Charles Alston, (1685–1760), was a physician and botanist. He was the superintendent of the physic garden at the palace of Holyrood, which gave him the titles of king’s botanist and regius professor of botany, and a requirement to lecture at the garden. This was a position which he was to hold for life.
He also became an MD in Glasgow in 1719 and was elected to fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1721. In 1725 he gained secretaryship of the college, this position being held by him for 21 years. At the instance of the new professor of anatomy at Edinburgh University, he started to teach botany and materia medica in that institution too.
Reference:
Charles Alston to Hans Sloane, 1735-08-18, Sloane MS 4054, f. 92, British Library, London
D. E. Allen, ‘Alston, Charles (1685–1760)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/425, accessed 3 Sept 2017]
Dates: to
Occupation: Unknown
Relationship to Sloane: Virtual International Authority File: