Robert McCormick (explorer)
| Robert McCormick | |
|---|---|
Robert McCormick, by Stephen Pearce.
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| Born |
22 July 1800 Great Yarmouth, England |
| Died | 25 October 1890 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | surgeon |
Robert McCormick (22 July 1800 – 25 October 1890) was a British Royal Navy ship's surgeon, explorer and naturalist.
McCormick was born in Great Yarmouth, England. His father, also Robert McCormick, was a ship's surgeon from Ballyreagh, County Tyrone. From 1821 McCormick studied medicine in London under Sir Astley Cooper at St Thomas' Hospital and Guy's Hospital, gaining his diploma in 1822, then in 1823 he joined the Royal Navy as an assistant surgeon. He served in the West Indies for two years before being invalided home. Following a year in a North Sea cutter, he became assistant surgeon on the Hecla under William Edward Parry in 1827, joining Parry's expedition searching for the North Pole. Three commissions abroad followed, and in each case he felt unappreciated and was "invalided home", which in Naval terms implied personal dissatisfaction or disagreements.
Near the start of 1830 he took half-pay leave and attended the natural history lectures of Robert Jameson at the University of Edinburgh. This was encouraged by the Navy, McCormick felt that "only Scotchmen have any chance with the head of our department." McCormick also attended classes there in medical practice, midwifery, some botany and chemistry, and took tuition in surgery from John Lizars. By May 1831 McCormick had returned to London, where Francis Beaufort was looking for suitable personnel for a survey expedition to South America. McCormick appeared well qualified, and was recruited as ship's surgeon for the second voyage of HMS Beagle under Captain Robert FitzRoy. McCormick expected this position meant the usual duties as a naturalist, as did Jameson who wrote to him in November giving detailed advice on how to make the most of the "numberless opportunities" this "exploratory expedition" would provide "for the advancement of natural history". McCormick fully expected to put together a sizeable natural history collection with significant social value, gaining him fame as an exploring naturalist.
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