author
Clifton Wintringham
1689–1748
An 18th-century York physician, he wrote widely on medicine and is remembered as an early observer of epidemic disease. His career also connects to one of England’s notable medical families, through his son Sir Clifton Wintringham.
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About the author
Baptized in 1689, Clifton Wintringham was an English physician who studied at Jesus College, Cambridge and then built a long medical career in York. He practiced there for more than three decades and was appointed physician to York County Hospital in the 1740s.
He wrote extensively on medical subjects, and later editors highlighted his interest in what we would now call epidemiology—the study of how disease spreads and affects communities. That makes him a useful figure in the history of medicine: not just a practicing doctor, but also a writer who tried to understand illness in broader patterns.
Wintringham died in 1748. He is also remembered as the father of Sir Clifton Wintringham, who went on to have a distinguished medical career of his own.