John Reginald Thompson was born on 13 March 1917 in Paignton, Devon, the son of John Thompson FRCS, GP surgeon of Torquay and Paignton and Elsie, née Royle. His mother was one of the first women to qualify as a doctor when she passed the MD in Manchester in 1909. He was educated at Sherborne School and completed his medical training at Clare College, Cambridge, and St Thomas's Hospital. He was house surgeon to R H Franklin at Kingston Hospital, resident surgical officer at Gloucester Royal Infirmary and, in 1950, became senior registrar and chief assistant in the urology department of St Thomas's Hospital under RHOB Robinson. In 1955 he was appointed consultant surgeon at Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals. During the war he saw service with the Royal Navy as surgeon lieutenant in Malta and later in the Far East, on HMS *Blackmore*. He was present at the surrender of the Japanese at Singapore. He married Elizabeth Shipton, a nurse at St Thomas's, on 26 July 1952. They had two sons - Ian, a chartered accountant and James, a deck officer in the Merchant Navy and later an estate manager; and two daughters - Gillian, in fine arts, and Celia, a chartered surveyor. Thompson was a church warden and was involved in the parish council and village affairs. His pastimes were sailing, shooting, fishing, carpentry, gardening and dry stone walling. He died on 18 September 1994.