Sir James Cantlie (17 January 1851 – 28 May 1926) was a British

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. He was a pioneer of

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

, which in 1875 was unknown: even the police had no knowledge of basic techniques such as how to stop serious bleeding and applying splints. He was also influential in the study of tropical diseases and in the debates concerning

degeneration theory Social degeneration was a widely influential concept at the interface of the social and biological sciences in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century, scientific thinkers including Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, Johann F ...

. Cantlie was born in Banffshire and took his first degree at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, carrying out his clinical training at

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central L ...

, London. In 1877, Cantlie became a Fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

and Assistant Surgeon to

; in 1886 he became Surgeon at Charing Cross. In 1888 he resigned to take up a position in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. While in the crown colony, he co-founded the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, which later grew into the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the f ...

. One of his first pupils at the College was the future Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen. Cantlie's work in Hong Kong included investigations into

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

and into various

tropical disease Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by for ...

s; in 1894 he encountered an outbreak of

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

. In 1896, poor health – related to his unstinting work as a researcher and practicing physician – forced Cantlie to return to London. Later that year, Dr. Sun visited him, and was kidnapped by the

Imperial Chinese secret service The Imperial Household Department (; mnc, , v=dorgi baita be uheri kadalara yamun) was an institution of the Qing dynasty of China. Its primary purpose was to manage the internal affairs of the Qing imperial family and the activities of the in ...

. Sun was tied up in the Chinese Legation, and might well have been shipped back to China and executed had it not been for Cantlie, who led a media campaign which not only succeeded in releasing Dr. Sun, but also made him a hero in Britain. Cantlie was involved in the setting up of the ''Journal of Tropical Medicine'' in 1898, and the founding of the

London School of Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

in 1899. He was a founder in 1907 of the

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, more commonly known by its acronym RSTMH, was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President (1907–1909), was recognised as "t ...

. During the early years of the twentieth century, and particularly during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914–1919), Cantlie's work centred on the provision and training of

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

services. On his death he was buried in St John the Baptist church, Cottered, Herts. He is the father of Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Cantlie, as well as great grandfather of

John Cantlie John Henry Cantlie (born 7 November 1970) was a British war photographer and correspondent. He was kidnapped in Syria with James Foley in November 2012. He had previously been kidnapped in Syria alongside Dutch photographer Jeroen Oerlemans ...

References

* Mark Harrison, "Cantlie, Sir James (1851–1926)", ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. September 2004 . *Choa, G. H. (2000
''The Life and Times of Sir Kai Ho''
Chinese University Press, * *China Rhyming blo
''The Man Who Rescued Sun Yat-sen – The Memorial to Sir James Cantile at Cottered''
Books by Paul French RAS China Monographs Zed Asian Arguments “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” — Mark Twain The Man Who Rescued Sun Yat-sen – The Memorial to Sir James Cantile at Cottered

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantlie, James 1851 births 1926 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Sun Yat-sen Presidents of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

See also

References

External links