Peter Stephenson Turnbull was born on 02 March 1836 , at Deneburn, Denholm, the fourteenth child of Thomas Turnbull (1784-1867), tenant of East Middle by his second wife, Mary Beattie (1801-1880). He studied at the University of Glasgow between the years 1855-1859 , taking classes in Practical Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry, Botany, Surgery, Materi Medica Pharmacy and Dietetics, Dispensary, Medical Jurisprudence, Pathology, Natural History and Midwifery. He graduated MD in 1859 . He studied at Edinburgh Medical School at sometime in 1859 and 1860 before gaining registration of his Medical qualifications in 1860 . He served with the Army in Abyssinia between 1867 and 1868 and assisted in the action of Arogee and assault and capture of Magdala for which he gained a medal. In 1893 Peter Turnbull became Surgeon Major General of the Indian Medical Service in Bombay, a fellow of the University of Bombay and Surgeon General with the Government of Bombay. He died on 7th October 1921 in Edinburgh and is buried there in Grange Cemetery.
From the guide to the Papers of Peter Stephenson Turnbull, 1836-1921, Surgeon Major-General, Glasgow, Scotland and Bombay, India, 1855-1999, (Glasgow University Archives Service)
