Leonard Snowden Debenham was born on 4 February 1893 and was educated at St Paul's School and Guy's Hospital, which he entered as a dental student but decided to study medicine. In 1916 he graduated BSc with honours and in 1918 qualified with the Conjoint Diploma. The following year he took the MB BS, again with honours and with the Gold Medal in surgery. After house appointments at his teaching hospital he joined a partnership in general practice at Scarborough and was appointed honorary surgeon to Scarborough Hospital. In 1948 he was made consultant surgeon to the Scarborough Group of Hospitals and served until his retirement in 1958. He was elected FRCS in 1955. He soon made his mark in the district, both as general practitioner and as surgeon, and became increasingly in demand for his opinion as a consultant. A very tall man, of dignified and imposing appearance, he had a careful and scrupulous approach to his work. Before the introduction of blood transfusion services Debenham, working with Jack Field as administrator, compiled a list of donors and worked long hours typing and cross-matching donors and recipients. He became increasingly interested in prostatic surgery, and in 1960 was joint author of a paper on prostatectomy under hypotensive anaesthesia using a no-catheter technique. 'Deb' obtained relaxation and pleasure from classical music and opera and was a devotee of ballroom dancing. For many years he generously gave an annual dance for the nursing staff. He served on Scarborough Council for six years and was elected chairman of the water committee. He did excellent research on the history of Scarborough's water supply. He also developed an interest in the Scarborough Amateur Operatic Society and took part in several of their productions. He died on 29 December 1976 aged 83 years, survived by a son, also a Fellow of the College, and two daughters.