Old photograph of Tillypronie House by Tarland located five miles North West of Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This Scottish mansion house dates from 1867, when Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone. The estate, as it then was, belonged to the family of the Queen's physician, Sir James Clark, who was instrumental in introducing Queen Victoria to Deesdie and Balmoral. Sir James Clark was born in Cullen, Banffshire, and was educated at Fordyce school. He studied at Aberdeen University, where he took an arts degree with the intention of studying law, and graduated with an M.A., before discovering a preference for medicine. He then went to Edinburgh University, and in 1809 became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He then entered the medical service of the Royal Navy. He served at the Royal Hospital Haslar, in Hampshire, until July 1810, when he was appointed assistant surgeon aboard HMS Thistle. After the ship was wrecked in 1811 south of Sandy Hook in New Jersey, he returned to Great Britain, where he was promoted to the rank of surgeon, and served successively on the HMS Colobrée, which was also wrecked, as well as on the Chesapeake and Maidstone. In 1834, King Leopold recommended Clark as court physician to his widowed sister, the Duchess of Kent, and her daughter, Princess Victoria. King Leopold made him a knight in his order of Leopold in 1834 and a commander in 1850. He began a process of gradual retirement in 1860, and moved to Bagshot Park, Surrey, England, which the Queen had lent him for life. His wife, Barbara Stephen, known as Minnie, whom he had married in 1820, died in 1862. They had one son, John Forbes Clark. Sir James Clark died at Bagshot Park in 1870, aged 81, and was buried at Kensal Green.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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