Sir James Mackenzie

Sir James Mackenzie

Sir James Mackenzie (1853 -1925) was a General Practitioner in Burnley where he became a pioneering cardiologist. He qualified in Edinburgh in 1878 and then joined his friend and mentor Dr John Brown in general practice in Burnley where he worked for 28 years. He made detailed cardiovascular studies of many of his patients. He devised a method of measuring both arterial pulsation and venous pulsation in the neck using an ink polygraph made by Mr B Shaw, a watchmaker in nearby Padiham.  He published four papers in the Manchester Medical Chronicle which was closely associated with MMS. His book The Study of the Pulse was published in 1902. He won worldwide recognition for his pioneering research into heart disease. He moved to London in 1907 and went onto work in the London Hospital, before moving back to his native Scotland in 1918. He was appointed as Physician to the King in Scotland in 1920. There is a memorial to Sir James Mackenzie in Thompson Park in Burnley.

Memorial to Sir James Mackenzie, Thompson Park, Burnley