William (Bill) Spencer Lund was a consultant ENT surgeon at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford. He was born on 19 July 1926 to non-medical parents, Reginald James Spencer Lund and Beatrice Alice Lund née Cudemore. He thought he might join the Navy and was accordingly educated at Pangbourne College. Before entering National Service in the Navy, where he became a morse code expert, he decided to study medicine and subsequently enrolled at Guy’s Hospital. There he played for the first XV and developed his love of cricket. He did two preregistration house jobs at Guy’s, where he had the good fortune to meet a young nurse, Patricia Miles (Paddy), who soon became his wife. Bill decided on a career in ENT, demonstrated anatomy at King’s College, and, as a registrar at the Radcliffe Infirmary, gained his FRCS. It was at the Radcliffe that he developed his lifelong interest in swallowing and joined forces with the radiologist Gordon Ardran at the Nuffield Institute for Medical Research. Two and a half years of research work, both in Oxford and as a fellow at University Hospital, Iowa, led to some very significant findings on the mechanism of the function of the cricopharyngeal sphincter, particularly in relation to pharyngeal pouch development. For this work he gained an MS in 1963 and was appointed as an Arris and Gale lecturer at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1964. He was subsequently the author of many chapters and papers on swallowing problems. From Iowa he returned as a senior registrar at the Radcliffe Infirmary and then, in 1965, was appointed as a consultant ENT surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital. On the retirement of Ronald Macbeth from Oxford in 1968, Bill successfully moved to Oxford in December 1968. Gavin Livingstone, who pioneered congenital ear reconstruction in the UK, died within a month of Bill’s appointment, so he immediately took over this challenging area of ENT. Among the many children and adults suffering from ENT congenital defects treated by Bill Lund and his colleague Bernard Colman, were some affected by thalidomide. They introduced many new techniques to keep Oxford as the foremost department in this field. In 1987 Oxford was the first to use the new Swedish system of bone anchored osseointegrated hearing aids and ear prostheses, which revolutionised the management of those with congenital ear malformations. Bill Lund continued his interest in the management of swallowing problems and particularly pharyngeal pouch surgery. In 1987 he was elected president of the section of laryngology of the Royal Society of Medicine, where he delivered a brilliant and entertaining address on the technique of sword swallowing! He took a particular interest in teaching medical students and was named ‘His Rhinoplasty’ by the student Tingewick Society and was taken off beautifully in one of their pantomimes, where his characteristic ward round habit of putting one foot up on the patient’s bed while pinning the patient’s legs with his fine leather brief case was depicted very well! Retirement gave him more time for golf and, as a leading light and one time chairman of the Woodstock Players, he was equally happy as the pantomime dame, the spy Anthony Blunt or a bishop, which fitted his natural mannerisms! He was a true gentleman and was much loved by his patients and colleagues. His patients all considered Bill as their friend, and he was enormously popular with all who were fortunate to know him. He died on 22 July 2010 at the age of 84 and his thanksgiving service in Woodstock was packed with many friends and colleagues, all giving thanks for a man who lived life to the full and gave so much to so many. He had a very happy family life and was survived by Paddy, his adored wife of 54 years, their three children, Sarah, James and Kate, and six much-loved grandchildren.