Dr William MacBeath

Dr William MacBeath went as a doctor/surgeon to Demerara and practiced there for some years. In 1795 he published a paper [Edinburgh Medical Commentaries]  ‘Account of a singular affection of urinary organs, common among negroes in Demerary’.

Before 1797 he returned to Scotland where he died, having made his will in Inverness. His executors were George Inglis in Scotland and Robert Gordon and Ichabod Brush in Demerara. Macbeth’s slaves were sold by Gordon to Spencer Mackay.

His grave stone in the Chapelyard, Inverness reads:
Under this stone are interred the remains of the late Doctor William McBEATH, a native of Inverness and for some years Practitioner of Physic in Demerary, South America, where his goodness of heart, his mild and pleasing manners and his skill and humanity in the exercise of his Profession, endeared him to all who knew him. He was born the 25 day of February 1764 and died the 11 day of October 1797, aged 33 years. To his much respected memory this tribute of affection is inscribed by G INGLIS.