John Hale was a consultant general and colorectal surgeon at Redhill in Surrey. He was born into a family of market gardeners in the Vale of Evesham, Worcestershire. He showed early academic promise and attended Prince Henry's Grammar School in Evesham, where he was head boy. He then gained a schola

Clive Butler was born in Flaxton, near York, on 8 April 1904, the only son of William Barber Butler and Edith Eastmond, a nursing sister. They had both trained at the London Hospital and had helped to care for the Elephant Man after he had been rescued by Sir Frederick Treves. His father subsequentl

Graham Sherwood Peck (also known as ‘Pecky’) was a senior surgeon at the Western General Hospital, Victoria, Australia. He was born in Melbourne on 15 May 1930. His father, Claude Russell Lemuel Peck, was a transport manager; his mother was Mary Queenie Peck née Houghton, a housewife. He attended Me

Stanley Arthur Russell (‘Stan’) Cooke was a consultant general surgeon in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was born on 18 March 1932, the son of Richard Stanley Cooke and Isobel Faulds Cooke née Russell. He was educated at St John’s College, Johannesburg, and then went to the UK to attend medical scho

Robert Thorlakson was a leading Winnipeg surgeon. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the son of Paul Henrik Thorbjorn Thorlakson, a physician and chancellor of the University of Winnipeg, and his wife Gladys. Robert and his twin brother Ken were raised and educated in Winnipeg. Thorlakson served dur

Roy Lawrence Willis Fink was born in Ballarat on 27 April 1938. His father was a state school headmaster and the family moved between various country towns, including Learmonth, Yea and Benalla, before moving to Ferntree Gully and subsequently Bentleigh. His early years were influenced by World War

Alastair Gunn was a much-loved and respected consultant general surgeon at Ashington Hospital, Northumberland, and later at its replacement, Wansbeck General Hospital. He had a major interest in colorectal disease and instigated and helped establish the NHS northern region's register of familial ade

Michael William Noel Ward was a general and colorectal surgeon in Enfield. He studied at Oxford University and trained in medicine at University College Hospital (UCH), London. He did house jobs at UCH and passed the fellowship of the college in 1978. A consultant general and colorectal surgeon at C

Thomas George Parks was a consultant general surgeon in Belfast and a former president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He was born on 14 June 1935 in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. The youngest of seven children, his early life was spent on the family farm and attending the local rural schoo

Jim Guest died peacefully in Melbourne on 20th January 2015, during his 99th year. He had a distinguished career in surgery, medical education and civilian life. Jim was born in Mildura, the only child of Edith and James. His early education was at Mildura West State School and subsequently Geelong

Lawrence Herbert Hansen was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand in 1929 and after early education at Palmerston Boys' High School entered the University of Otago Medical School, qualifying in 1955. After early hospital appointments in Wellington he came to England to work as surgical registrar at

Born on 18 December 1939 in London, David Jagelman was educated at St Joseph's College, Beulah Hill and King's College London, before going on to Westminster Hospital Medical School. After qualifying in 1963 he was surgical registrar, research lecturer and senior registrar at the Metropolitan, Westm