Robert Adair (surgeon)

Trained in Dublin, he was accused in 1737 of adultery with Anglo-Irish poet Laetitia Pilkington and left Ireland to travel to London.

[1] His military career began when he joined the army in the role of staff surgeon in Flanders in March 1742, and a few months later in June 1742 he furthered his studies by enrolling at the medical school of Leiden University.

[2][1] Mentions of Adair in the society news and correspondence of the times include the journeys made by him and Sir Richard Jebb, 1st Baronet to Italy in 1771 and 1777 to attend to the younger brother of King George III, the Duke of Gloucester.

[3] The travels of Adair in Italy in the 1770s are documented by art historian Sir Brinsley Ford, including a collection of bronzes, marbles and Old Master paintings that were auctioned at Christies in May 1790.

A memorial to him and his family (primarily centred on his wife Caroline Keppel (1734–1769), who predeceased him due to consumption) was erected in St Mary's Church, Acton, London.