John Grieve Whitaker was born in 1895, the son of a doctor who qualified in Belfast, and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Grieve, was of Scottish descent. His father died when John was eight years old, and the family then moved to Canterbury, a suburb of Melbourne, where he was educated a

Gamini Wickramarachchi Karunaratne, or 'Gam' as he was always called, was a pioneer of paediatric surgery in Sri Lanka. He was born in Kamburugamuwa, southern Sri Lanka, on 19 April 1929. His father was Wilson Karunaratne and his mother was Tilaka. He had two brothers and five sisters. His early sch

Jeremy Lawson was a highly respected paediatric surgeon being on the consultant staff of three London hospitals, namely St Thomas’, Westminster Children’s and Great Ormond Street (honorary). He also had an attachment to Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton. He was born in London on 1 July 1927, the

Valentine Andrew James Swain was a paediatric surgeon in London's East End. He was born on 21 February 1910, a twin, in Ilford, Essex, into a family with a strong medical tradition. His father, James Steel Swain, and grandfather were both doctors. His mother was Mary Blanche née MacMunn. He went fro

Isabella Forshall was born and spent her childhood in affluent surroundings in Sussex. Details of her family are not recorded but she was educated privately at home where her mother, who read classics at Girton College, Cambridge in the 1890s, had a powerful influence, imbuing her with a keen apprec

Vanessa Wright was a consultant paediatric surgeon at the Royal London Hospital. She was born on 1 August 1943 in Chichester, Sussex, and studied medicine at University College, London, qualifying in 1966. She was a registrar at Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, Carshalton and at University Col

Dr Robert Bruce Filmer, 77, of Quarryville, PA died on Sunday, August 23, 2015 at Hospice & Community Care, Mt. Joy. Born in Sydney, Australia, he was the son of Albert Robert and Janet Isabel Watson Filmer and spouse of Thomas Howard Mitchell. Bruce served his fellowship in Australia, England, a

Helen Noblett, the first female paediatric surgeon in Australia, was a pioneering and innovative surgeon in Melbourne and then in Bristol, UK. She was brought up in Roma, Queensland and made an impression at Roma State School as a sporty, bright and hard-working scholar who won prizes and a scholars

Jay Grosfeld was, in the eyes of many, the foremost American academic paediatric surgeon of his time. A large man with a warm personality and an ever-present friendly smile, he was a wonderful host to visiting surgeons, a superb teacher and someone revered on both sides of the Atlantic by all who kn

Christopher Hugh Rance was a consultant paediatric surgeon at Nottingham City Hospital. 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

Edward Joseph Guiney (Eddie) was born on 31 January 1931. After attending Belvedere College he studied medicine at University College Dublin and graduated MB, BCh in 1956. He remained in Dublin doing house jobs at St Vincent’s Hospital (SVH) for a year before moving to Galway and spending two years

Lalit Kumar Sharma was a paediatric surgeon in Rohtak, Haryana, India. He was born on 25 December 1942 in Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. His family was from Anupshahr, situated on the banks of the Ganges, where they had large landholdings. His grandfather, Mangal Sen Sharma, was a criminal attorne