Company was established by King Christian IV. in March, 1616, their first ship, the Ooresund, was despatched in Aug., 1618, and in 1620 they occupied Tranquebar, ceded to them by the Naik, or local ruler of the surrounding country.
The first Surgeon on the coast whose name has been recorded is John Clarke, appointed to the Fort of Armagon in Court Minutes of 12th Nov., 1630. A letter quoted by Sainsbury, dated 27th Sept., 1632, from Thomas Woodson at Masulipatam to Thomas Colley at Pettapolli, shows that there was then a Surgeon at Masulipatam also, but his name is not mentioned.[1]
Among the staff transferred from Armagon to Madras in 1640, a Surgeon was probably included, but his name is not mentioned. The first Surgeon at Madras whose name has survived was Edward Whiting or Whiteinge, who appears to have arrived there in 1649, on transfer from Bantam. He had previously served at Jambi in 1645. A letter from Fort St. George to the Company, dated 15th Jan., 1650/51, quoted in Love's Vestiges of Old Madras (Vol. I, p. 99), says:—
"It shall bee our care providently to dispose of both medicines and instruments in the Chirurgery Chest, rendering our humble thanks both for it and the Surgeon, Edward Whiteinge, at whose arriveall Nathaniel Lumley lay very sick, and the 7th October last departed this life, without making any will in this place."
Charges brought by Henry Greenhill against James Martin, Captain of the garrison of Fort St. George, dated 27th March, 1654, accuse Martin of having challenged Whiting to a duel, which apparently was prevented. A letter from Fort St. George, dated 28th Jan., 1656/57, reports that permission to return to England had been granted to Whiting. He was again at Madras in 1663, when a letter dated 26 Feb., 1662/63, states that he had been ordered from Fort St. George to Bengal as Surgeon to the factories in the Bay.
Whiting's successor as Surgeon at Madras was Robert Cooper, who is shown as Surgeon in a list of the staff at Fort St. George, dated 18th Jan., 1657/58. Cooper had previously been a Factor in Pegu, and was recalled to Madras when the Pegu factory was abandoned in Feb., 1655/56.
Maiden's List of Burials at Madras notes the burial of Robert Cooper, Surgeon, on 21st July, 1690. But it seems very doubtful
- ↑ Sainsbury, Calendar, Vol. V. No. 92, p. 78 ; and No. 308, p. 289.
