Alexander Nisbet (Royal Navy officer)

Sir Alexander Nisbet was a Scottish naval surgeon, born at Oldhamstocks in East Lothian on 6 April 1796, who is remembered for his part in early convict transports to Australia and for serving as Her Majesty's Inspector of Hospitals for the Royal Navy. He joined the Royal Navy Medical Service in 1812, saw active service in the war with the United States, and took a doctorate in medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1823 with a dissertation titled Pneumonia Typhode. Between 1824 and 1840 he served as surgeon-superintendent on seven convict ships carrying prisoners from Britain to Australia, and in 1830 he returned there to work for the Australian Agricultural Company for a short time. After rejoining the navy list in 1841 he became deputy director of hospitals at Greenwich in 1844 and Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets at Haslar Royal Hospital in 1855, retiring in 1861. He was named Honorary Physician to Queen Victoria in 1873, was knighted that year, and died in London on 22 June 1874.