Charles Robert Drysdale

Charles Robert Drysdale (1829 – December 2, 1907) was an English engineer, physician and public health scientist, and the first President of the Malthusian League. He published books on the topics of syphilis, the evils of prostitution and the dangers of tobacco smoking.

Life

He was the son of William Drysdale (1781 – 1847) and Lady Elizabeth Drysdale. The family were close friends of Charles Darwin.

Drysdale was educated at University College London. He obtained his M.R.C.S. in 1858 and took his M.D. in 1859, F.R.C.S. in 1861 and M.R.C.P. in 1862. 

Although later remembered only as a doctor he was initially a trained and skilled engineer, working on the SS Great Eastern for Brunel in 1847 and conducting surveys for new railways in both Spain and Switzerland.

His elder brother was Dr John James Drysdale (1816 – 1890) founder of the Liverpool Homeopathic Hospital. His brother-in-law was Dr Edward Wickstead Lane, Darwin's doctor. Edward Wickstead Lane ran a hydropathy spa near Reading.

Together with his wife he founded the Malthusian League and was its first President.

Drysdale died on December 2, 1907 in West Dulwich.

Campaign against tobacco smoking
Drysdale was one of the earliest campaigners against tobacco smoking. In a letter to The Times newspaper in 1878 to say 'I think that the use of tobacco is one of the most evident of all the retrograde influences of our time.' and 'The use of tobacco is one of the most evident of all the retrograde influences of our time. It invades all classes, destroys social life, and is turning, in the words of Mantegazza, the whole of Europe into a cigar divan.'

Criticism of vegetarianism

Drysdale argued that a mixed-diet is best for mankind and was an opponent of vegetarianism. In 1891, Drysdale wrote an article, "Fallacies of Vegetarianism" for The Sanitary Inspector journal. He utilized arguments from anatomy, chemistry and physiology against vegetarianism.
Vegetarians rejected his anatomical argument.

Family

From 1869 he began a life-long relationship with fellow doctor Alice Vickery. Neither believed in marriage. They are buried together in Brookwood Cemetery.

Their son, Charles Vickery Drysdale (1874-1961) opened one of the first family planning clinics at East Street, Walworth, London SE17 in 1921. A Blue plaque marks the site.

Selected publications

Prostitution Medically Considered (1866)
Tobacco and the Diseases it Produces (1875)
Fallacies of Vegetarianism (1891)
The Life and Writings of Thomas R. Malthus (1892)

References

Category:1829 births
Category:1907 deaths
Category:19th-century English medical doctors
Category:Alumni of University College London
Category:Anti-smoking activists
Category:British public health doctors
Category:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery
Category:Critics of vegetarianism