James Cyril Fraser Cregan, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Manchester, the son of James Grattan Cregan and his wife Gertrude, née Fraser, was born in London on 16 November 1918. His uncle, grandfather and great-uncle had all been doctors in London, Warwickshire, Manchester and Cheshire. His early education was at Buxton, followed by the Leys School, Cambridge, and then Manchester University and Medical School, where he graduated MRCS and LRCP in April 1942. After two months as a house surgeon he joined the RAMC and was attached to the 41st RM Commando, winning the Military Cross on 8 June 1944 during the Normandy landings. He was wounded and sent home in September 1944 and passed the MB BS as an external student in April 1945. Returning to Manchester as demonstrator of pathology, followed by junior orthopaedic appointments at Ancoats Hospital, he became senior registrar in orthopaedics at Manchester Royal Infirmary in 1947 and obtained his Fellowship in 1948. He was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to the South Manchester Hospitals in March 1950 but two years later, due to ill health, he became part-time consultant in orthopaedics and trauma to the University Hospitals of the South Manchester Group. In 1975 he became Director of Accident and Emergency Services at Manchester University, where he was also lecturer in orthopaedic surgery. He was a member of the Société Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopédique et de Traumatologie and of the Société Française de Chirurgie Orthopédique et Traumatologique. He also made many contributions to the literature in various international surgical journals. In his spare time, James Cregan was a keen gardener, and enjoyed fishing, shooting, drawing, fell walking and playing the piano. He was married first to Joan Marie, née Gilleney, and they had a daughter, Rosalind. In 1964 he married Yvette Denise née Birchall, and there were two sons of the marriage, Neville and Robert. He died after a long illness on 3 December 1993, survived by his wife and children.