T. R. Allinson

Thomas Richard Allinson (29 March 1858 – 29 November 1918) was an English physician, dietetic reformer, businessman, journalist and vegetarianism activist. He was a proponent of wholemeal (whole grain) bread consumption. His name is still used today for a bread popular in Europe, Allinson bread.

Career

Allinson was born in the Hulme district of Manchester on 29 March 1858. He went to school in Lancaster and Manchester and at fifteen began work as a chemist's assistant. With money he saved and financial help from his stepfather, he was able to attend the extramural medical school in Edinburgh, which was less expensive than the University medical school. He graduated as a Licenciate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (LRCP, LRCS) in 1879. After assistantships in Hull and the East End of London he established his own practice in Marylebone in 1885.

In 1888, Allinson married Anna Pulvermacher, an artist who exhibited at the Royal Academy; they had one daughter and three sons, including Bertrand P. Allinson and Adrian Allinson.

Allinson was a vegetarian. He noted that vegetarians do not eat fish, commenting "the vegetarian draws a line at all things that have had life, and does not use them. As butter, cheese, eggs, and milk are not obtained by the slaughter of animals he uses them".

His views often brought him into conflict with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the General Medical Council, particularly his opposition to doctors' frequent use of toxic drugs, his opposition to vaccination and his self-promotion in the press. In 1892 he was struck off the Medical Register.