James Hamilton

James Hamilton succeeded his father, Alexander Hamilton, as Professor of Midwifery in Edinburgh. Although recognised as an outstanding lecturer and author of two important textbooks, he is best remembered for his pugnacity!

James Hamilton was born in Edinburgh where his father, Alexander Hamilton, was Professor of Midwifery. His father had apparently decided when his son was very young that he should succeed him in the Chair of Midwifery. He attended medical lectures at the University of St Andrews and after graduation became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1788 and a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1792. He had already begun to assist his father in practice and, when his father retired, succeeded him as planned in the Chair of Midwifery. Contemporary accounts all attest to his adversarial temperament. His delivery was “harsh and his intonation Scotch, pure and unsophisticated”. Two of his quarrels were to gain notoriety. In 1792 a “Guide for Gentlemen Studying Medicine at the University of Edinburgh” was published under the pseudonym “J Johnson”. This guide was openly critical of most of the Professors in the Faculty of Medicine with the exception of the midwifery class which was highly praised. As rumours began to circulate that Hamilton might be the author of this inflammatory pamphlet, the Professor of Medicine, James Gregory, wrote a pamphlet denouncing the guide and suggesting that it had been written by Dr James Hamilton. Hamilton’s reply was scathing in its criticism of Gregory who assaulted Hamilton in the street with his walking stick, an action which cost him £100 when Hamilton successfully sued him. Gregory was reported as saying that he would be willing to pay that again for the privilege of beating Hamilton a second time!

Hamilton also successfully sued Thomas Hope, the Professor of Chemistry, for slander.

Yet, much of the professional enmity which Hamilton and his father provoked resulted from their attempts to have midwifery made a compulsory subject in the undergraduate curriculum. In pursuit of this goal Hamilton, in 1824, made a direct appeal to the Town Council who at that time still had the ultimate authority for University matters. To the dismay and outrage of the Senate, the Town Council supported Hamilton and managed to achieve a Royal Commission to investigate the problems of medical education. In 1830 midwifery was made a compulsory subject. James Hamilton contributed much to the teaching and practice of midwifery in Edinburgh. He wrote several books, the last one of which “Practical Observations in Various Subjects relating to Midwifery” was highly regarded and was translated into German. As early as 1808 he had written a parents’ guide to childhood illness which was decades ahead of its time. He was the first British medical writer to use the term eclampsia. Hamilton died in 1839 at the age of 71, having resigned his Chair a few months earlier. He was succeeded in the Chair by James Young Simpson.