Background
Milligan was born on 1 February 1795 in Cavan, Ireland.
Milligan was born on 1 February 1795 in Cavan, Ireland.
University of Edinburgh.
He became an early resident of the Swan River Colony in Western Australia. He received a Licentiate of Midwifery and a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Edinburgh. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and served as a military surgeon.
He originally joined the 16th Regiment of the British Army, but he transferred to the 63rd Regiment on 8 February 1827.
They arrived aboard Wanstead. On the second day after their arrival, he helped Drummer Mitchell deliver the first white child born in the colony.
Milligan was present at the foundation of Perth on 12 August 1829. This event is commemorated in a painting "The Foundation of Perth 1829".
He opened the first hospital in the colony in June 1830 and served as its superintendent.
He was the original owner of the land at the southern end of Milligan Street, Perth, which was named after him. He moved to Fremantle in 1834, but was then transferred to India and left on Merope in April 1834. He was Staff Surgeon at Poonamallee, near Madras (Chennai) in 1837.
In 1837 Milligan published a paper in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science titled "Some Account of the New Colony of Western Australia".
Milligan retired from the army in 1847 due to ill health, and lived in Nuneaton, England. He died on 2 September 1851 in London, England.