James Hunter was born in Edinburgh on 20 April 1936, the son of James Hunter a golf greenkeeper. He attended the Portobello High School in Edinburgh and then St Margaret's Anfield School in Liverpool from 1949 to 1952. During the years 1956-57 he studied at the Liverpool Technical College and then went on to read medicine at Liverpool University, graduating MB ChB in 1962. He held posts at Sefton General Hospital, Walton Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital and the David Lewis Northern Hospital and at the Southport Infirmary. Between 1963 and 1966 he was attached to the department of anatomy at Liverpool University. He did National Service with the Friend's Ambulance Unit International Service from 1953 to 1956, spending time in Britain and in Greece. In 1968 he married Ms Turner and they had a son and three daughters. His hobbies were mountaineering and motoring (especially motor racing). He died on 23 March 1980.