Richard Huie

{{Short description|Scottish surgeon}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

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Dr Richard Huie FRCSEd (16 August 1795 – 10 July 1867) was a 19th-century Scottish surgeon who served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh for the period 1840 to 1842. An ardent Christian he was also a popular hymn-writer, with at least 29 hymns to his name.{{cite web|url=https://hymnary.org/person/Huie_R1|title=Richard Huie|website=Hymnary.org|accessdate=2018-11-23}}

Life

File:The grave of Richard Huie, East Preston Street Burial Ground, Edinburgh.jpg

He was born in Aberdeen on 16 August 1795, the son of Mary Gordon, and her husband James Huie.{{cite web|url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/richard_huie|title=Richard Huie - Historical records and family trees|website=MyHeritage|accessdate=2018-11-23}} His father moved the family to Crosscauseway in Edinburgh's South side around 1809, to work for Excise.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1809 Huie was educated nearby, at the High School in Edinburgh then studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh before setting up practice in Dundee. Following his mother's death his father married Marjory Ziegler.Ewing, William Annals of the Free Church

In 1822 he moved from Dundee to Edinburgh, living at 16 Nicolson Street, close to Surgeons Hall.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1825 By 1830 he had moved to a larger house at 8 George Square.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1830

In 1823 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club and served as Honorary Secretary from 1827-1842.{{Cite book|title=Minute Books of the Aesculapian Club|url=http://archives.rcpe.ac.uk/calmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DEP%2fAEC%2f1&pos=2|location= Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh}} In 1824 Huie was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served was President in 1828 and 1832. He also served as one of the secretaries of the society from 1828-1849.{{Cite book|url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ww4e59xv|title= A Record of the Edinburgh Harveian Society|last=Watson Wemyss|first=Herbert Lindesay|publisher=T&A Constable, Edinburgh|year=1933|language=en}} In 1840 he succeeded Dr Adam Hunter as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In 1842 he was succeeded in turn by Dr Andrew Fyfe.

In 1842 in his role as President, he wrote to the Poor Law Commission giving a medical view on the new laws.Parliamentary Papers vol 35

He lived his final years at 8 George Square, Edinburgh.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1865

He died on 10 July 1867 aged 71. He is buried in East Preston Street Burial Ground in south Edinburgh. The grave lies on the extreme western boundary wall.

Family

His sister Mary Gordon Huie married Rev James Fettes, also a Free Church minister. His brother John Ziegler Huie (1822-1864) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland who settled in Geelong in Victoria, Australia and died there.

In September 1818 he married Eliza Syme (1795–1865), daughter of Alexander Syme, a Dundee merchant.Blackwood's Magazine September 1818 Together they had two daughters and five sons; Anne Katherina Huie (1821–1884),Grave of Richard Huie, East Preston Street Cemetery their eldest son Richard Huie was a children's author,{{cite web|url=http://www.bailgatebooks.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=50795|title=The Goldsmith's Widow (and Her Son George) and Other Stories - (Richard Huie) by the author of "The Orphan of Kinloch", "Sketches of Broadburn" and "The Rescue".|website=bailgatebooks.com|accessdate=2018-11-23}} their eldest daughter, Eliza Syme Huie, married George Hair Newall,{{cite web|url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/eliza_huie|title=Eliza Huie - Historical records and family trees|website=MyHeritage|accessdate=2018-11-23}} and their son David Huie (1831–1919) was a prominent figure in the Royal Bank of Scotland.{{cite web|url=https://www.rbs.com/heritage/people/david-huie.html|title=David Huie {{pipe}} RBS Heritage Hub|website=rbs.com|accessdate=2018-11-23}}

Publications

  • The Family Hymn Book (1825)
  • The Amethyst, a Christian annual co-written with Robert Kaye Greville (1831 onwards).{{cite book|title=The Edinburgh Literary Journal: Or, Weekly Register of Criticism and Belles Lettres|date=1831|volume=6|publisher=Ballantyne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnQAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA233|page=233|accessdate=2018-11-23}}
  • Sacred Lyrics (1843)

References