JAMES W. MACNEILL, M.D.

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	Dr. James W. MacNeill, physician and alienist and superintendent
of the Mental Hospital at North Battleford, is ~ne of the most prominent
members of his profession in the province. He was born in Prince Ed-
ward Island, on the 24th of March, 1873, a son of John and Catherine
(MacKenzie) MacNeill, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of
Prince Edward Island. John MacNeill was but one year old when he
was brought by his parents to the new country. They located at Prince
Edward Island in 1819, and there John MacNeill received his education
and grew to manhood. He engaged in farming when he became of age
and continued that line of work the remainder of his life, being unusually
successful. His death occurred in April, 1894, at the age of seventy-six
years. Mrs. MacNeill died in June, 1896, when sixty-six years of age.
	The grade and high schools of Prince Edward Island afforded James
W.MacNeill his preliminary education and subsequently he enrolled in
the Prince of Wales College, from which institution he was graduated in
due time. He then engaged in teaching school for two years and at the
end of that time entered McGill University, from which he was graduated
with the M. D. degree in 1901. He immediately commenced the practice
of his chosen profession in Keswick Ridge, New Brunswick, and re-
mained there until 1906, when he came west to Saskatchewan and located
in Hanley, practicing there until 1912. In that year he took up the study
of mental diseases, attending various hospitals in the States and in Eng-
land, France, and Scotland. Prior to going abroad he received his ap-
pointment as superintendent of the Mental Hospital in North Battleford,
When he returned to this country, thoroughly informed on the special
line of work he was to undertake, he assumed the duties of superinten-
dent of the local hospital. This hospital is a mammoth affair and has
accommodations for as many as a thousand patients.  There are few
times when it is not crowded with those seeking the medical attention to
be found there. One hundred and thirty persons are employed by the
government to conduct the establishment and a twenty-four hundred
acre farm is operated in connection with it, one thousand acres of which
are under cultivation. Dr. MacNeill has farming interests of his own at
Hanley and he is a member and director of the Battle River Ranching &
Farming Company, which owns four hundred head of high grade cattle.
The greater part of the Doctor's time and attention, however, is given to
his duties at the hospital. He became superintendent of the hospital in
1914 and each year since then has seen a substantial growth in the
efficiency of the institution and in its popularity.
	In January of the year 1904 Dr. MacNeill was married to Miss Annie
Campbell, a daughter of John and Evelyn (Dumphy) Campbell, natives
of New Brunswick. Mr. Campbell engaged in farming in New Bruns-
wick throughout his active life and is still residing on the home farm, at
the age of eighty-six years. He has had a large share in the development
of that part of the country in which he makes his home and was a mem-
ber of the Legislature for a good many years. Dr. and Mrs. MacNeill
are the parents of four children: Evelyn, seventeen years of age; Jack,
fifteen; Betty, nine years of age; and Margaret, seven.
	In his political views the Doctor is a Liberal. And he is never too
busy to lend his aid in the furtherance of any movement for the benefit
of the community.  While a resident of Hanley he was elected to the
Legislative Assembly in 1908 and served until 1912. Fraternally he is
identified with the Masons and is grand master of the order.  Along
strictly professional lines he holds membership in the Dominion Medical
Society, the Saskatchewan Medical Society and the Psychiatric Associa-
tion of America. He stands high among his professional brethren. So-
cially he is identified with the North Battleford Golf Club. His religious
faith is that of the Presbyterian church.



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