Background
He was the son of Andrew Anderson, physician in Long Hermiston.
He was the son of Andrew Anderson, physician in Long Hermiston.
He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
He was company surgeon for the East India Company from 1786 and physician-general in Madras from 1800. He wrote about his experiences of culture in the South of India. He published Varnish and Tallow-trees in 1791 and Culture of Bastard Cedar Trees on Coast of Coromandel in 1794.
William Roxburgh (1751–1815) named the genus Andersonia after him.
He was a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.