Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows

Born on 18 October 1939 in Oxford, Timothy John Flew came from a medical family. His father, John Douglas Score Flew (known as *Tim*) was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and one time dean at University College Hospital (UCH) and Queen Charlotte’s Hospital. Annie Cantrell née Taylor, his mother, known as * Nancy*, was also medically qualified and had trained at UCH. He was their second child and first son. He was educated at Graham House preparatory school in Thanet and afterwards at Rugby School. At Trinity College, Cambridge he studied medicine, qualifying MB, BChir in 1964. He trained at UCH and did house appointments there from 1964 to 1966. Among the distinguished surgeons who influenced him at this time were Arthur John Gardham, Herbert Robert Wolfe and David Napier Matthews. The following year he joined the staff of St James Hospital Balham, where he was mentored by Jeremiah Burke before moving to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton as a surgical registrar in 1968. He passed the fellowship of the college in 1969. In 1970 he returned to UCH as a surgical registrar and was then appointed a research fellow in the ICRF Breast Cancer Unit at Guy’s Hospital in 1972. The following year he joined the Ipswich and Addenbrookes, Cambridge rotation, staying there until 1978 when he was appointed consultant general surgeon at the Weston Super Mare Hospital and honorary lecturer at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He retired in 1995. A keen hockey and tennis player in his youth, he later enjoyed gardening, DIY, computers and walking his dogs. He described his musical ability as modest but played the piano and the clarinet. Good food and wine, and attending the opera and theatre, were other favourite activities. In February 1971 he married Virginia née Penning-Rowsell. She was a consultant anaesthetist at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, having qualified in medicine from UCH in 1968 and passed the FFARCS in 1972. They had three children: Nicholas (born 6/12/72) who became a banker, Alison (born 29/5/74) who was an industrial chemist and Catherine (born 13/12/78) who studied history at Leeds University. His sister Sally, brother John and brother’s wife Jane née Taylor were also medical having all trained at St Thomas’ Hospital. He died on 12 December 2019 aged 80.