Mungo Park (explorer) - Early Life

Early Life

Mungo Park was born in Selkirkshire, Scotland at Foulshiels on the Yarrow Water, near Selkirk, on a tenant farm which his father rented from the Duke of Buccleuch. He was the seventh in a family of thirteen. Although tenant farmers, the Parks were relatively well-off –- they were able to pay for Park to have a good education, and Park's father died leaving property valued at £3,000 (UK£ 160,000 in 2012). The Parks were Dissenters, and Park was brought up in the Calvinist tradition.

Park was educated at home before attending Selkirk grammar school, then, at the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a surgeon named Thomas Anderson in Selkirk. During his apprenticeship, he made friends with Anderson's son Alexander and became acquainted with his daughter Allison, who would later become his wife.

In October 1788, Park started at the University of Edinburgh, attending for four sessions studying medicine and botany. Notably, during his time at university, he spent a year in the natural history course of Professor John Walker. After completing his studies, he spent a summer in the Scottish Highlands, engaged in botanical fieldwork with his brother-in-law, James Dickson, a gardener and seed merchant in Covent Garden. In 1788 he and Sir Joseph Banks had founded the London Linnean Society.

In January 1793, Park completed his medical education by passing an oral examination at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London. Through a recommendation by Banks, he then obtained the post of assistant surgeon on board the East Indiaman Worcester. In February 1793 the Worcester sailed to Benkulen in Sumatra. Before departing, Park wrote to his friend Alexander Anderson in terms that reflect his Calvinist upbringing:

My hope is now approaching to a certainty. If I be deceived, may God alone put me right, for I would rather die in the delusion than wake to all the joys of earth. May the Holy Spirit dwell in your heart, my dear friend, and if I ever see my native land again, may I rather see the green sod on your grave than see you anything but a Christian.

On his return in 1793, Park gave a lecture to the Linnaean Society, describing eight new Sumatran fish. He also presented Banks with various rare Sumatran plants.