Sir William Thornley Stoker, 1st Baronet (6 March 1845 – July 1912), was an Irish medical writer, anatomist and surgeon. He served as

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of anatomy and president of the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland's first private university. It was established in 1784 ...

, president of the

Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland The Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland (RAMI) is a learned medical society in Dublin, Ireland. History RAMI was established in 1882 by the amalgamation of the Dublin Society of Surgeons, the Medical Society of the Royal College of Physicians of I ...

, and professor of anatomy at the Royal Hibernian Academy.

Life

His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876), from Dublin, and the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (1818–1901), baptized in St. Anne's Church,

Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...

Co. Donegal on 28 June 1818, who was raised in

Sligo Town Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the largest urban cen ...

. Charlotte's father, Thomas Thornley, came from

, a town in the south of County Donegal in Ulster. Stoker was the eldest of seven children and the brother of the writer

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

. He was educated at a private school in England and at the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, and Queen's College, Galway, where he obtained his M. D. degree in 1866. During the later part of his life he lived at Ely House in

Ely Place Ely Place is a gated road of multi-storey terraces at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. It hosts a 1773-rebuilt public house, Ye Olde Mitre, of Tudor origin and is adjacent to Hatton Garden. It is privatel ...

, Dublin, where he entertained many visitors, artists and writers.

Medical career

He began his career by teaching medicine. After a few years he was appointed surgeon to the Royal City of Dublin Hospital. In 1873 he moved on to the Richmond Hospital. For several years from 1876 he held the chair of Anatomy at the

, until his other interests became too pressing. From 1876 he was surgeon to Swift's Hospital (founded by Jonathan Swift), and a Governor of both it and the Richmond Hospital. Together with his brother-in-law and hospital colleague Richard Thomson he founded the school of nursing at the Richmond and oversaw the construction of the surgical facilities there in 1899. He succeeded Richard Thomson as Inspector of Vivisection for Ireland. All the time he was active in hospitals he was a frequent contributor to the ''

Dublin Journal of Medical Science The ''Irish Journal of Medical Science'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed medical journal that was established in 1832 by Robert Kane as the ''Dublin Journal of Medical & Chemical Science''. Besides Kane, it had distinguished editors like Robert James ...

'' and similar journals on a variety of medical topics, but took a special interest in surgery of the spino-cerebral cavity. He campaigned against the Workhouse system and cruelty to animals. In 1896 he became president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and was from 1903 to 1906 president of the Royal Academy of Medicine. He was very interested in art. He was professor of anatomy at the Royal Hibernian Academy and a governor of the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

. He resigned from many of his medical duties in 1910, due to fatigue. The following year he was created a baronet, of Hatch Street in the City of Dublin. He died in June 1912, aged 67, when the baronetcy became extinct.

References and sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoker, Thornley 1845 births 1912 deaths Irish surgeons Bram Stoker People from County Dublin Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom