Hamilton Donald Walter Black (known throughout his life as Donald by his family and Don by his friends and colleagues), the only child of Hamilton Donald Walter Black and Annette Delugar, was born in Gisborne. His father, an architecture student, enlisted in the army during World War I and took up f

Wyn Beasley, with incredible power of observation and memory, and placing great value on intellectual curiosity, acquired an encyclopaedic knowledge of a broad range of subjects. Traversing both arts and sciences he could readily be described as a polymath. Even though he was a very capable musician

Dr John Roarty is regarded as one of the pre-eminent orthopaedic surgeons, and a pioneer of hip replacement surgery, in Australia. He devoted his life to his profession, and with a gentle tenacity, in his characteristically unassuming way, rose to the top of his field. Born on April 18, 1924, to

Brendan Dooley was one of four boys, all born at home to James and Catherine Dooley. Two of his brothers became dentists, while the oldest, Desmond, became a specialist obstetrician gynaecologist in Brisbane. Following in his brother's footsteps, Brendan Dooley graduated from the University of Melbo

Jim Ellis was an orthopaedic surgeon in Sydney, Australia. He was born in Rylstone, New South Wales, in 1922, the second of five children of Ashley Ellis and his wife, Flora Ellis née Morrison. Ashley worked in many jobs, then became a stock inspector. Flora had been a teacher and, after Ashley reti

Son of a pastoralist, Donald Wallace Fleming ("Don" or sometimes "Walt" to his friends) was born in Carnarvon 2 January 1917. He attended the local primary School in Carnarvon then Guildford Grammar School in Perth, completing his schooling in 1934. In those days, to do medicine it was necessary

Ian Harris was surgeon to the government of Brunei. He was born in Adelaide in 1920. His father had emigrated from Scotland, and Ian himself felt profoundly Scottish. He interrupted his medical studies to join the Royal Navy during the second world war. In the North Sea and later in the Mediterranea

Ronald Lawrie Huckstep was the inaugural professor of trauma and orthopaedic surgery at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and before that at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. He was born in Chefoo, China, on 22 July 1926. His father, Herbert George Huckstep, was appointed dir

Henry Vernon Crock (known as Harry) was a pioneering Australian spinal surgeon. He was born in Perth, Western Australia on 14 September 1929, the son of Vernon Crock and Annie Crock née Doyle. He studied medicine at the University of Melbourne with his identical twin brother Gerard William Crock, wh

Few if any have had as great an impact on Australian orthopaedic surgery as had Tom Taylor. 'TKFT' was born in Sydney in 1932, the son of Dr Charles and Mrs Dot Taylor of Bondi. In 1941, when invasion by the Japanese appeared possible, Tom's education (on a scholarship at Sydney Grammar School) was