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{{short description|British surgeon and superintendent of the central prison in Agra, India}}
{{Infobox medical person
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name = John W. Tyler
| honorific_suffix = FRCS (Edin.) [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]]
| image =
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| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{Circa|1840}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = 12 May {{death year and age|1913|1840}}
| death_place = London, England
| death_cause =
| nationality = British
| citizenship =
| education = *[[Calcutta Medical College]]
*[[University of St Andrews School of Medicine|University of St. Andrews]]
| occupation = Superintendent of the central prison in [[Agra]], India
| years_active =
| known_for = *Production of carpets at Agra Central Jail
*Recruiting [[Abdul Karim (the Munshi)|Abdul Karim]] ("the Munshi") for [[Queen Victoria]]
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}}
'''Sir John William Tyler''' FRCS (Edin.) [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] ({{Circa|1840}} – 12 May 1913) was a British surgeon and superintendent of the central prison in [[Agra]], India, a position he held for 14 years. While superintendent he developed the prison as an important manufacturing centre for high-quality carpets. In 1886, he escorted 34 Indians, mostly prisoners, to the [[Colonial and Indian Exhibition|Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886]] in London, where their craftsmanship in weaving carpets was displayed. At [[Queen Victoria]]'s request, he recruited the servant [[Abdul Karim (the Munshi)|Abdul Karim]], later known as "the Munshi", who served her for the last 14 years of her life.

Tyler was initially posted to the civil surgeoncy in the [[North-Western Provinces]], before being appointed as superintendent of the prison at [[Meerut]], and thereafter at Agra. He was knighted in 1888. In 2017, he was portrayed in the film ''[[Victoria & Abdul]]''.

==Early life and education==
John Tyler was born around 1840 in India, and was fluent in [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]].<ref name=obit>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2299171/pdf/brmedj07283-0054b.pdf "Sir John William Tyler"], ''[[The British Medical Journal]]'', Vol. 1, 17 May 1913, p. 1088.</ref><ref name="Basu2010">{{cite book|last=Basu|first=Shrabani |authorlink=Shrabani Basu|title=Victoria and Abdul (film tie-in): The Extraordinary True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Bs7AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25|year=2010|publisher=History Press|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire|language=English|isbn=978-0-7524-6366-7|pages=25–26}}</ref> He received his basic education at [[Doveton College (Calcutta)|Doveton College]] in Calcutta (now [[Kolkata]]), before gaining admission to [[Calcutta Medical College]] to study medicine.<ref name=obit/> He travelled to England in 1861 and acquired licentiates of the [[Worshipful Society of Apothecaries|Society of Apothecaries]], [[Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland| Royal Colleges of Surgeons]], and the [[Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh]].<ref name=obit/> He received his [[Doctor of medicine|MD]] from the [[University of St Andrews School of Medicine|University of St. Andrews]] in 1862 and in 1870 was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.<ref name=obit/>

==Early career==
In 1863, Tyler joined the [[Uncovenanted Indian Medical Service]] in the [[North-Western Provinces]], later known as the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], serving initially as a civil surgeon.<ref name=obit/> He was transferred to [[Manipur (princely state)|Manipuri]] in 1866 and in 1873 became superintendent of the [[Meerut District Jail|prison at Meerut]].<ref name=obit/> Three years later, he became superintendent of [[Agra Central Jail]], a position he held for 14 years, during which time he developed the prison as an important manufacturing centre for high quality carpets.<ref name=obit/><ref name="IndiaOffice">{{cite book |title=The India Office and Burma Office List |date=1877 |page=95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aysbAQAAIAAJ&q=%22j.+w.+tyler%22+surgeon+agra&pg=PA97 |language=en}}</ref> He donated one such [[Persian carpet]] to British civil servant and scholar [[Frederic Growse]] for the [[Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Mathura)|Catholic church at Mathura]], built in the 1870s.<ref name="Growse1883Mathura">{{cite book |last1=Growse |first1=Frederic Salmon |title=Mathurá: A district memoir|date=1883 |publisher=North-western provinces and Oudh government Press |location=Allahabad |pages=417–418 |url=https://archive.org/details/mathurdistrict00growrich/page/418/mode/2up?view=theater}}</ref>

==Visits to London==
[[File:The Queen Opening the Colonial and Indian Exhibition Procession passing the principal entrance to the Indian Palace.jpg|thumb|"The Queen Opening the Colonial and Indian Exhibition: Procession passing the principal entrance to the Indian Palace", ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'', May 1886.<ref>''The Illustrated London News'', 8 May 1886, p. 478.</ref>]]
In 1886, in his "special duty",<ref name=obit/> Tyler attracted much publicity when he escorted 34 Indians to the [[Colonial and Indian Exhibition|Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886]] in London, where their craftsmanship in weaving carpets was displayed.<ref name=Smith>{{cite web|title=Victoria and Abdul: The Friendship that Scandalized England|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/victoria-and-abdul-friendship-scandalized-england-180964959/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429144049/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/victoria-and-abdul-friendship-scandalized-england-180964959/|archive-date=29 April 2021|access-date=29 April 2021|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref> Most were prisoners of Agra Central Jail, and they came to be known as "Dr Tyler's artisans".<ref name="Mathur">{{cite book |last1=Mathur |first1=Saloni |title=India by Design: Colonial History and Cultural Display |date=2007 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-23417-8 |pages=60–66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ndh3NvwqzRkC |language=en}}</ref> During the trip, he was requested by Queen Victoria to select two Indian servants to assist her at her [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Golden Jubilee]] celebrations.<ref name=Smith/> At the end of 1886 he was appointed to special duty in [[Dholpur]] and returned to London under the staff of the [[Ram Singh of Bharatpur|Maharaja of Bharatpur]],<ref name=obit/> taking his clerk [[Abdul Karim (the Munshi)|Abdul Karim]], with him.<ref name="Basu2010"/><ref name="Mathur"/><ref name="RCT">{{cite web |title=Calcutta, Bombay & Simla : Bourne & Shepherd (active 1864-1900s) - Indian Chiefs, 1887 |url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/2107577/indian-chiefs-1887 |website=www.rct.uk |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423173525/https://www.rct.uk/collection/2107577/indian-chiefs-1887 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Karim had earlier chosen two gold [[Kara (jewellery)|bangles]] for Tyler to give to the Queen.<ref name="Basu2010"/>

Karim noted in his memoirs of his first meeting with the Queen that "Dr Tyler and I were instructed to take our station near the dining room and wait her Majesty's coming." After presenting to her some gifts "the Queen was thereafter pleased to speak to Dr Tyler a few words, and so ended my first interview with the Empress of India."<ref name="Leach2011">{{cite news |last1=Leach |first1=Ben |title=The lost diary of Queen Victoria's final companion |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8349760/The-lost-diary-of-Queen-Victorias-final-companion.html |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=www.telegraph.co.uk |date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429172402/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8349760/The-lost-diary-of-Queen-Victorias-final-companion.html |archive-date=29 April 2021}}</ref> Two days later, the Queen sent Tyler a telegram requesting that both he and Karim return to Buckingham Palace. Karim, later known as "the Munshi", served the Queen for the last 14 years of her life.<ref name=Smith>{{cite web|title=Victoria and Abdul: The Friendship that Scandalized England|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/victoria-and-abdul-friendship-scandalized-england-180964959/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429144049/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/victoria-and-abdul-friendship-scandalized-england-180964959/|archive-date=29 April 2021|access-date=29 April 2021|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Leach2011"/>

==Later life==
Tyler was knighted in 1888.<ref name=obit/> [[Margaret Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey|Margaret Villiers]], Countess of Jersey, recollected in her memoirs the time she stayed with Sir John Tyler, superintendent of the jail at Agra, and his "friend" Abdul Karim who was on leave from London. Tyler provided her family with carpets for their home at [[Osterley Park|Osterley]].<ref name="Jersey">Dowager Countess of Jersey. (1922) ''[https://archive.org/details/fiftyoneyearsofv00jersrich/page/192/mode/2up Fifty-one Years of Victorian Life]''. London: John Murray. pp. 192 & 194.</ref> In 1890 he was promoted to [[Inspector general of prisons|Inspector general of jails]] for the North-Western Provinces, and retired in 1896.<ref name=obit/><ref name="Mathur"/><ref name="Mcdonald1950">{{cite book |last1=Mcdonald |first1=Donald |title=Surgeons Twoe and a Barber, Being Some Account Of The Life And Work Of The Indian Medical Service (1600-1947) |date=1950 |publisher=William Heinemann |location=London |pages=139 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.115856/page/n175/mode/2up?q=tyler}}</ref>

==Family==
He was married and had a son.<ref name="Allen">{{cite book |title=Allen's Indian mail and register of intelligence for British and foreign India: 1878,7/12 |date=1878 |page=1095 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-f7oEN0jsMsC&q=%22j.+w.+tyler%22+surgeon+agra&pg=PA1095 |language=en}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Tyler died in London at the age of 73 on 12 May 1913.<ref name=obit/> His address at the time of his death was 32 Cambridge Street, Hyde Park Square. He left an estate of £257 with probate granted to Anne Newble, spinster.<ref>1913 Probate Calendar, p. 105.</ref> He was portrayed by actor [[Simon Paisley Day]] in the 2017 film ''[[Victoria & Abdul]]''.<ref name="Film">{{cite web |title=Victoria & Abdul - BFI Filmography |url=https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/film/154600521 |website=filmography.bfi.org.uk |access-date=3 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429103700/https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/film/154600521 |archive-date=3 May 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Penal labour]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |title=Naval and Military Medical Services |journal=British Medical Journal |date=4 December 1886 |volume=2 |issue=1353 |pages=1123–1124 |pmc=2257787 |issn=0007-1447}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler, John W.}}
[[Category:British surgeons]]
[[Category:1840s births]]
[[Category:1913 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]

John W. Tyler - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III at 21:25, 31 August 2021