James Young Simpson was a Scottish obstetrician and one of the most influential physicians of nineteenth-century Edinburgh. Born at Bathgate in 1811, he studied at the University of Edinburgh, qualified in medicine in 1832 and was appointed Professor of Midwifery there in 1840. He built a large private practice that crossed social boundaries and became known for combining clinical ambition with an unusual willingness to experiment with new techniques.
Simpson became internationally famous through his work on anaesthesia. He used ether in obstetrics early in 1847 and, dissatisfied with its limitations, tested other substances with colleagues before demonstrating the anaesthetic properties of chloroform in November that year. He rapidly promoted chloroform for surgery and childbirth, despite medical and religious opposition. Its prestige increased sharply after Queen Victoria received chloroform during the birth of Prince Leopold in 1853. Simpson was created a baronet in 1866 and died in Edinburgh in 1870.
Simpson is the principal historical figure running through Ambrose Parry’s Raven and Fisher mysteries. His Queen Street household and medical practice anchor The Way of All Flesh, The Art of Dying, A Corruption of Blood, The Spendthrift and the Swallow and Voices of the Dead, while The Death of Shame draws on a real attempt to blackmail him over an allegation concerning an illegitimate child.
