Born on 3 October 1863 at Chepstow, Monmouthshire, son of Edward James Counsell, an inland revenue official, and May Ann George, his wife. His father was a Somerset man and his mother came from Pembroke. He was educated at Guy's Hospital, which he served as resident obstetric officer. He settled in general practice at Liss, Hampshire, where he developed his aptitude for surgery, and proceeded to the Fellowship in 1894, ten years after qualifying. A visit to his sister at Oxford in "Eights week" led to his settling there in 1897, with the intention of specializing as a surgical consultant. But there was no vacancy on the staff of the Radcliffe Infirmary, and without a hospital appointment Counsell found his private nursing-home unsuccessful, and gradually returned to general practice. In the traditional role of "Doggins" to successive generations of undergraduates he achieved a most successful practice; his remarkable return to surgery in the war years 1914-18 surprised many who knew him well as a general practitioner. He was secretary of the section of surgery at the Oxford meeting of the British Medical Association 1904. For many years he served as medical officer to the post office staff of the city of Oxford. Counsell lived at first in the Banbury Road but for the greater part of his life at 37 Broad Street, one of the old houses opposite the Sheldonian Theatre which were pulled down to make place for the new Bodleian in the middle nineteen-thirties, by which time he had retired to 2 Pusey Street. Counsell desired to be of Oxford as well as in it, and matriculated as an undergraduate of New College in his early forties. He took second-class honours in modern history 1906, winning the close friendship of H A L Fisher, afterwards warden of the college. Counsell gave much service to the university athletic clubs and took particular interest in the under-graduate theatre. He had a large share in the success of the Oxford University Dramatic Society ("the OUDS"), acting for many years as prompter, and his house was annually the scene of delightful and informal gatherings after the performances. He was a man of ready accessibility and unostentatious generosity to his very wide circle of friends and patients. Counsell often took patients abroad and had travelled widely in Europe, often on foot. In 1925 his left eye was attacked by glaucoma and he soon lost the sight of both eyes. But his charm and accessibility remained. He affected some extravagance of dress, a wide hat, a cloak, and buckle-shoes. He was short, slim, and well proportioned, his ruddy face much seamed, apparently by laughter. He wore his thick white hair long. He was a very notable character. In spite of his long and successful practice he died poor, partly through failure to collect his fees and partly by giving away much of what he earned. Counsell married in 1886 Helen, daughter of Alfred Ritchie, of Stroud, Gloucestershire, who died in 1930. Their only son, Christopher Herbert (b 1889), was killed in action on the Somme in 1916; he had taken first-class honours in law at Oxford and was a barrister of the Inner Temple. Counsell died of pneumonia at 2 Pusey Street, Oxford, on 4 May 1946, aged 83, survived by his two daughters, the elder of whom, Miss Dorothy Counsell, was then principal of Whitelands College, Putney, a teachers' training college; the younger daughter, Miss V M Counsell, lived with him at Oxford. He was buried at Holywell cemetery, after requiem service in St Aloysius' Church. Counsell was in youth an Irvingite, but later entered the Roman Catholic church. He published his reminiscences under the title *Thirty-seven The Broad* in 1943, a book as gracious and urbane as its author. Publications:- Obstructive anuria for five days, copious diuresis, recovery. *Lancet*, 1888, 1, 972. Case of Addison's disease without pigmentation. *Lancet*, 1890, 1, 960. Aseptic surgery. *Medical magazine*, 1897, 6, 440. *Thirty-seven The Broad, the memoirs of an Oxford doctor*, with preface by Viscount Nuffield. London: Hale, 1943.