Arthur Cecil Barker Biggs was born in North London on 9 March 1885. His father, John Maundy Biggs, was a general practitioner and a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Florence Elizabeth Biggs, née Hopkinson, his mother, was the daughter of the originator of the Hopkinson piano. He w

Born on 8 February 1891 in the Military Cantonments at Bangalore, Dick Rishworth was the son of an officer in the British Army in India: his mother was the daughter of a major in the Indian Army Ordnance Corps and his great grandfather was an Assistant Surgeon of the East India Company. After educat

David Woodhead passed the primary FRCS while a student at King's College Hospital and the final in 1949 but decided, after an appointment as demonstrator in anatomy at St Bartholomew's Hospital, on general practice as a career, conducting this in Weymouth from 1951 to 1971. While there he studied Ru

Sydney Vernon Humphries, the eldest child of Sydney William Humphries, a bank manager, and Violet Humphries (née Kirkman), was born on 24 January 1907 at Middelburg, Cape Province, South Africa. He was educated at Michaelhouse, Natal, and Pembroke College, Cambridge, before entering St Thomas's Hosp

George Harold Thomas was born on 2 January, 1889 in Hong Kong, of unknown parents. He was adopted as a child but left to fend for himself after a few years. His early life was lonely and hard due to poverty and privation. He was educated at the Diocesan Boys' School in Hong Kong and the College of M

Alison George Selborne Bailey, known as 'Joe', was larger than life. He was born on 19 July 1915, the son of George Frederick Selborne Bailey, a general practitioner and Mabel Yardley Guard, a midwife. He was educated at Radley, and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he spent much of his t

Kenneth Sweetman qualified in Melbourne where he did junior posts. Later he worked as a surgical specialist in the Government Hospital in Tripoli, Libya and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Aden. His last position was Chief Medical Officer to the Shell Petroleum Company in Brunei. He retired to Hindhea

Arthur Norman Jones was born on 14 January 1904 in Liverpool, the son of John Lewis Jones, an estate agent, and Catherine Elizabeth, the daughter of a banker. His early education was at the Blundellsands School and Liverpool College, and he went to medical school in Liverpool, graduating MB ChB in 1

Keith Franklin Drysdale Sweetman was born in Perth, Western Australia, on 5 February 1914. His father was Joseph Franklin, a hardware merchant, who married Gladys Edith Drysdale. His great grandfather arrived in Western Australia as a civilian in 1834 from the United Kingdom but nothing is known of

Basil Tracey was born on 19 October 1899 at Willand, Devon, where his father, Henry Eugene Tracey, was a general practitioner, four of whose eleven children were qualified medical practitioners. His mother was Emily Alice, née Martin. He was educated at Monkton Combe School and St Bartholomew's Hosp

Born 19 May 1875 at 14 Seaton Terrace, Mutley, Plymouth, eldest child of Lewis Charles Thomson, accountant with the Admiralty, and Julia Boase, his wife. He was educated at Blackheath High School, and at Guy's Hospital, where he served as house surgeon and as obstetric registrar. He served also for

Born on 30 December 1877 at Garforth, near Leeds, Yorkshire, son of Sir John Ward and his wife, *née* Brambles. His father afterwards became Lord Mayor of Leeds. He was educated in Switzerland and at Clare College, Cambridge, and took first-class honours in both parts of the Natural Sciences Tripos,