James Makittrick Adair

Who was James Makittrick Adair?

James Makittrick Adair M.D., a native of Inverness, and youngest son of James Makittrick, held several occupations but is best remembered for his medical ethics and treatment of slaves and the poor. He was educated at the grammar school and university of Edinburgh. Early in life he was an officer in the army. Having wasted his own fortune and that of his wife, a descendant of the Adair family, he became an officer in the revenue department at Edinburgh and was later appointed surgeon's mate of the Porcupine sloop of war, bound to the Leeward Islands.

Shortly thereafter, he returned to England and soon decided to proceed to Antigua, where he became assistant to a relative, and began to study the medical profession. He also undertook the management of an estate on Antigua, becoming familiar with the condition of the slaves. Although he was anxious for the improvement of the conditions of the slaves, he was opposed to emancipation.