George Arden was born in London in 1913, the last of the Ardens who claimed descent from before the Doomsday book. He qualified from University College Hospital where he did junior jobs and passed the FRCS. He then joined the RAFVR as a surgical specialist and was in charge of the surgical divisions of several hospitals in the Middle East. He returned to specialise in orthopaedics, working at University College Hospital and the Wingfield-Morris Hospital in Oxford, before being appointed as a consultant to the Windsor group of hospitals. Here he made an important contribution to the surgery of arthritis, working closely with Barbara Ansell with whom he wrote a textbook. He was awarded a Hunterian Professorship for this work in 1973. He was one of the pioneers of joint replacement, and in 1978 was given a grant by the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council to undertake a computerised study of the results of hip and knee replacement. He was an enthusiastic golfer, sailor and bridge player. His wife Kathy predeceased him by a few days. He died on 25 September 1997, leaving four daughters and 10 grandchildren.