Dr James Currie (1756–1805): Liverpool physician,campaigner,hydrotherapist and man of letters

Abstract

James Currie was born and educated in Scotland but spent most of his professional life in Liverpool, where, as physician to the Liverpool Infirmary, he campaigned against the unsanitary living conditions in the rapidly growing port. He was an early advocate of water cures for fever and other maladies, on which subject he carried out experiments and published a seminal work. He was a pioneer in the use of the clinical thermometer. He was also an early advocate of the abolition of slavery and a man with literary and scientific interests, which brought him into contact with many of his most distinguished contemporaries. These included Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), William Wilberforce (1759–1833), Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) and Robert Burns (1759–96), of whose poetry Currie was the first editor. He died in August 1805 at Sidmouth in Devon, whose parish church carries his memorial.