Nelson's surgeon : William Beatty, naval medicine, and the battle of Trafalgar /Laurence Brocklis, John Cardwell and Michael Moss.

A biography of William Beatty (1773-1842), chief surgeon on Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship the Victory at the time of Nelson's death. During the course of one afternoon during the Battle of Trafalgar, Beatty had treated 100 of the 820 crew, witnessed the death of his closest friend (Lieutenant William Andrew Ram) and nursed the dying Nelson. Aged 32, this was the first major action in which he had served and in 1807 he published his Authentic Narrative of the Death of Lord Nelson. After Trafalgar, Beatty continued to have a distinguished career in the naval medical service, eventually becoming physician to the Greenwich Hospital, an FRS, a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, and was knighted in 1831. As well as the biographical content, the authors describe the context and role of naval surgeons in the nineteenth century, their education, training and work, and also details of the conditions on board. A partial family tree of the Beatty family is included with the illustrations and diagrams, and there is a detailed bibliography.