Alan Richardson was a consultant neurosurgeon at Atkinson Morley's Hospital, London. He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, on 21 August 1926, the youngest of four sons of William Richardson OBE, company secretary for an oil company, and his wife, Daisy. He was educated at St Egbert's Roman Catholic School, Chingford, where he distinguished himself academically, and whence he proceeded to Guy's Hospital Medical College in 1943, qualifying in 1949. Two years of National Service were spent in the 15/19 Kings Royal Hussars in Hamburg, Germany. After National Service, he held junior posts at Hammersmith Hospital and the Whittington Hospital. His training in neurosurgery was under Sir Wylie McKissock at the National Hospital, Queen Square, and Atkinson Morley's Hospital, Wimbledon, a branch of St George's. While first assistant in neurosurgery at Atkinson Morley's, he spent 10 months, in 1958, as a locum consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Later, he was a research fellow at Atkinson Morley's Hospital. In 1962, he was appointed as a consultant neurosurgeon at Atkinson Morley's and also at the Whittington Hospital, a post he later relinquished. From 1967 to 1971 he undertook the medical directorship of the newly established Wolfson medical rehabilitation centre at Atkinson Morley's. He retired from the National Health Service in 1987, but he continued a large medico-legal practice thereafter. Richardson's interests in neurosurgery were very wide, from spinal surgery to stereotaxic psychosurgery, but his name is particularly associated with intracranial aneurysms and haemorrhage, both subarachnoid and intracerebral. With the development of percutaneous carotid angiography after the second world war, direct surgical attacks on intracranial aneurysms, usually for bleeding, became common. Results were disappointing, and it became apparent that the natural history of the condition was not known and that it was not clear that anything was being achieved by surgery. This conclusion was articulated by McKissock in 1958 and was so contrary to surgeons' intuitions or desires that it led him to organise the first controlled clinical trials at Atkinson Morley's Hospital comparing surgery with bed rest. These trials showed that operating did improve the outcome, but that there were a number of factors, such as the site of the aneurysm and sex of the patient, which influenced the result. This important work was followed by the international co-operative study of aneurysms and subarachnoid haemorrhage, organised in the US, to which Atkinson Morley's was by far the largest single contributor, providing a third of the cases. Richardson was much involved and continued this work over a number of years, publishing studies on various aspects of aneurysms, including the long-term outcome of both aneurysms left untreated and those in which carotid ligature had been performed during the original studies. He also contributed to a controlled trial on the value of operating in spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage, and wrote on cerebellar haemorrhage and the surgery of basilar aneurysms, of which he had considerable experience. Richardson had a very quick intelligence and a highly developed and sometimes sharp sense of humour. He was extremely clear thinking and not very tolerant of those who were not, being regarded as a martinet in his department. As a student he had been notably well organised in his studies and had shown powers of leadership, attributes which later made him formidable in administration and in committee. His medico-legal work displayed the same incisive thinking. He was secretary of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons and an overseas member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He married Jill née Gunthorpe, a nurse, in 1957. There was one son. From his student days he was fond of snooker and later become a keen gardener. Opera, reading, cross-country skiing and wine were other interests. He died on 27 July 1998, following surgery for carcinoma of the rectum.