James Carrick Moore’s father was the physician and writer John Moore and his brother was General Sir John Moore, the hero of the Battle of Corunna. James became an army medical officer and set up a surgical practice in London. He was a supporter of Edward Jenner, the pioneer of smallpox vaccination, and defended the practice of vaccination in several publications including, ‘The History of the Smallpox’ (1815), urging his readers that the procedure Jenner had developed did give permanent immunity to smallpox. Jenner himself obtained a Scottish medical degree from St. Andrews but this was at a time when medical degrees could be bought and attendance was not required at the place of study.