John Coakley Lettsom

author

John Coakley Lettsom

1744–1815

Born in the British Virgin Islands and trained in London and Leiden, this energetic physician became one of the best-known medical reformers of his day. He is especially remembered for founding the Medical Society of London and for coupling medical work with philanthropy and anti-slavery principles.

1 Audiobook

The Natural History of the Tea-Tree, with Observations on the Medical Qualities of Tea, and on the Effects of Tea-Drinking

The Natural History of the Tea-Tree, with Observations on the Medical Qualities of Tea, and on the Effects of Tea-Drinking

by John Coakley Lettsom

About the author

Raised in a Quaker family on Little Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, John Coakley Lettsom was sent to England as a child and later studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital and at Leiden University. He built a successful career in London, where his learning, drive, and wide circle of contacts helped make him a prominent physician.

Lettsom is best known for founding the Medical Society of London in 1773, a body that brought together physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries at a time when those groups were often kept apart. He also wrote widely on medical subjects and supported new public-health ideas, including inoculation and other practical reforms intended to improve everyday care.

Outside medicine, he was known as a philanthropist with strong Quaker values. Sources describe him as an abolitionist and a generous supporter of charitable causes, showing how closely he linked his medical life with social responsibility.