A short life serving others: Dr Andrew G Malcolm

Our recent focus on Medical History has raised a number of familiar names that are repeated in the annals of Belfast history: early experts and great philanthropists who really put Belfast on the map with their medical prowess and progressive scientific thinking. The likes of William Drennan, who was an early supporter of inoculation, as well as Edward Benn and Forster Green whose generosity enabled the construction of a number of impressive hospitals and wards to the betterment of public health in Belfast. Whilst these individuals proved to be great figureheads in their own right, one name was repeatedly attached to medical efforts in North Belfast: Dr Andrew Malcolm.

I first came across mention of Dr Malcolm when researching the health impact of the public baths on Donegall Street. By this time, Malcolm had established himself as one of the foremost medical personalities in the area and was seen as an authority on areas of public health, particularly around improved sanitation, and he advocated strongly for improved conditions within the industrial workplace. His comments about the Public Baths were made in 1848 when he was only 30. Tragically, 8 years later, Dr Malcolm passed away. Despite his comparatively short professional life in Belfast, Dr Andrew Malcolm left a significant, if understated legacy that should rival that of the city’s progressive figureheads; yet he has been largely forgotten in recent times, usurped by those who had the good fortune to outlive him.


Andrew Malcolm (1818-1856)

Andrew Malcolm was born 17th December 1818. His father (also called Andrew) was a Presbyterian Minister, notably in Dunmurry at the First Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, before moving on to Newry. The family had strong connections with the Dunmurry, and was well respected. His uncle was William Hunter J.P who built Huntley House, a ‘modest’ stately home that still stands on Dunmurry Lane and is now used as a Bed and Breakfast.[1] The Malcolm Family themselves were prominent in the Presbyterian Church in County Down. Andrew’s Grandfather, James Malcolm had been Minister of Drumbo Presbyterian Church, not 5 miles from their church in Dunmurry.

Whilst his relatives enjoyed lengthy tenures within the Presbyterian Church, Andrew Malcolm’s fatherpassed away when Andrew was just 5 years old, having contracted typhus while serving his parishioners in Newry during an epidemic. Andrew would begin his education at the Belfast Academical Institution, continuing on to study in the Medical Collegiate Department which was, at that time, the only medical school in the city. During his time at ‘Inst’ he was taken under the wing of Rev Dr Henry Montgomery. Montgomery was the Head of the English Department at Inst, and had established himself as one of the great champions of civil rights. He was also the man who succeeded Rev. Andrew Malcolm as Minister of the church in Dunmurry.

At Inst, under the tutelage of Rev Montgomery, Malcolm would excel. He continued his medical studies in Edinburgh University, graduating in 1842. After graduating, he would return to Belfast, where he was appointed to the Dispensary, located on Frederick Street, as a medical attendant, before being appointed as a physician in the Hospital in 1846; just in time for one of the darkest periods in Irish history to reach its peak. The Great Famine had been ongoing for a couple of years at this point, having started in 1845, however, 1847, also known as Black ’47 saw the darkest days of the Famine. Back-to-Back crop failures and depleted stockpiles of food drove people to urban centres such as Belfast in search of food, shelter and aid. The influx of individuals put significant pressure on the institutions such as the Dispensary, Hospital, Workhouse and Poorhouse. The overcrowding created a perfect environment for illness and fever to tear through a population already weak with hunger and starvation. In 1847 alone, it is estimated that 1 million people died of starvation and related illnesses. Dr Malcolm would have been combating these illnesses from the Hospital on Frederick Street.

Title Page of Malcolm’s History of the General Hospital.

Malcolm was a prolific researcher and published numerous pieces of medical research. His thesis and early worked focused on typhus and typhoid fever; the same illness that killed his father. He expanded his academic horizons beyond pathology, turning to conditions closer to home, both as a historian, and as a physician. He published the history of the General Hospital Belfast, and other Medical institutions of the town in 1851 and began examining the impact of industrialisation and the conditions that people had to work in. In the 1850’s he took an increased interest in the physical and mental impact that a transition from small scale ‘cottage based’ industry to the large factory setting would have on workers. In the mid 18th century, his focus on not only the workers’ physical health, but also his mental wellbeing is a very progressive one:

“…in closing this paper, to offer a word of entreaty to factory employers, regarding their duty and interest in encouraging, I do not say affording, all proper means of enabling the operative to spend their evenings in a manner calculated to improve their mental condition, and render them more disposed to give freely and fully a good day’s work for a fair day’s wages. I allude especially to the encouragement of musical societies, and reading clubs, amongst the workers.”

Andrew Malcolm (1856). The Influence of Factory Life on the Health of the Operative, as founded upon the Medical Statistics of this Class at Belfast.

His progressive approach to medicine at this time can be attributed to the environment in which he was brought up, and the tutelage and guidance from those like Rev Dr Montgomery. In North Belfast, these ‘extra-curricular’ conditions as posed in 1856 by Malcolm would be substantially realised in 1894 with the construction of the North Belfast Working Men’s Club, which was funded by factory owners for the very reasons cited in his work. Dr Andrew Malcolm had firmly established himself as a prominent and progressive voice in Belfast, imbuing the spirit of championing individuals’ rights that was so heralded by Rev Dr Montgomery and awakening public interest in the squalid conditions in which the poor and less fortunate of the time lived. Sadly, this paper, titled “The Influence of Factory Life on the Health of the Operative, as founded upon the Medical Statistics of this Class at Belfast” would be one of his last.

Dr Andrew Malcolm died 19th September 1856 after a short illness that was diagnosed as rheumatic valvular disease. He was just 38 years old. In those years he had sought to find out more about the illness which took his father, weathered the worst of the Irish Famine from his post on Frederick Street, and lobbied for improvements to public health for the betterment of all. This is not including his extensive list of social endeavours, such as being a founding secretary and key member of the Belfast Society for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Working Classes.[2] He had only married in 1854, to Maria Glenny Home, and left behind a 1-month-old son, also named Andrew, who would tragically die a few months later in January 1857 at their home on York Street.

Andrew Malcolm is buried in Dunmurry, at the First Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church where his father had briefly been minister. His son (1857) and wife (1906) are buried alongside him. His body of work identifies him as an individual ahead of his time, and were it not for his sudden death at such a young age, he may well be remembered amongst some of Belfast’s most influential individuals or, indeed, amongst his peers in the medical community, had he been able to continue his work. His death was a notable loss which was lamented, in particular, by those who had worked alongside him:

“In him medicine has lost a most zealous and indefatigable and talented cultivator. This school, one of its most admired and popular teachers; The student his kind companion, and his bright example; his colleagues a friend and fellow labourer. The sick poor, a tender physician; society, “that noblest work of God, an honest man. The amount of success in his professional career that the late Dr. Malcolm had achieved sprang not from patronage, nor from fortunate accidents. To his own talents, to his active philanthropy, to the weight of his moral character, and to the resistless force of industry, was he indebted for his position…I think he may be put before you, my young friends, as a good specimen of the working man of our profession well worthy of your imitation; whose career is strikingly illustrative of what may be done in, alas! too short a life, by one who lays the foundation of his success rather on his well earned reputation than on his connexions.”

Belfast News-Letter. Friday 14 November 1856

Whilst the city may have forgotten the great debt it once owed Dr Andrew Malcolm for his medical work and his lobbying for improved conditions, he is still proudly remembered by those in his field a century later. The last quote came from a paper written in 1974 by J.S Logan in the Ulster Medical Journal. In this article he describes Malcolm as “one of the most gifted, most warm-hearted physicians the hospital has had.” Within 14 years, he left an indelible mark within the medical community. Had he been fortunate enough to enjoy the luxury of a long and full life, there is no telling how significant an impact he would have had on Belfast, nor how significant his influence would have been in later life.


HOYFM.1478.2000, Dr Andrew Malcolm (1818-56), Unknown Painter c1850, Courtesy of National Museums NI, Ulster Folk Museum Collection

[1] From here, the family would donate generously to the surrounding area over the years, and while their philanthropic endeavours would be overshadowed by those of their neighbours (Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon), their efforts would result in a school being constructed in nearby Drumbeg, called Charley Memorial Primary School.

[2] When the first public baths were opened in 1847, not only did he advocate for their use and expansion, but when the baths suffered from a shortfall in funds, he paid a substantial sum of his own money as guarantor to the bank. It was only after his death that the enterprise failed, and the baths were closed and sold.


About the archivist:

James Cromey is the Archive Coordinator for the North Belfast Heritage Cluster. He has a background in Victorian, Industrial and Medical History and has received degrees from the University of Glasgow and Queens University Belfast. All research has been conducted to a high academic standard and has been fully referenced. If you would like to know more about a story or piece of research, or if you wish to tell us about your own story, email us at: archiveproject@nbheritagecluster.org

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