Born on 25 January 1876, son of S L Horsford, of St Kitt's, West Indies, he was educated at Bedford Modern School and Edinburgh University, taking his MD with honours in 1902. A year later he took the English Fellowship after serving as a clinical assistant at the Throat Hospital in Golden Square. He was registrar at the Central Throat and Ear Hospital from 1905 to 1913. A paper "Why voices fail" in the *Practitioner* (1912, 89, 574) attracted attention and brought him a large practice among singers, especially as he was himself an excellent pianist. During the war of 1914-18 he served in the RAMC as an aural specialist. Resuming his practice at 24 Harley Street he became laryngologist to the Royal College of Music, the Royal Choral Society, and the Royal Society of Musicians, and lectured successfully on medical aspects of voice production. He used to accompany famous singers at his own musical parties. He was surgeon to the Princess Beatrice Hospital, Kensington and surgeon in charge of the ear nose and throat department of St Pancras Dispensary, and wrote for the journals of his specialty. He took an active part in the Section of Laryngology of the Royal Society of Medicine and in the Edinburgh University Club in London. Horsford married Edith Louise Sayers, who survived him with their son and daughter. He died on 16th December 1953 aged 77.