Charles Geoffrey Rob was born at Skipton Hall, Skipton, Thirsk, Yorkshire on 23 April 1909. His father was Henry Rob, a farmer, and his mother was Muriel Carter Mitchell, whose father was a general practitioner. He was a cousin of Charles Granville Rob, the vascular surgeon, who was Professor in Lon

Brian Thomas came from a strong medical background. His father was a consultant ophthalmologist at Swansea and his father before him was also a doctor, while his mother, Florence, was an Edinburgh medical graduate and her father a general practitioner. Also two uncles and his brothers were in medici