This is the tenth in a series of short biographies of persons whose names are directly used for diseases, conditions or syndromes familiar to those in clinical pathology laboratories.
James Paget (1814–1899) was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk to Samuel Paget, a brewer and shipowner and his wife Sarah Tolver.
In the Victorian age of large families, James was one of nine children who survived to full age. His elder brother George would become professor of physics at the University of Cambridge and enjoy a distinguished medical career. Aged 16, James abandoned his plans to join the navy and began a four-year apprenticeship to a general practitioner. In 1834 he entered St Bartholomew’s London as a student and proved to be a brilliant scholar winning prizes in 1835 and 1836. In 1835 he discovered the encysted larvae of the roundworm, Trichinella spiralis in dissected muscle at autopsy, using microscopic identification.
“Paget is recognised as a major figure in the advancement of scientific medical pathology in the 19th century”
In 1836 James passed the College of Surgeon’s examinations and became involved in editing medical journals and, from 1837 to 1843, he was Curator of the College of Surgery anatomical museum.
In 1844 he married Lydia North, youngest daughter of the Rev Henry North, and in a long and happy marriage their sons included the Rt Rev Dr Francis Paget, Lord Bishop of Oxford and Rt Rev Dr Luke Paget, Lord Bishop of Chester.
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Image credit | Maull Polyblank Wellcome Collection