Muriel Landau was born on 21 January 1895 and educated at Dame Alice Owens School, Islington where she gained an entrance scholarship to the London School of Medicine for Women. She qualified in 1918 and after house appointments at the Royal Free and at Queen Charlotte's Hospitals was appointed regi

John Whittingdale, the son of Dr John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale, MB Cambridge, MRCS, and of Marie Whittingdale (née Jennings), was born on 14 June 1894 in Sherborne, Dorset. He was to spend most of his long life in that place. After education at Sherborne Preparatory School and Sherborne School,