Niblock was born on 12 September 1907 at Canford Cliffs, Bournemouth, the son of Lt Col William James Niblock, IMS, sometime Professor of Surgery at Madras Medical College. He came of a distinguished family of medical men, whose names appear in the family tree for 200 years: among them were Sir Edwa

Sir Geoffrey Bateman was a distinguished ENT surgeon at St Thomas's, London. He was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, on 24 October 1906, where his father, William Bateman, was a general practitioner. His mother was Ethel Jane Scrimgeour. His elder brother, Donald Bateman, wrote a biography of Lord Moyn