Charles Bellemore was born in June 1920, the third of eight sons of Charles and Mary Bellemore, and grew up in Ashfield, Australia. He was educated at the Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham, and received his medical training at the University of Sydney. He started general practice in Chester Hill in 1947 and then practised with his brother Kevin in Auburn. He came to England for part of his surgical training at Hillingdon Hospital before returning to Sydney where he was appointed to the staff of Lewisham and Liverpool Hospitals, and St Joseph's Hospital at Auburn. Much of his work was at Lewisham Hospital where he became chairman of the medical staff and also the first Chairman of the Liverpool Hospital Medical Board. He was a general surgeon in the true sense and much admired for his skill and clinical judgement. He published papers on abdominal surgery. In 1947 he married Catherine Fitzgerald and they had seven children; one son, Michael, is a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon. Charles enjoyed his weekly golf and was a very competent gardener. He learned to ski in his late fifties. His wife died in 1976 and he married Margot Moor who cared for him devotedly during a long distressing neurological illness. He died on 17 January 1990.