Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 09.djvu/137

 Carmichael Breslau was finally signed on 11 June 1742. On its conclusion, Hyndford was nominated a knight of the Thistle, and was invested with the insignia of that order at Charlottenburg, on 29 Aug. 1742, by the king of Prussia, in virtue of a commission from George II. From Frederick he also received the gift of a silver dinner service, and was permitted the use of the royal Prussian arms, which now enrich the shield of the Carmichaels. In 1744 Hyndford was sent on a special mission to Russia, when his skillful negotiations greatly accelerated the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. He left Moscow on 8 Oct. 1749, and after his return to England was, on 29 March 1750, sworn a privy councillor, and was appointed one of the lords of the bedchamber. In 1752 he was sent as ambassador to Vienna, where he remained till 1764. On his return he was appointed vice-admiral of Scotland, when he gave up his office at the board of police. The remainder of his life was spent at his seat in Lanarkshire, where he devoted his attention to the improvement and adornment of his estate. While occupied with his diplomatic duties abroad, he continued to take a constant interest in agricultural affairs. To encourage his tenants in the improvement of their lands, he granted to them leases of fifty-seven years' duration, and also introduced clauses in the new leases which have since met with the general approval of agriculturists. The fine plantations on the estates have been reared from seeds brought by him from Russia. He died on 19 July 1767. He was twice married: first, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell, and widow of the first Lord Romney; and secondly, to Jean, daughter of Benjamin Vigor of Fulham, Middlesex. By his first wife he had a son, who died in infancy, and by his second he had no issue. The earldom passed to his cousin, John Carmichael. The title became dormant or extinct on the death of the sixth earl in 1817. His correspondence while ambassador abroad is in the 'State Papers,' and there are rough copies of it in the Additional MSS. in the British Museum. 

CARMICHAEL, RICHARD (1779–1849), surgeon, was born in Dublin on 6 Feb. 1779, being fourth son of Hugh Carmichael, solicitor, who was nearly related to the Scotch family of the earls of Hyndford. When he attained fortune, Carmichael spent much time and money in seeking to establish the proof of his eldest brother's title to this earldom; but the loss or destruction of some indispensable family records rendered his efforts futile.

After a two years' apprenticeship to Peile, a well-known Dublin surgeon, and study at the Irish College of Surgeons, Carmichael passed the requisite examination, and was appointed assistant-surgeon (and ensign) to the Wexford militia in 1795, when only sixteen. This position he held, gaining considerable notice by his early skill and attention to his duties, till 1802, when the army establishment was reduced after the peace of Amiens. In 1800 he had become a member of the Irish College of Surgeons, and in 1803 he commenced practice in Dublin. In the same year he was appointed surgeon to St. George's Hospital and Dispensary, and in 1810 surgeon to the Lock Hospital. In 1816 he obtained the important appointment of surgeon to the Richmond, Whitworth, and Hardwicke Hospitals, an office which he held till 1836. Already in 1813, at the early age of thirty-four, he was chosen president of the Dublin College of Surgeons, a position he also held in 1826 and 1846. In 1835 he was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of France, being the first Irishman to receive that distinction.

In 1826 Carmichael, in conjunction with Drs. Adams and McDowell, founded the Richmond Hospital School of Medicine (afterwards known as the Carmichael School), and was for two years a principal, and afterwards an occasional lecturer. In addition to considerable donations in his lifetime, he bequeathed 8,000l;. for its improvement, and 2,000l., the interest to be given as prices to the best students of the school. During the last ten years of his life (1839–49) he took deep interest in medical reform, strongly supporting the Medical Association of Ireland, of which he was president from its formation till his death. He aimed at securing for the medical student a good preliminary and a high professional education, and uniform and searching examinations by all universities and medical and surgical colleges. He also advocated the separation of apothecary's work from medicine and surgery as far as practicable. To promote its objects he placed 500l. in the hands of the Medical Association; but when it proved that the fund was not needed, he directed its transfer to the Medical Benevolent Fund Society. To this society, one much cared for by him, he left 4,500l. at his death. A piece of plate was presented to him in 1841 by 410 of his professional brethren, with an address expressing their sense of his unwearied zeal for the