page_title: William James Wanless
section_title: Honours
hierarchical_section_title: William James Wanless / Honours
caption_attribution_description: English: The badge of a British knight bachelor, created in 1926 on the orders of H.M. King George. The badge was created on the orders of HM King George in 1926. Upon an oval medallion of vermilion, enclosed by a scroll a cross-hilted sword belted and sheathed, pommel upwards, between two spurs, rowels upwards, the whole set about with the sword belt, all gilt.
context_page_description: Sir William James Wanless FACS was a Canadian-born surgeon, humanitarian and Presbyterian missionary who founded a medical mission in Miraj, India in 1894 and led it for nearly 40 years. As part of this mission, Dr. Wanless founded India's first missionary medical school in 1897, and helped to establish a leprosy sanatorium as well as a tuberculosis hospital, now known as the Wanless Chest Hospital.
  His medical mission turned the once-small village of Miraj into a major medical center in India. By the time he retired in 1928, the clinic he started had become a 250-bed hospital with several important adjuncts. He is considered by many to be India's most famous surgeon of the 19th century, and was known throughout Asia, personally treating princes, rajahs and Mahatma Gandhi. In 1928, he was knighted by King George V, who appointed him Knight Bachelor of the British Empire, for treating 1,000,000 patients and restoring sight to 12,000 of them. The Wanless Hospital in Miraj bears his name, and is now a modern 550-bed teaching hospital.
context_section_description: Dr. Wanless received official honors from Great Britain on three occasions:
  He first received the silver Kaisar-i-Hind (Emperor in India) medal of second class in 1912.
  The same order of gold medal of first class in 1920, in recognition of his philanthropic and humanitarian work for India.
  The third honor was bestowed upon him on January 2, 1928 by His Majesty, George V of the United Kingdom, was a knighthood of the British Empire, conferring upon him the degree and honor.
  The Sultan Mahommed Shah, Aga Khan III presented him a silver casket with a farewell address on his retirement.
caption: The badge of a Knight Bachelor
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