Patrick Clarke was a consultant neurological surgeon at Middlesbrough General Hospital. He was born in Cheltenham on 16 April 1921, the son of Edward Rutland Clarke, a headmaster of a grammar school who had gained the Military Cross in 1917, and Edith Frances Clarke née Smith, a housewife. He was ed

Bernard Fairburn, the son of Lazarus and Leah Fairburn (née Margolin) was born at Christchurch, Hampshire, on 3 August 1916. He was educated at Bec School, Battersea, securing an arts scholarship in 1933 before entering the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in the following year. He qualified MRCS,

Joseph Buford Pennybacker was born in Somerset, Kentucky, on 23 August 1907, the only son of Claude Pennybacker, a train dispatcher. His early education was at Knoxville High School, Tennessee, before entering the University of Tennessee, graduating BA in 1926 (summa cum laude). He followed the earl

Ascroft was born on 4 September 1906, the only son of James Arthur Ascroft of Bootle, Lancashire and Hannah Byers of Culton, Cumberland. He was educated at Worksop, the Middlesex Hospital, and the University of Strasbourg, qualifying in 1930; the next year he gained the gold medal at his Master of S

James Hardman was born and brought up in Birmingham, the son of William Henry Hardman, a chemist, druggist and shopkeeper, and Florence Lilian Hardman. He entered the Birmingham Medical School where he obtained his Primary Fellowship as student prosector in anatomy gaining the Peter Thompson Prize f

Scott Charlton qualified MB, BS Sydney in 1933 and became resident medical officer to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, in 1934. He served in the second world war as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the RAMC and eventually became honorary neurosurgeon to the Sydney Hospital and the Prince Henry Hospi

Joseph Schorstein qualified MD in Vienna in 1931. He then continued his studies at University College Hospital, London. He was chief assistant to the neurosurgical department of the Royal Infirmary, Manchester and then became consultant neurosurgeon to the West Scotland Neurosurgical Unit. When he r

Peter Gortvai, the only son of William, an obstetric surgeon and his wife Elizabeth, née Foldi, LDSRCS, was born on 1 December 1927. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he completed his Natural Sciences Tripos in 1951 and won the Tripos prize. He then went to the London Hospital from 1951

Bernard Crymble was born on 6 May 1928, and after early education was admitted to the University of Durham Medical School, qualifying in 1951. After house appointments at the Royal Victoria Infirmary he joined the RAMC for National Service. After demobilisation he returned to Newcastle as demonstrat

Harvey Jackson was born on 16 October 1900 and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School and qualified with the Conjoint examination in 1923. One of his obituarists states that he had qualified in dental surgery and suppor

George Northcroft was born on 17 June 1911 in Harley Street, London, at the house of his father, a well-known orthodontist. His medical education was at St John's College, Cambridge, and the London Hospital, where he qualified in 1937. He began his career in neurosurgery with an appointment at th

John Michael Woodward qualified in Melbourne in 1963. He passed his Fellowship of the College in 1968 and the following year became senior registrar to the Bristol Regional Neurosurgical Unit until 1971 when he returned to Australia. He was appointed neurosurgeon to the Austin Hospital, Heidelber