Elmer Samuel James was born in Craigmont, Ontario in 1910. He went to school in Biggar, Saskatchewan, and then to Winnipeg for the medical course, graduating MD in the University of Manitoba in 1935. He subsequently came to Great Britain for postgraduate training, passed the Conjoint Board examination in 1937, and obtained the FRCS in 1938. On his return to Canada he specialized in orthopaedic surgery in Winnipeg, and in due course became a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and of the Canadian Orthopaedic Society. He was also made a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada. James was appointed Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Manitoba and shortly before he died he was made chief of the orthopaedic section of the Winnipeg General Hospital. He died in that hospital on 16 January 1968, and was survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons.