Henzell Howard Dummere came from a family of doctors, his father, Howard Howse Dummere MRCS, four uncles and his brother were all medical men, as was his father-in-law. One of his uncles, Neville Howse, had a distinguished career: gaining his FRCS, he emigrated to Australia at the age of twenty-eigh

Herbert Henry Sampson was born in Sutton Coldfield on 5 October 1886. After education at King Edward VI School, Birmingham, he entered the University where he was reputed to have won all the prizes, scholarships and distinctions and was also victor ludorum. On graduating in 1909 he became a houseman