John Augustine Waller

John Augustine Waller was a British author, translator, and Royal Navy surgeon. Sources describe him as serving at the Naval Hospital in Barbados from about 1807 to 1810, and his best-known book, A Voyage in the West Indies (1820), grew out of that period of residence and travel in Barbados, the Leeward Islands, and Surinam.

Alongside travel writing, Waller also worked as a medical translator. He translated Mathieu Orfila’s major toxicology work into English as A General System of Toxicology, helping bring an important early text on poisons and medical jurisprudence to English-speaking readers.

Very little easy-to-confirm biographical detail seems to survive beyond his published work and professional role, which gives his writing extra importance. What remains shows a writer shaped by medicine, sea service, and close observation—someone whose books are still useful to readers interested in Caribbean history, travel literature, and early modern medical thought.