Norman Lester Rowe was born on 15 December 1915 in Paganhill, Stroud, Gloucestershire. His father was Arthur William Rowe OBE and was a civil servant. His mother was Lucy Adams. He attended preparatory school at Neville House, Eastbourne, Sussex, and public school at Malvern College, Worcestershire.

Born on January 19th, 1847, the son of John R Mummery, distinguished as a dental surgeon and anthropologist, author of the pioneer work on the incidence of dental caries among different races - *On the Relations which Dental Caries, as discovered amongst the Ancient Inhabitants of Britain, and among