Phyllis George was a consultant general surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London and the first woman to be elected as vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons. She was born in Sedgley, Staffordshire on 18 February 1925, but, though she later travelled widely, she remained at heart a Londone

Derek Wardle was a general surgeon and general practitioner in New South Wales, Australia. He was born in Herefordshire to Harold Wardle and Elsie Wardle née Clarkeson. As a boy, he loved working on local farms, developing a love of agricultural work that played out later in his life in Australia, w

Peter Weston was a consultant accident and emergency surgeon in Nottingham. He was born in Oswestry, but spent his early years in Eastbourne, where amongst other things he taught himself to sail and thereby developed his love of the sea. He went to Chelmsford Hall Preparatory School and was then awa

Alan Rhodes was a consultant in general and paediatric surgery in Coventry. He was born in Wolverhampton on 1 April 1936 to Florence Rhodes née Levers, a secretary, and Wilfred Rhodes, a clerk. After a stellar performance at Wolverhampton Grammar School, he entered Birmingham Medical School in 1953.

Sir Peter Morris was the Nuffield professor of surgery, chairman of the department of surgery and director of the Oxford transplant centre at the University of Oxford and president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 2001 to 2004. He was born in Horsham in the state of Victoria, Austral

The only child of Andrew Cheyne of Ollaberry, Shetland and Eliza Watson, his wife (d. 1856), was born off Hobart's Town, Tasmania, on 14 December 1852. His father (d. 1867) was the owner of ships trading in the South Sea islands. His parents dying young, Cheyne was brought up by his uncle, who was t

Born 24 August 1877 at Frogmoor House, High Wycombe, Bucks, in the house where his grandfather, William Hayden, LSA 1837, MRCS 1856, and his father, William Gallimore Hayden, MRCS 1863, had successively practised medicine. His mother was Elizabeth Matilda, daughter of William Falconer, who founded t

Robert Allen Fitzsimons was born on 16 March 1892 at Maugherow, County Sligo, Ireland, and educated there at Summerhill College. He entered the Customs and Excise branch of the Civil Service by competitive examination in 1911 and in 1912 was transferred from Ireland to the Custom House at Billingsga

Born 23 February 1922 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the only child of R O Slater, company director, and Emma Bell, his wife. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and at the Medical School of the University of Durham. He qualified in 1943 and was appointed house surgeon at the R

Joshua Samuel Horn was born in London of Jewish parents on 14 July 1914. He won a scholarship to University College Hospital, where he had a brilliant career and collected various undergraduate medals and prizes. 'Josh', as he was known, had charm, dedication, and courage. During the hungry 'thirtie

John Prince Hopewell, a consultant urological surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London, was a pioneer in the introduction of dialysis into the UK and the development of kidney transplantation. He was born on 1 December 1920, the fourth child and only son of Samuel Hopewell and Wilhelmina ('Daisy')

Humphrey Walter Gowland was born in 1918 in Dunedin, New Zealand, the second son of Percy Gowland, who later became the eminent Professor of Anatomy at Otago Medical School. He was educated at first in Dunedin and later at Waitaki College where he had a distinguished international athletic career. H