James Griffith Macaskie was born in Berwick-upon-Tweed on 1 December 1856. He was the third son of George Macaskie. James attended Berwick Grammar School and then went to Edinburgh to study at the School of Medicine, Surgeon's Hall. He lived with his uncle, Dr. J. Cochran, and he assisted at the Apothecary of a relative in the Lawnmarket, Edinburgh. He was awarded a Bronze Medal for Physiology (Second Prize) while at Surgeon's Hall and was given a set of surgical instruments. He completed his studies at the young age of 21, and became an assistant to Dr. Crompton in Bury, Lancashire, before qualifying in 1878 - Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) LRCS, and Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh) LRCP. Macaskie registered in England on 20 September 1878.

In 1880, Macaskie became an assistant to Dr. Lewis G. Broadbent MD in Bamburgh, Northumberland, and became a practice partner in 1883. With his prospects secure, he married Marianne Kidd, daughter of a Tynemouth solicitor. In 1890 he took examinations in Edinburgh for the Diploma in Public Health (DPH Glasgow). On the retiral of Dr. Broadbent in 1891, Macaskie took up residence in the Doctor's House (thus also taking on the free Dispensary at Bamburgh Castle supported by the Lord Crewe Charity).

During the Great War of 1914-1918, two of Macaskie's sons served with the RMC in Egypt and India, and a third was Commissioned in 1918 and served in France. That son died in 1924 due to ill-health acquired during the War.

Macaskie retired in 1927 and he moved to Harrogate to be close to a brother. On the death of that brother, he returned To Northumberland, to Seahouses, in 1936. Dr. James Griffiths Macaskie died on 3 January 1945.