{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:43:32Z","timestamp":1777855412451,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,1]],"date-time":"2013-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1359676800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Med Biogr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper analyses two key aspects of the life and work of Sir James Young Simpson: his evangelical Christianity and his reaction to criticism following his use of anaesthesia in obstetrics. Simpson's personal religious struggle is placed in the context of the devastating events surrounding the Disruption of the established Church of Scotland in 1843. Whatever his involvement in the events of that year, the development of his faith demonstrates his simple evangelical conviction in the atonement of Christ, very much in keeping with that of many believers in Victorian Britain. There has arisen the notion (still current as is clear from publications in medical journals within recent years) that there was a savage religious response, especially in Presbyterian Scotland, to his use of chloroform \u2013 in reality the attack on Simpson's enthusiastic promotion of chloroform was brief, sporadic and of little moment. Simpson's carefully constructed counter to criticism of anaesthesia, drawing on considerable theological and linguistic expertise, reveals a complexity at odds with the simplicity of his faith. The contrast is so great and the reaction so elaborate that it is proposed that Simpson deliberately exaggerated the affair, believing the publicity could only be valuable.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1258\/jmb.2011.011022","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,4,22]],"date-time":"2013-04-22T23:08:45Z","timestamp":1366672125000},"page":"33-40","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sir James Young Simpson and religion: myths and controversies"],"prefix":"10.1258","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Ewen A","family":"Cameron","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Edinburgh, School of History Classics and Archaeology."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Neil","family":"Macgillivray","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Honorary Post Doctoral Fellow, Scottish History, University of Edinburgh, Retired Otolaryngologist."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,4,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"Scotland in the Age of the Disruption.","author":"Brown SJ","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr2-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"Heritage: A Study of the Disruption.","author":"Henderson GD","year":"1943"},{"key":"bibr3-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"On the Sufficiency of the Parochial System, Without a Poor Rate, for the Right Management of the Poor.","author":"Chalmers T","year":"1841"},{"key":"bibr4-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"Observations on the Management of the Poor in Scotland, and its effect on the health of the Great Towns.","author":"Alison WP","year":"1840"},{"key":"bibr5-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Hutchison IGC. A Political History of Scotland, 1832 to 1924: Parties, Elections and Issues. Edinburgh: John Donald, 1986: 59\u201395."},{"key":"bibr6-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"Politics and the Churches in Great Britain, 1832-1868.","author":"Machin GIT","year":"1977"},{"key":"bibr7-jmb.2011.011022","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0424208400011797"},{"key":"bibr8-jmb.2011.011022","first-page":"79","volume-title":"Scotland in the Age of Disruption.","author":"Withrington DJ"},{"key":"bibr9-jmb.2011.011022","first-page":"103","author":"Withrington DJ","year":"1964","journal-title":"Records of the Scottish Church History Society"},{"key":"bibr10-jmb.2011.011022","first-page":"29","volume-title":"From Disruption to Diversity: Edinburgh Divinity, 1846-1996.","author":"Brown SJ","year":"1996"},{"key":"bibr11-jmb.2011.011022","first-page":"61","volume":"78","author":"Brown SJ","journal-title":"Proceedings of the British Academy"},{"key":"bibr12-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Gordon HL. Sir James Young Simpson and Chloroform (1811-1870). Masters of Medicine, London 1897: 85; Brown T, ed.\n                      Annals of the Disruption.\n                      Edinburgh: MacLaren & Macniven, 1876."},{"key":"bibr13-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson EB. Sir James Y Simpson. Famous Scots Series. Edinburgh and London, 1896: 125."},{"key":"bibr14-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson.","author":"Stevenson S","year":"1981"},{"key":"bibr15-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"Scotland in the Age of the Disruption.","author":"Hillis PLM"},{"key":"bibr16-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"Religion and Social Class: The Disruption Years in Aberdeen.","author":"MacLaren AA","year":"1974"},{"key":"bibr17-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Autobiography of Thomas Guthrie DD and Memoir by his Sons Rev David K Guthrie and Charles J Guthrie. London: Isbister, 1877: 54."},{"key":"bibr18-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Duns J. Memoir of Sir James Y Simpson, Bart. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1873: 473\u20134."},{"key":"bibr19-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"MacLeod JL. The Second Disruption: The Tree Church in Victorian Scotland and the Origins of the Tree Presbyterian Church. East Linton: Tuckwell Press, 2000: 61."},{"key":"bibr20-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Ibid.: p. 189 Drummond AL, Bulloch\n                      J. The Church in Victorian Scotland 1843-1874.\n                      Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1975: 304."},{"key":"bibr21-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Duns J (op. cit. ref. 18):404."},{"key":"bibr22-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"The Crown of the Road: Leaves from Consecrated Lives.","author":"Bullock Rev C"},{"key":"bibr23-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson EB (op. cit. ref. 13):122."},{"key":"bibr24-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson EB (op. cit. ref. 13): p. 124; this is a view emphasized in an obituary of Simpson,\n                      Scotsman\n                      , 9 May 1870: 3."},{"key":"bibr25-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Library and Archive","year":"1084"},{"key":"bibr26-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"JYS, 1091, Notes of Dr Simpson's remarks when presiding at the last of the \u2018Special Religious Services\u2019 held at Queen St Hall, 6 March 1862."},{"key":"bibr27-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"JYS, 1094, New Year's Address by Professor Simpson in the Free Assembly Hall on the evening of Sabbath, 1 January 1865: 23-5."},{"key":"bibr28-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"JYS 1095, Address on \u2018Blind Bartimeus\u2019."},{"key":"bibr29-jmb.2011.011022","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203359907"},{"key":"bibr30-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Shepherd JA. Simpson and Syme of Edinburgh. Edinburgh: Livingstone, 1969: 159."},{"key":"bibr31-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Black JW, ed. The Works of Sir James Y Simpson, Bart. Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1871; I: 393\u20135."},{"key":"bibr32-jmb.2011.011022","first-page":"721","volume":"8","author":"Simpson JY","year":"1847","journal-title":"Monthly Journal of Medical Science. Edinburgh,"},{"key":"bibr33-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson JY. Notice of a New Anaesthetic Agent as a Substitute for Sulphuric Ether in Surgery and Midwifery. Edinburgh: Sutherland and Knox, 1847: 5. This is the published address given to the Medico-Chirurgical Society on 10 November 1847."},{"key":"bibr34-jmb.2011.011022","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/003693309003500510"},{"key":"bibr35-jmb.2011.011022","first-page":"58","author":"Glover RM","year":"1842","journal-title":"Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal"},{"key":"bibr36-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson. The works of Sir James Y Simpson;II:161."},{"key":"bibr37-jmb.2011.011022","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2044.2004.03671.x"},{"key":"bibr38-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson JY (op. cit. ref. 33): 11."},{"key":"bibr39-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson JY. Remarks on the Superinduction of Anaesthesia in Natural and Morbid Parturition. Edinburgh: Sutherland and Knox, 1847: 6."},{"key":"bibr40-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson. (op. cit. ref. 37):10 and 11."},{"key":"bibr41-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson JY. Answer to Religious Objections Advanced against the Employment of Anaesthetic Agents in Midwifery and Surgery. Edinburgh: Sutherland and Knox: 6."},{"key":"bibr42-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson JY (op. cit. ref. 39):18-19."},{"key":"bibr43-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"The Bridgewater Treatises were commissioned by Reverend Francis Henry, Earl of Bridgewater (1756-1829) who bequeathed \u00a38000 for work on \u2018The goodness of God as manifested in the creation\u2019. The eight essays appeared between 1833 and 1840, the first written by Chalmers on the theme of\n                      The Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Condition of Man\n                      , 1847."},{"key":"#cr-split#-bibr44-jmb.2011.011022.1","unstructured":"Hilton B. The Age of Atonement. The Influence of Evangelicalism on Social and Economic Thought, 1795-1864. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988: 10. The quotations from Melvill appeared first in The Pulpit, 48, 1846 in a paper entitled 'Mercy in the Curse: A Sermon'"},{"key":"#cr-split#-bibr44-jmb.2011.011022.2","unstructured":"Caton D. What a Blessing she had Chloroform: The Medical and Social Response to the Pain of Childbirth from 1800 to the Present. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999: 96."},{"key":"bibr45-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson Sir WG Bart, ed.\n                      The Works of Sir James Y Simpson, Bart\n                      , Part II: Defences of Anaesthesia. \u2018Letter to Dr Protheroe Smith of London\u2019: 57. Smith, a fervent evangelical Christian, taught Midwifery at St Bartholomew's Hospital."},{"key":"bibr46-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson JY (op. cit. ref. 33):13."},{"key":"bibr47-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"JYS. 232. Letter from Simpson to Protheroe Smith, undated."},{"key":"bibr48-jmb.2011.011022","volume-title":"Scriptural Authority for the Mitigation of the Pains of Labour by Chloroform and Other Anaesthetic Agents.","author":"Smith P","year":"1848"},{"key":"bibr49-jmb.2011.011022","first-page":"56","author":"Simpson","journal-title":"The works of Sir James Y Simpson"},{"key":"bibr50-jmb.2011.011022","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02953226"},{"key":"bibr51-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Parke J. Reasons for not using Chloroform Except in Cases of Extreme Necessity. Liverpool: Edward Howell, 1848: 5."},{"key":"bibr52-jmb.2011.011022","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/003693309003500510"},{"key":"bibr53-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Simpson. (op. cit. ref. 47);II:11."},{"key":"bibr54-jmb.2011.011022","first-page":"1","author":"Lewis MC","year":"2007","journal-title":"American Society of Anaesthesia Abstracts"},{"key":"bibr55-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Personal Communication, Dr J Goodare, May 2009. Dr Goodare was the lead researcher in the Scottish Witchcraft Project: Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin, Joyce Miller and Louise Yeoman, \u2018The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft\u2019. See http:\/\/www.arts.ed.ac.uk\/witches. (last accessed January 2010)."},{"key":"bibr56-jmb.2011.011022","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00033798300200171"},{"key":"bibr57-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Ibid.: p. 175 in which he refers to FJ de Quincey, \u2018On the religious objections to the use of chloroform in obstetric medicine\u2019, unpublished MD Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1849. Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859) lived in Edinburgh from 1828 until his death. The copy of de Quincey's Thesis in the Centre for Research Collections, University of Edinburgh, has Simpson's bookplate and a pencilled note comments on the excellence of the essay."},{"key":"bibr58-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"The Dowager Duchess of Argyll ed, George Douglas, Eighth Duke of Argyll, Autobiography and Memoirs, Vol. 1, London: John Murray, 1906: 324."},{"key":"bibr59-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Unpublished letter from Simpson to Dr Forbes, London, December 1847, Centre for Research Collections, University of Edinburgh."},{"key":"bibr60-jmb.2011.011022","unstructured":"Farr. Religious Opposition to Obstetric Anaesthesia: 177."}],"container-title":["Journal of Medical Biography"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1258\/jmb.2011.011022","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1258\/jmb.2011.011022","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1258\/jmb.2011.011022","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T23:24:32Z","timestamp":1777505072000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1258\/jmb.2011.011022"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2013,2]]},"references-count":61,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,2]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1258\/jmb.2011.011022"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1258\/jmb.2011.011022","relation":{},"ISSN":["0967-7720","1758-1087"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0967-7720","type":"print"},{"value":"1758-1087","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2013,2]]}}}