Alexander was born on 18 January 1902 in a family long associated with the stage, but from an early age was determined to follow a medical career. He was educated at George Watson's Academy and the University of Edinburgh, and qualified in 1925. He then held resident posts at Edinburgh, London and L

James Hardman was born and brought up in Birmingham, the son of William Henry Hardman, a chemist, druggist and shopkeeper, and Florence Lilian Hardman. He entered the Birmingham Medical School where he obtained his Primary Fellowship as student prosector in anatomy gaining the Peter Thompson Prize f

William Robert Henderson was born on 3 February 1904. He graduated in medicine at Edinburgh in 1926. In 1938 he was appointed first specialist neurosurgeon at Leeds but was only there for a year before he was selected as neurosurgeon-in-charge of the No 1 Army mobile neurosurgical unit based at Oxfo

Patrick Clarke was a consultant neurological surgeon at Middlesbrough General Hospital. He was born in Cheltenham on 16 April 1921, the son of Edward Rutland Clarke, a headmaster of a grammar school who had gained the Military Cross in 1917, and Edith Frances Clarke née Smith, a housewife. He was ed

Harvey Jackson was born on 16 October 1900 and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School and qualified with the Conjoint examination in 1923. One of his obituarists states that he had qualified in dental surgery and suppor

Scott Charlton qualified MB, BS Sydney in 1933 and became resident medical officer to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, in 1934. He served in the second world war as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the RAMC and eventually became honorary neurosurgeon to the Sydney Hospital and the Prince Henry Hospi

Christopher Thomas Blaiklock was a consultant neurosurgeon at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He was born on 27 July 1936 in Newcastle upon Tyne and raised in Northumbria. His parents, Thomas Snowdon Blaiklock and Constance Rebecca Blaiklock, were both doctors. He attended Oundle School, Northampton, and

Geoffrey Rourke Welsford Latham was born in Sydney on 3 May 1927, the son of Dr Oliver Latham, who was a neuropathologist in the University of Sydney. He was educated at Knox Grammar School where he distinguished himself as an athlete and editor of the school journal, but at that early period develo

James Learmonth was born on 23 March 1895 at Gatehouse-of-Fleet, in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, the elder son of William Learmonth and Kathleen Macosquin Craig. His father, a native of Edinburgh, was the headmaster of the parish school of Girthon, having previously spend many years in Orkney. Hi

Born on 10 April 1886, son of Arthur John Jefferson MD of Rochdale, who was trained at St Thomas's and became honorary medical officer to Rochdale Infirmary, he received a classical education at Manchester Grammar School, as did his younger brother J C Jefferson FRCS (1888-1954). Proceeding to Manch

Born on 6 May 1884 in Nevada City, he graduated in science and medicine from the University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco. He studied at Johns Hopkins during Harvey Cushing's last year there, 1913, and during the first world war went on active service in Europe. He returned to San Francisco

Bryan Jennett, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Glasgow, devised, with colleagues, two key diagnostic tools – the Glasgow Coma Scale, used throughout the world to assess consciousness, and the Glasgow Outcome Scale, used for patients with head injury. His work led to the defining of pe