Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Clark, John (1744-1805)
CLARK, JOHN, M.D. (1744–1805), medical philanthropist, was born in 1744 at Roxburgh. He studied divinity at Edinburgh, but afterwards turned to medicine. In 1768 he obtained the appointment of surgeon's mate in the East India Company's service. He retired from it about 1775, and settled in practice near Newcastle, having previously graduated M.D. at St. Andrews. He became well known for his active interest in schemes for the benefit of the sick poor. He was the founder of the Newcastle Dispensary; he recommended reforms in the management of the infirmary, and he called attention to the need of hospitals for infectious diseases, both in that town and elsewhere. He died at Bath on 15 April 1805. Apart from his labours as a medical philanthropist, his credit rests on the two following works, which contain a good many valuable facts and principles to climatology and epidemiology: ‘Observations on Fevers, and on the Scarlet Fever with Ulcerated Sore Throat at Newcastle in 1778,’ Lond. 1780; ‘Observations on the Diseases in Long Voyages to Hot Countries, particularly the East Indies,’ 2 vols. Lond. 1792. His minor writings are ‘Letter upon the Influenza,’ ‘Account of a Plan for Newcastle Infirmary,’ and various papers on institutions for infectious diseases in Newcastle and other populous towns. His son William (1788–1869) is noticed below.
[Dictionnaire Encyclopédique des Sciences Médicales. vol. xvii. 1875.]