James Cumming

Rev. Prof. James Cumming (26 September 1777 – 10 November 1861) was the ninth Professor of Chemistry in Cambridge from 1815 to 1860. Cumming is remembered for his research-led teaching and his lectures during which he would literally shock the audience with a galvanic apparatus. He was also known to electrocute a cat during a demonstration.

Cumming was born in Piccadilly, London, on 26 September 1777, but his home moved to the Buxton Hall Hotel (now called Old Hall Hotel) in Buxton where his father was the hotelier from 1791. His father rented the hall, which had been a home to Mary, Queen of Scots, from the 5th Duke of Devonshire. His father was considered socially more than a mere hotelier, and the hotel's clientele included bishops and visiting aristocracy.

Cumming was sent to school at Marlborough before he became a student at Trinity College, Cambridge. Graduating he took holy orders earlier than most aspiring academics under the Bishop of Lincoln, George Tomline, in 1802.

Cumming was appointed to the professorship in 1815, although no records survive of his work prior to that date. Like all professors at that time, he had to compete with rival professors for the attention of his students. Study of his curriculum reveals that he was keeping abreast of the current research in his subject. In 1816 he was admitted to the Royal Society, in company with Lord Byron, as well as the Geological Society.

In 1819 he was given the rectorship of North Runcton near King's Lynn. This small Norfolk parish of 400 people was "in the gift" of Trinity College and Daniel Gurney, the banker. With this substantial income he was able to marry Sarah Humphrey of Cambridge. In the same year Cumming was a founder member of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.(Cumming was later to serve as its President)

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