Acland’s Chronology
Sir Henry Wentworth Acland
Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford;
Physician to the Prince of Wales and Suite
* * * * *
1815b. 23 August at Killerton, the Acland ancestral home on a large estate in Devon. Fifth child of Lydia Elizabeth Hoare and Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th baronet.
1828-32Attended Harrow, leaving before his final year because of ill health.
1832-34Health improved in the high moors of Cornwall and during travels with his family in the Mediterranean aboard their yacht.
1834Began study of liberal arts at Christ Church College, Oxford. In 1836, his studies were disrupted by the onset of severe headaches, diagnosed as an irritation of the brain. Rest from studies and sea air were prescribed to restore his health.
1837-39Eighteen months in the Mediterranean aboard a British naval ship monitoring unrest in Greece along with Russian and French ships that patrolled in mutual suspicion along the shores of the disintegrating Ottoman Empire. Acland was guest of the Turkish Admiral in Constantinople and was granted unusual, privileged access to early Christian sites and antiquities in Turkey and the site of ancient Carthage in Tunis. In Athens, he mingled diversely with clergymen, diplomats, and bandits. In Rome, his companions included Karl Lepsius, a pioneer in modern Egyptology who was deciphering hieroglyphics on Rome’s obelisks.
1839-40Returned to Christ Church where he completed his B.A. and befriended fellow student, John Ruskin, the century’s most influential art critic and a life-long friend.
1840Elected Fellow of All Souls. Began medical studies at St George’s Hospital, London. Introduced to the anatomical collection at the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons and to the advantages of the microscope by Richard Owen, Britain’s pre-eminent comparative anatomist.
1844-45Continued his medical studies at Edinburgh. Introduced to the anatomical collection of the Museum of Pathology, Edinburgh.
1845Appointed to Lee’s Readership in Anatomy at Christ Church. Immediately began the expansion and reorganization of the college’s anatomical collection.
1846Took exams for Bachelor of Medicine at Oxford University and for license to practise medicine at the Royal College of Physicians, becoming a member of the Royal College in 1850. Assumed a large medical practice in Oxford. In July, he married Sarah Cotton, daughter of William Cotton, a well-to-do merchant and governor of the Bank of England for three years.
1847-58Birth of a daughter followed by seven sons.
1847Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, established in 1660 for the improvement of science.
1848Doctor of Medicine granted at Oxford after completion of a thesis.
1850’sCurator of the University Galleries, founded in 1839 (later merged with the Ashmolean Museum).
1851Physician to the Radcliffe Infirmary at Oxford and Aldrichian Professor of Clinical Medicine. Elected Radcliffe Librarian, the centre for much of the university’s collections in medicine and natural history.
1856Published Memoir on the Cholera at Oxford in the Year 1854, a meticulous account that earned him an international reputation.
1858-94Regius Professor of Medicine.
1858-87Oxford representative at the General Medical Council, established in 1858 for the improvement of public health and the regulation of independent medical licensing bodies. President of the Council for thirteen years, 1874-87.
1860Physician to the Prince of Wales and his suite during the royal tour of the British North American Colonies and their unofficial visit to the United States.
1861Official opening of the Oxford University Museum. Acland was the key figure in its realization.
1865-75Delivered distinguished lectures, including the Harveian Oration at the Royal College of Physicians, an annual lecture established in 1656 by William Harvey (Acland’s was the first oration not delivered in Latin). Member of various royal commissions on public health and education: the Clarendon Commission, to reform and regulate leading public schools; the Royal Commission into the Sanitary Laws of England and Wales; the Commission on Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science.
1869Instrumental in appointment of John Ruskin as first Slade Professor of Art and in establishing the Oxford School of Art.
1883Appointed Companion to the Order of Bath (CB) by Queen Victoria and promoted to Knight Commander (KCB) in 1884.
1890Created baronet by Queen Victoria in recognition for his services to science at Oxford and to the medical profession.
1900Oct. 16, died at his home in Oxford.
Acland…was granted unusual, privileged access to early Christian sites and antiquities in Turkey and the site of ancient Carthage in Tunis. In Athens, he mingled diversely with clergymen, diplomats, and bandits. In Rome, his companions included Karl Lepsius, a pioneer in modern Egyptology who was deciphering hieroglyphics on Rome’s obelisks.