Samuel Barnett was born in Australia in 1900 and received his medical education at Melbourne University, qualifying in 1922, and gaining his MD in 1924. After resident appointments in Australia he came to London and gained his Fellowship in 1926. His chief interest was in gynaecology and he was soon appointed honorary surgeon to the Royal Portsmouth Hospital and visiting gynaecologist to St Mary's Hospital Portsmouth. On the advent of the Health Service he became consulting obstetrician and gynaecologist to the Portsmouth Hospital Group and a member of the Group Management Committee. He was also a civilian consulting gynaecologist to the Royal Navy and the Army. During the second world war he remained in Portsmouth and worked tirelessly in the treatment of air-raid and other casualties. Barnett was a man of great charm and wide reading and he rapidly established a large practice in and around Portsmouth. For the last few years of his life he was compelled on medical advice to curtail his activities, but on his retirement in 1964 he received many tributes and presentations from his colleagues and patients. He died in the Royal Portsmouth Hospital on 27 December 1965 at the age of 65; his wife predeceased him, but he left two daughters.