John Henry Bridges (1832–1906) was known principally for his literary achievements. He became a leader of the positivist movement in England and translated the movement’s leader Auguste Comte's 'General View of Positivism' in 1865. Bridges was educated at Oxford University in classics, and later in medicine. He briefly emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, but returned to practice in Bradford after his wife’s death. He was appointed physician to Bradford Infirmary in 1861, and a factory inspector for North Riding in 1869. A year later he moved to London to begin work as a Metropolitan medical inspector to the Local Government Board, an office which he held till 1892, after which he was a manager of the Metropolitan Asylums Board. Bridges was elected fellow to the Royal College of Physicians in 1867, and in 1892 he delivered the Harveian Oration.