The Life of William Henry Cullen, M.D.

William Henry Cullen was not a famous man, yet his life was anything but ordinary. A Victorian physician whose career spanned war, empire, science and emigration, he lived through many of the defining events of the nineteenth century. His journey took him from Sidmouth, Devon, to service as a surgeon during the Crimean War, followed by two decades as Medical Officer at Kustendjie on the Black Sea coast. During the Russo-Turkish War he helped support Turkish refugees. At the age of seventy-two he emigrated to establish a homestead in the Canadian North-West before returning to England, where he spent his final years in Bridlington, Yorkshire.In Smyrna, Constantinople, Varna and along the Black Sea littoral, Cullen experienced disease and war. He served as the last Civil Surgeon at Scutari Hospital, his departure coinciding with that of Florence Nightingale. Yet his interests extended far beyond medicine. An accomplished amateur naturalist and archaeologist, his observations on the Great Bustard were cited by Charles Darwin, while his discoveries of Roman coins and inscriptions entered the collections of the British Museum.This biography places Cullen within a remarkable family whose history spans medicine, science, exploration and migration. His father, Charles Cullen, was a noted translator and assistant to the scientist Henry Cavendish, while his grandfather, Dr William Cullen-the "Scottish Hippocrates"-was among the pioneers of eighteenth-century medicine and scientific innovation. The family legacy continued through his son, Charles Edward Cullen, who played a significant role in leading migrants to Canada and Argentina.Set against the backdrop of a changing world, The Life of William Henry Cullen, M.D. reveals how an apparently ordinary life intersected with extraordinary people, places and events.