Roland Hart was born in Pakistan on 22 July 1919 and there he spent his early years. He was educated in England at the Thames Valley School and then at Alleyn's School where he developed a great interest in botany. He became a scholar at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he read a natural science tripos in geology and botany. He changed his studies to medicine and obtained the London MB, BS in 1946. Following hospital appointments in London he started his orthopaedic training at Gloucester Royal Infirmary and later at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. After secondment to Birmingham Accident Hospital he returned to Gloucester as a consultant. He was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to Cheltenham General, Gloucester Royal and the Standish Hospitals where he worked from 1961 to 1985. He was Chairman of the Standish Hospital Medical Staff Committee for many years. Ronald was a scholarly man of a most unassuming and kindly disposition. His great interest in all things botanical was evident in his encyclopaedic knowledge of most forms of plant life. He was a highly skilled gardener. He was a lay preacher in the Methodist church. He died on 22 November 1989, survived by his wife Pat. He had seven children, Alison, Judith, Lindsay, Christian, Julian (a general practitioner in Somerset), Richard and Rosemary.