Robert Morison Rowe was born on 23 February 1875, the son of an English father and a French mother, this latter fact having a permanent effect upon his subsequent career. His preclinical studies were done partly in Edinburgh and partly in Dublin, and for his clinical work he came to St Bartholomew's Hospital and graduated with honours in 1899. He took the MD degree and also the Conjoint Diploma in 1904, and in 1913 he was admitted to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His first resident post was at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, and later he became resident medical officer to the French Hospital in London. In due course he became consultant surgeon to the French Hospital, a post which he held with distinction until his retirement in 1934. He was also consulting surgeon to Brentford Hospital. In the first world war he was in charge of the surgical division of the Second General Hospital in the British Expeditionary Force, and after the war he returned to his duties at the French Hospital and was created Chevalier de la Légion D'Honneur for his unremitting services to that hospital, and to the French colony in London. He was a dextrous surgeon, and though his repertoire of operations was somewhat limited, what he did he did extremely well. And he must have been one of the last, in London at least, who was able to combine successfully general practice with the duties of a consultant. He would never have made a great name for himself because he was essentially humble and self-effacing, but he was always helpful to his juniors, and his vivid sense of humour was much appreciated by all who worked with him. At the end of his professional career he retired to France, and suffered considerable privations during the German occupation. He died in hospital at Cairns on 18 August 1969, aged 94.