Lord Kindersley was born in 1899, the son of the first Lord Kindersley and Gladys Margaret Beadle. Educated at Eton he served in the first world war in the Scots Guards, where he won the Military Cross in 1918. During the second world war he rejoined his old regiment and served with the 6th Airborne

A businessman and former chairman of Marks and Spencer, Marcus Sieff was elected to an honorary fellowship in 1984 in recognition of his contributions to the College. He was born in 1913, the younger son of Israel Sieff and Rebecca Marks, an ardent Zionist. Rebecca's father Michael had co-founded t

Sir William Henry Collins was the most munificent benefactor in the history of the College, his gifts for the endowment of the scientific departments being comparable to, but surpassing, the great donations of Sir Erasmus Wilson and Sir Buckston Browne. He gave £100,000 to endow the professorship of

Blond was a generous benefactor to the College, in conjunction with his relatives in the Marks family. He had made his wealth as a textile manufacturer in Manchester, and also served with distinction in both world wars, and as a public servant in influential positions in Whitehall, Paris, Washington

Simon Marks was born on 9 July 1888 son of Michael and Hannah Marks and was educated at Manchester Grammar School. His father died in 1906 and Simon aged 18 went into the business his father had founded in Leeds market in 1884 of penny bazaar stores. During the first world war he worked on various G

Born on 17 August 1905, Sir Cyril was the son of Sir Alexander Kleinwort and became Chairman of the family company. He had long associations with the Royal College of Surgeons and was a leading figure, under Lord Kindersley, in arranging the College appeal. His outstanding experience and wisdom in m

Born on 10 October 1877 he grew up at Oxford and when he was 16 started to earn his living in a bicycle shop. Very soon he had his own shop, was winning bicycle-races, and designed and sold first a bicycle and then a motor-cycle. Capital accumulated and in 1904, aged 27, he started his Morris Garage

Charles William Hayward was born in Wolverhampton on 3 September 1892, the son of John and Mary Hayward. His father, a bicycle salesman, died when Charles was two years old and his mother died four years later. He and his younger sister were then cared for by their grandparents and he was educated a

Lord Wolfson was a businessman and an outstanding philanthropist. He was born in London, the only child of Edith and (later Sir) Isaac Wolfson, the son of Russian immigrants who had settled in Glasgow, and was educated at King’s School, Worcester. He succeeded to the Great Universal Stores business

Israel Sieff was born on 4 May 1889, and was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University. At school he met Simon Marks who had a similar upbringing - in fact he stated on the occasion of his admission to the Honorary Fellowship that it was from their parents that he and Simon had

Born on 28 September 1917, the son of George Levy, a company director, and his wife Beatrice, née Birn, Percy Levy was educated at Clifton College and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He joined the RAF in 1940 and rose to be Squadron-Leader. He worked with the 600 Group, being responsible for thei

For Sir Isaac Wolfson's distinctions and career see *Who's Who* 1990 and the excellent memoir by Lord Bullock in *Biographical memoirs of the Royal Society* 1994 423-7.