William Smoult Playfair

William Smoult Playfair (1835–1903) was a Scottish obstetric physician.

William Smoult Playfair, 1882 portrait

Life

Born at St Andrews on 27 July 1835, he was fourth of the five sons of George Playfair, inspector-general of hospitals in Bengal and son of James Playfair (1738–1819), and his wife Jessie Ross of Edinburgh; Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair and Robert Lambert Playfair were among his brothers. Educated at St Andrews, he became a medical student at Edinburgh University in 1852, graduating M.D. in 1856 and then working for some time in Paris.[1]

In 1857 Playfair entered the Indian medical service, and was an assistant surgeon at Awadh during the Indian Rebellion. During 1859-60 he was professor of surgery at the Calcutta Medical College; but left for reasons of health, and after practising for six months in St. Petersburg, he returned in 1863 to London without definite plans.[1]

Playfair was shortly elected assistant physician for diseases of women and children at King's College Hospital. In 1872, on the retirement of Sir William Overend Priestley, he was appointed professor of obstetric medicine at King's College, London, and obstetric physician to King's College Hospital, posts which he gave up after 25 years' service in 1898; and was elected emeritus professor and consulting physician. In 1863 he became M.R.C.P., and in 1870 was elected F.R.C.P.[1]

Playfair introduced the rest-cure treatment of Silas Weir Mitchell into the United Kingdom. He was physician accoucheur to the Duchess of Edinburgh and to the Duchess of Connaught, an hon. LL.D. of the Universities of Edinburgh (1898) and of St Andrews (1885), an honorary fellow of the American and of the Boston Gynæcological Societies, and of the Obstetrical Society of Edinburgh. He was elected President of the Obstetrical Society of London in 1879.[1]

After an apoplectic stroke at Florence in 1903, Playfair died at St Andrews on 13 August 1903, and was buried there in the new cemetery of St Andrews. He had become a leading obstetrician in the United Kingdom, and was among the first not hand over obstetric operations to general surgeons. A sum was collected to found a memorial to him in the new King's College Hospital at Denmark Hill, London.[1]

Laura Kitson case

In 1896 an action was brought against Playfair by a patient, Laura Kitson, for alleged breach of professional confidence. It is notable for the high damages of £12,000 awarded against him by the jury; this amount was then reduced by agreement to £9200, on application for a new trial.[2]

Playfair was related to Kitson, who had (in his professional opinion) recently had an abortion, by marriage: she was married to his wife's younger brother, but had separated from him. When Playfair decided to exclude female members of his family from her company, on moral grounds that he explained to them, Kitson sued. Leading doctors spoke in court, in support of his actions; but the judge found them unacceptable, in line with general public opinion on medical confidentiality.[2]

Works

Playfair was a prolific author, and wrote:[1]

He was joint editor with Clifford Allbutt of a System of Gynæcology (1896; 2nd edition revised by Thomas Watts Eden, 1906). He contributed to Richard Quain's Dictionary of Medicine (1882) the article on "Diseases of the Womb", and to Daniel Hack Tuke's Dictionary of Psychological Medicine (1892) the article on "Functional Neuroses". His work in medical periodicals included 49 papers for the Transactions of the Obstetrical Society.[1]

Works

Playfair married on 26 April 1864 Emily, daughter of James Kitson of Leeds and sister of James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale; he had issue: two sons, one of them being Nigel Ross Playfair; and three daughters.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "Playfair, William Smoult". Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement​ 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dally, Ann. "Playfair, William Smoult". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35541. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "Playfair, William Smoult". Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement​ 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.