| Relations | Sir William Hudson (Son)George V. Hudson (Brother) |
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James Hudson (13 October 1854 – 8 July 1912) was a New Zealand medical doctor and explorer.[1]
Hudson was born in London, United Kingdom, and attended Devizes Grammar School.[1] He became an apprentice to a doctor before completing his medical degree at the University of London in 1879.[1][2]
After practising for two years in Kimberley, South Africa and serving as a surgeon during the Zulu war of 1879 he emigrated to New Zealand in 1880.[1][2] He set up his medical practice in Nelson. He served on the Nelson City Council from 1901 resigning in 1905 when he was appointed district health officer for Nelson and Marlborough.[3] He was medical officer to the Nelson and Stoke orphanages from 1902 to 1907.[1]
In New Zealand lodges, or friendly societies, appointed doctors to provide medical services at reduced rates to members and their families.[4] Hudson was dismissed by the lodge The Ancient Order of Foresters in 1896 because "he refused to reduced his rate below one pound per patient per annum".[4] He was supported by the New Zealand Branch of the British Medical Association.[1][4]
In 1907 Hudson retired to Tapawera but continued to practice medicine. He died in a car accident on the Spooner Range, south of Nelson on the road between Tapawera and Belgrove, on 8 July 1912 was buried in the churchyard at Stoke.[1][5][3]
Family
Hudson's father and siblings also emigrated to New Zealand in the 1880s.[6] One of his brothers was the entomologist George Hudson.[6]
He married Beatrix Jane Andrew, daughter of MP John Andrew, in Nelson in 1886. They had 11 children one of whom was engineer William Hudson.[1][7] Another son, Athol, was killed at the Somme in World War I.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hanron, Nancy. "James Hudson". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ a b Wright St Clair, Rex (2013). Historia nunc vivat : medical practitioners in New Zealand, 1840 to 1930 (PDF). Christchurch: Cotter Medical History Trust. p. 194. ISBN 9780473240738.
- ^ a b "Fatal motor car accident". Nelson Evening Mail. 8 July 1912. p. 6. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
- ^ a b c Wright St Clair, R.E. (1987). A history of the New Zealand Medical Association. Wellington: Butterworths. pp. 81–82. ISBN 0409787795.
- ^ "Local and general". Nelson Evening Mail. 12 July 1912. p. 4. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
- ^ a b Gibbs, George. "Hudson, George Vernon". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ Sparke, Eric, "Sir William Hudson (1896–1978)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 23 September 2025
- ^ "Athol Hudson". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
