Real and imaginary – the medics in the life of Bram Stoker
Anyone who has read Dracula will be aware of the young Dr
Seward, a former pupil of Van Helsing and the administrator of an insane asylum
close to Dracula’s English home. However, you may not be aware that Bram Stoker
had plenty of inspiration in reality for the character. Stoker was the son of
Abraham Stoker, who occupied a high-ranking position in the Chief Secretary’s
office in Dublin Castle. Bram had six siblings, three of whom became doctors.
Three of his brothers, William Thornley, Richard Nugent and George, were
registered to a practice at 16, Harcourt Street in Dublin in the early 1880s.
Richard Nugent Stoker became very involved in the Indian Medical Service while
George also served in foreign lands but finally settled in London. William
Thornley Stoker was by far the most famous member of the family during his
lifetime, achieving a great deal of recognition and distinction for his work in
Ireland.
William Thornley Stoker studied in the Royal College of
Surgeons in Ireland, Queen’s
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| Dr William Thornley Stoker |
College, Galway and St. Vincent’s Hospital,
Dublin. After finishing his qualifications he was appointed to the City of
Dublin Hospital. From there, he (somewhat controversially) obtained a surgical
position in Richmond Hospital. One article at the time stated, “The result was
perfectly unexpected, and has created considerable dissatisfaction among the
medical profession in Dublin.” The reasons given for the dissatisfaction were
that three of the unsuccessful candidates were already working as lecturers in
surgery; Stoker, although working as a tutor, was young and at the time he
wasn’t even a Fellow of RCSI. However, within a very short period of time
Stoker had become a Fellow of RCSI and had become quite the rising star. During
his lifetime he taught students, filled the Chair of Anatomy at RCSI and held
the Examinership in Surgery in the Royal University of Ireland. He was elected
President of RCSI from 1894-1896, President of the Royal Academy of Medicine in
Ireland from 1903-1905 and was Inspector of Anatomy for Ireland for a time. He
also published a large amount of material, a great deal of which is available
in Dun’s Library.
However, for our purposes, the most interesting aspect of Dr
Stoker’s career was his appointment to Swift’s Hospital. Stoker became visiting
surgeon here in 1878 and remained in this position until his death in 1912.
Swift’s Hospital (also known as St. Patrick’s) was founded by another great
Irish literary figure Jonathan Swift and at the time it was a hospital for the
insane. Is it possible that the character of Dr Seward is in some-way based on
Bram Stoker’s brother?
We do know that there are rumours that Bram Stoker did
indeed use real life inspiration for his characters. In fact, many people
believe that the titular character, Dracula, is based upon Stoker’s good friend
Sir Henry Irving. An obituary for William Thornley Stoker states, “His eldest
brother, Mr. Bram Stoker, a man of literary tastes, is secretary to Mr. Irving,
the dramatist.” This arrangement came about through another medical
acquaintance Dr Henry Maunsell.
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| Dr Henry Maunsell |
Dr Maunsell was educated in Glasgow and upon returning to
Ireland he became a Licentiate of RCSI and was elected a Member in 1832. In the
same year he was elected Lecturer on Midwifery at the Park-Street Medical
School. In 1834 he published The Dublin
Practice of Midwifery which was a very influential text, and is also
available in Dun’s Library along with other publications by Maunsell. He was
clearly very interested in the publication process; in 1839 he established the Dublin Medical Press with Dr Arthur
Jacob, and more importantly for this particular post he subsequently purchased
the Dublin Evening Mail, to which he
devoted himself until his death in 1879.
Maunsell encouraged Bram Stoker to take interest in the
theatre and to write reviews for the Dublin
Evening Mail. While in this employment, Stoker attended and reviewed (very
favourably!) Henry Irving’s Hamlet in
the Theatre Royal in Dublin. Having read the review Irving invited Stoker to
dine with him and this was to be the beginning of a very productive friendship.
Stoker gained employment as Irving’s personal assistant and went on to become
acting manager, and following that, business manager of Irving’s Lyceum
Theatre in London.
Sarah Kennedy
Library Intern