Gunewardene was born and educated in Ceylon. He did postgraduate studies in England during the 1930s, taking the Fellowship in 1939. He practised in Ceylon for about thirty years, and died there in his fifties.

Nathaniel Allan Miller, the elder of twins, was the son of Thomas Henry Miller, a medically qualified dental surgeon, and of Janet Allan Miller (née Cook), the daughter of Alexander Cook, MD, FRCS Ed. His twin brother, Alec, became a consultant physician. Nathaniel was born at Preston, Lancashire, o

George Oliver Jelly was born on 26 April 1909 in Bury, Lancashire, the son of George Aubrey Jelly, an ophthalmologist, and Kathleen Mary Olive, the daughter of a papermaker. He was educated at Rugby, and read greats at Magdalen College, Oxford, but fell ill just before finals and took up medicine in

Brian Wilberforce Smith was born on 5 September 1910, went to Mill Hill School and then to Guy's Hospital where he qualified in 1933, proceeding to MB BS in 1935 and FRCS in 1939. His house appointments were at the Cancer Hospital in London and the Royal Infirmary Sheffield. Soon after the outbreak

Alexander John Heriot was born on 28 May 1914 in London. He was the youngest of the three sons of Robert and Lillie Elizabeth Heriot. His father had been born in Edinburgh in 1878 and migrated to London to start a building and decorating business in the early 1900's. He married Lillie, a London-trai

Alban Lewys-Lloyd was born at Towyn, Wales on 3 October 1902 the son of Evan Lewys-Lloyd, the County Medical Officer of Health of Merionethshire, and his wife Margaret, née Vaughan. He was educated at Towyn School before entering St Bartholomew's Medical College, qualifying in 1926. He initially int

Edward George Tuckwell, the third of eight children and the eldest son of Edward Henry Tuckwell, a stockbroker, and of Annie Clarice (née Sansom), was born on May 12, 1910, at Godalming, Surrey. He was educated at Hillside School, Godalming; Charterhouse School, and Magdalen College, Oxford. He then

John Alan East qualified in medicine in 1938 having trained at Guy's Hospital Medical School. He took the Conjoint Diploma in 1937 and the College Fellowship in 1939. He worked as consultant surgeon to the South East Metropolitan Hospitals Board in London. On moving to the USA he became surgeon to t

Arnold Gourevitch was a consultant surgeon in Birmingham. He was born in Paris on 24 February 1914, the son of Russian Jewish émigrés. At the outbreak of the first world war his parents fled to England, eventually settling in Birmingham. His father, Mendel, later qualified as a doctor and became a g

Lord Smith was one of our great presidents. Successive holders of that office have faced many and various challenges, but by any measure the confrontation between the Labour government and the BMA from 1974 to 1975 was a major crisis that threatened the future of consultant practice. Rodney Smith, a

Patrick Sames was a general surgeon in Bath with an interest in coloproctology. He was born on 17 January 1912 in Enfield, Middlesex, the only son of Christopher, a railway clerk, and Caroline née Radmore. He was a late entrant to medicine, leaving Harrow County School to become an apprentice in the

Denis Astley Sanford was a senior general surgeon in Sunderland. He qualified MB BS in 1936 and, after a house physician post at University College Hospital, London, became a resident surgical officer at the Royal Infirmary, Sunderland. He served as a wing commander in the RAF and then, after the S