John Dawson was appointed consultant surgeon to King's College Hospital in 1965, at the early age of 32. The second son of Leslie Joseph Dawson and Mabel née Jayes, he was born in Leicester, and received his education at the Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys. He qualified MB BS with honours in pathology from King's College Hospital in 1955. Appointments at his teaching hospital were followed by posts at St James' Hospital, Balham, where he worked with Norman Tanner. He was awarded a Nuffield scholarship to work in the USA at the Boston City Hospital, Harvard University. Here he researched into the causes of post-operative renal failure. On his appointment to King's, he soon developed a special interest in liver disease and, with his colleague Roger Williams, helped to establish the international reputation of the liver unit. His pioneering surgery included radical tumour resection, injection sclerotherapy and portosystemic shunt surgery. Not only was he an excellent diagnostician, but his post-operative care was sympathetic and meticulous. John proved to be a very successful replacement to Leonard Cotton as clinical dean to the faculty of medicine and dentistry at King's, a post he held from 1988 to 1992. He was President of the section of surgery of the Royal Society of Medicine and Sir Arthur Sims travelling professor in 1981, representing the Association of Surgeons of Australasia. He served the Royal College of Surgeons as examiner in the primary FRCS in anatomy from 1974 to 1980, and was a member of the Court of Examiners from 1981 to 1989. He was also an examiner for the Universities of London and Cambridge. He was also vice-chairman to the *British Journal of Surgery* from 1981 to 1989. In 1975 he was appointed surgeon to the Royal Household, and from 1983 to 1990 he was surgeon to HM the Queen. He was sergeant surgeon for a further year after this. His brother, Anthony, a distinguished physician, was also in the service of the Royal Household - surely one of the few occasions when two family members were involved at the same time. Sadly, ill health due to hepatitis occasioned John's retirement in 1991. John was a clear, authoritative, and respected teacher, enjoying his work with undergraduates and trainees in surgery alike. His sharp intellect and excellent sense of humour was appreciated, and he could encapsulate the character and aptitude of students in the end of term reports. During his protracted illness he never complained. After his first liver transplant, he carried on with his hobbies of tennis, gardening and theatre: skiing became impossible when he developed spinal stenosis, also requiring surgery. He continued to work for the Royal College of Surgeons and the Medical Appeals Tribunal Service, his sharp intellect to the fore in spite of his disabilities. One of his medical colleagues who had known him over the years described him as the best general surgeon in London in the 1970's and 1980's. John married Rosemary Brundle, a physiotherapist, in 1958, and they had two sons, Neil and Tom, and a daughter, Jane. He died after a second liver transplant on 16 May 1999, survived by his wife, children and granddaughter, Alissa.