William Sandiford (223)

Elected to the revived American Philosophical Society.

William Sandiford (c.1728–late May 1775) was a physician, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768. Born in Barbados, he first studied at Edinburgh University before receiving his M.D. degree at Leyden in 1751. He returned to Barbados and opened a medical practice where he saw first hand the ravaging effects of yellow fever, observations that were soon after published by friends who believed his insights valuable. In 1773, Sandiford and his wife traveled to Philadelphia where they hoped their social connections and change in environment might bolster the physician's failing health. Their contacts there included APS member Israel Pemberton’s son Charles, whom Sandiford had cared for during the young man’s time in Barbados, as well as APS member James Pemberton, a business associate of Sandiford’s brother. The Sandifords’ relocation proved temporary and they returned to Barbados even as a lackluster sentiment for the island marked his homecoming. Sandiford was even less inclined towards the looming fight for American Independence; it was a fight he did not live to see. (PI)