Born in Hull on March 12th, 1824. He came of a family distinguished professionally and as prominent citizens in his native town. His grandfather, Robert Martin Craven (the first), was born on November 11th, 1770 (St Martin's Day), and began to practise in Hull in 1794. He was Sheriff of Hull in 1822, carried on practice as Robert M Craven and Son, and died in 1859. The name Craven was borne by Sir William Craven (1548-1618?), Lord Mayor of London, whose eldest son, William Earl of Craven (1606-1697), was the soldier, and his second son, John, the founder of the Craven Scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge. Robert Martin Craven (the second) was educated at Kingston College, Hull, and received his professional training at the Hull General Infirmary, the Hull Medical School, and at St Bartholomew's Hospital and School, where Lawrence, Paget, Skey, and Stanley were amongst his most distinguished teachers. Later he pursued his studies in various Paris hospitals. He practised in Hull in partnership with his father and was elected Hon Surgeon to the Hull Infirmary (October 8th, 1852), having previously, during five years, acted as Dresser there under his father. He was for twenty years an admirable Lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology in the Hull Medical School, which was dissolved in September, 1870. He was during the same time Secretary to the School. In 1876 he made his wife and six children Life Governors of the Hull Infirmary, and in August, 1886, one of the wards was named 'The Craven Ward' in recognition of the eminent services rendered to the institution by three generations of Cravens. In 1878 he was elected Sheriff of Hull, and in the following year he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. His election to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England took place more than ten years later. He was admitted to the freedom of the Society of Apothecaries, London, on Oct 14th, 1890. In 1892 he resigned his position as Hon Surgeon to the Hull Royal Infirmary after forty years' tenure of office, when he was presented with a testimonial and appointed Consulting Surgeon. He also became a member of the Board of Management. In March, 1894, he was elected Consulting Surgeon to the Hull Women's and the Orthopaedic Hospitals. He was twice President of the Hull and East Riding and North Lincolnshire Branch of the British Medical Association, and in 1891-1892 he was President of the Hull Medico-Ethical Society. He took a considerable part in the political and social life of what he loved to refer to as 'my town'. His knighthood, which was conferred on him in 1896, was much appreciated by his fellow-citizens. Sir Robert was a most familiar figure at the Royal College of Surgeons, his striking and rugged head, with its thick white hair, being conspicuous at Hunterian Orations and elections of Fellows when personal attendance was necessary. His loud voice with a strong Yorkshire accent revealed his presence in every assembly. On stepping from his cab in front of the College, one or other of the porters would run out with a judicious "Good day, Sir Robert". "Ah, you're glad to see me, then," would come the reply. A pourboire of half-a-crown invariably followed, so that there was keen competition for the honour of opening the door of the cab. He died at his residence, 13 and 14 Albion Street, Hull, on November 15th, 1903, and was buried in the Hull General Cemetery. Sir Robert Craven was twice married: (1) in 1853 to Jane, daughter of William Ward, a shipowner of Hull, and (2) in 1859 to Mary, daughter of Robert Welsh, Writer to the Signet, Edinburgh. This lady was a descendant of John Knox, and first cousin to Jane Welsh Carlyle. By the first marriage there was born to him one son, and by the second five daughters. His second wife died in 1885. His portrait - an admirable one, from the *Scalpel*, 1896, i - is in the College Collection. Publications: Sir Robert Craven was an occasional contributor to the medical journals. "His first contributions", says the Scalpel biography, "were published in 1868 by Christopher Heath, FRCS, in his work on *Injuries and Diseases of the Jaw* (Jacksonian Essay, 1867)."