Born 25 August 1870, the eldest child of James Battersby, a house factor, and his wife Margaret Sutherland. He was educated at Oatlands School and St Mungo's College, Glasgow, and took the Scottish triple qualification in 1896. After further study at King's College Hospital, London, he became a Member of the College in 1898 and took the Fellowship in 1899. He had served as demonstrator of pathology, house physician and senior house surgeon at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and later became senior assistant surgeon there. He combined consultant practice in central Glasgow with a large general practice in the East End, which he carried on till 1934 at 1448 Gallowgate. He was surgeon to the Central Dispensary and also for many years professor of anatomy at St Mungo's College. He was an excellent teacher and examined in anatomy for the Royal Faculty. Battersby took an active part in the work of various societies. He served as secretary of the section of anatomy at the annual meeting of the British Medical Association in 1922, and was president of the Glasgow and west of Scotland branch 1945-49. In the Incorporation of Barbers in the Trades House of Glasgow, a guild long frequented by members of the medical profession, he was collector and deacon. Battersby married on 16 August 1899 Elizabeth Dicken Muir, who survived him with their three sons. He died on 20 May 1951, aged 80, at 15 Havelock Street, Helensburgh, Dumbartonshire, where he had been living since his retirement. "Wee Jimmie" Battersby, as he was affectionately known, was a kindly and humorous character, whose abilities triumphed over a frail physique. Publications:- Traumatic separation of the costal epiphyses. *Brit med J*. 1899, 1, 150. Simultaneous fracture of both clavicles. *Brit med J*. 1900, 1, 73.