James Lloyd (March 24, 1728 – March 14, 1810) was an American

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

. He was born at the Manor of Queens Village on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

to Henry Lloyd and Rebecca Nelson. His father's sizable collection of medical texts may have inspired him to pursue a career as a doctor. James apprenticed and studied under the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

physicians

Silvester Gardiner Dr. Silvester Gardiner (June 29, 1708 – August 8, 1786) was a physician, pharmaceutical merchant and land developer of Maine. He is known for founding the city of Gardiner. Early years He was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, the son of W ...

and John Clark between 1745 and 1748, and, in 1749, traveled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to work as a resident at

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 ...

. There, he learned groundbreaking surgical techniques like flap amputations, and attended lectures performed by pioneering surgeons and obstetricians. In 1759, Lloyd married Sarah Comrin (Comryn) (1734–1797) in Boston. Together they had two children: Sarah and James Lloyd III. After completing his tenure in London, Lloyd returned to Boston, where, in addition to opening his own practice in surgery and obstetrics, he showed a commitment to educating a new generation of physicians. He performed lectures on the techniques he had learned abroad and apprenticed at least ten young doctors between 1760 and 1790. He was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1771. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Lloyd was serving as a surgeon for a British military unit based near Boston. For this, he was labeled a traitor and jailed, but was soon released in the hopes that he would use his medical skill to serve the patriot cause. After the war, the British offered Lloyd financial redress for his war-ravaged Long Island manor if he would become a British citizen. He refused. Lloyd was a founder of the

Massachusetts Medical Society The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization t ...

and thought to be the first specialized obstetrician in America. James Lloyd died in Boston in 1810. John Sylverster John Gardiner gave his funeral sermon at Trinity Church in Boston.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, James 1728 births 1810 deaths Members of the American Philosophical Society American obstetricians