Johnston papers

Catalogue record

Notes

Born in Annan in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, Dr John Johnston (1852-1927) studied medicine in Edinburgh before setting up in general practice in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1876. There he became a founder member of the Bolton Whitman Fellowship, whose collected papers are also published by Microform Academic Publishers.
This collection covers his varied intellectual, social, cultural, political and professional interests. Of particular significance are Johnston's notes on the poetry of Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and on his correspondence with Horace Traubel and others of Whitman's circle, as well as on his activities as a member of the Independent Labour Party, which it appears he joined the same year of its founding in 1893.
Johnston's profound social concerns are also reflected in his medical writings, which include not only his thoughts on the doctor-patient relationship, but also provide a testament to the challenges Johnston faced as a doctor caring for WW1 victims. The military hospital at Whalley in Lancashire, where Johnston worked during the First World War, was one of the few places in Northwest England where the wounded from the Front were sent. Indeed, a connexion has been made by Whitmanites, with some justification, that parallels exist between Johnston's wartime experiences and Whitman's actions during the American Civil War.
In addition to details of his pilgrimage to visit the poet in the USA during the summer of 1890, the papers include fascinating descriptions of his travels in Europe and North Africa
From the collections of the Bolton Archive and Local Studies Service:
Summary contents list:
ZJO/1: Diaries and commonplace books, 1887-1919 (reels 1-12);
ZJO/2: Travel and holiday notebooks, 1892-1915 (reels 12-13);
ZJO/3: Medical and scientific notebooks, 1871-1917 (reels 13-14);
ZJO/4: Autobiographical notebooks, 1886-1889 (reel 14);
ZJO/5: Cuttings books, 1885-1922 (reel 14);
ZJO/6: Travel articles and publications from 1883 (reels 14-15);
ZJO/7: Literary mss. and papers (reel 15);
ZJO/8: Miscellanea (reel 15).
Detailed listing available on the Access to Archives website (www.a2a.org.uk).