{{Short description|British ophthalmologist and mariner}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox person |name = Claud Worth |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRCS}} |image = File:Claud_Worth.jpg |caption = |birth_date = 1869 |birth_place = Holbeach, Lincolnshire, England |death_date = 1936 |death_place = Falmouth, Cornwall, England |other_names = |known_for = Ophthalmologist<br>writer<br>Master Mariner |occupation = }} '''Claud Alley Worth''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRCS}} (1869–1936) was a British ophthalmologist,<ref>{{Cite web|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-219504|title=Worth, Claud, (died 24 June 1936), Consulting Surgeon to the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital (Moorfields); Consulting Ophthalmic Surgeon to Queen Mary's Hospital|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2007|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U219504|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1}}</ref><ref name="bmj.com">{{cite journal|url=http://bjo.bmj.com/content/20/9/558.full.pdf+html|title=CLAUD WORTH|journal=BMJ|year=1936|volume=20|issue=9|pages=558–559|doi=10.1136/bjo.20.9.558|s2cid=220003358|accessdate=25 April 2015|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> inventor of the Worth 4 dot test and Worth's Ambyloscope,<ref name="bmj.com"/><ref name="google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isqcnR6ryz0C&q=claud+worth+ophthalmologist&pg=PA765|title=Stedman's Medical Eponyms|isbn=9780781754439|accessdate=25 April 2015|last1=Stedman|first1=Thomas Lathrop|year=2005}}</ref> a pioneer in the orthoptic treatment of squint,<ref name="bmj.com"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDS2_YCKyfoC&q=claud+worth+ophthalmologist&pg=PR25|title=29th European Strabismological Association Meeting|isbn=9780203970775|accessdate=25 April 2015|last1=Faber|first1=Jan-Tjeerd De|date=18 May 2006}}</ref> a master mariner<ref name="bmj.com"/> and an established author on the subjects of ophthalmology and sailing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AWorth%2C+Claud+Alley%2C&qt=hot_author|title=Results for 'au:Worth, Claud Alley,' [WorldCat.org]|work=worldcat.org|accessdate=25 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/dept/20thcenturybooks/100Books.htm|title=Important Ophthalmology Books of the 20th Century – Thompson & Blanchard|work=uiowa.edu|accessdate=25 April 2015}}</ref>
==Early life== Claud Alley Worth was born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire in 1869, the son of Thomas Mordaunt Worth, scion of an ancient Lincolnshire family,<ref name="bmj.com"/> and Frances Charlotte (née Alley).<ref>Claud Alley Worth. Select England Births and Christenings, 1538–1975</ref> He was educated at Bedford Modern School, between 1884 and 1887,<ref>School of the Black and Red, A History of Bedford Modern School, A.G. Underwood (1981), Updated 2010</ref> and St Bartholomew's Hospital.<ref name="bmj.com"/> He qualified as MRCS and LRCP in 1893 and was elected FRCS in 1898.<ref name="bmj.com"/><ref name="jamanetwork.com">{{cite journal|url=http://archopht.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=612596|title=JAMA Network – JAMA Ophthalmology – CLAUD WORTH, M.D|date=1 November 1936|journal=Archives of Ophthalmology|volume=16|issue=5|pages=862–863|doi=10.1001/archopht.1936.00840230142014|accessdate=25 April 2015|last1=Knapp|first1=Arnold|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==Career== Worth began the study of ophthalmology under Henry Power and Bowater Vernon at St Bartholomew's Hospital and in 1906 joined the staff of Moorfields.<ref name="bmj.com"/> He was, for many years, ophthalmic surgeon to the West Ham Hospital in the East End of London.<ref name="bmj.com"/>
Worth gained fame in two diverse areas of specialisation: the management of childhood squint<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xPTxBwAAQBAJ&q=claud+worth+ophthalmologist&pg=PA235|title=Development of Order in the Visual System|isbn=9781461249146|accessdate=25 April 2015|last1=Robert Hilfer|first1=S.|last2=Sheffield|first2=Joel B.|date=6 December 2012}}</ref> and amblyopia, and the sailing and navigation of small yachts.<ref name="bmj.com"/><ref name="biposa.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.biposa.org/claud-worth/|title=BIPOSA – claud worth|work=biposa.org|accessdate=25 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305165132/http://www.biposa.org/claud-worth/|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnVnNh0uELEC&q=claud+worth+ophthalmologist&pg=PA215|title=Fixing My Gaze|isbn=9780786744749|accessdate=25 April 2015|last1=Barry|first1=Susan R.|date=26 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PEYABAAAQBAJ&q=claud+worth+ophthalmologist&pg=PA249|title=In the Eye's Mind|isbn=9781400863815|accessdate=25 April 2015|last1=Turner|first1=R. S.|date=14 July 2014}}</ref> His inventiveness endures, as demonstrated by Worth's 4 dot test and later versions of his original amblyoscope.<ref name="bmj.com"/><ref name="google.com"/><ref name="jamanetwork.com"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Dlyr61GuRgC&q=claud+worth+ophthalmologist&pg=PA1|title=Surgical Techniques in Ophthalmology|isbn=9789380704241|accessdate=25 April 2015|last1=Garg|first1=Ashok|last2=Alio|first2=Jorge L.|date=June 2011}}</ref>
Worth's name and books were also familiar to sailors of small yachts.<ref name="bmj.com"/><ref name="biposa.org"/> He was 'deeply knowledgeable about currents, harbours and all aspects of seamanship'.<ref name="bmj.com"/><ref name="biposa.org"/> He was president of the Little Ship Club, Vice-Commodore of the Royal Cruising Club and a Master mariner.<ref name="bmj.com"/><ref name="biposa.org"/>
==Personal life== Worth married Janet Duncan Ritchie in Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire in 1906.<ref>England & Wales, Free BMD Marriage Index, 1837–1915</ref> He died in Falmouth, Cornwall, on 24 June 1936 and was survived by his wife and a son.<ref name="bmj.com"/>
==Publications (selected)== *1939: ''Worth's Squint''; 7th ed. by F. Bernard Chavasse. Baillière & Co. *1950: ''Worth and Chavasse's Squint''; 8th ed. by T. Keith Lyle. Baillière, Tindall & Cox *1959: ''Worth and Chavasse's Squint''; 9th ed. by T. Keith Lyle and G. J. O. Bridgeman. Baillière, Tindall & Cox
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Worth, Claud Alley}} Category:1869 births Category:1936 deaths Category:British ophthalmologists Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Category:People educated at Bedford Modern School Category:People from Holbeach