Level of Description: Fonds

Extent and Medium of the unit of description: 0.06 linear metres

Name of creator(s): Burns, Dr John (1815-1910)

Administrative/Biographical History
Dr John Burns was born in Perth in 1815. When he was about 5 he lost both his parents and was sent to live with his paternal grandfather, a farmer who lived near Methven. He later returned to Perth as an apprentice to a tailor. Dissatisfied with his prospects he then tried teaching and obtained a post as a school teacher in Coaltown, Wymess, Fifeshire. In 1838 he resigned his post and came to Glasgow with the intention of entering the Church, but later turned his attention to Medicine. He studied at Anderson’s College and Portland Street School both in Glasgow and became a licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1846 and was elected a Fellow of the Faculty in 1851. He practiced in the Bridgeton district of Glasgow. At the age of 64 he lost much of his fortune in the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank. He continued in practice until within two years of his death. He held office as Visitor of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons and on his death left a legacy of £1000 for an annual prize to students in the faculty of medicine.

Obituary in Glasgow Medical Journal, Volume 73, 1910

Scope and content
Diploma of Fellowship of the Glasgow Faculty of Medicine, 1850; prescription, 1897; poem relating to portrait of Dr Burns, 1899; newspaper obituary, 1910.

Conditions governing access
Access to some items may be restricted. Please contact the Archivist at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Conditions governing reproduction
Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Archivist. We will try to assist in identifying copyright owners but the responsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the reader.

Language/scripts of material
English

Finding aids
Descriptive list available at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Archivist's Note
Compiled by Carol Parry, Archivist, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Rules or Conventions
ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description, International Council on Archives (2nd edition, 2000).

Date(s) of Descriptions
November 2000; amended March 2003