſeaſe, when taken in the natural way.

It is almoſt needleſs to remark further on the particular virtues and properties of a diſcovery, announced and recommended to public notice, for the general benefit, from ſuch high and indiſputable authority : I ſhall therefore only remark, that the preventative qualities of the Cow Pock are incontrovertibly eſtabliſhed : No preparatory regimen or extraordinary care are requiſite in its application or progreſs ; It is attended by no ſort of danger or external blemiſh; wherefore, ſhould parents delay to embrace the ſalutary benefit now tendered gratuitouſly, and the Vaccine Infection be loſt, the most diſtreſſing reprehenſibility may accrue to them from their remiſſneſs in the preſervation of their Offspring, whoſe deſtruction thereof may be reaſonably apprehended to enſue from the ſmall pox, ſhould it ever viſit this Colony in a natural ſtate.

In the following years he served the community as surgeon and magistrate, as well as conducting business as a trader and land developer.

In December 1805 he was granted 1,000 acres at Evan, receiving another 100 acres at Mulgrave Place and 100 acres at Bankstown in 1806. By 1807 he held a total of 2,300 acres, but only 60 of them were cultivated.^[1]

Involvement in the Rum Rebellion mutiny against Governor Bligh
Jamison was one of those, along with D'arcy Wentworth, and John Macarthur, accused by Governor Bligh of being discontented when their trade in spirits was halted.
When Wentworth was court-martialled by Bligh, Jamison supported Wentworth. Likewise, he gave evidence for Macarthur when Macarthur sued Robert Campbell for trespass after Campbell had interfered with Macarthur's stills.
Jamison also accompanied Major George Johnston when Johnston confronted Bligh, complaining about "improper gubernatorial interference with the affairs of the New South Wales Corps" (aka "the Rum Corps").
Johnston later claimed that this incident was why Jamison was dismissed, by Bligh, from the magistracy he had held since 1802. Governor Bligh counter-claimed that Jamison was not a fit and "upright man", connected to improper transactions (rum trading), and only allowed to continue as principal surgeon because there was no other to replace him in that position.
Unsurprisingly, then, Jamison was numbered among those who rebelled against the Governor in January 1808, deposing him during what became known as the Rum Rebellion.
Jamison was appointed by the rebel "government" as magistrate, taking part in the committees that not only read Bligh's personal papers, but also examined the supporters of Bligh.
Jamison was among those forbidden by Bligh to leave the Colony, something he disregarded, sailing for England in June 1809 in order to bear witness for Johnston in the ensuing inquiries.

Thomas Jamison and Sarah Place are believed to be the parents of a child born in 1808 named Thomas Tristian Place.^[7]

Thomas Jamison died on 27 January 1811 at Upper Berkley Street, Portman Square, London, before he was able to give evidence at the trial of Major George Johnston. Jamison was buried in the grounds of the Anglican Church of St Mary, Paddington Green, in London.

Jamison's wife Rebecca, survived him by 27 years. She received a government pension but only after prolonged lobbying by her son, Sir John Jamison. Rebecca's death occurred in County Antrim in 1838.^[8]

Thomas's will appointed his son John his heir and executor, and also named three friends, among them Dennis Considen as "guardians of my infant daughters Elizabeth, Frances, Harriet and Matilda" until they reach the age of 21.^[1]

His son John travelled to the Colony in 1814, after his father's death in London in 1811, to claim his inheritance.

Research Notes

Thomas Jamison's Origins
According to The Australian Dictionary of Biography (1967 edition), and repeated in Mollie Gillen's The Founders of Australia (1989) Thomas's baptism was in February 1745, the son of Thomas Jameson, the rector of the parish church of Egremont in County Cumberland, England, and this Thomas Jamison took an M.A. at the University of Dublin in 1772. However this was another person according to Stephen Gibbes who found that the Thomas Jamison who was on the First Fleet was probably born in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, in 1738, the son of one John Jamison, and baptised on December 26 that year in Cammoney.^[9] [Note that the year of birth is probably too early]

However the online edition of The Australian Dictionary of Biography (2006) has: Thomas Jamison (c.1753-1811), surgeon, was baptized on 10 January 1753 at the Presbyterian Church, Ballywalter by Newtownards, County Down, Ireland, son of William Jamison and his wife Mary, née Fisher.^[5] Does anyone know the original source?

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia : A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, 1989, p.190.
2. ↑ "First Fleeter, Thomas Jameson – Surgeon's Mate". The Fellowship of First Fleeters http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au/thomasjameson.htm
3. ↑ Cathy Dunn, "Thomas Jamison, Surgeon first mate", HMS Sirius 1788 https://hmssirius.com.au/thomas-jamison-surgeon-first-mate-hms-sirius-1788/
4. ↑ "Thomas Jamison : First Fleet Surgeon", Free Settler or Felon https://www.freesettlerorfelon.com/thomas_jamison.html
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Vivienne Parsons, 'Jamison, Thomas (1753–1811)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jamison-thomas-2269/text2909, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 22 February 2017.
6. ↑ "GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE SMALL POX," The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 14 October 1804: 2. Web. 1 Sep 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article626451>.
7. ↑ Purnell, Marion, "Thomas Jamison, 1752–1811", Australian Royalty database https://australianroyalty.net.au/tree/purnellmccord.ged/individual/I27348/Thomas-Jamison
8. ↑ Wikipedia contributors. (2021, December 20). Thomas Jamison. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:43, March 24, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Jamison&oldid=1061233318
9. ↑ Stephen Gibbes, "Putting the record straight?", Journal of the Fellowship of First Fleeters, November/December 1991 Volume 22 No.6, p.8. http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au/founders/1991newsletter22i6.pdf