Leslie Ian Parton was born in Wellington on 26 October 1908, the only child of William Parton, an insurance company manager. He was educated at Mount Cook Boys' School and Wellington College where he was a senior national scholar in 1923 and a University national scholar in 1925. Two years later he graduated BSc from Victoria University and proceeded to Otago University for his medical studies qualifying in 1933. After house appointments at Wellington Hospital and Nelson Hospital he travelled to England as a ship's surgeon in 1935 and worked in Swindon Hospital until the outbreak of war when he joined the Emergency Medical Service. During the early years of the war he was involved in the treatment of air raid casualties and studied for the FRCS. In 1940 the examination hall had been damaged by bombing and he sat the examination in Birmingham on the only occasion it was held outside London. During the later years of the war, working in the King's College sector he became interested in urology and worked with J Swift Joly, John Sandrey and H P Winsbury-White. In 1946 he returned to New Zealand and was appointed assistant urologist at Auckland Hospital. Apart from his enthusiasm for professional work he had a great interest in teaching. He contributed many articles to surgical journals and published two books *Urology in general practice* and *Urology for nurses*. In 1956 he was awarded the Alan Newton Prize for his contributions to urology by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. After retiring from Auckland Hospital he remained in private practice and undertook the task of proof reading for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons; his work was recognised by the award of the medal of the College in 1983. His chief outside interests were walking and mountaineering and he climbed many peaks in New Zealand and the Himalayas. He also studied medical history and took a particular interest in the diseases affecting the Kings and Queens of England. In 1934 he married Alison McGeorge and they had two sons, a lawyer and a town planner, as well as a daughter with a diploma in physical education. He died suddenly in Auckland on 27 November 1988.