Background
John Barclay was born on December 10, 1758, in Cairn, Perthshire, Scotland. He was the son of a farmer, and nephew of John Barclay, who established the Berean Church.
1821 - 1826
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Barclay was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1821. The picture represents the Surgeons' Hall in 1890.
the University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom
Barclay initially studied divinity at the University of St. Andrews, and was originally destined for the Church.
the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Barclay graduated with the Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1796.
Satirical etching by John Kay: Barclay attempts unsuccessfully to enter the University of Edinburgh as its new professor of comparative anatomy astride an elephant skeleton, opposed by the incumbent medical professors.
John Barclay in the later years of his life.
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Barclay was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1821. The picture represents the Surgeons' Hall in 1890.
John Barclay was born on December 10, 1758, in Cairn, Perthshire, Scotland. He was the son of a farmer, and nephew of John Barclay, who established the Berean Church.
John Barclay was educated at Muthill parish school. Barclay initially studied divinity at the University of St. Andrews, and was originally destined for the Church. Having taken his license after a good education at St. Andrews University, Barclay acted as a preacher in the Church of Scotland before turning his attention to medicine and graduating with the Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1796.
John Barclay was thirty-eight years of age before he began to teach anatomy on his own account, after assisting John Bell in his class. The house in High School Yards, in which he lectured, soon became too small to accommodate the students, and Barclay was obliged not only to remove to a larger classroom in Surgeons’ Square but also to lecture on the same subject twice a day.
In 1810 the number of students attending his class had risen to 300. Barclay had no monopoly on anatomical teaching; there were other extramural classes of anatomy that prospered, especially after the retirement of the second Monro from the university chair. Barclay was, however, the first teacher of anatomy in Edinburgh to confine his attention to anatomy and not to engage in practice. He made a number of valuable contributions to human and comparative anatomy, and indeed it was proposed that a chair of comparative anatomy should be created for him in the university. This proposal aroused violent discussion, and was eventually abandoned.
It is commemorated by a clever cartoon in Kay’s Edinburgh Portraits, entitled “The Craft in Danger.” Barclay is shown mounted on the skeleton of an elephant, being pushed into the university gate by some of his friends. His progress is resisted by his enemies.
The Barclay Collection of Comparative Anatomy was bequeathed by him to the Royal College of Surgeons. The result of twenty-seven years of collecting, it remains a monument to his industry.
For the final two years of his life Barclay was too ill to teach, during which his classes were carried on by Robert Knox, his former pupil.
John Barclay grew up in the religious family where his relatives were members of the Berean Church. So, Barclay was originally destined for the Church, and at some point served as a minister after taking a good education in divinity at St. Andrews University.
During the winter sessions Barclay taught anatomy, physiology, and surgery, while in the summer sessions he taught comparative anatomy, a subject in which he was particularly interested.
Barclay was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1821.