GB 231 MS 2070 Jonathan Troup: Journal, 5 Dec 1788 - c Apr 1790.
Diary of his voyage from Aberdeen to Dominica, West Indies, 1788-90, including descriptions of voyage from Aberdeen to Gravesend on board the smack, Swan and visit to London, before his departure on the Duchess of Portland, via Gravesend and Portsmouth.
Entries during the voyage, when Troup acted as ship's surgeon, contain notes regarding weather, ship's position, ships or places sighted, marine life, shipboard conditions and activities, illness on board, etc. After arrival in the West Indies in May 1789, entries give an account of his life and work up to April 1790, as a medical practitioner in Dominica and as acting surgeon to the army ordnance at Fort Shirley. There are also copies of letters, written in English and French, to officials and colleagues, and quotations from, or comments on, Greek and English authors.
The text is illustrated with crude ink and water-colour drawings of people and places encountered during his voyage and whilst practising medicine in Dominica.
GB 231 MS 2900 Cash book of Jonathan Troup, M.A., practising Physic and Surgery in the Prince Rupert Quarter, Dominica, January 1790.
Despite its title, just a small part of the volume is taken up with Troup's medical accounts - though these are detailed, and contain frequent references to cases attended for and on behalf of plantation owners in Dominica, including their families and slaves (e.g. By express to visit a Negro woman dangerously bruised, being tumbled down a steep hill by loose stones and trees ).
The remainder of the volume contains a variety of extracts and musings. Much of this is medical in nature, including transcripts of the lectures of William Cullen (1710 - 1790) at Edinburgh, 1787 - 1788; extracts from lectures and writings of Alexander Hamilton, MD (1739 - 1802), London, 1791 and Edinburgh, 1792; from William Fordyce, M.D. (1724 - 1792), London, 1773; and other practitioners - both contemporary and earlier. Other material includes abstracts of the bible in French; the aphorisms of Hippocrates; History of England from the first settlement of Brutus to this present year, 1793. With engravings by Charles Alfred Ashburton Esq; extracts of Latin poetry; and notes, quotations, etc. on various topics, including money, philosophy, religion, society, history, geography and literature.
The text includes one sketch of malformed baby and another of a geyser in Iceland.
GB 231 3027 Jonathan Troup: Journal, c 1791 - 1797.
Journal recording Troup's return voyage from Dominica, West Indies, to his native Aberdeen, and efforts to establish himself as a medical practitioner there. In addition to medical notes and remedies, the volume contains details of his early financial difficulties, ambitions, and social life, including courtship of several local girls (e.g. Travel to Migny, see J. Gaul, she is a stout, handsome girl, and she is industrious and good - travel to Auchnerran at foot of Morven, see Mayse McCaina, she is a pretty, pleasant girl - the cast is between the two Girls I mentioned, Gaul and McC - the one aged 16 the other 22½. ).
There are also notes of books read, philosophical musings, and quotations, particularly from Horace and other Latin writers.
The text is illustrated by 2 full page pencil sketches of the coast at Dover, other drawings in pen and ink, including sights passed on his return voyage to Scotland, and calligraphic exercises dated 1764.