Anthony Anscombe, known as 'Tony', was a consultant surgeon in Manchester and a former dean of clinical studies. He was born in Bath, Somerset, on 16 November 1923, the son of Reginald Thomas Anscombe, who served in the Indian Army. He was educated at Bishopshalt Grammar School and the London Hospital, where he graduated MB BS in 1945. After a year as house officer at St Andrew's Hospital London, he held posts at the Royal Free Hospital, Epsom and Manchester, before becoming a Fellow of the College in 1949. After two years in the RAMC he was appointed senior surgical registrar at the Poplar Hospital, London, clinical assistant at St Mark's Hospital and senior registrar at the London. In 1956 he was appointed senior lecturer in surgery at St George's Hospital, the year he became a master of surgery, after presenting his thesis on the effect of abdominal operations on the mechanical function of the lung. Anscombe was awarded the Moynihan prize in 1955, was made an Arris and Gale lecturer in 1963 and was a Hunterian Professor in 1970. His appointment to the staff of Manchester Royal Infirmary was in 1959 at the age of 35. 'ARA', as he was known by his students, was a very big man, and somewhat intimidating to his staff and students alike, but he was very fair and under his rather brusque exterior was extremely kind and shy. He could be seen walking briskly along the hospital corridor, for he was always busy but highly organised. He was an extremely adept and speedy surgeon, which resulted in many of the trainees being somewhat tense when they were assisting. He was dean of clinical studies at the University of Manchester from 1965 to 1969, and external examiner at several universities in this country and overseas. For a period of 12 years he examined for the College, first for the primary and then the final Fellowship. One of his main surgical interests was inflammatory bowel disease and between 1959 and 1979 he was President of the North West division of the Ileostomy Society. Tony Anscombe was the treasurer of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland for a period of four years before being elected President in 1981. Tony was elected a member of the Moynihan Club in 1960 - he was secretary for nine years prior to being elected President. His publications were many and varied. He was a very general surgeon - a breed now almost extinct. He married Maureen Maxwell MacAndrew, also a doctor, in 1947. Tony retired to Dorset in 1984, when he was able initially to pursue his hobbies of golf and philately (he was particularly interested in and researched line engraved stamps). Unfortunately, his health deteriorated and for the past few years had not been able to travel. This was a great sadness for him and his wife. They had three children; two sons and a daughter, one of the sons became a psychiatrist in Boston, USA and the other trained as an anatomist. He died on 4 December 1998 after a prolonged period of ill health.