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John Coakley Lettsom (British Virgin Islands)

The Stamp

The stamp was issued in the British Virgin Islands in 1976. It was part of a series depicting famous Quakers.

The Doctor

John Coakley Lettsom was born in 1744 into a Quaker community on the island of Little Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.

He was educated in England, being apprenticed to a surgeon in Yorkshire, and then studying at St Thomas’s Hospital in London.

He returned home when his father died and became quite wealthy, being the only doctor on the island.

He returned to Europe, studied further in Leiden and got his LRCP in London. 

Urology Connections

Lettsom founded the Medical Society of London in 1773. Many well known urologists have presented important papers there.

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