John Hugh Kelsey (known as 'Jack') was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at University College Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital. He was born in Lincoln on 26 May 1931, the son of Frederick Hugh Kelsey, an engineer's buyer, and Annie Kelsey née Greenwood. He attended the City School in Lincoln and

John Winstanley was an ophthalmic surgeon at St Thomas’ Hospital, London. He was born in London on 11 May 1919, the son of Bernard Joseph Winstanley, a captain in the Burma Sappers and Miners, and Grace née Taunton, the daughter of a solicitor. The younger of three sons, he was educated at Stoke Hou

Desmond Peel Greaves was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at University College and Moorfields Eye hospitals in London. He was born on 14 December 1920 in the West Riding of Yorkshire to Bernard Peel, an optician, and Beatrice Peel. He was educated at High Storrs Grammar School, Sheffield, and then w

John Neville Ormrod was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon in Kent. He was born in Birmingham on 12 December 1922 to James Ormrod, a dental surgeon, and Dorothy Ormrod née Wilson. His early schooling was in Birmingham at Chigwell House and Lickey Hills preparatory schools, and then at Aldenham School,

Geoffrey Gibson Bisley was an ophthalmic surgeon who spent much of his career overseas. He was born on 23 May 1915 at Hove, Sussex, the second child of Claude and Ida Gibson. His father was an auctioneer and surveyor in the family business. His maternal grandfather and uncle were both qualified phar

John Richard Havers-Strong, generally known as Richard Strong, was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Conquest Hospital, St Leonards-on-Sea. Educated at Oundle School and Queens' College, Cambridge, where his father had attended 30 years previously, Richard became energetically involved in rowing, c

Kate Goddard was a consultant ophthalmologist at Hull Royal Infirmary and one of a generation who, by their persistence and determination, helped change the way we perceive women in the professions. She was born in Sheffield on 12 July 1931, the daughter of Henri Arnold Joel Merrill and Una Adelaide

It was probably because of his early life as the son of a medical missionary in Burma that from the age of four Peter Gurney was determined to become a doctor. Born in England on 23 September 1937, he travelled when he was two with his parents to Panglong in Burma. Then, just managing to escape capt

Colin Walker was an ophthalmic surgeon at the Southampton Eye Hospital from 1962 until his retirement in 1989. He was born into a medical family; his father, Victor Walker, was an eye surgeon in Ipswich, where he grew up; his mother was Marie-Louise Scott. After some difficult times at his prep scho

Keith Batten served as the chief surgeon and hospital warden of the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital for a decade between 1969 to 1979, and later as their hospitaller between 1989 and 1992. He oversaw many of the significant occasions in the history of the hospital and left a tremendous impact on t

Someone once stopped David Abrams at a cashpoint in Baker Street and asked if he would come into Madame Tussauds and have his hands modelled for a waxwork of the sculptor Henry Moore. The Leeds-born eye surgeon was chuffed to be asked to emulate a fellow Yorkshireman, especially a major artist. Perh

Philip Starr, known as ‘Jimmie’, was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London. He was born in Birmingham in 1933. After qualifying, he spent four years in Canada and then in Australia, studying ophthalmology at the Sydney Eye Hospital. He subsequently returned to England, w