James Hinton (surgeon)
Encyclopedia
James Hinton was an English
surgeon
and author
. He is the father of mathematician Charles Howard Hinton
.
, the son of John Howard Hinton
(1791–1873), Baptist
minister and author of the History and Topography of the United States and other works. James was educated at his grandfather's school near Oxford, and at the Nonconformist school at Harpenden
, and in 1838, on his father's removal to London
, was apprenticed to a woollen-draper in Whitechapel
. After working there for about a year he became clerk in an insurance office. His evenings were spent in intense study, and this, combined with a concentration on moral problems, so affected his health that, aged eighteen, he tried to seek refuge from his own thoughts by running away to sea. His intention having been discovered, he was sent, on the advice of his doctor, to St Bartholomew's Hospital
to study for the medical profession. After receiving his diploma in 1847, he was for some time assistant surgeon at Newport, Essex
, but the same year he went out to Sierra Leone
to take medical charge of the free labourers on their voyage thence to Jamaica
, where he stayed some time. He returned to England in 1850, and entered into partnership with a surgeon in London, where he soon had his interest awakened specially in aural surgery
, and also studied physiology
.
After being appointed aural surgeon to Guy's Hospital
in 1863, he soon acquired a reputation as the most skillful aural surgeon of his day. In the 1870s his health began to break down, and in 1874 he gave up practice. He died the following year at the Azores
of "acute inflammation of the brain".
subjects to the Christian Spectator; and in 1859 he published Man and his Dwellingplace. A series of papers entitled "Physiological Riddles," in the Cornhill Magazine
, afterwards published as Life in Nature (1862), as well as another series entitled Thoughts on Health (1871), proved his aptitude for popular scientific exposition. His specialist field of aural surgery was the subject of An Atlas of Diseases of the membrana tympani (1874), and Questions of Aural Surgery (1874). In addition to the works already mentioned, he was the author of The Mystery of Pain (1866) and The Place of the Physician (1874). On account of their fresh and vigorous discussion of many of the important moral and social problems of the times his writings had a wide circulation on both sides of the Atlantic.
His Life and Letters, edited by Ellice Hopkins
, with an introduction by Sir WW Gull, appeared in 1878.
.
In their fictional graphic novel on the Ripper, From Hell
, authors Alan Moore
and Eddie Campbell
extend Hinton's concern over social problems to prostitution in Whitechapel, which became the hunting grounds for the Ripper after his death. Their suggestion is that his concerns over prostitution
among the lower classes greatly influenced Gull, who was put forward as a Ripper suspect in Stephen Knight's widely discredited 1976 book, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution.
In From Hell, Hinton is portrayed as an idealistic doctor given to "passionate outbursts" and flights of metaphysical
theorizing and speculation. His character is used as a complementary figure to the more worldly - and less compassionate - Dr. Gull.
Hinton's association with the murders has much to do with both Knight's book and Iain Sinclair
's novel White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He is the father of mathematician Charles Howard Hinton
Charles Howard Hinton
Charles Howard Hinton was a British mathematician and writer of science fiction works titled Scientific Romances. He was interested in higher dimensions, particularly the fourth dimension, and is known for coining the word tesseract and for his work on methods of visualising the geometry of...
.
Life
He was born at Reading, BerkshireReading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, the son of John Howard Hinton
John Howard Hinton
John Howard Hinton was an English author and Baptist minister who published, along with many other works, The History and Topography of the United States of North America together with his brother Isaac...
(1791–1873), Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister and author of the History and Topography of the United States and other works. James was educated at his grandfather's school near Oxford, and at the Nonconformist school at Harpenden
Harpenden
Harpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England.The town's total population is just under 30,000.-Geography and administration:There are two civil parishes: Harpenden and Harpenden Rural....
, and in 1838, on his father's removal to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, was apprenticed to a woollen-draper in Whitechapel
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
. After working there for about a year he became clerk in an insurance office. His evenings were spent in intense study, and this, combined with a concentration on moral problems, so affected his health that, aged eighteen, he tried to seek refuge from his own thoughts by running away to sea. His intention having been discovered, he was sent, on the advice of his doctor, to St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, also known as Barts, is a hospital in Smithfield in the City of London, England.-Early history:It was founded in 1123 by Raherus or Rahere , a favourite courtier of King Henry I...
to study for the medical profession. After receiving his diploma in 1847, he was for some time assistant surgeon at Newport, Essex
Newport, Essex
Newport is a large village in Essex near Saffron Walden, in which Newport Free Grammar School is located. The village has a population of just over 2,000....
, but the same year he went out to Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
to take medical charge of the free labourers on their voyage thence to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, where he stayed some time. He returned to England in 1850, and entered into partnership with a surgeon in London, where he soon had his interest awakened specially in aural surgery
Otolaryngology
Otolaryngology or ENT is the branch of medicine and surgery that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ear, nose, throat, and head and neck disorders....
, and also studied physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
.
After being appointed aural surgeon to Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
in 1863, he soon acquired a reputation as the most skillful aural surgeon of his day. In the 1870s his health began to break down, and in 1874 he gave up practice. He died the following year at the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
of "acute inflammation of the brain".
Writings
His career as an author started in 1856 with papers on physiological and ethicalEthics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
subjects to the Christian Spectator; and in 1859 he published Man and his Dwellingplace. A series of papers entitled "Physiological Riddles," in the Cornhill Magazine
Cornhill Magazine
The Cornhill Magazine was a Victorian magazine and literary journal named after Cornhill Street in London.Cornhill was founded by George Murray Smith in 1860 and was published until 1975. It was a literary journal with a selection of articles on diverse subjects and serialisations of new novels...
, afterwards published as Life in Nature (1862), as well as another series entitled Thoughts on Health (1871), proved his aptitude for popular scientific exposition. His specialist field of aural surgery was the subject of An Atlas of Diseases of the membrana tympani (1874), and Questions of Aural Surgery (1874). In addition to the works already mentioned, he was the author of The Mystery of Pain (1866) and The Place of the Physician (1874). On account of their fresh and vigorous discussion of many of the important moral and social problems of the times his writings had a wide circulation on both sides of the Atlantic.
His Life and Letters, edited by Ellice Hopkins
Ellice Hopkins
Ellice Hopkins was a Victorian social campaigner and author, who vigorously advocated moral purity while criticizing contemporary sexual double standards. In 1874 she established the Soldier's Institute at Portsmouth, and in 1876 toured several British towns, recruiting thousands of women to the...
, with an introduction by Sir WW Gull, appeared in 1878.
Portrayal in fiction
Because of his association with Sir William Withey Gull, Hinton has been indirectly associated with the murders of Jack the RipperJack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
.
In their fictional graphic novel on the Ripper, From Hell
From Hell
From Hell is a comic book series by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell, originally published from 1991 to 1996, speculating upon the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper. The title is taken from the first words of the "From Hell" letter, which some authorities believe was an authentic...
, authors Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and Eddie Campbell
Eddie Campbell
Eddie Campbell is a Scottish comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. Probably best known as the illustrator and publisher of From Hell , Campbell is also the creator of the semi-autobiographical Alec stories collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and Bacchus , a wry adventure...
extend Hinton's concern over social problems to prostitution in Whitechapel, which became the hunting grounds for the Ripper after his death. Their suggestion is that his concerns over prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
among the lower classes greatly influenced Gull, who was put forward as a Ripper suspect in Stephen Knight's widely discredited 1976 book, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution.
In From Hell, Hinton is portrayed as an idealistic doctor given to "passionate outbursts" and flights of metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
theorizing and speculation. His character is used as a complementary figure to the more worldly - and less compassionate - Dr. Gull.
Hinton's association with the murders has much to do with both Knight's book and Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair FRSL is a British writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, most recently within the influences of psychogeography.-Life and work:...
's novel White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings.
External links
- Facscimile of James Hinton: a Sketch, 1918, by Edith Mary Oldham Lees Ellis (Mrs. Havelock EllisHavelock EllisHenry Havelock Ellis, known as Havelock Ellis , was a British physician and psychologist, writer, and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He was co-author of the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in 1897, and also published works on a variety of sexual practices and...
); includes photos and chronology of events in his life from 30 of his 54 years