DR. JOHN IMRAY
(January 11, 1811 -- August 22, 1880)
Dr. John Imray was a Scottish physician posted to Dominica by the British Colonial Office in the early 19th century. Born in 1811, he studied medicine at Edinburgh University, graduating in 1831. On graduation, he took the position as government surgeon in Dominica, then the only public medical post on the island, and arrived there in 1832. He was one of the most dedicated and renowned colonial officers posted to Dominica, achieving worldwide recognition not only for his work in medicine, but in the fields of botany and agriculture as well.
As Chairman of the Dominica Board of Health, Dr. Imray soon began improving sanitation, health and medicine on the island. He drafted and guided through the House of Assembly the first public health legislation; and he was primarily responsible for the founding of the Dominica Infirmary and the Roseau Hospital. He did extensive research on yellow fever in Dominica, publishing several articles on the disease. He also researched and published path-breaking work on hookworm and yaws, and was regarded by his contemporaries worldwide as an authority on yaws and yellow fever.
Dr. Imray owned and lived on the small St. Aroment estate just outside Roseau. He also owned the larger Batalie estate further up the coast. At a time when Dominica's economic fortunes were in decline, these estates grew prolific but unexploited lime trees. After traveling to Sicily to view methods of lemon juice processing, Imray introduced to Dominica the commercial cultivation of limes for production of concen-trated juice. His estate at Batalie became the first successful lime estate in the West Indies, enhancing the economy of the island, as concentrated juice had a ready market as a scurvy preventative for the British Navy. At the London International Exhibition of 1862, Dr. Imray was Chairman of the Dominica Committee, and there, among other items, Dominica limejuice was exhibited. For many years, the industry flourished and was a mainstay of the Dominica economy. Dominica limes were a major source of Rose's Lime Juice and lime products; and lime juice and lime oil came from the large lime factories of L. Rose at Bath Estate and A.C. Shillingford at New Town, Soufriere, Grenada and Trinidad, and from smaller cooperative lime factories on the island.
Dr. Imray also had a consuming interest in Dominica plants. He worked on their botany and uses for over 40 years and published several papers in the field. He was a diligent plant collector whose specimens are a basis of Dominica records in Grisebach's Flora of the British West Indian Islands, which lists 662 species from Dominica. For his outstanding collection of native woods exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1862, Imray was awarded a medal of honor. His Dominica specimens can be found in the herbariums of Berlin, Geneva, Gottingen and Kew.
Dr. Imray had an abiding sense of community. He served as a member of Dominica Executive Council and advisor to many Governors. He was a member of the Dominica Church Council, and a pioneer spokesman for small peasant farmers. Many plants and the Imray Ward at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Roseau were named in his honor. He never married and died at St Aroment, Dominica, August 22, 1880, leaving no relatives in Dominica. His estate in St. Aroment and his home at Kingsland House in Roseau were left to his protégé, Dr. Henry A. A. Nicholls, who carried on his work.
For his extraordinary contribution to Dominican medicine and agriculture, and his lifelong service and dedication to Dominica and its development, DAAS honors Dr. John Imray.
Contributed by
Dan H. Nicolson
February 2012
on behalf of the author Robert A. DeFilipps (1939-2004)
See also
Imray, Dr. John in Honychurch: A-Z of Dominica Heritage
