Hans Sloane

This article is about the physician and collector. For the Member of Parliament, see Hans Sloane (MP).

Sir
Hans Sloane
Bt FRS
Portrait by Stephen Slaughter
13th President of the Royal Society
In office
1727–1741
Preceded byIsaac Newton
Succeeded byMartin Folkes
President of the Royal College of Physicians
In office
1719–1735
Preceded byJohn Bateman
Succeeded byThomas Pellett
Personal details
Born(1660-04-16)16 April 1660
Killyleagh, Ireland
Died11 January 1753(1753-01-11) (aged 92)
London, England
Resting placeChelsea Old Church
NationalityBritish
Known forPhysician
Philanthropist
Entrepreneur
Investor
Chelsea Physic Garden
British Museum[1]
Sloane Square
Sloane's drinking chocolate
SpouseElisabeth Sloane (née Langley)
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society (1685)

Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, FRS (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Anglo-Irish physician, naturalist, and collector. He had a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Museum, the British Library, and the Natural History Museum, London.[2][3]

Elected to the Royal Society at the age of 24,[4] Sloane travelled to the Caribbean in 1687 and documented his travels and findings with extensive publications years later. Sloane was a renowned medical doctor among the aristocracy, and was elected to the Royal College of Physicians at age 27.[5] Though he is credited with the invention of chocolate milk, it is more likely that he learned the practice of adding milk to drinking chocolate while living and working in Jamaica.[6] Streets and places were later named after him, including Hans Place, Hans Crescent, and Sloane Square in and around Chelsea, London—the area of his final residence—and also Sir Hans Sloane Square in Killyleagh, his birthplace in Ulster.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Sloane's London estate was bequeathed to his daughter, Elizabeth, who was married to Charles Cadogan, 2nd Baron Cadogan, in which family the estate remains.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference bmus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "The Irishman who 'invented' milk chocolate, and served the royal family". The Irish Times.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference removal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ MacGregor, Arthur (2004). "Sloane, Sir Hans, baronet (1660–1753), physician and collector". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25730. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 8 February 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytimes.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Rose Eveleth (12 February 2014). "Chocolate Milk Was Invented in Jamaica". Smithsonian Magazine.
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