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Notes for JAMES ARNOTT:
Dr. James Arnott retired from medical practice in 1898.
1918 - He published "House of Arnott"
Biographical Sketch of Dr. James Arnott, author of The House of Arnot, 1918.
Dr. James Arnott was born in 1845 and was descended from the family of Sir John Arnott of Berswick, Provost of Edinburgh, through James Arnot the great grandson of Michael de Arnot. Michael took part at the siege of Loch Leven in 1334 and served with Sir John Stirling. James Arnot married an heiress of Brocoli and took a charter for lands in 1415. The family of Sir John Arnott of Berswick is described in Chapters 4-7 of his book [pp. 62-136] with details of many who had illustrious careers including Dr. Archibald Arnot (1772-1855) [pg. 120-126] who was Napoleon’s physician at St. Helena and was Dr. James Arnott’s great uncle. James’ father and uncles were also physicians, and he gives the following account of his life to the point of publication at age 73:
"My father, John Arnott, the fifth son [of John Arnott and Catherine Shortt], also adopted the Medical profession, studied and graduated in Edinburgh, and entered the Honorable East India Company’s Service in the Bengal Medical Department. He was born at Kirkconnel Hall, Ecclefechan, 19 May 1813, and died at Debrooghur, Upper Assam, on 30 June 1845 [age 32]. . . ‘Volunteering to visit a sick officer at the outpost of Saikwa, in the height of the rains, a distance of several days’ journey by boat, he caught a jungle fever, which soon terminated the career of this highly useful and very zealous officer.’" [pg 130]
"The third child of John and Mary Anne (Richardson) Arnott is the editor of this book, Brigade Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel James Arnott, M.D., born a Debrooghur, 4 January 1845 [six months before his father died]. He followed his father’s profession, entered the Indian Medical Service in 1867, and retired in 1898. [31 yrs of service] He served in the campaign in Abyssinia [Ethiopia] in 1867-68, having been posted to the Abyssinian Field Force as an Assistant Field Surgeon on reporting his arrival in Bombay. Nearly all his service was in the Civil Department as a Professor in the Grand Medical College, as Physician or Surgeon in the Bombay Hospitals, as a Fellow and Examiner of the University of Bombay, and Syndic and Dean of the Medical Faculty, and various other duties. In 1878 he was a medical member of the committee for selecting and preparing transports for the expedition to Malta [in Mediterranean Sea 60 miles south of Sicily] In 1879 he was selected for duty in Afghanistan as Principal Medical Officer of the Bombay Brigade, and Surgeon of the 19th Bombay N.I. He served throughout the defense of Kandahar, in addition to his other duties, as Staff Surgeon, as Sanitary Officer in Kandahar during the siege, at the sortie of Kandahar, being twice mentioned in dispatches, and recommended for promotion. In 1896 he was selected for a pension for distinguished service." [pg 133]
"He married, on 29 October 1885, at Bombay, Isabella Louisa, daughter of Robert Taylor, Esq., and has issue:
(1) Allan Maxwell Arnott, Captain, 4th Gurkha Rifles, born 3 October 1886, married 11 July 1915, Doris, eldest daughter of Colonel Arthur Barton, Deputy Commissioner Rawal Pindi, and has issue one daughter, Elspeth Lilian. He is at present on service in Mesopotamia.
(2) Margaret Richardson Arnott, born 9 October 1889, Royal Scots (T.F.), and Writer to the Signet.
(3) Mary Anne Richardson Hope Arnott, born 19 October 1890, married 10 July 1915, Lieutenant-Commander Guy Percival Bowles, Royal Navy, and has issue one daughter, Ruth Margaret Campbell Bowles.
(4) Jean Fergusson Arnott, born 7 December 1893.
(5) Elspeth Ferrier Arnott, born at Bombay, 21 October 1896, died at Elie, in Fife, 26 April 1907.
(6) Robert Louis Irving Arnott, born 10 March 1899, 2nd Lieutenant Queen Victoria’s Own Corps of Guides, Frontier Force, at present on field service in Palestine. [In a footnote inserted just before publication:] My dear son, Robert Louis Irving Arnott, was killed in action in Palestine on 19 September 1918 -- J.A." [pp. 133-134]
[The book has photos of Lt. Col. James Arnott and his two sons. There is no further mention of his wife.]
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