Distinguished physician and naturalist.

Fellow of the Royal Society (1685); secretary (1693-1712), president (1727-41). Member of the Royal College of Physicians (1687); president (1719-35). Visited Jamaica as physician to the Duke of Albemarle and collected 800 species of plants (1687-89). Published A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica … (2 vols., London, 1707-25). Established a flourishing practice in Bloomsbury; attended Queen Anne and George II. Founded the Chelsea Physic Garden (1721). Promoted colony of Georgia (1732). Noted for generosity to hospitals and impecunious patients. Bequeathed his books, manuscripts, and natural history specimens to the nation; they formed a part of the original collection of the British Museum.

Son of Alexander and Sarah (Hicks) Sloane. Educated at the University of Orange (M.D. 1683). Married Elizabeth (Langley) Rose (1695); four children. Created baronet (1716).