Archibald Hunter

Archibald Hunter (7 January 1813 – 26 August 1894) was a Scottish hydrotherapist, naturopath and writer.

Biography

Hunter was born in Glasgow on 7 January 1813. During his youth he worked for his father as a cabinet maker and took charge of the business at the age of nineteen. He became interested in hydrotherapy as a young man and joined the Glasgow Hydropathic Society. He opened his own hydropathic practice at 305 St. Vincent Street.

He remained at his institution as the manager and medical adviser until his retirement in 1894. Hunter had no medical training but was awarded a degree of Doctor by the New York Hydropathic and Physiological School in recognition of his services to hydrotherapy.

Hunter died in August 1894 only four weeks into his retirement.

Family

His second wife Annie Steedman Hunter (also known as Agnes Hunter) was an anti-vaccinationist who also promoted hydrotherapy and vegetarianism. She died in 1914.

Two of Hunter's sons, Francis and William qualified as medical doctors from Glasgow University. Francis died from tuberculosis aged 27 in Australia. His son William Bell was Medical Superintendent at Smedley Hydro and authored an article on Hydrotherapy for the ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1881.

Selected publications

Hydropathy: Its Principles and Practice (1881) Health, Happiness, and Longevity (1885) The Head: Its Relation to the Body in Health and Disease (1886)