1. Turner W, ed. The Anatomical Memoirs of John Goodsir F.R.S. with a Biographical Memoir by Henry Lonsdale, M.D. (2 vols, vol. I, Biography). Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1868: vol. I, p. 9. See also: Anonymous. John Goodsir. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 1867–8;16:14-16.
2. According to Lonsdale, he was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, although his name does not appear in its list of medical graduates. See: List of the Graduates in Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, from MDCCV to MDCCCLXVI. Edinburgh: Neill & Co., 1867; Turner W (op. cit. ref. 1): pp. 7–10. He matriculated in 1768–9 and 1769–70, but did not graduate with the Edinburgh MD degree. He obtained the LRCS Edinburgh diploma on 3 September 1770. He was the eldest surviving son of James Goodsir and Janet Fernie.
3. His full name was Joseph Taylor Goodsir. See: Scott H. Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation. Vol. V. Synods of Fife, and of Angus and Mearns. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1925 (new edn): p. 220. He was ordained on 17 August 1843, and resigned on 27 November 1850 on the grounds that: “the standards of the Church were not consistent with the Teaching of Scripture”. He died unmarried on 27 April 1893, a prolific author on theological issues. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1860 on the recommendation of Sir William Turner.
4. As Professor John Goodsir, the oldest of the five sons of John Goodsir, was named after his father (or grandfather), it appears that Harry, whose full name was Henry Duncan Spens Goodsir, was named after one of his father's brothers. Peterkin and Johnston noted that Henry Duncan Spens Goodsir, his father's oldest brother, entered the Army Medical Service as an assistant surgeon in September 1803: “2270. Henry Duncan Goodsir. Assistant Surgeon, 82nd Regiment of Foot, 17 September 1803; Surgeon, Sicilian Regiment, 20 December 1810; 89th Regiment of Foot, 28 March 1811: retired on half-pay 25 Jan 1817. Name shown on Army List in 1819 for the last time.” See: Peterkin A, Johnston W. Commissioned Officers in the Medical Services of the British Army 1660–1960 (2 vols). London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1968: vol. I, p. 149. He matriculated in the University of Edinburgh in 1794–5, 1795–6 and 1796–7, but did not graduate. He died on 18 March 1818. See: “Notice of death” in Goodsir papers. Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections, Box Gen. 305. While he was christened Henry Duncan Spens Goodsir, he was commonly referred to as “Harry”, for example in correspondence between his father and his son. See: Goodsir papers, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections, Box Gen. 305.