Dr. William Jardine (24 February 1784 – 27 February 1843) was a ship surgeon who went into the agency trading and opium smuggling businesses in China, where he became a powerful merchant and was instrumental in starting the First Opium War.
Jardine was born in 1784, on a small farm near Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. One of five children, his father, Andrew Jardine, died when he was nine leading the family to some economic difficulties. Thou...
more
Dr. William Jardine (24 February 1784 – 27 February 1843) was a ship surgeon who went into the agency trading and opium smuggling businesses in China, where he became a powerful merchant and was instrumental in starting the First Opium War.
Jardine was born in 1784, on a small farm near Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. One of five children, his father, Andrew Jardine, died when he was nine leading the family to some economic difficulties. Though struggling to make ends meet, Jardine's older brother David provided him with money to attend school, also as a way help set up one of the family. Jardine started to acquire credentials at the very young age of sixteen, in 1800, when he entered the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He took classes in anatomy, medical practice, and obstetrics among others. While his schooling was in progress, Jardine was apprenticed to a surgeon who would provide housing, food, and the essential acquaintance with a hospital practice, with the money his...
less
