John Whitaker Hulke was born on November 6, 1830, in Deal, Kent, England.

He was a British surgeon, geologist, fossil collector, and author. He was educated partly at a boarding school in England, partly at the Moravian College at Neuwied (1843–1845), where he gained an excellent knowledge of German and an interest in geology through visits to the Eifel district. Upon return from Germany, he entered King's College School, and three years later commenced work at the hospital. In 1852, he became a member of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. In the Crimean War, he served as an assistant surgeon (1855). In 1857, he was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He made his special mark as an ophthalmologist. In 1867, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society for his researches on the anatomy and physiology of the retina in man and the lower animals, particularly the reptiles. He contributed numerous papers to the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society. He devoted all his spare time to geology and especially to the fossil reptilia, describing many remains of dinosaurs from the Isle of Wight. He was president of both the Geological and Pathological Societies in 1883, president of the Clinical Society from 1893 to 1895, and of the Royal College of Surgeons from 1893 until his death. His collection of fossils was donated to the Natural History Museum in London.

In 1858, he married Julia Grace Ridley (1831–1924). He died on February 19, 1895, in London, England.