Alexander Gillespie

He is one of the few persons to have served two non-consecutive periods as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

[2] He obtained the degree of MD from the University of St Andrews Medical School in 1822, some 28 years after he began to practice medicine.

This was common practice at this time with the St Andrews degrees being conferred based on a written testimonial and payment of a fee, without the need for the candidate visiting St Andrews[3] Like many practitioners of his day, he combined surgery with general practice.

[11] In 1818 he was living at 30 York Place in Edinburgh's New Town, a handsome Georgian terraced townhouse.

Post Office Directories continue to show him here for many years but his given occupation changed from surgeon to doctor in 1834, suggesting that he had given up surgery in favor of general practice.