"Born in 1709", so says the only record of him, a Book on Kings Lynn, by Richards, published about 1812. Robert Halliday Lidderdale suggests this is doubtful, as he was the second son, and that date makes him older than John, known to have been born in 1713. [However, Scotland Parish records indicate that Thomas was christened in Melrose on January 1, 1710, and he graduated with an MD from Rheims in 1729.]
He died in 1766. A doctor, he was educated at Rheims, taking his M.D. there as well as at St. Andrews. The Lynn account gives his descent very fully from Eleanora Dunbar and agrees substantially with that of David of Torrs' wife whose son he was. There is a slight elaboration giving the wife of the Earl of Linlithgow as Lady Mary Douglas, daughter of the tenth Earl of Angus.
Thomas started, aged 22, to practise in Lynn, with Dr. Hepburn whose daughter, Susan, he married. She died in 1787, aged 92. His father in law, who also lived to be 92, had been physician to Sir Robert Walpole. Among the patients of the partnership were Walpoles, Cokes, Bedingfields, Hares, Hostes, etc. The account mentions that Thomas was related to the Earl of Stair and to Admiral Pringle. This exaggerates. His sister married a Pringle and their daughter Ann Pringle married Sir John Dalrymple, of which family was the Earl of Stair. Thomas, said to have been both learned and witty, had one child, a daughter named Maria.
The writer, through the kindness of Mrs. Lawrence and her sisters, now owns portraits of Dr. Thomas Lidderdale, M.D., Edinburgh, and his wife Susan Hepburn. The man is said to be by de Nime and his wife, someone suggested to the last owners, was by an artist of the school of Hogarth, both being pleasant and competent works. With the portraits was given a metal plaque of fine workmanship, correct heraldically showing Dr. Thomas' arms, with his mark cadency, a crescent, impaling those of his Hepburn wife.
It may be well to explain, to those who do not know, that impalement records marriages of Armigerous families, when the wife is not an heiress. If an heiress, her arms would be quartered and remain for ever an embellishment on the family shield, whereas impalement does not and is only in use by the persons immediately concerned in their lifetime. The Doctor and his wife had one child, Maria, who died S.P. leaving the portraits to her first cousin Eleanora, daughter of James, a younger brother of Thomas from whom they descended to Elizabeth Ellen Lawrence, wife of Lieutenant Colonel G.H. Lawrence, C.M.G., and her sisters. All three being childless, the portraits and plaque were presented to the writer.
Source: Robert Halliday Lidderdale, An Account of the Lowland Scots Family of Lidderdale, 1950.
The Royal College of Physicians of Ediburgh Library (www.repe.ac.uk/library) has a record of English-speaking students attending European universities in the 17th century. The following record is entered for Dr. Lidderdale at Rheims:
| Name: | Lidderdale, Thomas |
| Nationality: | Scot |
| Place of Origin: | Edinburgh |
| Graduation Date: | 1729.19.11 |
| Title of Degree | MD |
| Other: | Thomas Lidderdale MD St. Andrews ad eundem 1747;
FRCP Edin. 1746;
Of Lymm, Norfolk;
Died 1766 |
| Ref: | 546/076-77; 550/054; 880/08 |
Thomas is reported to have subscribed to the following books (http://www.Ancestry.com):
1740. A Treatise on Ancient Painting, Turnbull, George: London.
1743. Twelve Sermons upon several political subjects, by William Dorman, Nicolls, Samuel: London.
1748. History of the Popes, from the foundation of the see of Rome, to the present time, Bower, Archibald: London.
1748. An Account of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophical Discoveries. Maclaurin, Colin: London.
1751. The Ancient and Present State of the navigation of the Towns of Lyn, Spalding and Boston, Fenning, Daniel: London.
Susanna Lidderdale's Last Will and Testament was written on January 27, 1784, and recorded on November 2, 1796, in London. The will names Dorothy Young spinster as the beneficiary. The will also mentions "my late daughter Maria Georgiana Lidderdale spinster." Although I can't discern the relationship of Susanna and Dorothy Young she may have been the daughter of Thomas's sister Christian Lidderdale (married Thomas Young).
Source: Public Record Office, The National Archives, United Kingdom (http://www.documentsonline.pro.gov.uk)
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