Turpin, Philip, 1749-1828.

Philip Turpin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1774 after finishing a doctoral dissertation on epilepsy. The outbreak of war in America left him stranded in Great Britain without the resources to obtain safe passage to Virginia. He served as a surgeon on the HMS "Heart of Oak" during the American Revolution, and in 1780, he returned home onboard Lord Cornwallis's ship. Once back in Virginia, he was not allowed to leave the British army, where he served as an attendant to the wounded. After the war, Turpin took up residence in Richmond, Va. He was successful, after Thomas Jefferson spoke on his behalf, in appealing to the Governor of Virginia for reinstatement as a citizen. Turpin's first wife, Caroline, died in 1787; he married secondly Martha Osborne. Turpin also had several daughters and was related by marriage to Thomas Jefferson.