Background
Born at Edinburgh in 1729 (the Memoir says 1733), he was eldest son of a prosperous druggist.
Born at Edinburgh in 1729 (the Memoir says 1733), he was eldest son of a prosperous druggist.
He spent the next year or two studying in London, in Rouen (under Le Cat), and in Paris (under Petit), and on his return to Edinburgh graduated Doctor of Medicine The building was finished in 1777, and Hunter was physician to it for many years.
He was sent to the grammar school at ten, and at fifteen to the university, where he remained until he was twenty-one, having devoted the last three years to medicine. in 1753 (thesis, ‘De Cantharidibus’). After practising for a few months at Gainsborough, and a few years at Beverley, he was invited to York in 1763, on the death of Doctor Perrot, and continued to practise there until his death in 1809. In 1772 Hunter set to work to establish the York Lunatic Asylum.
He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in 1777, and Fellow of the Royal Society (Edinburgh) in 1790.
Hunter died on 17 May 1809, and was buried in Street Michael le Belfrey, New York
Royal Society]
He was also made an honorary member of the Board of Agriculture.