Hugh Downman was born in 1740 at Newton House, Exeter. He was educated first in the Exeter grammar school and then at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was sent in 1758, and from which he received his B.A. degree in 1763. He was ordained the same year in Exeter Cathedral and then went to Edinburgh for his medical education. While there, he boarded with the blind poet, Thomas Blacklock. This association may have had some influence on his subsequent devotion to poetry. In 1769, he went to London for clinical experience in the hospitals. After receiving an M.A. degree at Jesus College, he returned to Exeter, where he practiced about eight years. Ill health
INFANCY, OR THE MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. A DIDACTIC POEM, In SIX BOOKS. THE SIXTH EDITION. By HUGH DOWNMAN, M.D. E X E T E R: Printed and sold by TREWMAN and SON; sold also by CADELL