Theodore Dyke Acland
Encyclopedia
Theodore Dyke Acland MD
, FRCP
, FRCS
was a British
physician
, surgeon
and author and was the son-in-law of Sir William Gull, a leading London
medical practitioner and one of the Physicians-in-Ordinary to HM Queen Victoria
. For many years Acland was the Medical Adviser to the government of the Sudan
.
, Devon
, England. He was the third son of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland, 1st Baronet, and Sarah Cotton, and the grandson of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet. Acland was educated at Winchester College
and Christ Church
, the University of Oxford
, as well as the University of Leipzig
, the University of Berlin
and St. Thomas' Hospital. He graduated from Oxford University with the degree of Master of Arts (MA).
(MD) in 1883. He was registered as a Licentiate (LRCP) of the Royal College of Physicians
in London. In 1883, he was sent by the Foreign Office to deal with an outbreak of cholera
in Egypt
. He was then selected for service with the Egyptian Army, of which he became the Principal Medical Officer, and was awarded the Order of the Medjidie for his services. He was registered as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons
(MRCS) and later as a Fellow (FRCS). He gained the rank of Brevet
Lieutenant Colonel
in the Royal Army Medical Corps
(Territorial Army). He was elected a Fellow
of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in 1889. In 1893 he was appointed physician to St. Thomas' Hospital, London; he later was appointed a Consulting Physician and Governor of St. Thomas' and the Royal Brompton Hospital
, and was a Consultant to the Commercial Union Assurance Company
, as well as numerous other boards, councils and advisory positions.
In 1900 Acland was appointed Medical Adviser to Reginald Wingate, the Sirdar
and Governor-General
of the Sudan
and was asked to select medical personnel for the Sudan Government. During World War I
he served as consulting physician to the London district. In August 1931 Acland posthumously received the Order of the Nile
(2nd class) for his services to the Sudan Government.
His publications included The Future of the Tuberculous Soldier and A Collection of the Published Writings of William Withey Gull published by the New Sydenham Society (1894).
was born on 7 Nov 1890. The family resided in Bryanston Square, London W1, England.
Royal conspiracy theory when Dr. Thomas E. A. Stowell
suggested in a 1970 article in The Criminologist
that Sir William Gull, the Royal physician, attempted to certify Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, who was the Ripper
. Stowell claimed that his main source was Gull's daughter Caroline, Acland's wife. Having studied under Acland Stowell referred to him as "one time my beloved Chief". Stowell was an executor
of Acland's will.
Stephen Knight, in his 1976 book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution went even further, claiming that Jack the Ripper was actually a three-man team, with Gull as the actual killer. All three, Knight alleged, were Freemasons
and the killings were carried out according to Masonic ritual. Knight claims that Gull afterwards became insane and was certified in an asylum under the name "Thomas Mason" and a sham funeral service carried out in the pretence that he had died. Cited as evidence in support of the theory is the fact that Acland signed his father-in-law's death certificate in an attempted cover-up. In fact, while Acland's actions were unusual and were not encouraged, they were not illegal.
In the 1988 mini-series Jack the Ripper
Acland was played by Richard Morant
.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
, FRCP
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
, FRCS
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...
was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
and author and was the son-in-law of Sir William Gull, a leading 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...
medical practitioner and one of the Physicians-in-Ordinary to HM Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. For many years Acland was the Medical Adviser to the government of the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
.
Early years
Theodore Dyke Acland was born on 14 November 1851 in KillertonKillerton
Killerton is an 18th-century house in Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon, England, which, with its hillside garden and estate, has been owned by the National Trust since 1944 and is open to the public...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England. He was the third son of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland, 1st Baronet, and Sarah Cotton, and the grandson of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet. Acland was educated at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and Christ Church
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, as well as the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
, the University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
and St. Thomas' Hospital. He graduated from Oxford University with the degree of Master of Arts (MA).
Medical career
Acland graduated from Oxford University with the degree of Doctor of MedicineDoctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
(MD) in 1883. He was registered as a Licentiate (LRCP) of the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
in London. In 1883, he was sent by the Foreign Office to deal with an outbreak of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. He was then selected for service with the Egyptian Army, of which he became the Principal Medical Officer, and was awarded the Order of the Medjidie for his services. He was registered as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
(MRCS) and later as a Fellow (FRCS). He gained the rank of Brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
in the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
(Territorial Army). He was elected a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in 1889. In 1893 he was appointed physician to St. Thomas' Hospital, London; he later was appointed a Consulting Physician and Governor of St. Thomas' and the Royal Brompton Hospital
Royal Brompton Hospital
Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the United Kingdom .The hospital is part of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is a national and international specialist heart and lung centre based in Chelsea, London and Harefield, Middlesex...
, and was a Consultant to the Commercial Union Assurance Company
CGU plc
CGU plc was a large insurance group, created by the merger of Commercial Union and General Accident. The Company was listed on the London Stock Exchange.- History :...
, as well as numerous other boards, councils and advisory positions.
In 1900 Acland was appointed Medical Adviser to Reginald Wingate, the Sirdar
Sardar
Sardar is a title of Indo-Aryan origin that was originally used to denote feudal princes, noblemen, and other aristocrats. It was later applied to indicate a Head of State, a Commander-in-chief, and an Army military rank...
and Governor-General
Governor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
of the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and was asked to select medical personnel for the Sudan Government. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he served as consulting physician to the London district. In August 1931 Acland posthumously received the Order of the Nile
Order of the Nile
The Order of the Nile is Egypt's highest state honor. The award was instituted in 1915 by Sultan Hussein Kamel to be awarded by Egypt for exceptional services to the nation...
(2nd class) for his services to the Sudan Government.
His publications included The Future of the Tuberculous Soldier and A Collection of the Published Writings of William Withey Gull published by the New Sydenham Society (1894).
Personal life
Acland married Caroline Cameron Gull (1855–1929), the daughter of Sir William Withey Gull and Susan Anne Lacy, on 12 April 1888. They had two children: Aimee Sarah Agnes Dyke Acland was born on 14 May 1889 and died in infancy later that year; and Theodore William Gull AclandTheodore Acland
Theodore William Gull Acland ARIC was an English educationist who in later life became a clergyman of the Church of England.-Background and early life:...
was born on 7 Nov 1890. The family resided in Bryanston Square, London W1, England.
Jack the Ripper
Acland became posthumously involved in the 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...
Royal conspiracy theory when Dr. Thomas E. A. Stowell
Thomas E. A. Stowell
Thomas Edmund Alexander Stowell CBE, FRCS was a British physician.Stowell was educated at St Paul's School, followed by St Thomas' Hospital. From 1910, he took clinical training at St Thomas's Hospital, Grimsby and District Hospital, and the Royal Southern Hospital, Liverpool. He qualified as a...
suggested in a 1970 article in The Criminologist
The Criminologist
The Criminologist is a character in The Rocky Horror Show and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He is the Narrator of the musical and was first portrayed by Jonathan Adams in 1973 and in the film by Charles Gray who was famous for playing Ernst Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds Are...
that Sir William Gull, the Royal physician, attempted to certify Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, who was the Ripper
Jack 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...
. Stowell claimed that his main source was Gull's daughter Caroline, Acland's wife. Having studied under Acland Stowell referred to him as "one time my beloved Chief". Stowell was an executor
Executor
An executor, in the broadest sense, is one who carries something out .-Overview:...
of Acland's will.
Stephen Knight, in his 1976 book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution went even further, claiming that Jack the Ripper was actually a three-man team, with Gull as the actual killer. All three, Knight alleged, were Freemasons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
and the killings were carried out according to Masonic ritual. Knight claims that Gull afterwards became insane and was certified in an asylum under the name "Thomas Mason" and a sham funeral service carried out in the pretence that he had died. Cited as evidence in support of the theory is the fact that Acland signed his father-in-law's death certificate in an attempted cover-up. In fact, while Acland's actions were unusual and were not encouraged, they were not illegal.
In the 1988 mini-series Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper (1988 TV series)
Jack the Ripper is a 1988 four-part television movie/mini-series portraying a fictionalized account of the hunt for Jack the Ripper, the unidentified serial killer responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888...
Acland was played by Richard Morant
Richard Morant
Richard Morant was an English actor.Morant was born in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. He was a nephew of actors Bill and Linden Travers, and a cousin of actress Penelope Wilton...
.
External links
- Ackland on the Peerage.com
- The Acland Papers on King's College London Archives Services
- Virtual copy of Acland's A Collection of the Published Writings of William Withey Gull
- http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/33727/pages/4033Death notice from Acland's executors in the London GazetteLondon GazetteThe London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
19 June 1931]