William Wotherspoon Ireland

William Wotherspoon Ireland (27 October 1832 – 17 May 1909) was a Scottish physician. After serving as a physician in the East India Company, he became an expert in intellectual disabilities and medico-psychology. His book On Idiocy and Imbecility (late renamed Mental Affections of Children) is concerned to be the first substantial textbook about intellectual disabilities.

Early life and education William Wotherspoon Ireland was born in Edinburgh on 27 October 1832. His mother was Mary Wotherspoon, whose father was a writer to the signet and the first manager and secretary of the Scottish Widows Life Assurance Society. Through his father, Ireland was a descendant of John Knox.

He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and also in Paris, graduating in 1855.

Ireland was a prolific writer. In 1877, he published Idiocy and Imbecility, which was republished in 1900 with the title Mental Affections of Children. In Blot on the Brain and Through the Ivory Gate, Ireland considered biological inheritance by examining significant historical figures. Having knowledge of French, German, Italian Spanish, Norse and Hindustani, he also translated articles for publications including the Journal of Mental Science.

He was a member of the Psychiatric Society of St. Petersburg, the New York Medico-Legal Society and the Società Freniatrica Italiana.

Personal life and death In 1861, Ireland married Margaret Patterson. They had one son (Thomas Ireland, a doctor with the West India Medical Services) and one daughter.

On 17 May 1909, Ireland died in his home Victoria Terrace in Musselburgh.