David Farrar was appointed as a consultant urological surgeon at Selly Oak Hospital in 1978 and, in 1993, with hospital mergers, moved to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, where he remained until his retirement in 2003. He was born on 3 July 1942 in Rawdon, Yorkshire, the only son of James

Paul Whiteside Eustace was a consultant general surgeon at Castlebar General Hospital, County Mayo, Ireland. He was born on 9 October 1943 in Nelson, Lancashire of Irish parents. His father, Anthony Eustace, was chief medical officer of County Meath; his mother, Evylyn Eustace née Dick, had a MSc de

Magdi Obeid was a consultant general and vascular surgeon in Birmingham. He was born on 5 January 1943 to his Egyptian parents in Khartoum, Sudan, where his father was working at the time. He was educated in Sudan and Egypt, and studied medicine at Ain Shams University, Cairo. He excelled in all his

Christopher (Chris) Lamb started his professional life as a dentist but, whilst a lecturer at Guy’s Hospital dental school, he realised that he wanted to be the one performing the procedures he was obliged to refer. He subsequently chose to retrain, gaining a medical degree and a dental fellowship a

Robert Anthony Bowness Wood was an innovative consultant breast and general surgeon in Dundee. He was born in Horsforth, near Leeds on 12 April 1943. Both of his parents, John Fletcher Wood and Mabel Wood née Bowness, were pharmacists. He boarded at St Peter’s School in York and then studied medicin

John Pyne was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich and West Norwich hospitals, and also worked privately at the BUPA Hospital Norwich in Colney, Norfolk. One of nature's true gentlemen, he had a courteous approach to his many grateful patients, his colleagues, junior staff and

Pradip Basu was a urological and general surgeon in Lincoln. He was born on 4 January 1942 into a medical family in Calcutta, India, the sixth child of Bibhuti Bhusan and Durga Rani Basu née Sinha. His grandfather and father qualified in Calcutta; his father became chief medical officer to the east

John Ireland was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at King George Hospital Ilford, Essex and at the nearby private hospital Holly House in Buckhurst Hill, Essex. He was born in Newquay, Cornwall on 14 July 1942. His father, Victor Edwin Ireland, known as ‘Mike’, was stationed as a Second World Wa

Lance Karl Hyde Therkildsen was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in west Essex, based at Epping, Bishop’s Stortford and Harlow. He was born on 26 July 1937, the only son of Karl Therkildsen and Hilda Therkildsen née Hyde. He owed his name to a Danish grandfather, but never actually visited Denmark u

Tony Chant was a consultant vascular surgeon in Southampton, Hampshire. He was born in Pembroke, West Wales. His father, Percival James Chant, was a Royal Air Force engineer who worked on Sunderland flying boats at the outbreak of the Second World War. He was then posted to Hitchin, Hertfordshire, w

“Kua hinga te totara i te wao nui a Tane – A mighty totara has fallen in the forest of Tane” aptly describes the sudden and unexpected death of JJ de Geus some months ago. John de Geus was a great teacher, colleague and friend to many. A well-loved surgeon, colleague, employer, friend and family man

Robert Alexander Murdoch Lawson (known as 'Bob') was a cardiothoracic surgeon at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester. He was born on 11 February 1938, in a farmhouse in Ardross, a tiny village in Ross-shire in the Highlands of Scotland. His parents, Margaret Perrins Lawson née Murdoch and Robert MacKen