Sir James Barr FRCP

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

CBE DL LLD (25 September 1849 – 16 November 1938) was an

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

-born physician, who rose to be President of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

and is noted for his work on the medical care of prisoners.

Life

He was born in Cumber,

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

, Ireland, the son of Samuel Barr J.P. He was schooled in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. He then came to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

to study medicine at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating in 1873. He received house appointments in Glasgow Royal Infirmary and then the Northern Hospital,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, settling in Everton at that time. Working at Kirkdale Gaol in

as a Medical Officer he developed a strong interest in the care of prisoners, leading him to be sent to Ireland by the British Government in 1885 during a period of unrest. His promotion of the medical examination of political prisoners in Ireland sparked controversy. He gave evidence to the Capital Sentences Committee (sitting 1886-1888) and in 1891 was involved in the training of the first three hangmen who were put on the list of persons competent to perform executions. He was knighted in 1905, a Knight of the Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, and appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1920. In 1907 he gave the

Bradshaw Lecture The Bradshaw Lectures are prestigious lectureships given at the invitation of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. List of past lecturers at Royal College of Physicians List of past lecturers at Royal C ...

. In 1912 he was elected President of the

. Sir James was an enthusiastic supporter of

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

. In his Presidential Address to the British Medical Association in 1912, he argued that "The race must be renewed from the mentally and physically fit, the moral and physical degenerates should not be allowed to take any part in adding to the race." In a 1918 speech, Barr said that tuberculosis "forms a rough, but on the whole very serviceable check, on the survival and propagation of the unfit" before concluding: "...if to-morrow the tubercle bacillus were non-existent, it would be nothing short of a national calamity. We are not yet ready for its disappearance." He was Vice President of the Society of Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress and a strong supporter of its founder

Marie Stopes Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification, ...

. He retired to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1926 and died at

Putney Heath Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...

Publications

*''Judicial Hanging'' (1884) *''Post Sacrlatinal Nephritis'' (1887) *''Pleural Effusion and its Treatment'' (1907)

Family

He married Isabelle Woolley in 1882. They had one son, Samuel Tudor Barr, and one daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, James 1849 births 1938 deaths People from County Tyrone Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presidents of the British Medical Association Alumni of the University of Glasgow British eugenicists 19th-century Irish medical doctors 20th-century Irish medical doctors