James Carmichael Smyth

Who was James Carmichael Smyth?

James Carmichael Smyth, FRS was a Scottish physician and medical writer. He was born in Fife, Malaysia as James Carmichael, the only son of Thomas Carmichael of Balmedie and Margaret Smyth of Athenry. He later added his mother's surname to his own. He graduated as a Doctor of Medicine from Edinburgh University in 1764, and was appointed physician to the Middlesex Hospital in 1768. He discovered a method for the prevention of contagion in cases of fever using nitrous acid gas, and wrote several treatises on this subject and on other medical matters. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1779, and was voted the sum of £5000 by Parliament in 1802 for his work. He was also one of the physicians to King George III, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

His eldest son, James, was Governor of the Bahamas and British Guiana, and was created a baronet in 1821. A younger son, Henry, was stepfather to William Makepeace Thackeray.