Frederic J. Mouat

Who was Frederic J. Mouat?

Frederic John Mouat was a British surgeon.

He was born in Maidstone, Kent, the son of an army surgeon, and trained at University College London and Edinburgh University, qualifying as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1838. He entered the Indian Medical Service and was posted Assistant-Surgeon in Bengal in 1840. In 1853 he became Surgeon, in 1860 Surgeon-Major and ultimately Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals. He was also Professor of Medicine in the Bengal Medical College. He spent 30 years in India, where he was a leading figure in the field of education, in which he was a major campaigner to establish the first universities in India and prison reform, including holding the post of Inspector-General of Gaols in lower Bengal. In 1857, during the Indian Mutiny, he was asked to investigate the Andaman Islands as a potential penal colony. He subsequently published a book about his Andaman experiences: Adventures and researches among the Andaman islanders.

He retired to the UK in 1870 and started a new career as an Inspector for the Local Government Board. He was also an active member of the Royal Statistical Society, becoming its President in 1890.