Born at Edgbaston, Birmingham on 29 October 1845, the son of Brooke Smith. His father belonged to an old Unitarian family and the son was named after Joseph Priestley, the preacher and discoverer of oxygen, who was driven to the United States when the Birmingham mob burnt his house. Brooke Smith was

Born at North Shields, and received his professional training at the London Hospital and Moorfields. He held the posts of House Surgeon and House Physician at the London Hospital, and formed friendships with some distinguished members of the visiting staff. In 1876 he was elected Senior House Surgeo

The son of a Birmingham physician, served an apprenticeship, then studied at the Birmingham General Hospital and at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He began practice as a general surgeon, was Surgeon to the King's Norton Union near Birmingham, to the General Dispensary, the Birmingham Orthopedic Hospital

Lindo Ferguson died peacefully on 19 January 2014 at the age of 90 years. Lindo was born in an historic home on his parents' dairy farm at Waimate North. He was educated by a governess until the family moved to Dunedin during the 1929 depression when he was aged 7. He attended John McGlashan Scho

Born at Dalston, London, on 13 September 1860, the fourth son and sixth surviving child of George Hewkley, a member of the Stock Exchange, and Mary Dore his wife. He was educated at the City of London School and took his medical training at the London Hospital, Durham University, and Brussels. Hewkl

Jonathan David Griffiths was an ophthalmologist at the Bath Eye Hospital. He was born on 6 March 1938 in a colliery house in Tonyrefail, Glamorgan, Wales. His father, William Marsden Griffiths, was a mining engineer and colliery manager, as had been his grandfather and great-grandfather before him.

Ian William Payne was a consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Eye Infirmary in Plymouth. He was born in Bedford on 15 June 1923, the only child of Benjamin William Payne, an engineer who had served with the Royal Engineers during the First World War, and Ann Payne née Simpson. During his early chi

Dudley Plunket Gurd was born in Belfast on 18 June 1910 the elder son of Frederick Gurd, a pharmaceutical chemist, and Annie Jane (née Glenn), and was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and Queen's University, Belfast, qualifying in 1932. After early house appointments in Belfast, Liverpool and Londo

Brian Harcourt was born on 3 March 1934, the son of John Ellison Harcourt, a scientific instrument manufacturer in Liverpool and Bertha Florence Kneen. His grandfather, Richard Eugene Harcourt FRCS (1858-1921), was an ophthalmic surgeon, also in Liverpool. Harcourt was educated at Quarry Bank High S

Arnost Hirtenstein was born in Slovakia in 1909 and qualified MD in Prague in 1934. After military service during which he developed an interest in ophthalmology he entered general practice in a small town in Northern Bohemia but after three years, in 1939, he was arrested by the Gestapo and forced

Born on 22 July 1875 the only child of Ernest Wirgman and Mary Williams his wife, he was educated at Harrow and University College Hospital, where he served as ophthalmic house surgeon. He was clinical assistant at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, and practised throughout his career

Pat Bateman was a consultant ophthalmologist in Cambridgeshire. She was born in Bristol on 11 May 1943, the daughter of Sam Roylance, headmaster of Cottam Grammar School in Bristol, and Emily Grace, a consultant paediatrician. She received her medical education at St Bartholomew’s and, after qualify