Peter Rycroft was born in Bradford, Yorkshire on 11 October 1928, the elder son of Sir Benjamin Rycroft and his wife, Mary, née Rhodes. He went to school at St Piran's on the Hill, Maidenhead, and at Stowe, and from there proceeded to his National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He continued his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated BA in 1952. His clinical training was taken at St Bartholomew's Hospital, and he qualified MB BChir in 1955. He then held house appointments at St Bartholomew's, including that of house surgeon to the eye department under H B Stallard and T H Dobree. From Bart's he went on to become a prosector in the department of anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons. Having obtained his Diploma in Ophthalmology in 1959, he was appointed resident house surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, City Road, and became the senior resident officer in 1961. This was followed by a period as chief clinical assistant to the Professorial Unit and posts in various departments at Moorfields. He obtained his FRCS in December 1962. He was appointed senior ophthalmic registrar to Guy's Hospital in 1963 and in 1964 became chief clinical assistant at the Corneo-Plastic Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, East Grinstead. He was appointed research ophthalmologist at the Pocklington Eye Research Unit at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1964 and the work he did there led to the thesis for his MD, which he obtained from Cambridge in 1968; for this also he was awarded, posthumously, the Ophthalmology Prize of the Royal Society of Medicine. This bare curriculum vitae gives but a scant idea of Peter Rycroft. His father had a very strong influence on his professional life, general development and his great sense of family loyalty. At school Rycroft was a keen cricketer and hockey player, and at the University and his Hospitals he was universally popular. His great interest in skiing resulted in his founding the Bart's Ski club, and his wider interests included riding, cricket (he was a member of the MCC) and interests in the arts. In his professional work he became especially skilled in comeal grafting, lacrimal and plastic work around the eye. His research work at the Royal College of Surgeons included detailed studies on the formation of the retro-comeal graft membrane. After he left the house at Moorfields, Rycroft helped his father in his large private practice, and when his father died he successfully continued this practice alone. In 1967 he organised the Second International Corneo-Plastic Conference at the Royal College of Surgeons. This sparkling Conference was notable both for its academic brilliance and the magnificence of its social programme. Although originally designed to be the zenith of his father's career, by a twist of fate it became the climax of the ophthalmological contributions of this close and gifted family. It is difficult to do justice to Peter Rycroft's quietness, kindness, and humanity, for he was a real gentleman in the best sense. He died on 6 January 1968, at the early age of 39, as the result of a motor accident. His wife Margaret, and his three young sons, John, Andrew and Simon survived him, Andrew having been badly injured in the accident.