Lawrence Bohun
English physician and early Jamestown experimental scientist.
Lawrence Bohun was an English physician and member of the Virginia Governor's Council, sometimes credited as the first experimental scientist in Jamestown and one of its first physicians. He is known for experimenting with Virginia's indigenous plants and minerals, and for working on brewing wine in the colony.
Quick Facts
- Honorific Prefix
- Doctor
- Honorific Suffix
- Physician General of Virginia
- Birth Date
- Between 1575 and 1585
- Birth Place
- Kingdom of England
- Death Date
- March, 1620/21 (O.S./N.S.)
- Death Place
- Near Guadeloupe, West Indies
- Death Cause
- Spanish raiders
- Other Names
- Bohunne, Linis Boone
- Occupation
- Physician
- Spouse
- Alice Barnes
- Education
- University of Leyden
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Lawrence Bohun arrived in Virginia on 10 June 1610, shortly after the Starving Time, and helped treat surviving colonists. He served as personal physician to Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, the first governor appointed by the Virginia Company of London. While in Virginia, Bohun experimented with sassafras and rhubarb as medicines, and also worked on brewing wine. When De La Warr left Virginia in 1611 to recover from scurvy, Bohun accompanied him to England, where he practiced medicine and married Alice Barnes. Bohun remained active with the Virginia Company, listed as a sharecropper in its third charter and approved for two Virginia land grants. He also pursued a project to cultivate silkworms in Virginia, which company records noted 'promised much benefitt but in the end came to nothinge.'
Reader's Guide
Bohun's significance lies in his role as an early experimental scientist in the Jamestown colony, applying European medical and botanical knowledge to New World plants. His work with sassafras and rhubarb as medicines, and his efforts in brewing wine, represent some of the earliest documented attempts to utilize Virginia's natural resources for practical and commercial purposes. His appointment as Physician General of Virginia in 1620, though never fulfilled due to his death en route, indicates the colony's need for formal medical authority. The failure of his silkworm project illustrates the challenges of transplanting Old World industries to Virginia. Bohun's final words—'Fight it out, brave man, the cause is good, and Lord receive my soul'—spoken during a Spanish attack at Guadeloupe, reflect the perils of transatlantic travel in the early 17th century. His legacy is that of a physician-scientist who bridged English medical tradition and American colonial experimentation.
Did You Know?
- He experimented with sassafras and rhubarb as medicines in Virginia.
- Bohun worked on brewing wine while living in Virginia.
- He was mortally wounded by Spanish warships while stopping at Guadeloupe in 1620.
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