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{{other people|William Adams}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
[[File:William Rawson nee Adams 1783-1827, by English school of the 19th century.jpg|thumb|William Rawson (born Adams)]]
'''Sir William Adams''' (1783–1827), also known as '''Sir William Rawson''' after 1825, was an English surgeon.

He was born at [[Morwenstow]] in [[Cornwall]], youngest son of Henry Adams. He was well known as an [[Ophthalmology|ophthalmic]] [[surgeon]] and was founder of [[Exeter]]'s West of England Eye [[Hospital|Infirmary]].<ref>G. L. Cantrell. ''West of England Eye Infirmary, Exeter, 1808–1992'' (published Exeter, 1992)</ref> [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] had built the [[Ophthalmology|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]]. The hospital was closed in 1822.<ref name=ondb>W. P. Courtney, revised by J. M. Tiffany. '[https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/23200 Adams [later Rawson<nowiki>]</nowiki>, Sir William'], in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004)</ref>

As a young man, he worked for John Hill, a surgeon in [[Barnstaple]], who sent him to London to obtain his professional qualifications. William Adams was a pupil of [[John Cunningham Saunders]]. He became a Member of the [[Royal College of Surgeons of England]] in 1807. In 1811 he helped restore some sight to the famous blind organist [[John Purkis]] after a series of operations in London and Exeter.<ref>Andrew Freeman. 'Organs and Organists of St. Olave's, Tooley Street, Southwark', in ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 62, No. 942 (August 1921), p. 574</ref> He published the book ''Practical observations on Ectropium'' in 1814.<ref>William Adams. ''[https://wellcomecollection.org/works/v2fgxrkd Practical observations on Ectropium or eversion of the eyelids with a description of the new operation for the cure of that disease]'' (1814)</ref>

Adams was one of the central figures in the controversy which raged between 1806 and 1820 over the treatment of Egyptian [[ophthalmia]], with his critics refusing to accept that his treatment for the condition produced any benefits whatsoever, and subjecting him to a campaign of vilification. He had a valuable political supporter in the future [[Prime Minister of Great Britain|Prime Minister]], [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]], who persuaded [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] to award him £4000.<ref>Jasper Ridley. ''Lord Palmerston'' (Constable and Co. 1970) pp. 59–60 for the ophthalmia controversy and Palmerston's support for Rawson</ref> He was [[knighted]] and became a personal oculist to [[the Prince Regent]] and other members of the [[British royal family]]. Adams was a gifted man with unbounded energy, but his vanity and passion for publicity, at a time when very few doctors publicized their work, made him numerous enemies.<ref name=ondb/>

Adams assumed his wife's family name in accordance with her mother's wishes, and was known as Sir William Rawson after 1825. He married Jane Eliza Rawson (died 1844), fourth daughter of Colonel George Rawson of Belmont House, [[County Wicklow]], MP for [[Armagh Borough (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Armagh]], and Mary Bowes Benson, and had five children, including the senior government official Sir [[Rawson William Rawson]], and Mary, who married firstly the Irish [[barrister]] [[John Goddard Richards]] of [[Ardamine Estate]], [[County Wexford]], and secondly the English judge John Billingsley Parry.<ref name=ondb/>

[[File:Hotel Barcelona, Exeter - geograph.org.uk - 365924.jpg|thumb|Hotel Barcelona (formerly the West of England Eye Infirmary) in [[Exeter]]]]

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|escutcheon = Quarterly 1st & 4th per fess Sable and Azure a quadrangular castle with four turrets Argent and in base two bars wavy of the last and (for distinction) a canton Ermine (Rawson) 2nd & 3rd Per fess Azure and Sable on a pale between two mullets in chief Argent a mullet between two crescents of the second (Adams).
|crest = 1st issuant out of clouds Proper a cubit arm vested Gules the hand in glove Azure holding an anchor fesswise the flukes towards dexter Or the arms charged (for distinction) with a rose Argent (Rawson) 2nd on a mount Vert an eagle standing reverse way and reguardant wings expanded Proper beak and legs Or holding in the mouth a mullet Sable the sinister claw resting on a crescent reversed Gold (Adams).
|motto = Arx Et Anchora Mihi Deus<ref>{{cite web|url=https://heraldryonline.wordpress.com/2023/08/22/royal-licence-sir-william-adams-1825/ |publisher=Stephen Plowman – Heraldry Online |accessdate=7 January 2024 |title= Royal Licence: Sir William Adams 1825 }}</ref>
|notes = Licensed on 11 April 1825 by Sir [[George Nayler]] ([[Garter King of Arms|Garter]]) and [[Ralph Bigland]] ([[Clarenceux King of Arms|Clarenceux]]).}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal|Cornwall}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, William}}
[[Category:English surgeons]]
[[Category:1783 births]]
[[Category:1827 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Morwenstow]]
[[Category:British ophthalmologists]]

William Adams (oculist) - Revision history

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:507C:445E:62F7:256D: Added location