Thomas Phaer

Thomas Phaer (also spelled Phaire, Fayre, Faer, Phayre, Phayer) (c. 1510 – 12 August 1560) was an English lawyer, paediatrician, and author.

In recognising children as a special class of patients, his book was one of the first treatises to make a distinction between childhood and adulthood.

He counselled against unnecessary treatments for childhood diseases such as smallpox or measles ("The best and most sure helpe in this case is not to meddle with anye kynde of medicines, but to let nature work her operacion").

He also condemned the tendency of medical practitioners to obscure their meaning by using Latin, and the consequent confusion for the patient: "How long would they haue the people ignorant?

He contributed to Sackville's Mirrour for Magistrates, "Howe Owen Glendower, being seduced by false prophecies, toke upon him to be Prince of Wales."

He had completed two more books in April 1560 and had begun the tenth, but died in the autumn of that year, leaving his task incomplete.