John Harold Frank Batstone was born on 25 May 1924 in the Belgian Congo, the son of John a clergyman and his wife, Gwendoline Lilian, née Hurst. After education at Collington Rise School, Bexhill, and Sherborne School, he went to Jesus College, Cambridge, gaining the Rustat Exhibition. He trained in medicine at St Mary's Hospital, where he was house surgeon to Professor Aubrey Pannett in the surgical unit, surgical registrar to the Royal Masonic Hospital and plastic surgical registrar at Roehampton and Oxford. He was influenced by Lawrence Abel, and by R J V Battle and E W Peet. His hobbies included tennis, squash, golf and skiing. He married Hilary Burt in 1955 and she survived him when he died on 16 May 1986, as did their children, William, Tim and Rose.