Frederick Curtis was born in 1873, the son of Albert Curtis MRCS 1857, a general practitioner at Staines, Middlesex, and grandson of Frederick Curtis MRCS 1832, who had practised there previously. He was brought up a Quaker and educated at Bootham, York. His family had a long tradition in medicine for his was the seventh successive generation of medical men, earlier generations having engaged in general practice at Alton, Hampshire. He studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, but interrupted this work to pursue his other interests of ornithology and botany, inherited perhaps from his distinguished ancestor William Curtis, the botanist and founder of the *Botanical Magazine*. In 1897 he joined an expedition to Navaya Zemlya in the Arctic in search of the breeding ground of the little stint and other rare birds, but it failed to achieve its objective; the little stint was later found breeding 100 miles to the east. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society as a result of this journey and was a Member of the Ornithological Union. He later declined an invitation to join Captain Scott's last expedition to the Antarctic. He resumed his studies at Guy's, qualifying MRCS, LRCP in 1901, and held the junior appointments of assistant house surgeon, house surgeon, obstetric resident and assistant demonstrator in anatomy at Guy's and clinical assistant at the Throat Hospital, Golden Square. He obtained his FRCS in 1902, married, and joined the practice of W A Berridge, MRCS 1876, at Redhill. There he established himself as an able general surgeon and general practitioner. He came to Redhill when professional jealousy and intrigue were at a peak, and by his quiet and friendly personality dispelled much of an undesirable atmosphere. He was appointed to the Reigate and Redhill Cottage Hospital as an honorary medical officer in 1904, was appointed to the Board of Management in 1907 and, when policy changed, was elected medical representative to the Board in 1932. He became senior surgeon in the same year and chairman of the Medical Staff Committee. His partner, W A Berridge, retired in 1914; and he had another partner, Francis Gayner MRCS 1905, who joined him in 1908. During the first world war he volunteered for military service with the RAMC at its outbreak, but was refused and was requested to continue at Redhill. He worked at nine war hospitals and convalescent homes including that at Reigate and Redhill Hospital, then no longer a "Cottage" Hospital; huge numbers of battle casualties from France were distributed in the area after disembarkation at Newhaven. He continued to conduct general practice and took his share in caring for the patients of two colleagues absent with the Army. His partner was frequently ill, and at intervals Curtis cared for the inmates of a large orphanage for children of depressed gentle-folk, St Ann's School. When this closed as an orphanage it was filled with troops, which engaged him in further surgical work at the Reigate and Redhill Hospital. He was awarded the OBE in 1919 in recognition of his services. After the war he was responsible in cooperation with his colleagues for enlarging the Reigate and Redhill Hospital into a small general hospital, renamed the East Surrey Hospital. For many years he was consultant surgeon to the Royal Earlswood Hospital for Mental Defectives, and was obstetric consultant to the Borough of Reigate before the days of specialists in the subject in country towns. He retired from hospital practice in 1934 but continued as senior partner to build his general practice, so that when the second world war broke out it was a partnership of five. Two partners were immediately called to their Volunteer Reserves and he carried on throughout the war in general practice, retiring in late 1945 at the age of 72. He moved to the edge of Ashdown Forest, even then following up an aspect of cancer research and indulging his pursuits of natural history and gardening. He died on 11 February 1966 at the age of 94 after a short period of incapacity; his wife died soon after him aged 92. They were survived by three daughters and their son Frederick John Curtis who continued the practice since his father's retirement.