Gerald Hubert (‘Gerry’) Leatherman was described by Dame Margaret Seward as ‘The father of world dentistry’. Born in London on 18 February 1903, the son of Harry Leatherman and Beatrice Leatherman née Freedman, at the age of seven he went to South Africa. He was educated at King Edward VII School in

He was educated at Guy's Hospital, and qualified first as a dentist. After serving as house surgeon, resident medical officer, and surgical registrar at Guy's he settled in general practice at Stamford, Lincolnshire, where he became surgeon to the Infirmary and also to the Holbeach Emergency Hospita