Jenny Ackroyd was a consultant general and vascular surgeon at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow. She was born in Leeds on 23 May 1950, the fourth child of Peter Ackroyd and Evelyn née Nutt. Her father, an academic theologian, was subsequently a professor at King's College, London, and was known as 'Old Testament Ackroyd'. She was educated at James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich, and then went on to New Hall, Cambridge, where she read medicine and fine arts. She then went to Middlesex Hospital for her clinical studies. During her junior doctor training she became the first female surgical registrar and senior registrar at St Thomas's, a particularly male-dominated institution at the time. She was awarded the FRCS in 1979. She also achieved the degree of master of surgery at Cambridge in 1986, possibly the first woman ever to do so. She was appointed as consultant surgeon in general and vascular surgery at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow in 1987 and developed a particular interest in day surgery. There was no dedicated day unit there, so she and a band of enthusiastic helpers helped raise the necessary funds to build one. Her most recent interest was the building of a new surgical wing, opened by the Secretary of State for Health in November 2004, and named in her honour. Jenny was a founder member of Women in Surgical Training, a body formed at the Royal College of Surgeons for the encouragement of training of women in surgery and felt strongly that, at about two per cent, the current representation of female consultant surgeons was unacceptably low. She is remembered as a caring, encouraging, enthusiastic and patient teacher by her junior staff and was nominated by them for a trainer of the year award from the Association of Surgeons in Training. Twelve years ago she developed a melanoma of the eye and after treatment lost the sight of the eye, but continued her professional life and was often known locally as the 'partially sighted, female surgeon from Wareside', to the amusement of her patients. In this capacity she was invited to attend the Woman of the Year lunch in 1993, which was sponsored by the Royal National Institute of the Blind. During this busy professional life, working full-time throughout, Jenny had a fulfilling social and family life. She married Malcolm Lennox, also a consultant surgeon, in 1976, and had two children, Sophie and Sandy. She was a faithful member of St Mary's Church choir and also sang in Ware Choral Society and played the cello. Her manner was sympathetic, concerned and helpful, but most of all she was lively, fun to be with, colourfully dressed and noisy in a delightful way. She died peacefully at home on 5 September 2004.