William Hunter Isles was born in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, Scotland on 17 June 1916, the son of William Isles, a company secretary, and Jessie Isabella (née Sutherland). He was educated at Lasswade School, Midlothian, before entering the University of Edinburgh, qualifying in 1943. His early appointmen

Christopher Jefferiss was a consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon in Devon. He was the son of Derek Jefferiss, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in Exeter. Like his father, he was an undergraduate at the Middlesex Hospital, where he qualified in 1964. He held a variety of junior posts