Cecil William Thornhill was a senior consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary. He qualified in 1945 with the LRCPI and LRCSI, the licentiates of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, together with the licentiates in midwifery from both colleges. He gained his diploma in ophthalmology in 1952 and his FRCS in 1959. Prior to his consultant appointment he was a senior registrar at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and at University College Hospital. Cecil William Thornhill died on 26 August 2004. He was 82.