Rediscovery of the grave of Sir Alexander Nisbet (1795-1874), M.D., Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets

A note from Dr June Slee:
In 1989 I discovered a manila folder in the State Archives of Tasmania, Australia. It contained a number of A3 pages of fine copper plate writing describing the most extraordinary story written by Dr Alexander Nisbet. 
As Surgeon superintendent on the convict ship Frances Charlotte, Nisbet had designed a program to manage the educational, behavioural, social and emotional needs of 140 young male convicts being transported from England to Point Puer in Tasmania in 1836-1837. This was a trial voyage, in as much as it was the first to separate convict boys under transportation from convict men.

Nisbet’s philosophy of behaviour management gave me “goose bumps” for its sheer intellectual wholeness. It still does. At the time, I was halfway through writing a PhD on a related topic, but changed my course completely and wrote about Nisbet and his program instead.

My doctorate, Dr Nisbet’s Report. 1836-1837: A Study of a Behavioural Program, was published in 1993, and I am still waiting to find a spell in my busy life to write the book!
This however became a step closer with the visit I made to England this year. Dr Mark Nesbitt, the archivist of the Nisbet/Nesbitt Society in Great Britain alerted me some time ago to the fact that Sir Alexander Nisbet was buried in the Brockley Cemetery in London and sent me very detailed instructions of how to find the cemetery and the grave. 
There, by the pathway going to the Commomealth War Graves was a grey coffin-like tomb, covered in some places with lichen and with leaves from the trees that stand over it. 
Here Sir Alex lies with three other members of his family – his wife Lucy, his son Alexander and his half-sister Jane Findlater. The inscriptions to each one have helped fill in some of the gaps about this man’s personal life.

Let me reproduce what is written on each side of the tomb.
 

In Memory of Sir Alexander Nisbet
MD Inspector General Royal Navy
Honorary Physician to the Queen
Born 10th April 1795
Died 22 June 1874

Also of Lucy Susanna his Wife
Daughter of the Revd E.S. Davenport of Davenport House Shropshire
Born November 1819
Died 27 November 1891
 

Also of Jane
Daughter of Alexander Findlater of Glasgow
And half sister of Sir Alexander Nisbet
Born 4th June 1812
Died 7th November 1892

Alexander Cockburn Nisbet
Son of Alexander Nisbet MD
Inspector General Royal Navy
Died 17?th May 1867
Aged 10 Years and 10 months
A dearly loved and only son

Sir Alex’s daughter Lucy is not buried there, according to the extant inscriptions.

Sir Alexander Nisbet was a remarkable person and I will produce a book on his life. I am travelling to England next year and should arrive in London about 7th May so if there are Nisbet people reading this who have something they could tell me about an ancestor they should be truly proud of, I would welcome this information so that I can follow it up in 2008.
June Slee

If you have any information on Sir Alexander Nisbet, or are a relative, please contact June via the Nesbitt/Nisbet Society website. Added 20 September 2007

As Miss Mordaunt she had considerable experience, especially in Shakespearean leading parts, before her first London appearance in 1829 at Drury Lane as Widow Cheerly in Andrew Cherry's Soldier's Daughter. Her beauty and high spirits made her at once a popular favourite in a large number of comedy parts, until in 1831 she was married to Captain John Alexander Nisbett and retired. Her husband, however, was killed the same year by a fall from his horse, and she was compelled to reappear on the stage in 1832. She was the original Lady Gay Spanker of London Assurance (1841).

In 1844 she withdrew again from the stage to marry Sir William Boothby, Bart., but on his death (1846), returned to play Lady Teazle, Portia, Constantine in the Love Chase, Helen and Julia in the Hunchback. It was in the first of these parts that she made her final appearance in 1851. Wikipedia Added 14 August 2007

Pewter Nisbet/Nesbitt badge

At our request, a Scottish manufacturer have added N/N cap badges and kilt pins to their range. Avance Highland make these in Scotland, to authentic designs approved by the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. Until now, it has been necessary to order these from North America, so the arrival of a supplier in Europe is very welcome. Note that Nesbitt appears at the bottom of the list of clan names, after Young. added 26 March 2007

Six important paintings by Noel Laura Nisbet (1887-1956), at auction 30 March 2007
Tennants Auctioneers Leyburn, North Yorkshire. From the collection of Tina and Graham Thornton, York Click pictures for details added 24 March 2007

Prices fetched:1036 (Procession) £600; 1032 (Pan) £1800; 1033 (Classical figures) £1800.

Nisbet Tower to rent! Help support the restoration of Gunsgreen House (built for John Nisbet by Robert Adam) in Eyemouth, Berwickshire. Rent this charming converted tower, in the grounds of the house, for a seaside holiday Added 20 March 2007 Dales Holiday Cottages - Property 4019

Recognise these? A fine set of family portraits, mostly unnamed, from a member. If you have pictures of the same people in your family, please contact us. Added 20 March 2007

George Nisbett 1756-1842                 Catherine Nisbett 1768-1858

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