Born 22 May 1877 at Dursley, Gloucestershire, the fourth son and youngest of the six children of William Lister, engineer, and his wife, née Fraser. He was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, and at St Bartholomew's Hospital, where he was Brackenbury scholar in surgery in 1901 and dressed for Sir Henry Butlin. He also served as prosector at the Royal College of Surgeons. At the Army Medical School, Netley, he won the Parks medal in hygiene and the Maclean prize in clinical medicine and surgery in 1902, and passed top into the Indian Medical Service, being gazetted lieutenant on 29 January 1902. He saw active service in the East African campaign of 1900-04, including the action at Jidballi in Somali-land, where he was attached to the 27th Punjabis. He rescued a wounded officer under fire in this action and saved his arm from amputation; this officer lived to become a general. Lister was awarded the medal with clasp at the end of the campaign, but had contracted fever which left him with impaired health for the rest of his life. From 1909 to 1913 he served on the staff of the Commander-in-chief in India, Sir G O'Moore Creagh VC (see *DNB*), was promoted captain on 29 January 1905 and major on 29 July 1913, and again saw active service in the war of 1914-18. During his leaves, being an excellent linguist, he studied in continental clinics, at Paris and at Zurich and under E Fuchs at Vienna. He had specialized as an ophthalmologist and worked under Henry Smith, CIE (see Crawford's *Roll of the IMS*, Bengal list, No 2295) at Jullundur and Amritsar. Lister was appointed the first professor of ophthalmology at the King George Medical College at Lucknow, having been previously professor of physiology there, and was ophthalmic surgeon to the King George Hospital. He was promoted lieutenant- colonel on 29 July 1921, and appointed an Honorary Surgeon to the Viceroy, but retired owing to ill-health in 19 March 1922. Returning to England he was appointed assistant surgeon to the Western Ophthalmic Hospital, London, but in 1923 he settled at 86 Pembroke Road, Clifton, where he practised as a consultant ophthalmologist, and became consulting surgeon to the Bristol Eye Dispensary. From 1922 to 1930 he contributed the survey of eye literature to the Medical Annual each year. He was a member of the Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom and of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress. Lister married in 1909 Hester I K Hallowes, who survived him with a daughter. He had long suffered from ill-health and retired in 1933. He died at The Mount, Inchbrook, Stroud, Gloucestershire on 21 December 1943. As a student he had been a boxer and "put the weight" for the Hospital. Publications: Extraction of cataract in the capsule. *Arch Ophthal NY* 1909, 38, 571. After-effects of escape of the vitreous. *Ibid* 1910, 39, 1. After-effects of escape of the vitreous in intracapsular extraction of cataract; appendix to Henry Smith's *Treatment of cataract*, 1910. Sclero-corneal trephining.* Ind med Gaz* 1919, 54, 294. The weight of the cataractous lens. *Ibid* 1920, 55, 84. Eye. *Medical Annual*, 1922-30.