Andrew Ransford, known to friends and colleagues as ‘Andy’, was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at University College Hospital (UCH), London and at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, who specialised in spinal surgery. He was born in Kenya, where his father, Oliver Ransford, was a doctor in the Colonial Service and an established author on African colonial history. His mother was Irene Ransford née Galloway. The family settled in Southern Rhodesia, where Andrew attended Milton Junior School and then Michaelhouse School in South Africa. There he excelled academically and learnt to play rugby. After a year at the University of Cape Town, he went to the UK to study medicine supported by a scholarship from the Rhodesian government, first at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (from 1959 to 1962) and then at University College Hospital medical school, London (from 1962 to 1965). He played rugby for his Cambridge college in the first XV team, which won cuppers, the intercollegiate competition. At UCH, he became captain of rugby and in later years was the club’s president. Andrew qualified in medicine in 1965, completing his preregistration house jobs at UCH. Andrew passed the primary FRCS exam in 1967 whilst demonstrating in anatomy at Cambridge attached to Emmanuel. He was appointed to the UCH general surgical registrar rotation, gaining experience at Barnet General, Edgware General, Great Ormond Street and Watford General hospitals, achieving the FRCS diploma in 1970. Also in 1970 Andrew joined the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital training programme. With a growing interest in spinal surgery, he reviewed the use of halo-pelvic traction in the preoperative correction of severe scoliosis, publishing his classic study in 1975 with Charles Manning as co-author (‘Complication of halo-pelvic distraction for scoliosis.’ *J Bone Joint Surg Br*. 1975 May;57[2]:131-7). His paper showed the technique achieved no structural correction beyond the existing spinal mobility and was not without complications. In 1975 Andrew obtained a fellowship at the University of Southern California attached to Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, Los Angeles. Among his spinal research projects, he investigated patients with failed low back surgery, usefully establishing that patients’ pain patterns, on the ‘Ransford pain drawing’, correlated to the patients’ psychological profile and were predictive of surgical outcomes. In 1977 Andrew was appointed as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at University College Hospital, London and in 1980 he was granted additional sessions in the scoliosis unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. Working with Michael Edgar and other colleagues, he helped to develop implants, which provided more stable surgical fixation. As new surgical techniques led to more rigorous scoliosis correction, spinal cord monitoring became a required safety net and a preferred alternative to the ‘wake up test’. A refined and reliable sensory monitoring procedure was developed over several years at Stanmore in collaboration with Stephen Jones, the neurophysiologist from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. This sensory monitoring technique became accepted worldwide, later to be combined with motor tract monitoring. Following NHS changes in 1991, Andrew decided to become a maximum part-time consultant at Stanmore, retaining his private practice at 107 Harley Street. At this time, he was elected to the Court of Examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons, a role which he valued with its traditional and thorough exam system. He disapproved when multiple choice question papers were introduced. Andrew was instigator of an international trial, which established the successful use of artificial bone substitute in spinal fusions, published in 1997. With Alan Crockard, the neurosurgeon, Andrew founded the British Cervical Spine Society in 1981, which developed close links with the European Cervical Spine Research Society. The widely used ‘Ransford loop’, which comprises a 4mm steel loop attachable by wires or screws to the skull base was developed for occipitocervical surgical stabilisation in complex cases, which include trauma, rheumatoid disease and tumour excision. A less common use is in the stabilisation of the instability associated with occipitocervical malformation in Morquio-Brailsford syndrome and other MPS (mucopolysaccharide) dwarfing conditions in which Andrew developed expertise. Andrew felt strongly that spinal surgery should be multidisciplinary, eventually becoming a single specialty involving the whole spine. This was partially resolved when he simultaneously became president of the British Scoliosis Society and of the Cervical Spine Society in 1995. He suggested that the separate spinal societies should combine to form the British Association of Spinal Surgeons. Interdisciplinary conferences under ‘Britspine’ were set up. In 1994, Andrew and Alan Crockard were involved in establishing the Danny Hill surgical skills laboratory at the Royal College of Surgeons, set up to train surgeons of all specialties using simulation techniques and cadaveric specimens. During his orthopaedic career, Andrew authored or co-authored 34 papers and wrote a number of chapters in spinal and mainstream surgical textbooks. In 1993, health issues (atrial fibrillation and heart block requiring a pacemaker) reduced his stamina for spinal surgery, leading to his retirement from the NHS in 1997. However, his spinal experience kept him in demand as an international medico-legal expert until 2013. To add to his entrepreneurial skills, Andrew helped to start a short-lived biotech company in 1997, which was taken over by Nanoco, but not before several products were patented. Andy was a gentle giant with a sharp mind, balanced by a convivial manner and an infectious sense of humour. He was a sociable being, belonging to several luncheon and dining bodies. One of them, Ernie’s Club, in deference to Ernie Kirwan (a distinguished spinal surgeon), was formed from the earlier Westminster orthopaedic rotation and based at the Athenaeum. Andrew travelled widely both professionally and for leisure. With Penny and his family (Philippa, Mark, Christopher and Helen) he enjoyed skiing holidays (including the Orthopaedic Study Group or Ski Club in Zürs) and trips to southern Africa to visit family. Andrew and Penny also went on several Royal College of Surgeons tours – including to China (in 2007) and to Dubai and India (in 2010). Over the years, Andrew found time for game shooting, collecting antique silhouette miniatures, contributing to a stock market investment club and even warily crewing for colleagues who sailed. Later he and Penny took up salmon fishing, sculpturing and the luxury of Swan Hellenic Cruises. Even in his debilitating last illness due to leukaemia, Andrew never lost his wide interest in life, combined with a jovial outlook and cautious, questioning mind. He undoubtedly lived up to his reputation as the ‘The thinking person’s orthopaedic surgeon’. He died on 24 January 2021 at the age of 80.