Peter French was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at St George's Hospital, London. He was born on 2 July 1921, in Temple Fortune, north London, the eldest son of the reverend Reginald French and his wife, Gertrude née Haworth. His father was the local vicar, later moving to Stepney in east London, and finally to Dunstable, Bedfordshire. His grandfather was canon of Durham Cathedral and head of the Ladies College of St Hild's in that City. With such family connections, he went to preparatory school at Durham, then on to public school at Rugby, where he excelled at games, despite a severe head injury at cricket, and took up medicine, entering St Thomas's Medical School in 1939. The hospital was severely damaged during the Blitz, sustaining loss of life to staff and patients. The times were dangerous, but also inspiring to medical students. On qualification, he volunteered for service in the Royal Navy, and was posted to the Far East. Shortly after he arrived at Singapore, the war ended following the atomic bombing of Japan. He was demobilised in 1946, and decided to be a surgeon. Junior posts at St Peter's Chertsey and with Rowley Bristow at Pyrford attracted him to orthopaedics and, after taking his Fellowship, he became first assistant at St George's Hospital to B H Burns and Robert Young. In 1962, he was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to St George's, joining G C Lloyd-Roberts to form a strong clinical and teaching firm. Afterwards, he became consultant surgeon to the Royal Masonic Hospital. He remained active in the RNVR, advanced to Lieutenant Commander in 1966 and was awarded the Reserve Decoration. Life changed when, at just 42 years of age, he suffered a severe coronary thrombosis, from which he made a good recovery. Thereafter, he restricted his professional activities to clinical work and gave up smoking. He retired in 1986. As a surgeon, he was attentive to his patients, ever punctual and immaculately dressed, often with a rose in his button hole. He was a skilled and deft surgeon: he used to his advantage his ambidextrous trait, which made straightforward the most complex procedures. His generation of orthopaedic surgeons fulfilled the dreams of the past in making joint replacement a routine and safe operation. This was particularly true of the important joints of hip and knee, and Peter played his full part in mastering the techniques to ensure reliability in nearly all replacements. His publications included articles on recurrent synovitis of the knee, the frozen shoulder, and the knee joint in clinical surgery. He was most proud of his prize essay on corrective osteotomy for cubitus varus deformity in children. His reputation assured him a well-earned private practice, based on patients from both the home counties and overseas. As man and boy, he was attached to St George's, Hyde Park Corner, and for the long-term future of the hospital he accepted the move to Tooting and built up a happy and cohesive department there. He was blessed by a prodigious memory, never forgetting patients or friends, and frequently recalling long passages of poetry to suit the occasion. He was an enthusiastic golfer and a regular player at Royal Berkshire and St George's Society. He was proud to be a son of the manse and maintained his Christian values through his long and happy life. He married Ann Tottenham née Drybough, a former WREN, in 1958. She and their two adopted sons, James and Michael, survive him. He died on Christmas Day 1997.