James Niven

James Niven (12 August 1851 – 30 September 1925) was a Scottish physician, perhaps best known for his work during the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918 as Manchester's Medical Officer of Health. He held that position for 28 years (1894–1922), until he retired. He had previously been Oldham's Medical Officer of Health. He lectured in Public Health in Manchester. He died by suicide in 1925.

Background A son of Charles Niven, James was born in Peterhead on 12 August 1851. He graduated with a Scottish MA from the University of Aberdeen and from 1870 studied at Queens' College, Cambridge, gaining his BA in 1874 as 8th Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos and becoming a fellow at Queens'. His intention was to study engineering but he switched to the study of medicine after gaining his Cambridge MA in 1877.

Niven trained in medicine at St Thomas' Hospital in London. He qualified in 1880, as MB, and worked first for the Metropolitan Asylums Board, It was not long before he left that post to take up a private practice in Manchester. Doctors and physicians in Oldham raised enough money to send Niven to Berlin to study with 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 in accordance with the prevalent miasma theory. He also used 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."

According to medical historian William Povey, whilst at Oldham Niven was "instrumental in improving the standard of housing, of sewage and refuse disposal, of the milk and water supply, in reducing smoke pollution, and containing the spread of infectious diseases." He wrote several papers on the latter subject and was awarded a BCh degree in 1889. He was also responsible for Monsall Hospital, a fever hospital, being bought by Manchester Corporation from its then owners, the Manchester Royal Infirmary. In addition, the biographical records held by the Manchester Medical Collection note that he was "recognised as responsible for major improvements of public health in Manchester - slum clearance, milk supply, Monsall Fever Hospital, smoke pollution and health visiting." His background in mathematics was advantageous for compilation of statistics and he became president of both the Epidemiological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Manchester Statistical Society, as well as lecturer in public health.

In 1923, Niven published Observations on the History of Public Health Effort in Manchester.

Following his retirement in 1922 he developed depression and died by suicide on 30 September 1925 at Douglas on the Isle of Man by taking an overdose and swimming out to sea. He requested that he be buried at sea On 17 March and 26 November 2020, the 2018 documentary "The Flu That Killed 50 million" was rebroadcast, and Niven and his work featured heavily.