John Howard Lees Ferguson was the third generation of a medical family. He was educated at Shrewsbury School where he was a classical scholar. Although pressed to continue in this field, he was determined to study medicine and entered Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, before moving to the Middlesex Hospital to graduate in 1942. After resident appointments he joined the RNVR medical branch in 1943, serving in Arctic convoys, the Indian Ocean, and the Normandy landings. His ship was sunk in the Mediterranean and he was appointed MBE (Mil) 'for gallantry and great skill in caring for wounded survivors'. The national press reported that he had taken charge of a small boat and rescued 62 men, many of them wounded, on some of whom he performed vital surgery. With characteristic modesty he was never known to refer to this incident. He was demobilised in 1946 to become surgical registrar at the Middlesex Hospital. He completed the FRCS in 1949, and was appointed senior registrar and then consultant surgeon to the Middlesex in 1952, sharing a surgical unit with R S Handley. He was honorary surgeon to St Saviour's Hospital until its closure, and served the St Luke's Nursing Home for Clergy from 1956 where he became chairman of the medical committee. At the Middlesex he was also chairman of the medical committee. He served on the board of governors, the medical school council and became sub-dean. Lees Ferguson was an enthusiastic and popular teacher, noted for his dry humour. He was a shrewd and kindly examiner in surgery for the Universities of Cambridge and London, and also served on the Court of Examiners of the College for three years. As a surgeon he was notable for his quick and deceptively simple technique which resulted in the smooth recovery of his patients. This, together with the close and sympathetic attention which he gave them caused him to be much in demand. Outside his clinical work he was a loyal supporter of student functions and also served as honorary secretary and as President, in 1973, of the Cambridge Medical Graduates Club. At school and university he had been a useful oarsman; he was a practical handyman, an occasional letter writer to *The Times* and a witty speaker who was not afraid of being outspoken and unconventional. He was ahead of later fashion in becoming a keen cyclist and could often be seen on his bicycle in the area between Harley Street and the Middlesex. His wife died about two years before him and he himself died suddenly at home on 18 January 1977. He is survived by a son and two daughters, one of whom is medically qualified.