Thomas Horrocks Openshaw CB CMG TD FRCS (17 March 1856 – 17 November 1929) was an English Victorian and Edwardian era surgeon perhaps best known for his brief involvement in attempting to solve the notorious Jack the Ripper murders of 1888.

[1] Having successfully completed his medical studies, Openshaw was awarded an MBBS (Durham) and, in 1883, was appointed a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.

[2] When a kidney, purportedly from Jack the Ripper victim Catherine Eddowes, was posted to George Lusk, Chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, together with the From Hell letter, Lusk was persuaded by his fellow Committee members to take them to Dr Frederick Wiles, who had a surgery nearby on the Mile End Road.

As Openshaw was frequently mentioned in press reports at the time in connection with the kidney and From Hell letter, his name became known widely among the general public.

On 29 October 1888 he received a letter through the post addressed to 'Dr Openshaw, Pathological curator, London Hospital, Whitechapel' and postmarked 'LONDON E', 'OC29 88'.

Nevertheless, he was determined to contribute to the war effort and therefore served with the rank of colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps (Territorial Force) as a consulting surgeon based in the United Kingdom.

He was elected surgeon to the King Edward VII Hospital, and later, as an acknowledged expert in orthopaedic surgery, he was instrumental in establishing the Queen Mary Convalescent Auxiliary Hospital for the Limbless at Roehampton, where he oversaw the development of effective artificial limbs for the thousands of men who had become amputees because of injuries sustained during the war.

Although he wrote no books or medical treatises, Openshaw was the joint editor of the Catalogue of the Pathological Collection at the London Hospital.

[1] Openshaw's photographs from the Second Boer War, his medals and certificates were donated to the Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum in 2004 by John Jenner, his grandson.