# Peter David Handyside

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**Peter David Handyside** [FRSE](/source/FRSE) [FRCSE](/source/Royal_College_of_Surgeons_of_Edinburgh) (1808–1881) was a Scottish surgeon and anatomist. He was president of the Royal Medical Society in 1828. He won the Harveian Society Medal in 1827. He was also president of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh in 1871.

## Life

Handyside was born at 16 South Frederick Street[1] in Edinburgh’s [New Town](/source/New_Town,_Edinburgh) on 26 October 1808, the son of Jane Cuninghame and William Handyside WS (1746–1818), a lawyer. His elder brother [Robert Handyside](/source/Robert_Handyside,_Lord_Handyside) (1798–1858) rose to the top of the Scottish legal world, becoming Lord Handyside. He was apprenticed to the eminent surgeon [James Syme](/source/James_Syme) to train as a doctor. He studied medicine at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh). He then undertook postgraduate studies first in [Paris](/source/Paris) and then in [Heidelberg](/source/Heidelberg) under the eminent physiologist [Friedrich Tiedemann](/source/Friedrich_Tiedemann).

He gained his doctorate (MD) from the University of Edinburgh in 1833.[2]

In 1833, he began lecturing in anatomy at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh) later also lecturing in systematic surgery, both based at Surgeons' Square. In 1834 Handyside was elected a member of the [Harveian Society of Edinburgh](/source/Harveian_Society_of_Edinburgh) and served as one of its secretaries from 1837-1849.[3] In 1836, he was elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh), his proposer being his mentor, [James Syme](/source/James_Syme). He was a councillor to the Society 1869–71.[4] In 1837 he was elected a member of the [Aesculapian Club](/source/Aesculapian_Club).[5]

In 1839, he became a senior surgeon at [Edinburgh Royal Infirmary](/source/Edinburgh_Royal_Infirmary) on Drummond Street. In 1858, he founded the Cowgate Medical Mission Dispensary in [Edinburgh’s Old Town](/source/Old_Town,_Edinburgh), aimed at giving relief to the poor (especially Irish Catholic) population in that area of the city. Under the subsequent leadership of [William Thomson](/source/William_Burns_Thomson), this dispensary was later supplemented by the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society's Training Institution in 1861.[6] This was all housed in a building designed by [Richard Crichton](/source/Richard_Crichton) some 50 years earlier, attached to the Magdalene Chapel.[7] It was expanded and extended in 1878 to create the Livingstone Memorial Institute. This facility later evolved into [EMMS International](/source/EMMS_International).

Handyside died at home, 16 Landsdowne Crescent in Edinburgh’s West End, on 21 February 1881. He is buried with his parents in [St Cuthbert's Churchyard](/source/St_Cuthbert's_Church,_Edinburgh) at the west end of [Princes Street](/source/Princes_Street).[8] The grave lies to the south-east of the church very close to the entrance to [Princes Street Gardens](/source/Princes_Street_Gardens) (screened by the Hamilton vault when approaching from the west).

## Family

He was married to Eliza Walsh (1811–1882) and together they had three daughters.

## References

1. Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1808–09

1. ["List of fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh \[electronic resource\] : From the year 1581 to 31st December 1873"](https://archive.org/stream/b21465812/b21465812_djvu.txt). 1874.

1. Watson Wemyss, Herbert Lindesay (1933). [*A Record of the Edinburgh Harveian Society*](https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ww4e59xv). T&A Constable, Edinburgh.

1. [*Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002*](https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from [the original](https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2016.

1. [*Minute Books of the Aesculapian Club*](http://archives.rcpe.ac.uk/calmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DEP%2fAEC%2f1&pos=2). Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

1. Lowe, J. (1895). [*Medical missions: Their place and power*](https://archive.org/details/medicalmissionst00lowe_1). Fleming H. Revell Company. pp. [210](https://archive.org/details/medicalmissionst00lowe_1/page/210)

1. Edinburgh Ordnance Survey map, 1895

1. ["William Handyside (1764-1816)"](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154090873). *Find A Grave Memorial*. Retrieved 10 April 2018.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter David Handyside](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_David_Handyside) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_David_Handyside?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.