James Dunsmure

James Dunsmure FRCSEd (1 January 1846 – 5 July 1907) was a Scottish physician and obstetrician who, as his father had done before him, served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Early life and education James Dunsmure was born in Edinburgh on 1 January 1846 and baptised on 5 February that year. He was the son of James Dunsmure (1814 -1886) and his wife Catherine (née Hill). His father was a surgeon in Edinburgh and had been president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd). He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, graduating MB, CM in 1867. That same year he became a Licentiate of the RCSEd. As a student he lived in the family home at 53 Queen Street, Edinburgh next door to the obstetrician Sir James Young Simpson, an association which may have influenced his choice of career speciality.

Career He worked in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) as house surgeon to Professor James Spence and then as house physician to Dr Daniel Haldane. After further postgraduate experience studying in Berlin, Vienna and Prague, he returned to Edinburgh and qualified MD in 1870 with a thesis entitled Pathology and treatment of strictures of the urethra.

Honours and awards In 1872 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and in 1892 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club. He was elected president of the RCSEd in 1899. During his term of office the University of Glasgow conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D. He was a main organiser of the quatercentenary celebration of the RCSEd which took place in 1905.

He died in Edinburgh on 15 July 1907 and is buried in the Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.

Family He was married with one daughter.