Andrew Geoffrey Butters was born in Kempston, Bedfordshire on 5 April 1911, the third child of George Butters, a general practitioner. In early childhood he suffered from a gross speech defect and also from congenital myopia. His disabilities were so severe that at the age of eight he was unable to read or write and was scarcely able to converse. Remedial treatment started at that age was successful in overcoming most of his problems and he entered Bedford School in 1921. He recalled his school days as unhappy times owing to an inability to play games and a poor academic performance. He was however able to gain admission to the Medical School of St Bartholomew's Hospital at the age of 17 to start the first MB course and apart from a transient problem with physiology, passed all his student examinations at the first attempt, qualifying in 1934. His original intention had been to enter his father's general practice, but owing to ill health his father had to retire early and the newly qualified Dr Butters embarked on a series of posts as house officer and resident anaesthetist. An interest in surgery developed whilst working at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, where he was allowed to perform some surgical procedures initially under supervision and later independently. He obtained a post as resident surgical officer at King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor, and passed the Edinburgh FRCS in 1937. Later he was surgical registrar in Plymouth and early in the war was appointed surgical tutor and registrar at the Royal Hospital Sheffield. His poor eyesight prevented him from serving in the armed forces but throughout the war he remained in Sheffield, dealing with the many casualties brought to the hospital during this period. In 1946 he was appointed consultant surgeon at Barnsley Hospital, South Yorkshire, and remained there until his retirement in 1976. His chief interest was in gall bladder surgery but he also contributed an article to the *British Medical Journal* on the recurrence rate of femoral herniae repaired from below. In 1971 he was made FRCS *ad eundem* and in 1974 he married Aileen Kellett, who had been theatre superintendent at Barnsley Hopsital for twelve years. They shared an interest in country walking, especially in the Lake District and Derbyshire. He died from viral pneumonia on 11 June 1994 aged 83, survived by his wife.