James Bennett was born in
Romsey on 29 September 1809, the eldest son of
James Bennett, a nonconformist minister. He received his education at
Rotherham College, Yorkshire, of which his father became principal, and at the age of fifteen was apprenticed to Thomas Waterhouse of
Sheffield. In 1830, he went to Paris, and then to Edinburgh, where he graduated M.D. in 1833. In autumn 1833, Bennett accompanied
Lord Beverley to Rome, and spent two or three summers in his company and that of
Lord Aberdeen. On his return to England in 1837, he became physician to the Aldersgate Street dispensary, and lectured on medicine at the
Charing Cross Hospital medical school, and also at
Grainger's school of medicine. and from 1843 to its dissolution in 1867 acted as secretary to the
Sydenham Society. In 1875, he was elected
Fellow of the Royal Society. Settling in
Finsbury Square on his marriage in 1841, he had success as a consultant, especially in connection with chest diseases, an early adopter of the
stethoscope. In 1876, he was elected
President of the Royal College of Physicians, the first non Oxford or Cambridge graduate since its inception, and held the post for 5 years. He was knighted in 1881. He then moved to
Cavendish Square, where he died on 14 December 1891, aged 82. He was the
Lumleian Lecturer in 1870 on "Cancer and Cancerous Growths." ==Works==