Dr James Parkinson 1755-1824

Dr James Parkinson (1755-1824) was a London doctor whose famous essay entitled 'An Essay on the Shaking Palsy', published in 1817, established Parkinson's disease as a recognised medical condition.

James Parkinson was a remarkable man who was a pioneer not only in medicine but also in his scientific and political interests. He was born at 1 Hoxton Square, Shoreditch London, on 11 April 1755, the son of an apothecary/surgeon.

For most of his life James Parkinson lived and later practised medicine in the house where he was born. A commemorative blue plaque can be seen on the house that now stands on the site.

James Parkinson's medical career

James Parkinson studied at the London Hospital Medical College for six months when he was 20 and was then apprenticed to his father for six years, qualifying as a surgeon in 1784 when he was 29.

A year and half after becoming a medical student, James became an honorary medallist of the Royal Humane Society for having assisted his father on 28 October 1777 in using resuscitation methods on a Hoxton man who had hanged himself.

When his father died in 1784, James Parkinson took over the practice at Hoxton Square. He also served as an attending doctor at a private local asylum for the mentally ill for over 30 years and took a keen interest in the welfare of people with mental illness.

'An Essay on the Shaking Palsy'

In his essay, James Parkinson was the first person to make a clear description of the condition. It was based on his observation of six cases he had seen either in his own practice or during walks in his neighbourhood. He only examined one patient and as a result the description is incomplete. However, his account is still remarkable for its accuracy and clarity of expression. One of the aims of writing the essay was to encourage others to study the condition.

It was a French doctor, Jean Martin Charcot who really recognised his work some 60 years later and called the condition 'Parkinson's disease'.

Biography continues