Born in 1889 son of Dr Thomas Horton of Torquay, he was educated at Mill Hill where he was awarded an entrance scholarship and at University College where he was Bucknill scholar. After a house surgeon's appointment at University College Hospital and obtaining the Fellowship he joined the RAMC in 1914 for the duration of the war, becoming a surgical specialist in France and being mentioned in dispatches. In 1919 he became surgical registrar at University College Hospital and surgical tutor to dental students, obtaining a gold medal in the MS examination in 1920. He then entered a general practice in Weymouth as surgical partner, being attached to the Weymouth and District Hospital, the Dorset County, the Bridport and the Herrison Mental Hospitals. In 1946 he retired to Bournemouth but continued to work at Bridport until 1954. He was chairman of the West Dorset division of the BMA in 1934-36 and was an examiner for the General Nursing Council. In 1938 he was appointed J P for County Dorset. He was a kindly, high principled man of great energy; a good anatomist and a skilled operator. He married Elizabeth Mackay McDonald RRC in 1917 by whom he had a son and a daughter Jean, FFARCS.