Dr Henry Barnes (1842–1921), a former pupil of St Bees School.

From Michael Tracy, Honorary Fellow Edinburgh Medical School, The University of Edinburgh.

I am writing to present an extensive historical biography of Dr Henry Barnes (1842–1921), a former pupil of St Bees School who subsequently became one of Cumberland's most distinguished physicians, medical historians and public benefactors.

By way of introduction, I am Michael Tracy, one of the last surviving members of the Goodsir medical and scientific family of Scotland, and an Honorary Fellow of Edinburgh Medical School at the University of Edinburgh.
 
For more than forty years, I have undertaken historical research into the Goodsir family and its contributions to nineteenth-century medicine and science. My present project involves identifying and reconstructing the lives of the thousands of medical students who attended the anatomical lectures of Professor John Goodsir (1814–1867) at the University of Edinburgh.
 
Henry Barnes was one of those students.
 
Born at Aikton House, near Wigton, Cumberland, on 20 July 1842, Barnes attended St Bees School before proceeding to Edinburgh, where he studied anatomy under Professor Goodsir and graduated Doctor of Medicine in 1864.
 
His subsequent achievements were remarkable.
 
He established himself in Carlisle, served as a physician to the Cumberland Infirmary for thirty years, became President of the British Medical Association in 1896, received an honorary doctorate from McGill University, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his wartime charitable service.
 
In addition to his medical career, Barnes became an accomplished historian and antiquarian. His published investigations encompassed plague epidemics in Cumberland and Westmorland, Roman medicine, ancient medical inscriptions and the ecclesiastical antiquities of his native county.
 
My research has resulted in a biography extending to more than eighty pages, accompanied by extensive bibliographical references. Although unusually lengthy for an individual biography, this reflects the exceptional range of Barnes's achievements and the considerable quantity of surviving historical evidence.
 
The study also includes an examination of his original Edinburgh medical dissertation, On Gout and the Gouty Diathesis (1864), providing a fascinating insight into the medical education of a former St Bees pupil more than 160 years ago.
 
Given the thousands of Goodsir's students still awaiting investigation, I cannot devote the time necessary to arranging the separate publication of every completed biography. Instead, I endeavour to make these studies available to institutions and historical organisations most closely associated with the individuals concerned.
 
I would therefore be delighted if the St Beghian Society considered retaining the enclosed biography among its historical and alumni research resources.
 
It would give me considerable pleasure to know that this account of his life might contribute to the preservation of the school's history and bring renewed recognition to one of its distinguished former pupils.
 
Michael Tracy
Honorary Fellow, Edinburgh Medical School, The University of Edinburgh.

 

Link to Dr Henry Barnes Biography (Word) or (PDF)