First Sheffield person anaesthetised

[RichardB]

Sheffield, situated in the industrial Midlands was, in 1846, not an academlc centre, though it had two hospitals. Rather it was a rapidly developing industrial city devoted to building factories, increasing trade and making money. Yet it was ahead of Glasgow.

The first Sheffield patient to be anaesthetised was not in either hospital but is believed to be a Mrs Beckitt who had a finger amputated in her home. She had previously had an operation on herhand without anaesthesia and declared that this time she had far less pain.

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[i do think other forms of anaesthesia were around long before 1846; see the Pubs section ...]