John Adamson
Adamson circa 1865
Born12 December 1809[1]
St Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Died11 August 1870(1870-08-11) (aged 60)
Dulnain Bridge, Moray, Scotland
Occupations
  • Physician
  • Photographer
  • Physicist
  • Lecturer
  • Museum curator
Known forFirst calotype portrait in Scotland
Spouse
Esther Christina Alexander
​
​
(m. 1850)​
RelativesRobert Adamson (brother)

John Adamson (12 December 1809 – 11 August 1870) was a Scottish physician, pioneer photographer, physicist, lecturer and museum curator. He was a highly respected figure in St Andrews, and was responsible for producing the first calotype portrait in Scotland in 1841. He taught the process to his brother, the famous pioneering photographer Robert Adamson. He was curator of the Literary and Philosophical Society Museum at St Andrews from 1838 until his death.

Biography

Adamson was born in St Andrews, and grew up in Burnside, the eldest of 10 children born to Alexander Adamson, a Fife farmer and his wife, Rachael Melville.[2]

Adamson, circa 1845

Adamson was educated in the University of St Andrews and University of Edinburgh, qualifying with a licentiate diploma (LRCS) from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1829.[3] He moved to Paris, where he opened up a practice and was then employed as a ship's surgeon on a voyage to China.[3] He returned to St Andrews in 1835, where he set up practice permanently. Adamson became heavily involved with Brewster at the university, studying the calotype and also became a lecturer and curator of the university museum.[2] The older brother of pioneering photographer Robert Adamson, it was John who produced the first calotype portrait in Scotland at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh in May 1841 (various sources also say May 1840 or May 1842[4][5]), with his close associate, physicist David Brewster of the University of St Andrews.[2] Adamson "discovered how to control a process that remained remarkably difficult."[5] John was also responsible for educating Robert in the process which he later used to produce some 2500 calotypes with David Octavius Hill between 1843 and 1848.[6][7][8] Through Brewster, Adamson was in close contact with Henry Fox Talbot who invented the process.[9] He obtained a Master's Degree in 1843.[3] He was also a member and the curator of the St Andrews Literary and Philosophical Society museum from 1838 until his death.[3][4]

Adamson died in Dulnain Bridge, Moray in 1870.[10] He married Esther Christina Alexander in 1850.[11] Their children included Esther Hamilton Proctor Adamson (1856–1929), John Adamson Jr., Robert Oswald Adamson and Alexander Archibald Adamson.[12] His daughter Esther married Rev. William Weir Tulloch, the son of John Tulloch, principal of St Andrews University.

Legacy

John Adamson's home and family in St Andrews, 1862

There is a blue plaque in his honour on his home at 127 South Street in St Andrews, where he lived from 1848 to 1865. It says "He was a physician and pioneer photographer. In 1841 he took the first caloptype portrait. He also taught his brother Robert and Thomas Rodger the technique and art of photography. A town councillor, he was a tireless worker for public health, and the hospital here is, in part, his memorial."[13][14] His home became the main post office of St Andrews from 1907, but in 2012 it was converted into a restaurant, named The Adamson.[15]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Adamson (physician).
  1. ^ John Adamson at FamilySearch.org
  2. ^ a b c Hill, David Octavius; Adamson, Robert; Ovenden, Graham (1973). Hill & Adamson photographs. Academy Editions. p. 6. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "Dr John Adamson M.D. of St Andrews". University of St Andrews. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Adamson, John (1809–1870)". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Sara (1 January 2003). Facing the light: the photography of Hill & Adamson. Scottish National Portrait Gallery. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-903278-32-1. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  6. ^ Lawson, Julie; McKenzie, Ray; Morrison-Low, A. D. (June 1994). Photography 1900: the Edinburgh symposium : the proceedings of the Conference of the European Society for the History of Photography in association with the Scottish Society for the History of Photography : Edinburgh, 24–26 September 1992. Scottish Society for the History of Photography, National Museums of Scotland. p. 19. ISBN 9780903598453. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  7. ^ Hannavy, John (4 March 2008). Fox Talbot: An Illustrated Life of Willian Henry Fox Talbot, 'Father of Modern Photography', 1800 -1877. Osprey Publishing. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7478-0351-5. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  8. ^ Hutchinson Encyclopedia 8th Edition (1988), p.10
  9. ^ National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (1988). ROSC. John Donald Publishers, and National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. p. 65. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  10. ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995
  11. ^ Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910
  12. ^ Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
  13. ^ Blue Plaque for John Adamson
  14. ^ Plaque #11051 on Open Plaques
  15. ^ "Story". The Adamson. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
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