Wilde, William

SURGEON (IRELAND)
BORN 1815, Kilkeevin, County Roscommon - DIED 19 Apr 1876, Dublin: Merrion Square
BIRTH NAME Wilde, William Robert Wills
GRAVE LOCATION Dublin: Mount Jerome Cemetery, 158 Harold's Cross Road (C 108 - 678)

William Wilde obtained his medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1837. In that year he visited the Holy Land with a patient who was reovering. He also visited Egypt.

Back in Ireland he ran St Mark's Opthalmic Hospital for Diseases of the Eye and Ear. He married the poet Jane Francesca Agnes Elgee in 1851. She wrote under the name of Esperanza. They had two sons, Willie and Oscar and a daughter Isolda who died at an early age. Before he married he already had three children and he acknowledged them and provided for them, but they lived with relatives.

His practice was a success and his natural son Henry Wilson assisted him. He became oculist to Queen Victoria and Bernard Shaw's father was among his patients as well. He received a knighthood in 1864 at Dublin Castle.

Mary Travers, a patient of one of his colleagues, claimed that he had seduced her and she distributed pamphlets at a place where he was to give a public lecture. After Lady Wilde protested she was brought to court in 1864 by Mary and Mary won but was only awarded a mere farthing in damages. After this event William focussed his attention on his house in the West of Ireland and largely wirhdrew from Dublin. He died in Dublin in 1876.

Family
• Son: Wilde, Oscar
• Wife: Elgee-Wilde, Jane Francesca (1851-1876)

Images

The grave of William Wilde at Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.
Picture by Androom (18 Aug 2016)

 

Sources
William Wilde - Wikipedia


Wildgans, Anton

Published: 30 Oct 2016
Last update: 10 Jul 2023