James Bankes was born in Romiley, Cheshire, on 10 March 1935, the son of Reginald and Alice Bankes, who were both pharmacists. He was educated at King's School Macclesfield, King Edward VII School, King's Lynn, and the City University, London, before entering St Mary's Hospital Medical School where he won the physiology prize and qualified in 1961. After junior appointments at St Mary's and the Whittington Hospitals he became senior house officer at the Western Ophthalmic Hospital, and then rose up the ladder at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He was appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon to St Mary's Hospital , Paddington, the Western Ophthalmic Hospital and St Luke's Hospital for the Clergy. Later he became ophthalmic surgeon to the Royal Naval Officers' Association. secretary to the Ophthalmic Society of the United Kingdom and sub-dean at St Mary's Hospital Medical School. His publications included important contributions in ophthalmology, such as *Clinical ophthalmology: a text and colour atlas* and *Sports eye injuries*. In 1991 James Bankes was appointed Master of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers of London. His other interests included painting in oils, opera, theatre, wine, bookbinding, and collecting eighteenth century furniture and silver. In 1962 he married Josephine Anne Kingswell, JP, BSc, known as 'Jofan'. They had two sons, Angus, a computer consultant and Marcus, an orthopaedic surgeon. He died on 16 October 1993 at the early age of 58 from carcinoma of the prostate, survived by his wife and sons.