George Johnston (naturalist)

George Johnston (1797 – 1855) was a Scottish physician and naturalist.

Johnston was one of the founders of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club and became its first president. His books include The Flora of Berwick-upon-Tweed, History of British Zoophytes, and History of British Sponges and Lithophytes.

He was born at Simprin, Berwickshire, on 20 July 1797. When he was still young, his family moved to Ilderton in Northumberland. Johnston was educated first at Kelso, then at Berwick grammar school, and finally at the University of Edinburgh. He was apprenticed to John Abercrombie, and in 1817, qualifying as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, he went to London.

In 1818 Johnston began practice at Berwick-on-Tweed, where he remained. On 23 November 1819 he married Catharine Charles. Catharine illustrated many of his publications. Also in 1819 he graduated M.D. of Edinburgh, and in 1824 became F.R.C.S.E. He was thrice mayor of Berwick, and became LL.D. of Aberdeen. He retired from practice in 1853, and died at Berwick on 30 July 1855. He was one of the founders of the Ray Society and of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club.

Johnston's independent works were:

Johnston was from 1837 one of the editors of the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, later the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. To it, the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, the Transactions of the Natural History Society of Newcastle, and to the Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, he contributed 90 papers.

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