Born at Ayr on April 1st, 1774, and entered the Army Medical Department as Surgeon's Mate in the 42nd Highlanders in 1792. He was promoted to the Staff in 1793, and made two campaigns in Flanders under the Duke of York. He then proceeded to the West Indies with the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers and did

Entered the Madras Army as Assistant Surgeon on Dec 31st, 1795. He saw service in the Fourth Mysore War in 1799, was present at the capture of Seringapatam, and received the Medal. He was promoted Surgeon on Oct 5th, 1803, appointed Garrison Surgeon of Fort St George on Dec 9th, 1814, was Superinten

Sardar Ali Sheikh was professor of surgery at King Edward Medical College (now University), Lahore, the second oldest medical school on the Indian subcontinent. He joined the college in April 1947 as a demonstrator in the department of anatomy, went on to become a clinical assistant, and finally pr

Roger Wilkes had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy as an officer and surgeon serving at home and at sea in aircraft carriers. In 1982 he was the senior surgeon at sea on SS *Canberra* during the Falklands War. Later he was surgeon commodore and dean of naval medicine. Roger was born in Sme

William Hey II was the second son of William Hey I (1736-1819); he followed his father as a surgeon at Leeds, and, like him, was Surgeon to the Leeds Infirmary. He died at Leeds, after being twice Mayor, on March 13th, 1844. He was succeeded in turn by his son William Hey III (qv). Publication:- *T

Lord Smith was one of our great presidents. Successive holders of that office have faced many and various challenges, but by any measure the confrontation between the Labour government and the BMA from 1974 to 1975 was a major crisis that threatened the future of consultant practice. Rodney Smith, a

Paul Hickinbotham was a consultant surgeon in Leicester. He was born in Birmingham on 21 March 1917, the second son of Frederick John Long Hickinbotham, an export merchant and JP, and Gertrude née Ball. He was educated at West House School, Birmingham, and Rugby, and went on to Birmingham to do his

Alan Pollock was a consultant surgeon at Scarborough Hospital, Yorkshire. He was born on 10 September 1921 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and went to school and University in Cape Town, where he graduated in medicine in 1943, winning a medal in surgery along the way. After house appointments he join

Tom Williams was chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Alberta, Canada. He was born in Rhewl, Wales, on 17 April 1925, and spent his childhood and youth in north Wales. He studied medicine in Liverpool, where he completed junior surgical posts, before going to Edmonton, Alberta,

Louis Blumberg was a consultant surgeon in Cape Town and a respected medical historian. He was born in 1920 and educated in Cape Town, where he graduated in 1944. He went to England to specialise in surgery, passed the FRCS, and returned to South Africa, developing a private practice in Cape Town

Olga Jonasson was professor of surgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a pioneer in organ transplantation. Born in Peoria, Illinois, the daughter of a Swedish Lutheran pastor and a nurse, she was first attracted to medicine by following her father round on his hospital visits. After Lym

John Davis was a consultant general surgeon at the Whittington Hospital, London. From Cambridge he went to St Thomas’ Hospital for his clinical training and house appointments. After qualifying he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for two and a half years in a minesweeping squadron. Afte