| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Fonds |
| Ref No | MS 442 |
| Title | Robert Wilson, surgeon and traveller: Volume of watercolour portraits by Robert Wilson: Turkish Officials and Nobility |
| Date | Early 19th century |
| Extent | 1 volume |
| Creator Name | Dr Robert Wilson (1787 - 1871), surgeon and traveller, of Banffshire and Aberdeen |
| Administrative History | Robert Wilson was born in Banff on the north eastern coast of Aberdeenshire on 25 April 1787.
He attended Banff Grammar School before continuing his education at Marischal College in Aberdeen where he studied arts from 1802 to 1806. He then attended medical classes in London (1804 - 1805) and Edinburgh (1808) before graduating M.D. at King's College, Aberdeen, in 1815. In 1816, he attended lectures at the Hôtel Dieu and Hôpital St Louis in Paris.
In 1805, he had entered the service of the East India Company and made five return trips to India, serving as a surgeon on board ship. He made a modest fortune from trading on his own account during these voyages and this gave him the money to continue travelling once he retired from his post in 1814.
He spend the next 9 years travelling in Europe and the Near East, possibly with the intention of opening up new trading routes but certainly to indulge his own well-informed classical interests. His journals from this period are well-illustrated with antiquarian sketches, probably not always by Wilson himself. He was the first European to explore Kurdish areas in Mesopotamia. He was proud of his explorations and excavations, often undertaken in Eastern dress, and did contribute to the expansion of trade in the areas he explored, though his agitation for a regular overland route to India was not successful.
In 1824, he became private secretary to the Marquess of Hastings during his time as Governor of Malta.
In 1825, he travelled through Africa, Greece (where he was involved in an exchange of prisoners of war) and Asia Minor. During his travels, he made frequent journeys back to Scotland and associated with many Scots on his travels,
From 1830 until his death, he lived in retirement near Forres in Moray. He travelled for pleasure visiting Norway (1830); Spain and Portugal (1836); Denmark. Russia, Estonia, Finland and Germany (1844) and Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar (1854 - 1856).
He was unmarried but had a natural son, Aylmer St Aubyn Wilson who was born in 1825.
He died at home on 24 September 1871, and in his will made considerable gifts to Marischal College, Aberdeen (and specifically not to King's College, Aberdeen).
The Robert Wilson Trust was created under the terms of his will, to establish an anthropological museum in the buildings at Marischal College, and to administer funds for a scholarship in archaeology at the University of Aberdeen (later, the Wilson Travelling Fellowship). Wilson's library and museum were bequeathed to the University after his death, and the contents of his museum formed the basis of the new Wilson Archaeological Studio (later the Anthropological Museum, now Marischal Museum).
Detailed autobiographical notes are contained in MS 425. See also H. Hargreaves,"Dr Robert Wilson: alumnus and benefactor of Marischal College: the man and his paper", 'Aberdeen University Review', 43 (1970) , 374 - 384. |
| Source | It is presumed that MS 413 - 443 were deposited in the University shortly after Robert Wilson's death, but were accessioned individually in line with current Library procedures at that time. |
| Description | Volume of watercolour portraits by Robert Wilson: Turkish Officials and Nobility, early 19th century. |
| Appraisal | This material has been appraised in line with normal procedures. |
| Accruals | None expected. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | The records are available subject to the signed acceptance of the Department's access conditions. |
| Copyright | Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation. Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the University Archivist and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material. |
| Physical Description | No physical conditions affecting use of collection. |
| Related Material | MS 413: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: Greece and Sicily
MS 414: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: Germany and Norway
MS 415: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: Egypt and Nubia
MS 416: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: India
MS 417: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: Persia
MS 418: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: Palestine and Syria
MS 419: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: Mesopotamia, Assyria and Babylonia
MS 420: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: Switzerland and Italy
MS 421: Volume containing a draft treatise by Robert Wilson on the purpose of Law and Punishment
MS 422: Copies of Letters from Robert Wilson to the Marquess of Landsdown and Lord Lauderdale
MS 423: Volume containing transcripts of letters written by Robert Wilson during his time as Private Secretary to Lord Hastings, Governor General of Malta
MS 424: Volume of Poems by Aylmer St Aubyn Wilson, the natural son of Robert Wilson
MS 425: Commonplace book belonging to Robert Wilson
MS 426: Volume of Poetry belonging to Robert Wilson
MS 427: 'Hugo Conwaie', an unpublished novel by Robert Wilson
MS 428: Volume containing narratives of Robert Wilson's travels through France
MS 429: Letter book of Robert Wilson
MS 430: Volume containing accounts of surgical cases treated by Robert Wilson on voyages with the East India Company
MS 431: Treatise by Robert Wilson entitled 'On the Presevation of Health on board the Honourable East India Company Ships'
MS 432: Notes on a number of subjects by Robert Wilson
MS 433: Volume by Robert Wilson entitled 'Remarkable Events since 1804'
MS 434: Material extracted by Robert Wilson from letters to his brother during his travels in Greece, Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily and Egypt.
MS 435: Volume by Robert Wilson containing 'Remarks on the Spanish Coast' and other anecdotes from abroad
MS 436: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: The Low countries and Germany
MS 437: Travel Journal of Robert Wilson: France and Spain
MS 438: Volume 1 of lectures in Natural Philosophy given by Professor Copland and taken down by Robert Wilson
MS 439: Volume 2 of lectures in Natural Philosophy given by Professor Copland and taken down by Robert Wilson
MS 440: Volume of watercolour portraits by Robert Wilson: Ottoman Emperors
MS 441: Volume belonging to Robert Wilson containing two essays by George Lomax and a 1741 copy of The Gentleman's Magazine
MS 443: Catalogue of books belonging to Robert Wilson
Three volumes from Robert Wilson's library are also deposited in the University Archives:
Manuscript of Roman Antiquities presented by the Marquess de Berrio to Mr Robert Wilson, Naples, in Jun 1820 (MS 411): containing six essays, written in Italian, with detailed and carefully executed drawings of monuments and finds from Roman sites.
Manuscript copy of 'The Whiggs Supplication' (part ii), by Samuel Colvil (MS 412): an enclosed letter, dated 9 Apr 1863, from C. Innes to Wilson states that the manuscript is the second part of a book, once well-known as 'The Scotch Hudebras'. He describes its author, Samuel Colvil(l), grandson of Lady Culcrop, as a " ne'er-de-well who went about trying to get subscribers for his book." A further copy of Colvill's 'Mock poem' or, 'Whigg's Supplication' is deposited at MS 103.
Robert Wilson's Trust, 1805 - 1986 (MS 3390)
The Wilson Collection (printed books: ref. WN). Comprising the contents of Robert Wilson's library, this collection is particularly rich in travel material along with smaller collections in history, archaeology, literature and medicine, dating principally from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Marischal Museum continues to care for the anthropological collections bequeathed by Wilson. |
| Publication Note | Thelma G. Watt, 'From Banff to Bengal and beyond: the life, travels and writings of a remarkable north-east loon, Robert Wilson, M.D. (1787-1871)', 2 vols (unpublished master's thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1995)
Henry Hargreaves, "Dr Robert Wilson : alumnus and benefactor of Marischal College: the man and his paper ",' Aberdeen University Review' , 43 (1970), 374 - 384
Thelma G. Watt, "Robert Wilson - man of numerous talents", 'Leopard Magazine', Feb. 1998, 18-20 |