Chandra Pal de Fonseka was an accident and emergency surgeon in Bristol. He was born in Panadura, Ceylon, on 22 December 1919 into a family with many medical connections. His grandfather and two uncles were medical practitioners. His father, Hector Clarence de Fonseka, was a landowner who managed hi

Edward Kadzombe was a consultant in accident and emergency surgery in Liverpool. He was born in Mgoza village in Balaka, Malawi. He was educated at Mtendere and Blantyre secondary schools before gaining a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Manchester. He qualified MB ChB in 1975. He

William Rutherford was one of the pioneers of accident and emergency medicine as a specialty in the UK. The son of a Presbyterian minister, he was born on 15 July 1921 at Warrenpoint, County Down. His family moved to Dun Laoghaire near Dublin, but he went to boarding school in Belfast. He rejected G

John Myers was a consultant surgeon in the accident and emergency department at Newham General Hospital in the East End of London. He qualified from St Mary's in 1968, where he did junior posts before passing the FRCS. He went on to be a casualty officer at St Thomas's Hospital, London, then a regis

Howard Davies qualified in 1960 and worked first in Newport, and then as consultant to the accident and emergency department at Carmarthen, where he is thought to have worked for 15 to 20 years. After his wife died prematurely of breast cancer, he became rather a recluse and the College has little i

Joe Jaya-Ratnam was born in Ceylon on 17 December 1936. He trained in Colombo, where he practised for 15 years before going to England to train in surgery. He specialised in accident and emergency medicine, was a registrar in Lincoln and Leicester, and a senior registrar in Middlesborough, before be

Geoffrey William Hinchley (Geoff) was an accident and emergency surgeon at Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield, London. Born in Barrow in Furness on 4 December 1959, he was the second of four children. At Barrow Boys Grammar School he excelled both in class and on the athletics field. He studied medicine a

John Hindle trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital and after junior posts specialised in accident and emergency surgery. He was a registrar to Tilbury and Riverside Hospital and Accident Officer at the Middlesex Hospital before being appointed consultant in charge of the emergency department at Luton

Abani Kumar Chowdhury passed his MB in Calcutta in 1946 and his FRCS in 1958. He came to England and became a surgical registrar to the Walsall Hospital Group. In the 1960s he became senior casualty officer (and later consultant) to the accident and emergency department of Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

Idris William Adams was born at Tonyrefail, South Wales on 14 June 1940 the son of Philip Darwin Adams, a schoolmaster and Fiona Mary, née Jenkins, a headmistress. He was educated at Cowbridge Grammar School where he was head boy in 1958 before entering Charing Cross Hospital Medical School which he

Ranjit Basu was born on 15 August 1926 and studied for his MB BS at Grant Medical College in Bombay. He became a Fellow of the College in 1957 and came to England to live in Liverpool. He became surgical registrar at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and then senior registrar at the Liverpool Thoraci

Matthew Choyce, the son of David Choyce (q.v. above) and Diana Graham, was born on 28 June 1963. He read medicine at Oxford and then did junior jobs at the United Hospitals in Bath and the Frenchay Hospital, Bristol. He specialised in accident and emergency medicine, becoming first registrar at the