George Carr was a consultant surgeon in Stockport. He was born on 10 March 1922 at Monk Bretton, near Barnsley. His father, James Frederick Carr, began his working life aged 14 as a miner, but went on to get a mining degree from Sheffield University. He became a pilot in the first world war and was later a production manager for South Yorkshire mines. George’s mother, Edith née Cooke, was a tailoress. George was educated at Audenshaw Grammar School, where he was captain of cricket and soccer, and a first class swimmer. Gaining distinctions in physics, chemistry, French and German, he had to wait a year before entering Manchester Medical School in 1939. On the advice of an uncle, who was a GP, he entered for the Primary FRCS and came second to the Hallett prizewinner – the last year this was possible for a medical student. In this same year he gained a BSc in anatomy and physiology. Whilst still a student he was awarded a Rockefeller scholarship to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he graduated MD with distinction. On returning to Manchester, he qualified in 1945, and became house surgeon to John Morley. After National Service in the RAF and passing his FRCS, he returned to become chief assistant to Michael Boyd, and gained his masters degree in 1957. He was appointed consultant surgeon in Stockport in 1958, where he remained until he retired in 1984. He married Joan Stubbs, who was a theatre sister at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. They had two sons, Andrew and Geoffrey. Watching all sports, especially cricket, was his main delight, though he loved travelling (particularly to Spain, where he owned an apartment) and sampling red wine. He died from cancer of the prostate on 3 May 2003.