John Vinnicombe was a consultant urologist in Portsmouth. He was born in Hounslow on 17 January 1930, the younger of two boys. His father, Francis William Vinnicombe, was an export agent in textiles. His mother was Marjorie Florence Vinnicombe née Shuff. John was educated at Godalming County Grammar School, and then did his National Service before going up to St John’s College, Cambridge in 1949. He took a keen interest in rowing; stroking the Lady Margaret Boat when they were Head of the River in 1952 and narrowly missing out on a place in the Olympic eight ohn did his clinical training at St Thomas’s, qualifying in 1955, obtaining the FRCS in October 1958 and the MChir by exam in 1966. His first house job was with John Pullan at St Thomas’. As was then the case, there was no organised training programme and he had to find his own jobs. He was in Jersey for a year in 1962 and gained a lot of practical experience in all branches of surgery, including obstetrics and gynaecology, but he was not always very well supervised. He then worked as a resident assistant surgeon at Hydestile, Godalming, which was managed by St Thomas’. He subsequently did a senior registrar job in Portsmouth before returning to St Thomas’ as a casualty officer, where he sought the advice of K E D Shuttleworth regarding training in urology, a specialty in which he had developed an interest. In 1963, as part of the training programme, he was seconded to Tom Stamey’s unit in Stanford, California with the help of a Fulbright fellowship. As a result of this he wrote a number of papers on urinary tract infections. He returned to England to complete his training with K E D Shuttleworth and T W Mimpriss and was appointed as a consultant urologist in Portsmouth in 1966, where he stayed until his retirement in 1995. He was also appointed as a consultant urologist to King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst. John built up a very successful urological department with his colleague Forbes Abercrombie. Together they were able to establish a dedicated day surgery unit, amongst the first in the country. At the time urology was becoming a recognised, stand-alone specialty and, although Portsmouth was not a teaching hospital, they were given permission to appoint a senior registrar. They also had a close relationship with Southampton. Those who they trained subsequently had successful careers in teaching hospitals around the country, although sadly, Bill Hendry, Malcolm Coptcoat, Patrick Doyle and Mel Jennings predeceased him. Byron Walmsley, one of the trainees, was appointed as a third consultant and he was also able to expand the department, so John left a strong legacy when he retired. John was approached by St John Birt, one of the consultants in Jersey, asking if he would consider joining him on the staff. This would have involved a significant amount of general surgery. John was not prepared to do this, but he did suggest that he could go to Jersey for two weekends a year to deal with urological problems on an out-patient and operative basis. This he did very successfully until his retirement. John got involved in administrative matters, not only in his own hospital but also nationally. He interviewed on consultant appointments, acting as the regional adviser to the Royal College of Surgeons for the rapidly expanding urological posts. In 1981, he was appointed as secretary of the British Association of Urological Surgeons, initially with Keith Yeates as president and then with Ken Shuttleworth. From 1985, John held the post of treasurer when John Blandy was president. John was a regular supporter of the Royal Society of Medicine section meetings and he was elected president of the section for the year 1987 to 1988. His presidential address was on the treatment of advanced bladder cancer. He returned from the joint meeting in Zermatt with E Zingg with bilateral subdural haematomas, the result of a fall on the ski slopes. His presidential day dinner was held at the Mansion House at the invitation of the Lord Mayor. He was also a member of the Punch Club and hosted a meeting in Portsmouth. John enjoyed his spare time gardening, fishing and sailing, and he had an interest in fine wines. He loved fast cars, especially driving Ferraris to the Monte Carlo Grand Prix meetings. John and his wife Diana (née Swan), whom he married in 1958, were generous with their hospitality, not only at their home in Emsworth, but also at their cottage near Cherbourg. He will be remembered by many colleagues and friends. He was a good teacher, he worked long hours and was a dedicated clinician who was described by a close friend as ‘…the best technical urological surgeon that he had ever worked with’. Interestingly, he was one of a number of distinguished urologists who were left-handed. John had many health problems, especially with his back, possibly resulting from his enthusiastic rowing when he was younger, but despite increasing disability he lived life to the full and continued to travel far and wide. In late 2017, he was diagnosed with gall bladder cancer, but despite major surgery the disease recurred. He elected not to have further treatment and died peacefully on 17 November 2018 aged 88. Predeceased by his wife, he was survived by their three daughters – Sarah, a consultant radiologist in Cheltenham, Amanda and Jane – and two grandchildren.