James Cantlie

Sir James Cantlie (1851-1926) was a Scottish physician. He was born in Banffshire and took his first degree at Aberdeen University, carrying out his clinical training at Charing Cross Hospital, London.

In 1877 Cantlie became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and Assistant Surgeon to Charing Cross Hospital; in 1886 he became Surgeon at Charing Cross. In 1888 he resigned to take up a position as Dean of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (where the future Chinese leader Sun Yat Sen was one of his pupils), combining his work there with private surgical practice. His work during these years included investigations into leprosy and into various tropical diseases; in 1894 he encountered an outbreak of plague in Hong Kong. In 1897 he returned to London, where he was involved in the setting up of the "Journal of Tropical Medicine" in 1898, and of the London School of Tropical Medicine in 1899.

He was a founder of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. During the early years of the twentieth century, and particularly during the First World War (1914-1919), Cantlie's work centred on the provision and training of ambulance services.

References

*Mark Harrison, "Cantlie, Sir James (1851–1926)", "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". September 2004.