Robert Jack was born on 6 October 1914 in Darjeeling, India. His father, Sir Robert Jack, was a High Court Judge in Calcutta and his mother was Bertha Innerarity, née Shalcross. His boyhood and schooling, which was divided between Clifton and Cheltenham, were marked by long separations from his parents and he spent most of his vacations with various members of his large extended family of Irish origin. He read medicine at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and graduated MB BChir in 1940. He trained at Bart's and then became a registrar at Guy's. During the second world war, from 1941 to 1947, he served with the RAMC in Nigeria and rose to the rank of major. He became RMO to the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital, chief clinical assistant at Moorfields, Westminster and Central Eye Hospitals and finally consultant ophthalmic surgeon to the Northampton General and Kettering Hospitals from 1950 until he retired in 1979. Competitive sailing was one of his favourite activities and he brought great skill and knowledge to the sport. He also enjoyed gardening, bird watching and photography. In his retirement he became very skilled at wood turning and adept in culinary matters. On 8 November 1943 he married Daphne Egerton Jones SRN, a nurse at St Thomas's Hospital. They had a son, Andrew, who became a sales manager, and a daughter Sarah (Sally), who became a secretary and picture conservator. Sadly Daphne's health failed after his retirement and she predeceased him. He died on 3 July 1993, survived by his children.