Elizabeth Blackwell (née Simpson) was born in London on 23 April 1699. A Curious Herbal is her only known published work, and remains a landmark book in the field of medical botany and botanical illustration.
Despite being an icon who’s finally getting her flowers, Elizabeth’s choice in a life partner was a questionable one. Here are 10 reasons why Elizabeth’s husband, Alexander Blackwell was a walking red flag. Make sure you don’t make the same mistake…
1. He practiced a profession he was not qualified for
While his father and brother held long term academic appointments at Aberdeen’s prestigious Marischal College, Alexander Blackwell did not easily settle into a professional path.
His Wikipedia page refers to him as an “adventurer”, although “chancer” might be a better term. Alexander was always on the lookout for a new scheme to make his fortune. He may have studied medicine. If he did it would not have been for long enough to qualify as a doctor, but he styled himself as one anyway. After practising as an unlicensed physician in Aberdeen didn’t work out too well for him, Alexander next shows up operating a printshop on The Strand in London. Just like with his dalliance with medicine, Alexander had no interest in pursuing the proper channels to a career in printing.
2. His dad was a notorious witch hunter
In 1733, Elizabeth married Alexander Blackwell, a young man from a family of Scottish intellectuals. Her father-in-law, Reverend Thomas Blackwell, had a reputation as a notorious witch hunter. In 1697, as the minister of Paisley Abbey, he led the investigations in the Bargarran Witch Trials – the last mass execution of accused witches in western Europe. Four women and three men were hanged and burnt because of Blackwell’s belief that they were in league with Satan and had cursed a young girl to have fits and seizures.
3. He got sued by a rival
In 1734, another printer sued him for not having undertaken a proper apprenticeship with the Worshipful Company of Stationers, the guild in charge of the print industry.
4. He became bankrupt
Forced to pay damages, Alexander ended up bankrupt, with his reputation ruined and in debt.
5. He served jail time
Alexander is reported to have been sent to a debtors’ prison until he could pay the money back. As with much of his colourful life, some of these details may not be entirely factual. It is unclear, for example, whether he actually went to prison or how much time he spent there, but the bankruptcy is a documented fact and became the catalyst for his, by then pregnant, wife to find a new way to support the family. It was only in this time of financial need that Elizabeth returned to the artistic passions of her youth, proposing to couple them with Alexander’s medical and printing knowledge to create a new herbal or botanical encyclopedia.
6. He abandoned her to experience a Euro summer
With the financial success of A Curious Herbal, Elizabeth was able to secure her husband’s release from debtors’ prison. For a time, things went well for the Blackwell’s. Alexander found a new scheme, focusing on the growing interest in reclaiming marshland for farming. A treatise that he wrote on the subject – A New Method of Improving Cold, Wet and Clayey Grounds – became a surprise hit and saw him travel to Sweden in 1742 as a newfound expert in agricultural methods, leaving Elizabeth behind.