Jean Colladon was the son of Esaie Colladon, Professor of Medicine at Geneva in 1596. (Esaie was a citizen of Geneva, of the old La Châtre stock; but more I know not.) At the renowned Temple of Charenton, near Paris, in July 1637, Jean Colladon, son of Esaie Colladon and Marie Chauve, was married to Aimée de Frotté, son of Pierre de Frotté, Sieur de Mesnil and Judith de Mayerne. But before this date he had come to England to study medicine, probably on the invitation of Sir Theodore de Mayerne, who lent him money, and he became an M.D. of Cambridge on 23rd November 1635. Before he could aspire to a commanding position in the medical profession, the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth successively came in. As he afterwards filled a prominent position with some ability, we may conjecture that Royalist principles kept him in the shade until he was nearly fifty years of age. The idea that he had not been very successful in making money is suggested by his uncle’s will (his uncle, Sir Theodore, as already said, made his will in March 1655, a week before his death), which says:
“Whereas my nephew, John Colladon, Doctor in Physic, doth owe, and stands engaged, and stands indebted unto me, in several sums of money — the principal amounting to two thousand pounds at the least, or thereabouts, besides the interest due to me for the same for divers years past — I do hereby give and bequeath all the said sums to my beloved niece Aymée Colladon, his wife, for the advancement of herselfe and children, in testimony of my affection towards them. And of the said sum or sums, and every part and parcel thereof, as well principal as interest, I do wholly and fully discharge my said nephew, in confidence of his affection, assistance, and fidelity to my wife and daughter after my decease.”
In a few years his advancement came. At the restoration of Charles II. he was made one of the King’s physicians. His name appeared in a public document on 16th December 1661, at the top of the list of the trustees of the Westminster French Church in the Savoy, as “Dr John Colladon, Physician-in-Ordinary to the King.” He was formally naturalized on 5th April 1663, along with Ayme Colladon, his wife, and four children — Theodore, Gabriel, Isabella, and Susan. He is described in Latin as armiger (equivalent to “esquire”), and in medicinis doctor. He was knighted at Somerset House, 8th August 1664, as “Sr. John Colledon of St. Martin’s-in-the-Feilds.”
In December 1664 he was elected an honorary Fellow of the College of Physicians. Sir John Colladon is sometimes mentioned in Pepys’ “Diary;” his name may be recognised under various spellings — Collaton, Colliton, &c. The clerk who wrote his uncle’s will made it Collydon. By that will Sir Theodore de Mayerne ordained, that in the event of the decease of his surviving child without issue, the half of his fortune should pass to Lady Colladon. This event actually happened in 1661 (see my De Mayerne Memoir). The De Mayerne money would help to account for Sir John Colladon’s influence and importance in his adopted country. He died on 21st December 1675, declaring as to his means, “point d’heritage; tout à ma femme.”
Sir Theodore de Mayerne had in his will made no mention of either his books or his manuscripts. These, we may conclude, became the property of Sir John Colladon, upon whose death (and not before) they were presented to the library of the Royal College of Physicians of London. It was not until after Sir John’s death that any of the manuscripts were printed. (See my Memoir of De Mayerne.)
Theodore, the eldest child of Sir John Colladon, and named after Sir Theodore de Mayerne, was created an M.D. of Oxford on 20th December 1670. [Anthony a Wood calls him Theodor. Calladonius, Esq.] The Royal College of Physicians admitted him as an Honorary Fellow on 25th June 1685, but he received from King James a charter constituting him a Fellow of the College, and he was admitted on 12th April 1687. He was Physician to the Royal Hospital of Chelsea on and before 21st February 1699, on which day he was knighted at Kensington. He, as well as his wife, was known as a benefactor of the French refugees; for Le Neve, in his Catalogue of Knights, adds, “he was a Walloon.” Sir Theodore Colladon was in attendance at the death of William III. In October 1707, when he wrote his will, he had an only child, Ann, and his sister Susan (or Susanna) was the wife of Dr John Wickart, Dean of Winchester. He mentioned (in that will) a cousin at Geneva, Germain Colladon, also, “my brother,” Isaac de Cambiague, now at Geneva; this brother-in-law was the second husband of Isabella Colladon. Isabella (who was naturalized in 1663 with the rest of the family) married, first, Louis Saladin, of Geneva; secondly, Isaac Cambiague, Seigneur de Martheray.
Sir Theodore Colladon died in 1712, and was interred in the burying ground of
