Born in Liverpool on 26 December 1915, to Henry Ramsay Monro and Marjorie (née Wace) Robert Monro claimed direct descent from the Monros of Foulis and London. No less than five generations of his family held the DM Oxon and FRCP London and served as physicians on the staff of the Bethlem Hospital, being descendants of Alexander Monro who was Principal of St Andrew's and Edinburgh Universities. Robert went to Uppingham School and Chillon College in Switzerland, before entering Cambridge in 1936. He obtained first class honours in 1940 and passing to the Middlesex Hospital Medical School he continued to win virtually every scholarship and prize available to him. His training posts were also at the Middlesex Hospital where he served as assistant to both Sir Alfred Webb-Johnson and Sir Gordon Gordon-Taylor. A spell of war service as a Major in the RAMC took him to Europe and India and he then was appointed as consultant surgeon to the Ipswich Group of Hospitals. Sadly in 1953 he developed muscular dystrophy and was seconded to the diagnostic radiology department where he made a distinguished contribution until retirement. In his youth he was a keen athlete and besides playing rugger, swimming and skiing, he was awarded a half blue for judo at Cambridge. He made many contributions to surgical literature including being joint author with Sir Gordon Gordon-Taylor on two seminal articles on hindquarter amputation in 1952. He married a nurse, Gwendoline Ellen Roberts, on 7 June 1943 and they had a daughter, Penelope Susan and an adopted son, Andrew. On 26 May 1973 he married Phyllis Mary Newton who was a personnel manager and a headmistress. He died on 16 March 1984, survived by his wife, daughter and grandchildren Ben and Tamsin.