James Currie was born in Dumfriesshire in 1756. Currie was apprenticed to be a factor in Virginia in 1771, returning to Britain in 1777. He studied in Edinburgh before receiving his MD in Glasgow in 1780. Currie opened a practice in Liverpool later that year. In 1786 Currie was appointed physician to the Liverpool Infirmary and was a co-founder of an asylum in the city in 1792. Currie was also an active campaigner against the slave trade. He died in Devon in 1805.
