James Macaulay

James Macaulay (1759 – January 1 1822) was a doctor and medical official in Upper Canada.

He was born in Scotland in 1759 and served with the Queen's Rangers as surgeon to the regiment during the American Revolution. In 1785, he joined the 33rd Foot Regiment. In 1791, he arrived in Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in Upper Canada with the new Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, a former commander of the Queen's Rangers, whose wife, Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim, was a close childhood friend of Macaulay's wife, Elizabeth Tuck Hayter, a great grand-daughter of Captain Seth Jermy (1653-1724).

They later moved to York (Toronto) when the provincial capital was transferred there. He acquired several large parcels of land due to his military service and helped by his close firendship to the Lieutenant-Governor. Macaulay was in charge of the hospitals in Upper and Lower Canada until he was replaced in 1808. During the War of 1812, he helped set up military hospitals. He served on the first Medical Board of Upper Canada and was the chief medical officer for the province from 1819 until his death in 1822.

His oldest son, John Simcoe Macaulay, named after the lieutenant governor, served with the Royal Engineers and was elected to the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. James Buchanan Macaulay, another son, was chief justice for the Court of Common Pleas, treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a member of the Executive Council of Upper Canada.