William Gull

Sir William Withey Gull, 1st Baronet (31 December 181629 January 1890) was an English physician. Of modest family origins, he established a lucrative private practice and served as Governor of Guy's Hospital, Fullerian Professor of Physiology and President of the Clinical Society. In 1871, having successfully treated the Prince of Wales during a life-threatening attack of typhoid fever, he was created a Baronet and appointed to be one of the Physicians-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria.

Gull made some significant contributions to medical science, including advancing the understanding of myxoedema, Bright's disease, paraplegia and anorexia nervosa (for which he first established the name).

A widely discredited masonic/royal conspiracy theory created in the 1970s alleged that Gull knew the identity of Jack the Ripper, or even that he himself was the murderer. Although scholars have dismissed it, and Gull was 71 years old and in ill health when the murders were committed, it has been used by creators of fictional works. Examples for his portrayal as Jack the Ripper include the films '' Jack the Ripper'' (1988) and '' From Hell'' (2001), the latter based on the graphic novel.

Childhood and early life

William Withey Gull was born on 31 December 1816 in Colchester, Essex. His father, John Gull, was a barge owner and wharfinger and was thirty-eight years old at the time of his son's birth. William was born aboard his barge ''The Dove,'' then moored at St Osyth Mill in the parish of Saint Leonards, Shoreditch. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Chilver and she was forty years old when William was born. William's middle name, Withey, came from his godfather, Captain Withey, a friend and employer of his father and also a local barge owner. He was the youngest of eight children, two of whom died in infancy. Of William's surviving five siblings, two were brothers (John and Joseph) and three were sisters (Elizabeth, Mary and Maria).

When William was about four years old the family moved to Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. His father died of cholera in London in 1827, when William was ten years old, and was buried at Thorpe-le-Soken. After her husband's death, Elizabeth Gull devoted herself to her children's upbringing on very slender means. She was a woman of character, instilling in her children the proverb "whatever is worth doing is worth doing well." William Gull often said that his real education had been given him by his mother. Elizabeth Gull was devoutly religious—on Fridays the children had fish and rice pudding for dinner; during Lent she wore black, and the Saints' days were carefully observed.

As a young boy, William Gull attended a local day school with his elder sisters. Later, he attended another school in the same parish, kept by the local clergyman. William was a day-boy at this school until he was fifteen, at which age he became a boarder for two years. It was at this time that he first began to study Latin. The clergyman's teaching, however, seems to have been very limited; and at seventeen William announced that he would not go any longer.

William now became a pupil-teacher in a school kept by a Mr. Abbott at Lewes, Sussex. He lived with the schoolmaster and his family, studying and teaching Latin and Greek. It was at this time that he became acquainted with Joseph Woods, the botanist, and formed an interest in looking for unusual plant life that would remain a lifelong pastime. His mother, meanwhile, had in 1832 moved to the parish of Beaumont, adjacent to Thorpe-le-Soken. After two years at Lewes, at the age of nineteen, William became restless and started to consider other careers, including working at sea.

The local rector took an interest in William and proposed that he should resume his classical and other studies on alternate days at the rectory. William agreed, and would continue this routine for a year. On his days at home, he and his sisters would row down the estuary to the sea, watching the fishermen, and collecting wildlife specimens from the nets of the coastal dredgers. William would study and catalogue the specimens thus obtained, which he would study using whatever books as he could then procure. This seems to have awoken in him an interest in biological research that would serve him well in his later career in medicine. The wish to study medicine became the fixed desire of his life.

Early career in medicine

At about this time the local rector's uncle, Benjamin Harrison, the Treasurer of Guy's Hospital, was introduced to Gull and was impressed by his ability. He invited him to go to Guy's Hospital under his patronage and, in September 1837, the autumn before he was twenty-one, Gull left home and entered on his life's work.

It was usual for students of medicine to conduct their studies at the hospital as " apprentices." The Treasurer's patronage provided Gull with two rooms in the hospital with an annual allowance of £50 a year.

Gull, encouraged by Harrison, determined to make the most of his opportunity, and resolved to try for every prize for which he could compete in the hospital in the course of that year. He succeeded in gaining every one. During the first year of his residence at Guy's, together with his other studies he carried on his own education in Greek, Latin, and Mathematics, and in 1838 he matriculated at the recently founded University of London. In 1841 he took his M.B. degree, and gained honours in physiology, comparative anatomy, medicine, and surgery.

Professional career

In 1842, Gull was appointed to teach materia medica at Guy's Hospital, and the Treasurer gave him a small house in King Street, with an annual salary of £100 (). In 1843, he was appointed Lecturer on Natural Philosophy. He also held at this time the post of Medical Tutor at Guy's and, in the absence of the staff, shared with Mr. Stocker the care of the patients in the hospital. In the same year, he was appointed Medical Superintendent of the wards for lunatics, and it was largely due to his influence that these cases shortly ceased to be treated at the hospital, and the wards were converted from this use.

Throughout this period, Gull's duties gave him extensive opportunities to develop his medical experience. He spent much of his life within the wards of the hospital, at all hours of the day and often at night.

In 1846, he earned his M.D. degree at the University of London, and gained the gold medal. At that time, this was the highest honour in medicine which the University was able to confer. During his M.D. examination, he suffered an attack of nerves and was about to leave the room, saying that he knew nothing of the case proposed for comment; a friend persuaded him to return, with the result that the thesis he then wrote gained for him his Doctor's degree and the gold medal.

From 1846 to 1856, Gull held the post of Lecturer on Physiology and Comparative Anatomy at Guy's.

In 1847, Gull was elected Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, a post which he held for two years, during which time he formed a close friendship with Michael Faraday, at that time Fullerian Professor of Chemistry. In 1848, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He was also appointed Resident Physician at Guy's. Dr Gull became a DCL of Oxford in 1868, a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1869, LL.D. of the University of Cambridge in 1880 and of the University of Edinburgh in 1884. He was a Crown member of the General Medical Council from 1871 to 1883, and representative of the University of London in the Council from 1886. In 1871 he was elected President of the Clinical Society of London.

Marriage and family

On 18 May 1848, Gull married Susan Ann Lacy, daughter of Colonel J. Dacre Lacy, of Carlisle. Shortly afterwards he left his rooms at Guy's and moved to 8 Finsbury Square.

They had three children: Caroline Cameron Gull was born in 1851 at Guy's Hospital and died in 1929; she married Theodore Dyke Acland MD ( Oxon.) FRCP, the son of Sir Henry Acland, 1st Baronet MD FRS. They had two children, a daughter (Aimee Sarah Agnes Dyke Acland) who died in infancy in 1889, and a son, Theodore Acland (1890–1960), who became headmaster of Norwich School.

Cameron Gull was born about 1858 in Buckhold, Pangbourne, Berkshire and died in infancy.

William Cameron Gull was born on 6 January 1860 in Finsbury, Middlesex and died in 1922. He was educated at Eton College, inherited his father's title as 2nd Baronet of Brook Street, and later served as the Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnstaple from July 1895 to September 1900.

Baronet and Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria

In 1871, as Physician in Ordinary to the Prince of Wales, Gull took the chief direction of the treatment of the Prince during an attack of typhoid fever.

The Prince of Wales showed the first signs of illness on 13 November 1871, while at the Royal residence at Sandringham House, Norfolk. Initially, he was attended by Dr. Lowe of Kings Lynn and by Oscar Clayton, who thought the fever was caused by a sore on a finger. After a week, with no sign of the fever abating, they diagnosed typhoid fever and sent for Gull on 21 November, and Sir William Jenner on the 23rd. It transpired that the typhoid attack was complicated by bronchitis and the Prince was in danger of his life for many days. For the next month, daily bulletins were issued by Sandringham and posted at police stations around the country. Sir William Hale-White, author of ''Great Doctors of the Nineteenth Century'' (1935), wrote: "I was a lad then and my father sent me every evening to the police station to get the latest news. It was not until just before Christmas that bulletins were issued only once a day."''Great Doctors of the 19th Century'' (1935), , Sir William Hale-White, p. 217

The following passage appeared in '' The Times'' on 18 December 1871:

After the Prince's recovery, a service of thanksgiving was held at St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, attended by Queen Victoria. In recognition of his service, on 8 February 1872 William Gull was created the 1st Baronet of the Baronetcy of Brook Street.

The coat of arms is shown left. The Blazon of Arms is:

The Motto is

Sir William Gull was appointed Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria. (At this time, there were four Physicians-in-Ordinary to the Queen, each receiving an annual salary of £200. However, these were largely honorary appointments; in reality, the Queen never saw any of them except the senior physician, then Sir William Jenner, and her resident medical attendant.)

Support for women in medicine

In late Victorian Britain, women were not encouraged to enter the medical profession. Sir William Gull spoke out against this bias and led efforts to improve the prospects of women who wished to pursue careers in medicine. In February 1886, he chaired a meeting at the Medical Society in Cavendish Square to establish a medical scholarship to be awarded to women. This was the Helen Prideaux Memorial Fund, named after Frances Helen Prideaux M.B. and B.S. Lond, a gifted University of London medical student who had died from diphtheria the previous year, having previously won the exhibition and gold medal in anatomy and gained a first class degree.

Gull was reported as saying that her academic achievements answered any objections to the involvement of women in medicine; and expressed the hope that the scholarship would lead to a liberalisation of attitudes and greater recognition of women across the profession.

The fund was launched with initial donations of £252 9s; Gull's personal contribution was 10 guineas (£10 10s). By the mid-1890s, the scholarship was able to support a biannual prize of £50, awarded to a graduate of the London School of Medicine for Women, to assist in completing a further stage of studies.

Illness and death

In 1887, Sir William Gull suffered the first of several strokes at his Scottish home at Urrard House, Killiecrankie. The attack of hemiplegia and aphasia was caused by a cerebral haemorrhage, of which the only warning had been unexplained haemoptysis a few days earlier. He recovered after a few weeks and returned to London, but was under no illusions about the danger to his health, remarking "One arrow had missed its mark, but there are more in the quiver".

Over the next two years, Gull lived at 74 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, London and also had homes at both Reigate and Brighton. During this period, he suffered several further strokes. The fatal attack came at his home in 74, Brook Street, London on 27 January 1890. He died two days later.

'' The Times'' newspaper carried the following report on 30 January 1890:

The news of Gull's death was reported around the world. American author Mark Twain observed in his diary on 1 February 1890:

Sir William Gull was buried on Monday 3 February 1890 next to the grave of his father and mother in the churchyard of his childhood home at Thorpe-le-Soken, near Colchester, Essex. A special train was commissioned to carry mourners from London. The inscription on his headstone was his favourite biblical quote:

The obituary notice in the Proceedings of the Royal Society reads:

A memorial bronze plaque was placed at the entrance to Guy's Hospital Chapel. The inscription reads:

The vacant position of Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria was filled by Dr. Richard Douglas Powell, the senior of the three Physicians Extraordinary.

Will, executors and bequests

Sir William Gull's will, with a codicil, was dated 27 November 1888. The value of the estate was £344,022 19s. 7d – an enormous sum at that time.

The following persons were appointed as executors: his wife, Dame Susan Anne Gull, his son, Sir William Cameron Gull, of Gloucester Street, Portman Square (the new baronet), Mr. Edmund Hobhouse, and Mr. Walter Barry Lindley.

Under the terms of the will, £500 was bequeathed to each of the acting executors; £100 to Miss Mary Jackson; £100 to each of two nieces; £200 to Lady Gull's maid; £50 to Sir William's amanuensis, Miss Susan Spratt; and an annual sum of £32 10s to his butler, William Brown, for the rest of his life. A jewelled snuffbox presented to Sir William Gull by the Empress Eugénie, widow of Emperor Napoleon III of France became an entailed heirloom, along with his presentation plate.

Lady Gull was bequeathed the remainder of his plate, his pictures, furniture, and household effects and the sum of £3,000, along with the use for the remainder of her life of the house at 74 Brook Street. She also received a life annuity of £3,000, commencing 12 months after Sir William's death. Sir William's daughter Caroline received £26,000 in trust, while his son Sir William Cameron Gull received the sum of £40,000 and all the real estate.

The residue of Sir William's personal estate was to be held in trust for the purchase of real estate in England or Scotland (but not in Ireland) which was to be added to the entailed estate.

Unusually, the will is recorded twice in the probate registry, in 1890 and in 1897. The text of the second entry reads:

The words ''"Double Probate Jan 1897"'' are written in the margin of the entry.

Contributions to medical science

Anorexia nervosa

The term " anorexia nervosa" was first established by Sir William Gull in 1873.

In 1868, he had delivered an address to the British Medical Association at Oxford in which he referred to a "peculiar form of disease occurring mostly in young women, and characterised by extreme emaciation". Gull observed that the cause of the condition could not be determined, but that cases seemed mainly to occur in young women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three. In this address, Gull referred to the condition as ''Apepsia hysterica'', but subsequently amended this to ''Anorexia hysterica'' and then to ''Anorexia nervosa''.Medical Papers, p. 310

Five years later, in 1873, Gull published his work ''Anorexia Nervosa (Apepsia Hysterica, Anorexia Hysterica)'', in which he describes the three cases of Miss A, Miss B, and a third unnamed case. In 1887, he also recorded the case of Miss K, in what was to be the last of his medical papers to be published.Medical Papers, pp. 311–314

Miss A was referred to Sir William Gull by her doctor, a Mr Kelson Wright, of Clapham, London on 17 January 1866. She was aged 17 and was greatly emaciated, having lost 33 pounds. Her weight at this time was 5 stones 12 pounds (82 pounds); her height was 5 ft 5 inches. Gull records that she had suffered from amenorrhoea for nearly a year, but that otherwise her physical condition was mostly normal, with healthy respiration and heart sounds and pulse; no vomiting nor diarrhoea; clean tongue and normal urine. The pulse was slightly low at between 56 and 60. The condition was that of simple starvation, with total refusal of animal food and almost total refusal of everything else.

Gull prescribed remedies including preparations of cinchona, biochloride of mercury, syrup of iodide of iron, syrup of phosphate of iron, citrate of quinine and variations in diet without noticeable success. He observed occasional voracious appetite for very brief periods, but states that these were very rare and exceptional. He also records that she was frequently restless and active and notes that this was a "striking expression of the nervous state, for it seemed hardly possible that a body so wasted could undergo the exercise which seemed agreeable".

In Gull's published medical papers, images of Miss A are shown that depict her appearance before and after treatment (right). Gull notes her aged appearance at age 17:

It will be noticeable that as she recovered she had a much younger look, corresponding indeed to her age, twenty-one; whilst the photographs, taken when she was seventeen, give her the appearance of being nearer thirty.

Miss A remained under Gull's observation from January 1866 to March 1868, by which time she seemed to have made a full recovery, having gained in weight from 82 to 128 pounds.

Miss B was the second case described in detail by Gull in his ''Anorexia nervosa'' paper. She was referred to Gull on 8 October 1868, aged 18, by her family who suspected tuberculosis and wished to take her to the south of Europe for the coming winter.

Gull noted that her emaciated appearance was more extreme than normally occurs in tubercular cases. His physical examination of her chest and abdomen discovered nothing abnormal, other than a low pulse of 50, but he recorded a "peculiar restlessness" that was difficult to control. The mother advised that "She is never tired". Gull was struck by the similarity of the case to that of Miss A, even to the detail of the pulse and respiration observations.

Miss B was treated by Gull until 1872, by which time a noticeable recovery was underway and eventually complete. Gull admits in his medical papers that the medical treatment probably did not contribute much to the recovery, consisting, as in the former case, of various tonics and a nourishing diet.

Miss K was brought to Gull's attention by a Dr. Leachman, of Petersfield, in 1887. He records the details in the last of his medical papers to be published. Miss K was aged 14 years in 1887. She was the third child in a family of six, one of whom died in infancy. Her father had died, aged 68, of pneumonic phthisis