Loyalist physician William Paine (1750-1833) was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on June 5, 1750; he was the son of Timothy Paine and Sarah Chandler. As a child, he was tutored in Latin by future United States President John Adams, who was then studying law in Worcester. Paine attended Harvard College, graduating in the class of 1768, and following graduation he studied medicine with Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke of Salem, Massachusetts. In 1771, he established a private medical practice in Worcester and in 1773 he opened an apocethary shop there with two other men. Paine married Lois Orne (1756-1822) of Salem on September 23, 1773; they had six children. Although the depths of Paine's political convictions are still debated, he was unquestionably a Loyalist. Troubled by increasing civil disturbances in the years leading up to the American Revolution, he signed a protest (now known as the Worcester Protest) in 1774 against riotous behavior. This made him unpopular in the community and led to public humiliation, so he sailed to London in 1774 to avoid persecution. Paine studied medicine at Marischal College in Aberdeen, Scotland, where he received an M.D. in 1775. From 1775 until 1781 he served as apocethary to the British forces in the Carolinas, Rhode Island, and New York. In 1781, he returned to England, where he was admitted a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in London; he also traveled to Portugal, where he acted as personal physician for Lord Winchelsea. Paine returned to North America in 1782 and served as surgeon general to the English army for one year before retiring in 1783. The Paine family lived in New Brunswick for several years before the American ban against Loyalists was lifted. In 1787, they moved to Salem, and in 1793 they returned to live in the family home in Worcester, where they remained. William Paine died on April 19, 1833.
From the description of Photograph of diploma conferring the Doctor of Medicine degree on William Paine, November 1, 1775. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 664668118
