The son of the Rev John Wingfield, of Shrewsbury. He was educated at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where he was House Surgeon, before proceeding to India as Resident Assistant Surgeon to the General Hospital, Calcutta. He resigned the office on account of ill health after serving for two years. He then became assistant to William Tuckwell and was ‘privilegiatus’ by the University of Oxford as ‘Chirurgus’ on May 24th, 1816. On the resignation of John Grosvenor, who had been Surgeon from 1770-1817, Charles Wingfield applied for the post of Surgeon to the Radcliffe Infirmary at Oxford. The Physicians, Martin Wall, Robert Bourne, George Williams, and John Kidd, with two of the Surgeons, George Hitchings and William Cleoburey (q.v.), were much against his candidature, on the ground that his partnership with William Tuckwell, the Senior Surgeon, would put one half of the surgical staff of the Infirmary into the hands of a single firm. The other candidate was D’Arville, who had been admitted a pupil in 1815, and there was active canvassing on both sides. William Tuckwell was then a very influential practitioner and was able to bring forward the claims of his assistant. The election took place on Dec 10th, 1817, when Wingfield got 71 votes and D’Arville 70. On the day of the election the Infirmary received a number of subscriptions for the purpose of entitling the donors to a vote. Wingfield held office until his death and was a prominent and successful surgeon. He was on the Council of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, and was elected a Fellow of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London as early as 1816. He practised in Broad Street. He married, on Sept 22nd, 1819, Ann, daughter of Peter Bonnaker, of Liverpool, by whom he had one daughter. He died on May 11th, 1846, after two days’ illness, probably of cholera. His widow gave his instruments to the Infirmary in 1848.