Sir William Gull

Short Biography

Sir William Withey Gull, 1st Baronet of Brook Street (31 December 1816 – 29 January 1890) was a prominent 19th century English physician. Of modest family origins, he rose through the ranks of the medical profession to establish a lucrative private practice and serve in a number of prominent roles, including 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 HM Queen Victoria.Gull is remembered for a number of 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). Since the 1970s, Gull has been linked to the unsolved 1888 Whitechapel murders (Jack the Ripper) case. He was named as the murderer during the evolution of the widely discredited Masonic/royal conspiracy theory outlined in such books as Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. Although the conclusions of this theory are now dismissed by most serious scholars its dramatic nature ensures it remains popular among producers of fictional works, including the 1988 TV film Jack the Ripper starring Michael Caine as well as the 1996 graphic novel From Hell and its subsequent film adaptation.