John Richardson had a distinguished career in the Royal Naval Medical Service as a surgeon serving at home and at sea. He was professor of naval surgery and later dean of naval medicine. He was born on 4 July 1930 in Ilford, Essex, the son of Cotsford Wilberforce Richardson, a science master, and Ethel Emma née Oram, a housewife. Through his father he was a direct descendant of William Wilberforce, the British politician who campaigned to end slavery. Richardson attended Barking Abbey School and then University College London, qualifying MB BS in 1953. Conscripted in 1955, he took a short service commission and converted to a full career commission the following year. He served at sea on HMS *Daring* and was then posted to the Royal Naval Hospital (RNH) Haslar to start surgical training. He passed the FRCS in 1961. He was graded as a surgical specialist in 1962 and as a senior specialist in 1965. Further service at sea on HMS *Albion* and HMS *Centaur* followed. From 1962 to 1963, as a lieutenant commander, he was leader of the first naval surgical team in Brunei and Borneo. He returned to RNH Plymouth and was then posted overseas, as a surgeon captain and consultant surgeon to RNH Gibraltar. In 1969 he returned to RNH Haslar as an adviser in surgery to the Royal Navy, and six years later he was appointed as a surgical tutor at RNH Plymouth. In the same year, 1975, he went to sea as a surgeon aboard HMS *Hermes*, the aircraft carrier. In 1977 he was appointed professor of naval surgery at RNH Haslar, a joint chair with the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal Naval College of Medicine. This was a period when the concept of joint medical services was developing. The RAMC, RAF and Royal Navy medical services met regularly to discuss issues relating to military surgery and inter-service cooperation. John Richardson played a valuable role in increasing effective planning between the services. He was appointed as a surgeon commodore (one star rank) on becoming dean of naval medicine in 1983. The Defence Medical Services Postgraduate Council was constituted in 1983 and he served as chairman until 1985. He had been the naval member of the British military medical delegation to China in 1979. In 1980 he was appointed an officer of the Order of St John. Following this, he conducted the 1981 defence review for the medical director general. In 1982 he was appointed as an honorary surgeon to HM The Queen. In October 1986 he left the service. In his spare time he was a keen sailor. He built a wooden 22-foot boat with six berths with the aid of his children. He was a member of the Royal Yachting Association and the Joint Services Sailing Club. Other interests included genealogy and photography. After his service in Gibraltar, he developed an interest in the stamps of that country. In January 1954 he married Cecilia Elizabeth Reid, a nurse. They had five children - John (a solicitor), Alistair (a marine engineer), Graham (an accountant), Cecilia (a general practitioner) and Hilary (a teacher). John Richardson died on 12 December 2008. He was 78.