William Nimmo, Surgeon

WILLIAM NIMMO

William Nimmo is provisionally identified as the son of Alexander Nimmo and his wife, Janet Hay. This cannot yet be regarded as certain but this couple did have a son named William who was born on 14 December 1728. and a son Alexander who was born on 18 September 1733.

Family Relationships

William Nimmo is the brother of Alexander Nimmo, Surgeon in Glasgow Alexander Nimmo, Surgeon

Surgeon

William Nimmo practised as a surgeon at Kirkintilloch, East Dumbartonshire, for a time. His name is noticed there in the baptismal registers,1779-83 [National Records of Scotland, Kirkintilloch Baptisms, reference OPR.498/2]

Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons

William Nimmo was admitted to membership of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1775 and appears to have practised as a surgeon in Glasgow from 1789 onwards until his death in 1802. His home was located above number 169 High Street, Glasgow, where he and his brother probably had an Apothocary Shop. [Alexander Duncan, B.A. Lond., Memorials of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 1599-1850 (James McLehose & Sons, Glasgow, 1896), entry 316 on page 263]

William Nimmo was the first surgeon in Glasgow to attempt vaccination, the subject of the vaccination being one of his own relatives [Alexander Duncan, B.A. Lond., Memorials of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 1599-1850 (James McLehose & Sons, Glasgow, 1896), page 153]

Marriage

William Nimmo married Janet Hamilton, daughter of Robert Hamilton, coppersmith at the Kirkton of Kilbride, [Lanark Sasine Abridgements for 1782, abridgement no.194, which cites Particular Register of Sasines, volume 21, folio 203] and his wife Janet Alexander [Registrar General for Scotland, New Register House, Edinburgh, East Kilbride Baptisms, reference OPR.643/2, frame 337, which identifies Janet Hamilton's mother as Janet Alexander]

Children

1. Agnes Nimmo
2. Doctor John Nimmo, MD
3. Robert Hamilton Nimmo
4. Jean Nimmo
5. Jessie Nimmo

Evidence from the Old Parochial Registers

                   1

11 January 1756. Janet daughter lawfull to Robert Hamilton, Kirktoun & Agnes Alexander, Janr 11, 1756. [East Kilbride Baptisms, reference OPR.643/2]

                   2

26 December 1779. John lawll son to William Nimmo, Surg in Kirkintilloch, & Janet Hamilton born the 22d Decr 1779 and bapt 26th same month by ......... [Kirkintilloch Baptisms, reference OPR.498/2]

                   3

1 September 1781. Robert lawful son of William Nimmo, Surgeon here, and Janet Hamilton his wife born 1st Sepr 1781 bapt by Mr Thomson. [Ibidem, reference OPR.498/2]

                   4

20 September 1783. Jean lawful daur of William Nimmo, Surgeon here, & Janet Hamilton born 15th bap 20th Sepr 1783. [Ibidem, reference OPR.498/2]

                   5

26 October 1808. Dr. John Nimmo, Physician in Glasw. & Mary Gladstone l. d. of Thos. Gladstone, Merchnt, in Leith married 26th of Octr. by Mr. John ...... Relief Minister in Glasgow. [Glasgow Marriages, reference OPR.644.1/28]

Comment: (1) The name of the minister who married John Nimmo and Mary Gladstone cannot be read from the microfilm copy of the register. If his name cannot be identified from another source then the original record may need to be consulted. (2) This entry confirms that Mary Gladstone is the daughter of Thomas Gladstone, merchant in Leith, and it might reasonably be deduced, therefore, that she is the sister of Sir John Gladstone, merchant in Liverpool, and the aunt of William Ewart Gladstone, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on more than one occasion. For confirmation of the relationship between Mary and John Gladstone see S. G. Checkland, The Gladstones. A Family Biography, 1764-1851 (Cambridge University Press, 1971), page 137-8.

                   6

February 1826. Dr John Nimmo, Physician, & Mary Gladstone, a law: son William bo: 18th August 1809. a law: daur: Helen bo: 10th June 1811, a law: daur: Janet born 4th March 1813, a law: son Thomas bo: 17th March 1815, a law: daur: Ann Jane bo: 23d April 1817, a law: son John bo: 25th April 1819, a law: son Murray, bo: 23d December 1820. Wit: Andrew White & Andrew Bannatyne. [Glasgow Baptisms, reference OPR.644.1/32]

Comment: This is a late entry. All of the surviving children of Dr. John Nimmo and Mary Gladstone appear to have been recorded here.

                   7

1835. James Drew, Writer in Glasgow, & Janet Nimmo, residing in ……. l. d. of the deceased Dr. John Nimmo, late physician in Glasgow, married 28 July by Mr John .......... Burgher Minister in Edinburgh. [Glasgow Marriages, reference OPR.644.1/41]

Comment: Janet Nimmo's place of residence cannot be read from the microfilm copy of this register, although it may be Barmuir, or possibly Barhead. Neither can the surname of the minster be read. If this information cannot be identified from another source then the original record may need to be consulted.

Evidence from the Particular Register of Sasines for the Sheriffdom of Lanark

14 February 1782: John Paterson of Middle Shields gets renunciation January 14 and 19, 1782, by Agnes Hamilton, spouse of Robert Brown of Nether Kilwanet, Margaret Hamilton in Kirkton of Kilbride, Ann Hamilton, spouse of John Reid senior of Kittochside, and Janet Hamilton, spouse of William Nimmo, surgeon, Kirkintilloch, daughter of Robert Hamilton, smith, Kirkton of Kilbride; - in parts of Middle Shields, parish of Kilbride; - and of 3000 merks Scots in a bond and disposition to the said Robert Hamilton, September 16, 1757 [Lanark Sasine Abridgements for 1782, abridgement no. 194, which cites Particular Register 21/203]

Evidence from the Records of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

                   1

316. WILLIAM NIMMO. Entered in 1875. Resided in 1789 above 169 High Street. Married Janet Hamilton. He is stated by Strang to have been the first medical man in Glasgow to inoculate with cow-pox. Father of No. 369 (?). Brother of No. 327, who was his partner. Died in 1802 (Ref. Strang’s Glasgow Clubs, second edition, 60).

Comment: Duncan notes (page 153) that William Nimmo is mentioned as the first surgeon in the city who attempted vaccination, the subject of the operation being a relative of his own (He says that this was in 1800 and cites Strang’s Glasgow Clubs, second edition, page 248.

                   2

327. ALEXANDER NIMMO. Entered in 1787. Brother of 317 (This is an error; John Nimmo is actually numbered 316) whose partner he was.

                   3

369. JOHN NIMMO. Entered as physician in 1805. M.D. Edinburgh, 1804 (Thesis: “De quibusdam foetui propriis”). Physician to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 1809. In 1814 he addressed to the Managers of the Infirmary a “Memorial relative to a motion for establishing a system of out-patients.” Married Mary Gladstone (or Gladestone), sister of Mr. (afterwards Sir) John Gladstone of Liverpool, father of the Right Hon. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. President 1808-10. On the death of Dr. Freer in 1827, Dr. Nimmo was spoken of as his successor in the Chair of Medicine, but he died in the same year (Ref. Lancet, 1827. 120)

                   4

469. WILLIAM NIMMO. Entered in 1831. (Probationary Essay, “Illustrations of the Theory of Mental Derangement”). M.D. Glasgow, 1835. Assistant-surgeon to the Eye Infirmary; Lecturer in Surgery in College Street. In 1836 he went out to Demerara [a British colony in South America, which in 1831 united with Berbice to form British Guiana, and became in the 20th century the sovereign country of Guyana], where he died in 1841. Author of: Description of the Anatomy of Inguinal and Femoral Hernia (4to, Glasgow, 1835)

Comment: Alexander Duncan was unaware of the fact that this William Nimmo was the eldest son of John Nimmo [Matriculation Albums of Glasgow University, entry 11093 0n page 334]