Roger de Vere was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Westminster Hospital, London. He was born on 23 May 1921 in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, the son of Gaston de Vere, an Oxford extramural studies tutor and translator of Vasari's *Lives* of Renaissance artists, and Margaretta Josephine née Hamilton-Williams. Sadly, Roger's parents' marriage was dissolved when he was a young child, and he was brought up by his mother in north London. His first school was Beacon Hill, which was founded by the philosopher Bertrand Russell, a friend of his father. The school took an unusual approach to the curriculum, concentrating on natural history. Pupils spent most of their time outside, only coming in during bad weather. After leaving Beacon Hill at the age of 10, Roger could only manage his two times table and later he was to say 'it is wrong to experiment on children'. But he did manage to become a fluent French speaker, after spending long summer holidays with an aunt in France. From Beacon Hill he went to the City of London School, and from there to St Thomas' Hospital, where he qualified with the conjoint diploma in 1945. He completed his National Service in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, serving in the South East Asia Command. He was posted to a French hospital ship, which had been acquired by the Royal Navy, until General de Gaulle requested the ship's return. After his National Service, he received his specialist training at St Thomas' and finally at Queen Charlotte's and the Chelsea Hospital for Women. He was subsequently appointed to the staff of the Westminster Hospital. Roger de Vere had an engaging manner and was a man of great charm, but also had an incisive, enquiring mind, which enabled him to get to the crux of a problem very quickly. He possessed a special quality, an ability to bring together colleagues of different disciplines to work together, which enabled him to make the Westminster a centre of excellence. As an obstetrician he could not bear to hear the sound of women in pain during labour and, together with J B Wyman, his anaesthetist, he established an epidural service, which was readily available to all his patients, from domestics to duchesses. They all appreciated his care and the comfort he gave them. He earned himself the sobriquet 'Divine de Vere'. He was an early exponent of vaginal hysterectomy in the repair of prolapse, a more comfortable and less traumatic operation than abdominal hysterectomy. There were other fields to which he brought his talent of bringing together specialist teams. With Gerald (Charlie) Westbury radical pelvic surgery for malignant disease was developed. Richard Bayliss, the distinguished endocrinologist, had been a student with him and they established an infertility clinic. With John 'Titus' Oates, a consultant venereologist, and Richard Staughton, a consultant dermatologist, they started a clinic for diseases of the vulva which met every month, after lunch! Working with him was never a chore: his operating lists were preceded by a generous lunch, often a roast, with his house surgeon invited to carve under a watchful eye. He was the most generous man, with a warm and charming personality; he brought credit to his hospital and also his busy private practice, which included at one time a clinic in Paris, before the French medical profession eased him out. He served as chairman of the examination committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and examined for Cambridge, London and Birmingham universities. He was also a civilian consultant to the Royal Navy. Always good company, he was an eloquent raconteur with a large collection of jokes and risqué stories, but underlying this was his fascination for 'what made people tick' and exploring 'the human condition'. He was a member of the Gynaecological Club of Great Britain and the Garrick. Roger de Vere retired at 62 to care for his wife, Elizabeth née Crothers Parker, who had severe renal disease. They settled in Mildenhall, Wiltshire. Roger painted in oils, had a fine collection of water-colours and attended weekly philosophy classes. He was a keen fisherman and an active of member of the Savernake Flyfishers, serving at one time as their chairman. He was also an excellent marksman and belonged to two shoots. He regularly fished for trout in the Kennet and became aware that the river was compromised, with low water levels and contamination from a local sewage farm. With his friend Jack Ainslie, Roger founded Action for the River Kennet in 1990 to campaign to persuade Thames Water to correct this problem. He enlisted the help of Gareth Rees of the Farnborough College of Technology to carry out a study, and they persuaded Thames Water to invest in phosphate stripping equipment at the sewage farm and at other significant points along the river. The river became clean and fish have returned. This triumph led to Roger being named Countryman of the Year by *Country Life* magazine in 1997. Sadly his wife Elizabeth Crothers Parker died in 2002. They had three children, Georgina (formerly a medical secretary), Guy (a systems analyst) and Stephen (an award-winning wildlife cameraman). Roger died on 30 November 2010 at the age of 89.