James Niven
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James Niven MA, MB, LL.D |
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|---|---|
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| Medical Officer of Health for Oldham | |
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In office 1886–1894 |
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| Medical Officer of Health for Manchester | |
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In office 1894–1922 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 August 1851 Peterhead, Scotland |
| Died | 30 September 1925 (aged 74) Douglas, Isle of Man |
| Alma mater |
University of Aberdeen Queens' College, Cambridge |
| Profession | Physician |
James Niven (12 August 1851 – 30 September 1925) was a Scottish physician most famous for his work during the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918 as Manchester's Medical Officer of Health. He held the position for 28 years (1894–1922), until he retired. He held the degrees of M.A., M.B. and LL.D. He had been Oldham's Medical Officer of Health from 1886 to 1894. He lectured in Hygiene at Owens College, Manchester. In 1925 he committed suicide.
He was born in Peterhead on 12 August 1851. He graduated with an MA from the University of Aberdeen in 1870 and continued his studies at Queens' College, Cambridge, gaining his BA in 1874 as 8th Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos and becoming a fellow at Queens'. He trained at St Thomas' Hospital, finally becoming a qualified medical practitioner in 1899.
During his time in Oldham he had campaigned to have tuberculosis classed as a notifiable disease—-though it was over 20 years before that happened. Doctors and physicians in Oldham raised enough money to send Dr Niven to Berlin to study with Dr Robert Koch, who had discovered the TB bacillus in 1882, thereby proving that the disease was not caused by "bad air" as was generally believed. He also used Dr Koch's treatment at the Oldham General Infirmary on his return, as well as dealing with smallpox, typhus, measles, scarlet fever and whooping cough. An Oldham Chronicle obituary of 1925 said: "Dr Niven also showed an interest in child welfare well in advance of his time."
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