BA Oxf 1782, MA 1784, MB 1786, MD 1788; FRCP 1789.
Latham was born in Gawsworth, Cheshire, on 29 December 1761. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Brasenose College Oxford. In 1784 Latham returned to Manchester where he was appointed physician to MRI. He resigned this post in 1786 and returned to Oxford where he was physician to the Radcliffe Infirmary. In 1788, after gaining his MD, Latham moved to London and obtained a large and lucrative practice. He was physician extraordinary to the Prince of Wales. Latham was very successful, he was physician to the Middlesex and Magdalen Hospital, and in 1793 was appointed physician to St Bartholomew's Hospital. Latham held a number of offices in the Royal College of Physician's, including president from 1813 to 1819. He also rearranged the library of the College. After a period of ill health, Latham retired in 1807 to his estate in Cheshire. However, Latham did not retire from medical work completely, founding the Medical Benevolent Society in 1816 and publishing an important work on diabetes. Latham died in Cheshire on 20 April 1843.