Vithal Gangadhar Phansalkar was a general surgeon in Bijapur district in Karnataka state, India. His father, Gangadhar Sakharam Phansalkar, was a general practitioner in Phaltan, Maharashtra. His mother Girija died when he was three years old and his father passed away when he was 17 and just about

Ajay Kanti Poddar was a consultant surgeon in South Australia. He was born in Pabna, in what was then India, on 1 July 1932. His father, Krishna Mohan Poddar, was a manager of a jute company; his mother, Jnanada Sundari Poddar née Saha, was a housewife. He attended the Hindu School, Calcutta and the

John Wasley Smith MB BS Adelaide, FRCS ED, FRCS, FRACS (Hon 1979) and OAM, was born in Adelaide. He attended Adelaide High School where he won a scholarship to Adelaide University, graduating in 1953. After graduating John travelled to the United Kingdom with his wife Joan and their young family of

Roland David Stedeford was a consultant surgeon in Barking, East London. He studied medicine at Oxford University and graduated BM BCh in 1956. In London he did house jobs at the West London Hospital and St George’s before becoming joining the staff of the Warnesford Hospital, Leamington Spa as a re

Hubert De Castella was a general surgeon at Burton upon Trent. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk

Wilfred Anthony de Souza was a general surgeon in Goa and chief minister of the state on three occasions. He was born on 23 April 1927 at Vagator, Anjuna, a small village in north Goa, the son of Tito Fermino de Souza, a doctor, and Alina Ana Maria de Souza. In 1930 Wilfred's father went to Kampala,

Ron Todd was amongst only the second generation of surgeons appointed to the Wrexham hospitals. He was initially based at the War Memorial Hospital and also in the expanded Emergency Medical Services (EMS) hospital in the town, which was later further developed into the district general hospital for

Brian Sterry Ashby was born in Northampton on 28 August 1930, the son of Roland Sterry Ashby, an estate agent and auctioneer. His mother, Marion Elizabeth née Phillips, was a company director whose father and two brothers were all dental surgeons. He attended Waynefleet House primary school in Brack

Christopher Wilfred Venables was born on 10 March 1935 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He was the only son of Wilfred George Venables, the manager of a chain store, and his wife Norah née Rainey. Educated in Swindon, he attended the Commonweal and Headlands Grammar Schools and won a Wiltshire County scho

John Lloyd Provan was born on 9 August 1931 in Newport, England. His father was Andrew Lloyd, a chief chemist for the Milk Marketing Board, and his mother was Gwyneth Mary Evans. He attended Adams' Grammar School, Newport, Shropshire, from 1939 to 1945. From there he went to King's College School, W

Roger Armour was a consultant general and vascular surgeon at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, who in retirement invented an inexpensive ophthalmoscope, which could be used in poorer regions of the world. He was born Roger Hanif Ahmed on 19 August 1934 in Murree, a small hill station in the foothil

Michael Middleton was an Edinburgh Scot from a medical family who became a general and vascular surgeon in Birmingham, active in training and examining. His father, David Skene Middleton, had qualified in both medicine and dentistry in the 1920s but practiced initially as an anaesthetist. An enth