Record

Authorised form of name	Drake; James (1666 - 1707); physician and political writer
Dates	1666 - 1707
Nationality	British
Place of birth	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Date of birth	1666
Place of death	Westminster, London, England
Date of death	02 March 1707
DatesAndPlaces	Baptism: Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire (4 December 1666)
Occupation	Physician
Research field	Anatomy
Research field	Medicine
Activity	Education: School at Wivelingham; Eton College, Buckinghamshire; Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge; (MB 1690), (MD 1694) Career: Tory political pamphleteer; author of the comic 'The sham-lawyer: or the lucky extravagant' (1607); lost recently acquired post as commissioner for the sick & wounded as a result of his 'politically distasteful' publication 'Historia Anglo-Scotia (1703); was imprisoned or had his works burned publicly each year from 1702-1707; author of the anonymously published 'Memorial of the Church of England' (1705), a reward being offered to any who might identify the author; died of a fever (1707); author of the posthumously published (1707) 'Anthropologia Nova: or, a new system of anatomy', to which Judith Drake wrote the preface. Memberships: MB Cantab (1690) MD (1694) FRS (1701) FRCP (1706)
Membership category	Fellow
Date of election	01/12/1701
Age at election	35
RSActivity	Published a paper in the transactions of the Royal Society, entitled 'Some influence of respiration on the motion of the heart hitherto unobserved' (31 October 1702).
Relationships	Parents: Robert Drake, attorney Spouse: Judith Drake (fl. 1696–1723) Children: Ann (1700); James (c 1703)
PublishedWorks	RCN 37306
OtherInfo	Best known as a Tory political pamphleteer. Drake moved to London in 1693 where he was encouraged to pursue the study of medicine by Sir Thomas Millington 'the most eminent practitioner in the College of Physicians'. Following the completion of his medical qualifications, he began publishing papers on anatomy and politics. He became a controversial figure following the publication of his 'Historia Anglo-Scotia', which was based on a manuscript by an unknown author, and alleged to trace relations between England and Scotland from the time of William the Conqueror to that of Queen Elizabeth. It angered the Scots who claimed it contained 'many false and injurious reflections' (N&Q, 3.519), and as a consequence burned it at Mercat Cross, Edinburgh, on 30 June 1703.
Source	Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Royal College of Physicians, Inspiring Physicians [https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/james-drake; las accessed 11/10/2023] References: Hannah Smith, 'English 'feminist' writings and Judith Drake's 'An essay in defence of the female sex (1696)', Historical Journal; 2001, 44, 3, pp 727-748
Virtual International Authority File	http://viaf.org/viaf/46770231
Code	NA3761

Archives associated with this Fellow

RefNo	Title	Date
RR/79/29	Referee's report by Cecil Edwin Henry Bawn, on a paper 'Sorption of gases and vapours by potassium benzene sulphonate' by Richard Maling Barrer, James Drake and T V Whittam	11 March 1953

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