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John Sims (13 October 1749 – 26 February 1831) was an Englishphysician andbotanist. He was born in Canterbury, Kent and was subsequently educated at the Quaker school in Burford, Oxfordshire, he then went on to study medicine at Edinburgh University. Later in life he moved to London (1766) where he worked as a physician. Notably, he was called in to assist withPrincess Charlotte's labor, but mother and baby both died. He was the first editor of Curtis's Botanical Magazine.
Sims was born inCanterbury, Kent, the son of, Robert Courthope Sims (1720–1812), a physician, and Rebecca née Tritton (1723–c1781). His father was a member of theSociety of Friends who publishedAn Essay on the Nature and Constitution of Man .[1]
He was educated at the Quaker school in Burford, Oxfordshire, with additional instruction from his father. He studied medicine atEdinburgh University, obtaining his PhD in 1774. His dissertation was "De usu aquæ frigidæ interno."
He moved to London in 1766, where he worked as a physician at theSurrey Dispensary. He bought an obstetric practice in 1779, and was he was admitted to theRoyal College of Physicians.[2] In 1780 he was appointed Physician and Man Midwife to the Charity for Delivering Poor Married Women at their own Houses. In 1817 he was called to assist with the ill-fated labor ofPrincess Charlotte, but she and the baby both died.[3]
He was the first editor ofCurtis's Botanical Magazine (1801–1826 vols. xiv–xlii) after the death of the founder,William Curtis,[4] and editedAnnals of Botany (1805–06) withCharles Konig.[2] He was a founding member of theLinnean Society. In March 1814 he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society.[5]
His papers on botany include a description of the effect of moisture onMesembryanthemum to theMedical and Physical Journal (vol. ii. 1799), and a "Description of Amomum exscapum" to theAnnals of Botany (vol. i.).[2]
The genus nameSimsia was published by the GermanChristiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1807, to honour Sims work.[6][7] Hisherbarium was purchased byGeorge Bentham and passed to theRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
In 1825 he resigned from his medical practice and retired toDorking, Surrey where he died in 1831. He is buried inFittleworth, Sussex with his wife Ann née Christie (1765–1835) and their only son the Rev Dr Courthope Sims MD MB (1795–1833).[9]
