William James Wanless
| Sir William James Wanless | |
|---|---|
Sir William James Wanless
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| Born |
May 1, 1865 Charleston (now Caledon village, Town of Caledon), Ontario, Canada |
| Died | March 3, 1933 (aged 67) Glendale, California, United States |
| Education |
Doctor of Medicine New York University School of Medicine |
| Years active | 40 Years |
| Known for | Medical Mission in Miraj, India |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Surgeon & medical missionary to India |
| Institutions | Wanless Hospital, Miraj |
| Notable prizes | Knight Bachelor of the British Empire |
Sir William James Wanless, M.D., F.A.C.S. (May 1, 1865 – March 3, 1933) was a Canadian born surgeon, humanitarian and Presbyterian missionary who founded a medical mission in Miraj, India in 1894 and led it for nearly 40 years. As part of this mission, Dr. Wanless founded India's first missionary medical school in 1897, and helped to establish a leprosy sanatorium as well as a tuberculosis hospital, now known as the Wanless Chest Hospital.
His medical mission turned the once-small village of Miraj into a major medical center in India. By the time he retired in 1928, the clinic he started had become a 250-bed hospital with several important adjuncts. He is considered by many to be India's most famous surgeon of the 19th century, and was known throughout Asia, personally treating princes, rajahs and Mahatma Gandhi. In 1928, he was knighted by King George V, who appointed him Knight Bachelor of the British Empire, for treating 1,000,000 patients and restoring sight to 12,000 of them. The Wanless Hospital in Miraj bears his name, and is now a modern 550-bed teaching hospital.
William James Wanless was born on May 1, 1865 to Elizabeth and John Wanless in the then-community of Charleston (now part of Caledon), Ontario, Canada. He was the sixth of 14 children, including two elder brothers who died in childhood. His father, born in Barrow, Alwinton, Northumberland, England (or possibly Jedboro, Scotland) on December 30, 1832, emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 17, later emigrating to Canada where he variously became a railroader, a hardware store owner (John Wanless & Sons), and a home heating furnace manufacturer in Toronto (where Wanless Park and several streets are named after one of their distant relations, also a John Wanless, a municipal alderman and educator). During his childhood and adolescence, William was educated in the schools of Charleston, Mount Forrest and Guelph, Ontario.
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