Stephen Townesend | |
---|---|
Born | 1860
London, England |
Died | May 1914
Colney Heath, England |
Occupation(s) | Surgeon, actor, activist, writer |
Spouse |
Stephen Chapman Townesend [a] FRCS (1860 – May 1914) was an English surgeon, stage actor, writer and anti-vivisectionist.
Stephen Chapman Townesend was the son of a rector in London. He was educated at St Bartholomew's Hospital and the University of Edinburgh. [1] He qualified M.R.C.S. in 1883 and F.R.C.S. in 1887. He was surgeon on the Orient Steamship Company's line, house surgeon at St Mark's Hospital and at Birmingham General Hospital. [1] Townesend was a stage actor under the name Will Dennis and assisted the Amateur Dramatic Society of St Bartholomew's Hospital. [1] [2]
In 1900, he married Frances Hodgson Burnett in Genoa. [3] He was involved with the stage adaptations of her novels. They divorced two years later. [4] Townesend was an anti-vivisectionist, who was described as loving animals more than people. [5]
Townesend died in Colney Heath from pneumonia in May 1914. [1] [6]