William Houstoun ( c 1695 - 1733 )

Birth: Houston, Scotland (c 1695) Death: Jamaica, West Indies (14 August 1733) Buried: Kingston, Jamaica (14 August 1733) Profession: Physician Research Field: Botany; medicine Education: Began a degree in medicine at St Andrew's University (1719) which he never completed; carried out experiments on animal respiration; MD (1729, Leyden) Career: While in the Netherlands became interested in the use of newly discovered plants for medicinal purposes; employed as a ship's surgeon for the South Sea Company; travelled to Central America and to the West Indies, collected specimens many of which were unknown in Europe at the time.