Lawrence Herbert Hansen was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand in 1929 and after early education at Palmerston Boys' High School entered the University of Otago Medical School, qualifying in 1955. After early hospital appointments in Wellington he came to England to work as surgical registrar at

Randolph Gilbert Beard, known as 'Randy', was the consultant surgeon in charge of the rectal department at Guy's Hospital, London. He was born on 13 August 1926 in Aldershot, Hampshire, the son of Randolph Beard, a major in the Grenadier Guards. Randy's demeanour reflected this background in no smal

Lindsay received his medical education in Edinburgh and qualified MB ChB Edinburgh in 1945. After taking the Edinburgh and English FRCS he moved to Canada, where he passed the Canadian FRCS in 1956. He practised as a general and colon and rectal surgeon at the Central Hospital, and at the Rudd Clini

Abraham Solomon ('Sol') Levitt was a colorectal surgeon in Perth, Western Australia. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 17 April 1927, the second child of Pinchas and Hadassah Levitt, who had emigrated from British mandate Palestine. Pinchas had been born in Bendery, then in Bessarabia, an

Michael William Noel Ward was a general and colorectal surgeon in Enfield. He studied at Oxford University and trained in medicine at University College Hospital (UCH), London. He did house jobs at UCH and passed the fellowship of the college in 1978. A consultant general and colorectal surgeon at C

Graham Sherwood Peck (also known as ‘Pecky’) was a senior surgeon at the Western General Hospital, Victoria, Australia. He was born in Melbourne on 15 May 1930. His father, Claude Russell Lemuel Peck, was a transport manager; his mother was Mary Queenie Peck née Houghton, a housewife. He attended Me

Alex Brown was a consultant surgeon at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. He was born on 26 January 1919. His father, A Brown, was head of the department of applied mathematics at the University of Cape Town. His mother, Mary Graham, had been the first female graduate at Rhodes Univers

'Sam' Mitchell was a consultant general surgeon in Swansea. He was born in Aberystwyth on 30 May 1926, where his father, Samuel, and mother, Doris née Finlay, were school teachers. He was educated at the County School in Aberystwyth and Cardiff University. His junior posts were on the professorial u

Nicholas David Carr (known as Nick) was born in Leeds on 15 April 1951, the son of John Allen Carr and his wife Kathleen Mary née Peel. After attending Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield, he studied medicine at Bristol University graduating MB, ChB in 1974. From 1976 to 1978 he did house jo

Born on 18 December 1939 in London, David Jagelman was educated at St Joseph's College, Beulah Hill and King's College London, before going on to Westminster Hospital Medical School. After qualifying in 1963 he was surgical registrar, research lecturer and senior registrar at the Metropolitan, Westm

Caroline Doig was a consultant paediatric surgeon in Manchester and the first woman elected to the council of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. She was not easy to miss in a crowded room: firstly, she was tall, but more importantly she had a formidable but likeable presence and was always

John Pendower was a consultant surgeon at Charing Cross Hospital, London and Mayday Hospital, Croydon. He was born on 6 August 1927, less than ten years after the end of the First World War; his father had been a teenage infantryman on the Somme. He grew up through turbulent and exciting times, and