Andrew Higgins was born in Middlesex in 1943 and qualified from the Royal Free Hospital, London, in 1968. He studied surgery at Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Northern Hospital and at the Royal Free Hospital. He married a fellow student, Jane, and they had one son and three daughters - one of whom i

Huw Williams was born in Cardiff on 12 March 1946. He was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, and at the Welsh National School of Medicine in Cardiff, where he qualified MB BCh in 1969. He trained in Cardiff where he became lecturer and was later Smith and Nephew research fellow in Newcastle

Jeremiah Burke was born at Douglas, Cork, on 19 February 1913 the son of Jeremiah Burke, a farmer and his mother was Ellen O'Reagan, the daughter of a farmer. He was educated at Christian College, Cork, and at University College, Cork (National University of Ireland), where he gained the Hutchinson

Sudhanshu Sekhar Gayen was a surgeon at Joyce Green Hospital, Dartford, Kent, and then a general practitioner. He was born on 1 August 1930 in the Midnapore district of West Bengal, India, the son of Jogendra Nath Gayen, a schoolteacher, and Bimala Bala Betz Gayen, a housewife. His family were lando

James Cosbie Ross was born in Liverpool on 17 May 1904. He was the son and grandson of doctors, his father being James Ross, a general practitioner in Walton, Liverpool. His mother was Delia Cosbie and James, as the eldest child, took the name of Cosbie. James used this name and linked Ross as 'Cobb

Leslie Norman Pyragh was born at Farnley, near Leeds, on 11 April 1899, the son of a headmistress. Unfortunately no further details of his forbears are available. He was educated at Leeds Central High School and served in the army during the final stages of the first world war. He then read medicine

John Francis Neil Ward-McQuaid, the son of Colonel John FTP Ward-McQuaid and his wife Enid Ecila, née Cheshire, was born on 30 December 1918 at Neston, Cheshire. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, where he won several prizes and was a notable cricketer. As the son of a serving army o

Born on 5 July 1905 in Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, George Young Feggetter was the sixth son and the ninth child of William Feggetter, a shipbroker and coal exporter, and Amelia née Young, the daughter of a tobacconist. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and studied m

Irvine Smith was a consultant surgeon to Burton-on-Trent General Hospital. He was born in Ilkley on 5 December 1919. His father, Fredric Battinson Smith, was a forensic pathologist who had won the Military Cross in the first world war and later advised the Ministry of Health on setting up a national

Alexander McCalister (known as 'Alex') was a consultant general surgeon at the Ulster Hospital. He was born in Belfast on 6 June 1925 and grew up in rural Northern Ireland in relatively poor circumstances: his mother cooked on an open peat fire and they had no piped water in the home. His family sug

Born on November 23rd, 1798, near Woodbridge in Suffolk, in which town his father carried on business as a brewer. He received his early education at a neighbouring school, and having been duly apprenticed came to London when 20 years of age. He had expected at once to attend lectures and hospital p

James Christie Anderson, third child and third son of James Alexander Anderson, a schoolmaster, and Jeanie (née Boswell), was born in Dundee on 4 December 1899. After early education at Butterburn School and Dundee High School he secured an entrance scholarship to St Andrew's University where he ori