{{Short description|English surgeon (1749–1833)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = William Staniforth | image = William Staniforth.jpg | caption = Medallion of Sheffield surgeon William Staniforth | birth_name = | birth_date = 9 October 1749 | birth_place = [[Sheffield]], England | death_date = 1834 | death_place = [[Sheffield]], England | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = | boards = | spouse = Ann Cam | partner = | children = 3 sons; 3 daughters | parents = Samuel Staniforth<br>Mary Ash | relatives = [[Staniforth Smith]] (great-grandson) | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''William Staniforth''' (1749{{sfn|Clay|1895|p=731}}–1833{{sfn|Leader|1876|p=108}}) was an English surgeon, one of the first three surgeons at the [[Sheffield Royal Infirmary]].{{sfn|Ryan|1833|p=314}}{{sfn|Leader|1901|p=179}}
Born on 9 October 1749, William was the son of Samuel Staniforth (1725-1811) and Mary Ash.{{sfn|Clay|1895|p=731}} His brother Samuel (1747-1824) was a linen draper, and lived next door to William on Castle Street (then known as Truelove's Gutter).{{sfn|Clay|1895|p=731}}{{sfn|Leader|1876|p=108}}{{sfn|Leader|1901|p=179}} In the 1876 publication ''Reminiscences of Old Sheffield: Its Streets and Its People'' local citizen William Wragg described Staniforth as being 'the best operative surgeon and [[oculist]] in town' and 'celebrated' for his ''Staniforth's Eye Ointment''.{{sfn|Leader|1876|p=108}} He introduced Jenner's Smallpox vaccinations to Sheffield.{{sfn|Leader|1901|p=181}}
He had a collection of coins, prints and (in the words of [[Joseph Hunter (antiquarian)|Joseph Hunter]]) "rarities of various kinds",{{sfn|Hunter|1879|p=65}} which included [[Jonathan Salt (botanist)|Jonathan Salt]]'s ''Hortus Siccus'', which after Salt's death came into Staniforth's possession via an unknown route some time before 1826 when he sold it to the Sheffield Literary and Philosophical Society.{{sfn|Alberti|2002|p=294}}
Staniforth retired in 1819 and died on 21 August 1833.{{sfn|Leader|1876|p=108}} {{cn-span|He was buried in [[Attercliffe Chapel]].|date=November 2023}} Prior to the Infirmary being redeveloped, a medallion was placed on the wall of the Board Room.{{sfn|Leader|1876|p=108}}{{sfn|Odom|1926|p=217}}
His son, William, also became a surgeon at the Infirmary.{{sfn|Leader|1901|p=181}}{{sfn|Clay|1895|p=731}}
== References == {{Reflist|20em}} == Sources == {{refbegin}} * {{cite book|title=The Publications of the Harleian Society|volume=38|year=1895|editor1-first=John W.|editor1-last=Clay|location=London|chapter=Staniforth|pages=728–735}} ({{Internet Archive|name=The Publications of the Harleian Society|id=publicationsofha38harluoft/publicationsofha38harluoft|page=731}}) * {{cite book|title=Reminiscences of Old Sheffield: Its Streets and Its People|year=1876|location=Sheffield|editor1-first=Robert Eadon|editor1-last=Leader|editor1-link=Robert Eadon Leader|publisher=Leader & Sons|chapter=Water Lane Head}} * {{cite book|title=Sheffield in the Eighteenth Century|year=1901|location=Sheffield|author1-first=Robert Eadon|author1-last=Leader|author1-link=Robert Eadon Leader|publisher=Independent Press}} ({{Internet Archive|name=Sheffield in the Eighteenth Century|id=sheffieldineigh00leadgoog|page=178}}) * {{cite book|last=Odom|first=William|title=Hallamshire Worthies|date=1926|publisher=J. W. Northend|location=Sheffield}} * {{cite magazine|magazine=The London Medical and Surgical Journal: Exhibiting a View of the Improvements and Discoveries in the Various Branches of Medical Science|date=1833-10-05|issue=88|volume=4|publisher=Henry Renshaw|location=London|editor1-first=Michael|editor1-last=Ryan|title=The General Dispensary Aldersgate Street|pages=313–314}} * {{cite magazine|magazine=Yorkshire Archaeological and Topographical Journal|date=1879|publisher=Bradbury, Agnery & Co.|location=London|title=Prefatory Letter to Wilson's Yorkshire Deeds|author1-first=Joseph|author1-last=Hunter|author1-link=Joseph Hunter (antiquarian)|pages=64–68}} * {{cite journal|title=Placing Nature: Natural History Collections and Their Owners in Nineteenth-Century Provincial England|author1-first=Samuel J. M. M.|author1-last=Alberti|journal=The British Journal for the History of Science|volume=35|issue=3|date=September 2002|pages=291–311|doi=10.1017/S0007087402004727 |jstor=4028125|pmid=12395797 |s2cid=25454499 }} {{refend}} == External links == * {{cite web|title=Medallion of William Staniforth, Senior surgeon to the Infirmary, 1797–1819|url=http://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s09436&pos=1&action=zoom&id=12552|work=Picture sheffield|id=s09436}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Staniforth, William}} [[Category:1740s births]] [[Category:English surgeons]] [[Category:Health professionals from Sheffield]] [[Category:1833 deaths]] [[Category:Medical doctors from Yorkshire]]