William Wagstaffe (1685–1725) was an early eighteenth-century British physician who established a prominent medical career in London. Born in Cublington, Buckinghamshire, as the only son of the local rector, Wagstaffe pursued his higher education at Lincoln College, Oxford. He graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in 1704 and his Master of Arts in 1707, subsequently entering the medical profession.\n\nWagstaffe's medical career was closely tied to his family connections. He initially joined the London practice of his relative, Thomas Wagstaffe, and married Thomas's daughter. Following her untimely death, he married the daughter of the surgeon Charles Bernard. Wagstaffe continued his academic advancement, obtaining both his Bachelor of Medicine and Doctor of Medicine degrees from Oxford in 1714.\n\nOver the following decade, Wagstaffe achieved several prestigious appointments within the British scientific and medical communities. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in March 1718 and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians later that same year, eventually serving as a censor for the college in 1720. Additionally, he worked as an anatomy reader for the Barber-Surgeons and succeeded Salisbury Cade as a physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He died in Bath in 1725.
