John Clark

John Clark (10 May 1744 – 15 April 1805) was a Scottish physician and philanthropist.

Life Born at Roxburgh, Clark studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh, before turning to medicine. In 1768 he obtained the appointment of surgeon's mate in the East India Company's service. He retired from it about 1775, and settled in medical practice near Newcastle, having graduated M.D. at the University of St Andrews.

Clark became well known for his interest in medical schemes for the benefit of the poor. He was the founder of the Newcastle Dispensary; he recommended reforms in the management of Newcastle Infirmary, and he called attention to the need of hospitals for infectious diseases.

Clark died at Bath, Somerset on 15 April 1805.

Works Clark commented, in its first annual report of 1777, that the founding of the Newcastle Dispensary "has as its object the cure of Fevers".

He published:

He wrote also an Account of a Plan for Newcastle Infirmary, and papers on institutions for infectious diseases in populous towns.

Family Clark's first wife, Mary, died in 1781. In 1783, he married again, to Susannah Heath of Newcastle. They had a family of nine children, including William Clark (1788–1869) who became Professor of Anatomy at Cambridge. They were Unitarians.