Dr Samuel Crumpe born in Rathkeale in 1766. He studied medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Returning to Limerick in 1788, he worked in St. John’s Hospital, which had only been founded in 1780 by Lady Lucy Pery Hartstonge.

He married Susanna Ingram in 1792, they had a son (who did not live past infancy) and a daughter.

He was a made freeman of Limerick in 25 June 1792. Dr. Crumpe’s work on opium provided an experimental basis for classifying the drug as a stimulant rather than a narcotic. He died on the 27 January 1796 aged 29 of typhus, which he contracted from a patient.

He is buried in St. Mary’s Cathedral Graveyard.

The following is an extract from Dr Samuel Crumpe’s diary of 1795 in which he kept track of the weather each day of that year, monitoring the barometer reading, wind direction, thermostat reading (from March onwards) and general remarks. The temperatures given are in Fahrenheit. 50 degrees Fahrenheit equals 10 degrees Celsius.

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JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOct – Nov – Dec


The following are the entries from his weather diary of 1795 for November

DateBarometeThermostatWindRemarks
01 Nov 179529.250SWDry
02 Nov 179529.647NEDry slight frost
03 Nov 179530.150NWDry
04 Nov 179529.648SWHeavy, wet stormy night
05 Nov 179529.648WHeavy, wet stormy night
06 Nov 17953050SWDry
07 Nov 17953050SWDry
08 Nov 179530.148WDry hoar
09 Nov 179530.256SWDry hoar
10 Nov 179530.256EDry hoar
11 Nov 179530.456NEHoar
12 Nov 179530.348NWDry mild slight showers
13 Nov 179530.258NWDry
14 Nov 179530.351NDry
15 Nov 179530.355SWDry
16 Nov 179530.152WDry rain at night
17 Nov 179528.758NWWet storm
18 Nov 179528.847NDry stormy morning
19 Nov 17952938WSleet smart frost &snow at night
20 Nov 179529.240NEDry frost at night
21 Nov 179529.447Wthaw and showers
22 Nov 179529.147NWWet
23 Nov 179529.150WHeavy wet
24 Nov 179529.246WDry, heavy, wet night
25 Nov 179529.240NWDry, hoar , snowy night
26 Nov 179529.540NFrost
27 Nov 179529.240SESleet and rain
28 Nov 179529.741Ndry
29 Nov 179529.743WHeavy, wet
30 Nov 179529.744WWet storm
Showery

You can find the Weather Reports for other months in 1795 here.