John Floyer (physician)
# John Floyer (physician)

Sir John Floyer (3 March 1649 – 1 February 1734) was an English physician and author.

## Early life

John Floyer was born on 3 March 1649. He was the third child and second son of Elizabeth Babington and Richard Floyer, of Hints Hall, a since demolished country house. Hints is a quiet village lying a short distance from Lichfield in Staffordshire. He was educated at the University of Oxford.

## Career

He practised in Lichfield, and it was by his advice that Dr Johnson, when a child, was taken by his mother to be touched by Queen Anne for the king's evil on 30 March 1714. As a physician, Floyer was best known for introducing the practice of pulse rate measurement, and creating a special watch for this purpose. He was an advocate of cold bathing, and gave an early account of the pathological changes in the lungs associated with emphysema.

## Personal life

Floyer was married to Mary Fleetwood of Lichfield, a widow, in April 1680. Their son John Floyer (c.1681–1762) was a Tory Member of Parliament for Tamworth from 1741 to 1742.

He died on 1 February 1734.

