Samuel Wathen facts for kids
Samuel Wathen (born around 1720, died 1787) was an important English doctor. He worked in London during a time called the Georgian era. He was the personal doctor for a famous religious leader named John Wesley. He might have also helped Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III, when her children were born.
Life and Career of Samuel Wathen
Samuel Wathen was born in 1719 or 1720. He most likely came from Stroud, a town in Gloucestershire, England. His father, Jonathan Wathen, was a rich cloth maker.
Samuel became a doctor. When he was a young man in Bristol in 1737, he met John Wesley. Wesley was one of the people who started the Methodism religion. Samuel later became Wesley's personal doctor. Wesley wrote about Wathen many times in his personal journal. Samuel also had a younger brother, Jonathan Wathen, who became a well-known surgeon in London.
Samuel Wathen studied at King's College, Aberdeen in Scotland. He became a doctor of medicine on September 28, 1752. He then joined the Royal College of Physicians in London on September 30, 1756. He became one of the most famous doctors in London.
Besides being a surgeon and John Wesley's doctor, he also worked at the City of London Lying-in Hospital. This hospital was on City Road. At the hospital, he was a "man-midwife extraordinary." This meant he was a male doctor who specialized in helping women give birth.
In 1766, a book called the Royal Kalendar listed him as the man-midwife to the Queen. This queen must have been Queen Charlotte, who was married to George III. This suggests he might have helped the Queen when her sons, who later became King George IV and King William IV, were born.
Later in his life, Wathen left London. He moved to Dorking, a town in Surrey. His son-in-law, John Eckersall, owned a large house there called Burford Hall. After that, he moved to Wrington, in Somersetshire. Another son-in-law, Rev. William Leeves, was the church leader there. Samuel Wathen died in Wrington on July 26, 1787. There is a painting of Samuel Wathen and his family. It was painted by the artist George Knapton. This painting is now in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Wathen's Family Life
Samuel Wathen was married three times. His third wife was Elizabeth Malthus. They got married on March 19, 1750, in St Mary-at-Hill, London. Elizabeth's father was Sydenham Malthus, who was a lawyer. Elizabeth is most famous for being the aunt of a well-known economist named Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus. This economist was one of the first people to write about the possible problems of too many people living on Earth.
Samuel had one daughter from his second marriage. He had at least five children with his third wife, Elizabeth. One of their children was an actor named George Wathen (1762–1849). He was very famous on the London stage and was known as "Captain Wathen." Samuel and Elizabeth were also the grandparents of the poet Marianne Baillie.
