General practitioner and surgeon based in Leeds; in 1851 took many photographs of Spain, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Syria and Palestine whilst on a Mediterranean yachting cruise with Henry Pelham (sadly all the negatives were destroyed by fire in 1879, but some prints survived); entered into partnership with Joseph Prince Garlick of Park Row, Leeds, the senior surgeon to the Leeds Public Dispensary and lecturer on surgery at the Leeds School of Medicine in 1851; in same year elected surgeon to the public dispensary and demonstrator of anatomy in the medical school, where he was successively lecturer on anatomy, physiology, and surgery; at the Leeds medical school Wheelhouse twice served as president of the school, and when the new University of Leeds was inaugurated in October 1904 he was made honorary DSc; he was surgeon to the Leeds Infirmary from March 1884; elected FRCS 1864, Wheelhouse served on the college council from 1876 to 1881; president of the council of the British Medical Association (1881–1884); in 1876 Wheelhouse advocated a form of external urethrotomy for impermeable strictures which became known as 'Wheelhouse's operation'.