Gilbert Blane

Who was Gilbert Blane?

Sir Gilbert Blane of Blanefield, 1st Baronet FRSE FRS MRCP was a Scottish physician who instituted health reform in the Royal Navy.

Born in Blanefield, by Kirkoswald, in Ayrshire, he studied medicine at Edinburgh University and Glasgow University before moving to London, where he served as private physician to Lord Rodney. Blane was appointed Physician to the Fleet and accompanied Rodney to the West Indies in 1779. Blane did much to improve the health of sailors by heeding their diet and enforcing due sanitary precautions. Largely due to his advocacy, the entire navy in 1795 made the use of lemon juice mandatory to prevent scurvy. For this reason, "limey" later became a common slang word for a British person. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in December 1784 and delivered their Croonian lecture in 1788.

He became Physician to St Thomas' Hospital, Physician Extraordinary to the Prince of Wales and Physician in Ordinary to the King. By virtue of these court and hospital appointments, he built up a good practice for himself in London, and the government constantly consulted him on questions of public hygiene. In 1812 he became a baronet, of Blanefield in the County of Ayr, in reward for services he rendered in connection with the return of the Walcheren expedition.