James Braid (surgeon)
| James Braid | |
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James Braid
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| Born |
19 June 1795 Portmoak, Kinross-shire, Scotland |
| Died | 25 March 1860 (aged 64) Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England |
| Nationality | Scotland |
| Fields | medicine, natural history |
| Institutions |
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Wernerian Natural History Society |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Known for | surgery, hypnotism |
| Influences | Thomas Brown, Charles Lafontaine |
| Influenced |
Étienne Eugène Azam, Pierre Paul Broca, Joseph Pierre Durand de Gros, Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault, John Milne Bramwell |
 Student Record for James BraidSource: University of Edinburgh, Centre for Research Collections, Individual Records, Students of Medicine (1762–1826) |
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Entry for both James Braid and his son in the (first) U.K. medical register of 1859 (bottom of page 38), indicating that Braid never held a M.D., and that he was a surgeon.
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James Braid (19 June 1795 – 25 March 1860) was a Scottish surgeon and "gentleman scientist". He was a significant innovator in the treatment of club-foot and an important and influential pioneer of hypnotism and hypnotherapy. He is regarded by many as the first genuine "hypnotherapist" and the "Father of Modern Hypnotism".
“Although Braid believed that hypnotic suggestion was a valuable remedy in functional nervous disorders, he did not regard it as a rival to other forms of treatment, nor wish in any way to separate its practice from that of medicine in general. He held that whoever talked of a "universal remedy" was either a fool or a knave: similar diseases often arose from opposite pathological conditions, and the treatment ought to be varied accordingly.” — John Milne Bramwell (1910)
Braid was the third son, and the seventh and youngest child, of James Braid (c1761-184?) and Anne Suttie (c.1761-?). He was born at Ryelaw House, in the parish of Portmoak, Kinross, Scotland on 19 June 1795.
On 17 November 1813, at the age of 18, Braid married Margaret Mason (1792–1869), aged 21, the daughter of Robert Mason (?-1813) and Helen Mason, née Smith. They had four children, all of whom were born at Leadhills in Lanarkshire. Two died in their infancy: James Braid (born 1816) and Charles Anderson Braid (born 1818). Two survived: Anne Daniel, née Braid (1820–1881), and James Braid (1822–1882).
Braid was apprenticed to the Leith surgeons Thomas and Charles Anderson (i.e., both father and son). As part of that apprenticeship, Braid also attended the University of Edinburgh from 1812–1814, where he was also influenced by Thomas Brown, M.D. (1778—1820), who held the chair of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh from 1808 to 1820.
Braid obtained the diploma of the Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of the City of Edinburgh, the Lic.R.C.S. (Edin), in 1815, which entitled him to refer to himself as a member of the college (rather than a fellow).
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