William Adams (1783 - 1827)

Born 5 Dec 1783 in Morwenstow, Cornwall, England

Ancestors

Died 1827 at about age 43 in London, England, United Kingdom

Biography

William Adams was born in Morwenstow, Cornwall, England.

Sir William Adams (later Rawson), oculist, was born at Stanbury, Morwenstow, Cornwall, on 5 December 1783, the youngest son of Henry Adams (1727-1811) and his wife, Damaris (1736–1788), daughter of Simon and Anne Cottle. ^[1]

He married Jane Eliza Rawson.^[2]

Sir William was well known as an ophthalmic surgeon and was founder of Exeter's West of England Eye Infirmary.John Nash had built the Ophthalmic Hospital for him on Albany Street, London.For several years Adams gave his services free to soldiers whose eyesight had been affected in the military campaigns in Egypt. As a young man, he worked with John Hill a surgeon in Barnstaple before moving to London to acquire his professional designation under John Cunningham Saunders. He became a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1807. He was one of the central figures in the controversy which raged between 1806 and 1820 over the treatment of Egyptian ophthalmia.

William was created a Knight Bachelor on May 11, 1814. (by HRH the Prince Regent) "WILLIAM ADAMS (afterwards RAWSON), oculist extraordinary to His Royal Highness, on presenting the official report of the directors of Greenwich Hospital of the superior success of his new and improved modes of effecting the cure of the various species of cataract, and the Egyptian ophthalmia."^[3][4]

Adams adopted his wife's family name per her mother's wishes and was known as Sir William Rawson after 1825.

He died in 1827.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Adams [later Rawson], Sir William (1783–1827), oculist; W. P. Courtney revised by J. M. Tiffany: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography https://www.oxforddnb.com/browse;jsessionid=25D227A1B0B96131FFD908B63866AA2D?gender=Male&pageSize=20&sort=titlesort&t_1=OccupationsAndRealmsOfRenown%3A827&type_1=image&type_2=subjectreference
2. ↑ Marriage: "British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices"
   citing Page: 4; Digital film/folder number: 102117843; Image number: 500
   FamilySearch Record: QPCJ-YLYC
   FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-CSW5-QQKB-5
   Wm Adams, Esq marriage to Jane Eliza Rawson in 15.
3. ↑ Shaw, Wm. A; The Knights of England, Vol. II: Sherratt & Hughes, London 1906 pg 313 https://archive.org/details/knightsofengland02shawuoft/knightsofengland02shawuoft/page/312/mode/2up
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(oculist)
5. ↑ Burial: "Westminster Burials"
   Archive: City of Westminster Archives Centre
   FindMyPast Transcription
   Wm Adams burial (died in 1827) on 25 Nov 1827 in St George, Hanover Square, Middlesex, England.