William Pargeter was an English physician, born in 1760.
Nothing is known of his early life until he entered Oxford University in
1777. He graduated with a BA in 1781. Two years after graduating he moved
to London and St Bartolomew's Hospital, where he remained until 1786. His
Observations on Maniacal Disorders was published in 1792. While
authors who owned private madhouses were concerned to demonstrate their
cures, Pargeter had no such vested interest and was critical of the misconduct
of madhouse keepers. He had little use for the elaborate systems of classification
of his time. His book was a short and practical. He was concerned
to show that a physician's manner could not only soothe and check
developing excitement, but even prevent incipient madness.
He died in 1810.
Stanley W. Jackson, "Introduction," in William Pargeter, Observations
on Maniacal Disorders [Routledge,1988]
Richard Hunter, Ida Macalpine, Three Hundred Years of Psychiatry,
[Carlisle Publishing, 1982] p.538