Richard Cory was born in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, the son of Francis, a banana planter and his wife, Annie Allen, nee Seymour. He went to school at Cornwall College in Montego Bay and in 1922 spent one year teaching before entering Bristol University for medical training. He was awarded the Suple Prize, the Tippett Prize and the committee's silver medal for surgery. He spent one year as a house physician in Bristol before returning home to enter the Jamaican Government Medical Service where he developed his special interest in chest diseases. He became the senior medical officer at King George V Memorial Sanatorium and during this time he was particularly influenced in his travels by Drs E D Churchill and R Overholt in Boston, John Alexander at Ann Arbor and Drs E J O'Brien and Pol Coryllos in New York. He was appointed chest specialist and thoracic surgeon to the Government of the Bahamas between 1960 and 1970. His work was dedicated to his country's poor black people, many of whom were afflicted with pulmonary tuberculosis and at one time most died within a year from the time of diagnosis. He developed techniques for performing pneumothorax, phrenic avulsion and later, after a training at the Rockefeller Foundation, he introduced thoracoplasty. He was awarded the OBE in 1953 for his devotion and skill in treating successfully so many of his patients and elected FRCS in 1961. He continued his good work at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau before finally retiring to the Isle of Man in 1967. In retirement Dick Cory developed an interest in wood carving and was said to make excellent gifts and to have won several prizes. As a student he was captain of the university swimming team and played rugby football. In 1942 he married Margaret Gordon Macgregor (Peggy) who had a daughter from a previous marriage and they had another daughter. He died on 26 September 1983 aged 79 years, survived by his wife and family.