Gaston Benett was born on 12 November 1922 in Poudre D'Or, Mauritius, the son of Raymond Benett, a hospital pharmacist, and his wife, Suzanne, née Davis, a teacher. He attended the Royal College in Mauritius from where he won a scholarship to Cambridge for his pre-clinical studies. He then entered St Bartholomew's Hospital and qualified in 1948. He continued his surgical training at St Albans and the Hammersmith Hospitals before returning to Mauritius but later came back to England to work in the prison service. Poor health caused him to take early retirement. In 1949 he married Catherina Concepta Boland. They had five sons: Tristan, Julian, John, Richard and David. The two eldest sons went out to Australia to make their careers, whilst the three younger brothers stayed in the UK. In 1966 he married Brenda Jean Eastland. They had a son, Charles, who read law at Oxford, and a daughter, Suzanne, who was at Epsom College after receiving a scholarship from the Worshipful Company of Barbers - the first girl to win this award. He died on 26 January 1989 aged 66 years, survived by his wife, children and grandchildren. **See below for an additional expanded obituary uploaded 24 January 2022:** Gaston Benett was a consultant surgeon in Mauritius. He was born on 12 November 1922 in Poudre d'Or, a hamlet on the east coast of Mauritius. His father, Raymond Benett, was a hospital orderly/dresser. His mother, Suzanne Benett née Davis, was a teacher. He was the eldest of six children. He attended the Royal College in Mauritius, from where in 1941 he won La Bourse D’Angleterre, a British government scholarship to Cambridge for his preclinical studies. However, his departure was delayed by a year due to the Blitz and other dangers of the Second World War. He put the time to good use by working as an assistant teacher at the Royal College. Travelling to the UK was quite hazardous, so in 1942 he eventually set sail from Port Louis bound for England. His parents were very anxious knowing he would have to run the gauntlet of the U boats in the Atlantic to get there. He arrived safely then entered St Bartholomew's Hospital and qualified with the conjoint examination in 1948. While at Barts he met and married his first wife, Catherina Boland, a nurse, in 1949. He completed his MB BS in 1950. He returned to Mauritius in early 1951, accompanied by his wife and baby son Robert. He set up in private practice but joined the Public Health Service of Mauritius later that same year. Gaston chose this pathway because of his interest in surgery. He worked successively as a resident medical officer at Victoria Hospital, Candos and as a general medical officer in Pamplemousses district. From October 1952 to April 1954 Gaston was posted as a general medical officer to Rodrigues Island (a colony of Mauritius) with his young family, which now included two more sons, Julian and John. This secondment was the natural progression for most medical officers of the Mauritian Public Health system. He returned to Mauritius and in August 1955 went to England to study for his FRCS, sailing to Liverpool on the SS *Nigaristan*, a cargo ship of the Strick Line. He passed his FRCS in August 1957 and in the same year a fourth son, Richard, was born in London. Gaston continued his surgical training at St Albans and Hammersmith hospitals, before returning to Victoria Hospital in Candos in late 1957. His fifth son, David, was born in 1958. Gaston worked as a young surgeon under the guidance of Maxime Shun-Shin, who in his memoirs described how he soon became ‘quite a competent operator’. In 1961 he deputised for Shun-Shin during a six-month leave of absence and in 1963 he was appointed as a full surgical specialist and transferred to the Civil Hospital in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. Gaston and Catherina divorced in 1965. In 1966 he married Brenda Eastland, a teacher at the Royal Navy base in Mauritius. They had a son, Charles. Gaston worked as a consultant in various private clinics in Mauritius and considered setting up his own, but in 1969 decided to emigrate permanently to England with his family, to settle and work as the chief medical officer at HM Prison Liverpool. His last child and only daughter, Suzanne, was born in 1971. Gaston had many interests. He loved opera and classical music. He was a big fan of the French chanson of the 1940s and 1950s. He was reputed to have been a fine singer and dancer and was a keen bridge player and orchid grower. Sadly, poor health caused him to take early retirement. He moved to the gentler climes of Deal in Kent, and he died there on 26 January 1989 aged 66. He was survived by his wife, seven children and numerous grandchildren. The Benett family