James Hervey (''c.'' 1751 in London – 1824) was an English physician and pioneer of smallpox vaccination in London. After education at a school at Northampton and then at home under a private tutor, James Hervey, at age 16, matriculated on 17 November 1767, at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

. He graduated there A.B. 1771, A.M. 1774, M.B. 1777, and M.D. 1781. Hervey was elected physician to

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...

in 1779, was admitted as a candidate of the Royal College of Physicians in 1781, and was elected F.R.C.P. in 1782. He regularly practised for some years at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

during the summer season. Hervey was

Gulstonian lecturer The Goulstonian Lectures are an annual lecture series given on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians in London. They began in 1639. The lectures are named for Theodore Goulston (or Gulston, died 1632), who founded them with a bequest. By his ...

in 1783, Harveian orator in 1785, and Lumleian lecturer from 1789 to 1811. He was the National Vaccine Establishment's first appointed registrar. He died in early 1824. In 1812, Hervey reported for the Board of the National Vaccine Establishment that during the year 1811, the surgeons appointed by the Board's authority to nine stations in London vaccinated 3,148 people and distributed 23,794 effective doses of vaccine lymph to the public.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hervey, James 1750s births 1824 deaths People from Northampton Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford 19th-century English medical doctors 18th-century English medical doctors Physicians of Guy's Hospital Vaccinologists British immunologists Smallpox vaccines