Hugh Harley was born in Madura, India, on 27 November 1912. His father, Thomas William Harley, was a surgeon in the Indian Medical Service. His mother was Maisie née Wrixen. He was educated at Haddon Hall School, Ceylon, Belmont School, Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight, and then at Highgate School. He studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, where he won a junior science scholarship, as well as prizes for dissection, physiology, clinical pathology and the Golding Bird gold medal for obstetrics and gynaecology. He did his surgical training at Guy's under E C Hughes, Sir Heneage Ogilvie, Grant Massie and Clement Price Thomas. In 1941, he joined the Indian Medical Service, where he rose to be a Lieutenant Colonel and an adviser in surgery at GHQ, India. After the war, he specialised in cardiothoracic surgery, becoming surgical chief assistant at the Brompton Hospital. He was appointed consultant cardiothoracic surgeon to the United Cardiff Hospitals. He published papers on subphrenic abscess and achalasia. He married a Miss Thompson in 1949. They had three children. He died on 1 March 2002.