William Flockhart
William Flockhart | |
|---|---|
| Born | Annacroich, Kinross-shire |
| Baptised | 30 November 1808 |
| Died | 24 August 1871 Edinburgh |
| Resting place | Warriston Cemetery 58°58'10.9"N, 3°11'47.5"W |
| Education | Licenciate of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh |
| Occupation | chemist or pharmacist |
| Employer(s) | founding partner of Duncan, Flockhart and Company |
| Known for | supplying chloroform for the first human use to James Young Simpson |
William Flockhart, L.R.C.S.E. (1808 – 1871) was a Scottish chemist, a pharmacist who provided chloroform to Doctor (later Sir) James Young Simpson for his anaesthesia experiment at 52 Queen Street, Edinburgh on 4 November 1847. This was the first use of this chemical on humans when Simpson tried it on himself and a few friends, and then used it for pain relief in obstetrics, and surgery. This changed medical practice for over a century, according to the British Medical Journal.