H. T. Whittell

Horatio Thomas Whittell MD., MRCS. (1826 – 21 August 1899), generally referred to as H. T. Whittell or H. Thomas Whittell, was a medical doctor in South Australia and Adelaide's City Coroner.

Biography Whittell was born in Warwick, England, and had a happy childhood. He was educated at one of the private schools in Leamington Spa. At age nineteen he entered Queen's College, Birmingham, to study medicine and in his spare time read books about legal cases. He received his diploma as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and served some time as house surgeon at Queen's Hospital. He spent ten years practising in Birmingham, then obtained his M.D. degree at Aberdeen. This was in addition to his Board of Health duties without any addition to his salary. On the (perhaps forced) resignation of Thomas Ward (1815 – 28 December 1888) in October 1888, Whittell was appointed City Coroner on top of his duties at the Central Board of Health, and in addition was made Vaccination Officer and Inspector of Anatomy. Despite his multiple roles, Whittell was being seriously discussed by Parliament for retrenchment. He was replaced as Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages by George Hamilton Ayliffe, grandson of Dr. Thomas Hamilton Ayliffe, in January 1889.

Publications Whittell, H. T. (1859) Practical Observations on Diphtheria, pub. Shawyer, Gawler Place; price One shilling

Family Whittell married Caroline ?? ( – 8 October 1899) on 3 August 1848. They had a son and a daughter: Henry Lloyd Whittell (1855 – 17 October 1937) married Vincentia Maria Lucas of Adelaide on 19 May 1879. He was a solicitor of Montefiore Chambers, Waymouth Street, Adelaide. He left for Melbourne in 1877 and was subsequently charged with misappropriating £1,000 and brought back to Adelaide. The matter was brushed aside as an "innocent mistake", to the cynical amusement of journalist "A. Pencil". and moved to West Maitland, New South Wales, where he was elected as councillor, then in 1899 charged with theft of several cheques, but found not guilty. He moved to Penrith near Sydney, where in 1909 he again ran foul of the law and was fined. Anna Maria Prince Whittell ( – 22 July 1930) married singer Richard Nitschke on 16 January 1902 in London, where they lived for the next 30 years. They had a home on East Terrace, Adelaide.

There is no reason to believe he was related to H. M. Whittell, the great Australian ornithologist.