Author: Stedman, John
Biography:
STEDMAN, John (1712-91: ancestry.co.uk)
In public records his surname is variously given as Stedman, Steidman, and Steedman. His birth year is sometimes given as 1710 but he was born on 21 Oct. 1712 at Edinburgh to Jean (Kinnaird) and the Rev. John Stedman, minister of the Tron church. He was the third of their sons; there were also six daughters in the family. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and in 1740 was appointed surgeon to the North British dragoons or Scots Greys. He later worked as a doctor in Dunfermline where on 11 Dec. 1754 he married Margaret (Peggy) Wellwood of Pitliver, Perthshire. They had five children. They moved to Edinburgh where Stedman became a well-known physician and served as an officer of the Royal College of Physicians. He taught at the university but in later life he lost his sight. His other publications include History and Statutes of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (1749), Physiological Essays and Observations (1769) and Lælius and Hortensia; or, Thoughts on the Nature and Objects of Taste and Genius (1782). Stedman died on 21 Apr. 1791 and was buried in the Canongate cemetery, Edinburgh. (ancestry.co.uk 1 Oct. 2020, 11 Dec. 2025; Medical Commentaries [1792] 6; William Anderson, The Scottish Nation [1877]) SR