Patrick Heron Watson

Sir Patrick Heron Watson (5 January 1832 – 21 December 1907) was an eminent 19th century Scottish surgeon and pioneer of anaesthetic development and modern dentistry. He was first President of the Edinburgh Dental Hospital. He was a great advocate of women training in medicine and surgery and did much to advance that cause.

He was born in Edinburgh on 5 January 1832, the third of four sons.

He was the son of Rev Charles Watson of Burntisland and Isabella Boog. His brothers were Rev Robert Boog Watson, Rev Charles Watson, and David Watson (a businessman).

He studied first at Edinburgh Academy and then studied medicine at Edinburgh University.

During this time both Joseph Lister and John Beddoe were fellow students and friends. He graduated in 1853 and was elected Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In July 1855 (whilst in the Crimea) he was elected a full Fellow.

In December 1854 he travelled south to Chatham Dockyard to enlist as an Assistant Surgeon in the Royal Artillery, specifically hoping to gain experience in military surgery, a standard requirement for Professorship. The Crimean War had just begun and intended to serve his country there. He left Chatham on 15 January 1855 with eight other surgeons, travelling to Crimea via Marseilles and Valletta, their ship arriving at Constantinople on 26 January. His hospital was one of the three main hospitals serving the British troops: Scutari, just two miles from Constantinople and famed for its connection to Florence Nightingale. This he found nightmarish, and was pleased to be reposted to the hill hospital at Koolalee. This however, had a far higher mortality rate, running at around 25%. On 11 April he reported his first bout of typhus, and moved to a hotel in Therapia to convalesce, returning to Koolalee in early May 1855. He determined to move to a field hospital, closer to the war itself in Crimea, and in June travelled to Balaklava, and from there to a field hospital called Castle Hospital where he began work on 25 June. Here seventy patients were treated, under an Irish doctor named Jephson. He enjoyed six weeks here before being posted to a forward field hospital attached to the Royal artillery near Karane. In August 1855 he had a severe attack of dysentery and on 13 August he was placed on a ship, Imperador, to carry him back to the hospital at Scutari.

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