Born at Goudhurst, Kent on 13 March 1882, fifth child and third son of William Alfred Benians, a schoolmaster, and Elizabeth Ackland his wife, he was educated at Bethany House School, Goudhurst and at the London Hospital, and qualified in 1907. Though he took the Fellowship in 1913, after serving as

Geoffrey Hadfield was born on 17 August 1889, in Manchester, the son of James Hadfield, a merchant whose interest in the import trade was associated with a love of travel, for he made four voyages round the world, landing finally at Plymouth, which he liked so much that he decided to settle there wh

Born on 18 October 1899 at Dalmuir, near Glasgow into a seafaring family, Robert Scarff moved to London at the age of six when his father obtained a post ashore at Tilbury. Robert was educated at the City of London School and the Middlesex Hospital and he qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in 1924,

Donald Brian Cater was born on 14 September 1908 in Oundle, Northampton, the second son of a Congregationalist minister, Frederick Ives Cater, and his wife Emmeline (née Rayner). He was educated at Kathaleen Lady Berkley's Grammar School, Wotton-under-Edge and Caterham School, Surrey, before proceed

Rupert Allan Willis, the elder of two sons of Benjamin James Willis, a banker, was born on 24 December 1898 at Yarram, Victoria, Australia. His mother, Mary Elizabeth Giles (née James), was the daughter of a congregational minister, and his younger brother, James Hamlyn Willis, was a well-known bota

Born on 11 September 1913, the second son of Henry James and Margaret Ann, Norman Henry Ashton was educated at the West Kensington Central School, King's College and Westminster Hospital. There he won the prize for bacteriology and was editor of the *Gazette*. After junior appointments, he specialis

Herbert Wilberforce Perkins was doubly qualified in surgery and dental surgery. He was the third son of a silk weaver, William Perkins, and his wife Eleanor (Whitworth). Born in London on 29 January 1881 he was educated at Dame Owen's (Brewers' Company) School, London, and at the Middlesex and Royal

William St Clair Symmers held the Chair of Pathology at Charing Cross. He was born on 16 August 1917 in Belfast, where his father, William St Clair Symmers, an American who had been born in South Carolina and trained at the University of Aberdeen, was Professor of Pathology and Bacteriology, having

Basil Morson was a consultant pathologist at St Mark’s Hospital, London and a pioneer of gastrointestinal pathology. He was born in Hampstead, London, one of three sons. His father, Albert Clifford Morson, was a urologist; his mother was Adela Frances Maud Morson née Phene. Through his father, he wa

Cuthbert Dukes, the son of a Congregational minister, was born on 24 July 1890 at Bridgwater, Somerset. He was educated at Caterham School and the University of Edinburgh and graduated in 1914. He served in the RAMC throughout the first world war attached to the Rifle Brigade, and was awarded the OB

Herbert Spencer was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, on 8 February 1915, the son of Hubert John Spencer, a coat manufacturer, and his wife Edith Maude, née Lodge. His early education was at Highgate Junior and Senior Schools, and he entered St Mary's Hospital Medical School for his medical studies, wh

Anthony George Ackerley was a consultant pathologist in Leicester. Born in Wolstanton, Staffordshire on 3 February 1925, he was the only child of George Ackerley, a schoolmaster and his wife Ethel née Edge. She was the daughter of Andrew Edge, a shoemaker who was to become Burgess of the Borough of