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{{short description|Scottish surgeon who served the East India Company}}
{{Infobox medical person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = William Fullerton
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Portrait of East India Company official.jpg
| image_size =
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| caption = Likely William Fullerton<ref name=Kelly>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org/postDetail.php?id=196174216674_10151532757056675|title=Digital Rare Book: The Diaries of three surgeons of Patna, 1763 By Walter Kelly Firminger|website=www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org|language=en|access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref>
| birth_name = 
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| death_date = 22 October 1805
| death_place =
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| nationality =
| citizenship =
| education =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for = Surviving [[Patna massacre of 1763]]
| relations =
| website =
| profession = Surgeon
| field =
| work_institutions = [[East India Company]]
| specialism =
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}}
'''William Fullerton''' (died 22 October 1805) was a Scottish surgeon who served the [[East India Company]] in [[Bengal]] and [[Bihar]] from 1744 to 1766. He is best known for his close ties with local people, their languages and for surviving the [[Patna massacre of 1763|1763 attack]] by the order of [[Nawab]] [[Mir Qasim]] of Bengal, against the British.<ref name=Beatson1902>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/b2265110x/page/38|title=Indian Medical Service past and present|last1=Beatson|first1=William Burns|author2-link=Royal College of Physicians of London|last2=Royal College of Physicians of London|date=1902|publisher=London : Simpkin and Marshall|others=London Royal College of Physicians}}</ref>

==Early life==
William Fullerton was born in [[Symington, South Ayrshire]].{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} His year of birth is unknown.<ref name="BritishLibrary">{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2015/04/white-mughal-william-fullerton-of-rosemount.html|title='White Mughal' William Fullerton of Rosemount - Asian and African studies blog|last=Roy|first=Malini|website=blogs.bl.uk|publisher=[[British library]]|access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:"A Perspective View of Fort William" by Jan Van Ryne, 1754.jpg|thumb|"A Perspective View of Fort William" by Jan Van Ryne, 1754]]
Fullerton entered the service of the East India Company and went to Bengal in approximately 1744. He was appointed Second Surgeon at [[Fort William, India|Fort William]] on 3 July 1751 and remained in the post for ten years.<ref>W. Heinemann, Surgeons Twoe and a Barber: Being Some Account of the Life and Work of the Indian Medical Service (1600-1947), 1950, p.60</ref> He was present at the [[siege of Calcutta]] and had escaped down the river, avoiding incarceration in the [[black hole of Calcutta]].<ref>Rosemary Crill, Kapil Jariwala, The Indian Portrait, 1560-1860, Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd, 2010, p.146</ref> On 8 December 1757 he was elected Mayor of Calcutta for a year.<ref name="Crawford_HistoryIMS">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlK-BAAAQBAJ&q=william+fullerton+1763&pg=PA5|title=Roll of the Indian Medical Service 1615-1930 - Volume 1|last=Crawford|first=Lieutenant-Colonel D. G.|date=1930|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=9781781502297|pages=1744|language=en}}</ref> He was reported to have made good money whilst in Bengal, including an award of £30,000 as compensation for suffering caused in the siege of Calcutta.<ref name=Sinha1995>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/sites/default/files/13.prcpe_25_2_sinha.pdf|title=Dr William Fullerton and the Patna Massacre of 1763 |publisher= [[Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh]]|last=Sinha|first=K. K.|date=1995|journal=Proceedings of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh|volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=279–93 |pmid=11639641 |access-date=17 July 2019}}</ref>

In 1760 he transferred to [[Bihar]].<ref name="Crawford_HistoryIMS"/><ref name="IMS1947">{{Cite journal|date=July 1947|title=The Passing of the I.M.S|url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a371/55f550e3be669dead86b82617e89c906f0f5.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302123711/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a371/55f550e3be669dead86b82617e89c906f0f5.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-03-02|journal=The Indian Medical Gazette|pages=411|s2cid=32191279}}</ref> Fullerton was a member of a small Company force which was assisting the [[Nawab of Bengal]] [[Mir Kasim]] in a conflict with [[Shah Alam]]. He was present at the Battle of Mohsinpur and was the only surviving European officer.<ref name="Crawford_HistoryIMS"/> On the death of his fellow officers he assumed command and led a retreat to Patna where he played a significant role in the town's defence.<ref name=Sinha1995/> After the conflict, he returned to Bengal and resigned his post. He intended to return to Britain but instead returned to his post as surgeon at Patna in 1763.<ref name=Sinha1995/>

Fullerton was part of the Company's force that was captured by [[Mir Kasim]] near Manji in 1763.<ref name=Sinha1995/> He was held captive at Patna, and present at the [[Patna massacre of 1763]]. Through intercession from Sayyid Ghulam Husain Tabatabai who regarded him as an intimate friend, Mir Kasam spared his life. He was the only European to escape unharmed from the massacre.<ref name=Sinha1995/> Following his release he was placed under house arrest in Patna, until under the guise of visiting the Dutch factory, he hired a boat to take him across the [[Ganges river]] to Hajipur where some Company troops were present. After tensions with Mir Kasam subsided, Fullerton remained in Patna for a further two years. He was later accused of misrepresenting a letter written by Nand Kumar to Raja Balwant Singh of [[Benares]] suggesting a plot to overthrow Company rule in Bihar and requesting help.<ref name=Sinha1995/> An inquiry was held by the Company council in Calcutta and he was censored for misconduct.<ref name=Sinha1995/> In protest Fullerton tendered his resignation on 21 March 1765 and sailed for England on the Ponsborne.<ref name=Sinha1995/>

==Death==
Fullerton died in Scotland on 22 October 1805.<ref name="Crawford_HistoryIMS"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/c8de3581-fc38-4f6c-a5e1-24b09f5aaa31 "Fullerton's letters"], William Fullerton, [[National Archives]]
* [[iarchive:diariesofthreesu00firm/page/12|''The Diaries of Three Surgeons of Patna, 1763'']], by Firminger, Walter K. (Walter Kelly), 1870-1940; Anderson, William, d. 1763; Campbell, Peter, d. 1763; Fullarton, William, Calcutta : Calcutta Historical Society (1909)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fullerton, William}}
[[Category:British surgeons]]
[[Category:British East India Company]]
[[Category:1805 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]

William Fullerton (surgeon) - Revision history

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