Born on 23 October 1872, the son of the Rev John Ferguson MacCallan MA, Vicar of New Basford, Notts, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Danks, chairman of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Bank, MacCallan was educated at Nottingham High School, Charterhouse School, Christ's College, Cambrid

Edward Alabaster was born on 14 April 1893 at Parkhill, Moseley, Birmingham the fifth son of Arthur Alabaster, a manufacturing jeweller, and Catherine Birch. He was educated at King Edward VI School and Birmingham University. When the first world war broke out in 1914 Alabaster was only two-third

Frederick Arnold Williamson-Noble was born on 26 July, 1889, the son of the late Mr G E Williamson of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was educated at Oundle School, Queen's College, Cambridge and at St Mary's Hospital Medical School. He qualified in 1914 and joined the Royal Navy, in which he served through

George Maxted was born in 1886 and educated at Guy's Hospital where he qualified with the Conjoint Diploma, and graduated with the London University MB BS in 1910. He then became a house physician at Guy's, and held a house surgeon appointment at the Wolverhampton General Hospital. After a resident

The Hon Geoffrey John Orlando Bridgeman, the second son of the first Viscount Bridgeman, was born on 3 July 1898 at 39 Harley Street, London. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College Cambridge, and served in the Royal Field Artillery during the first world war, and was awarded the MC in 1918. He

Bernard James Bowden was born in 1927 at Mt Albert, Auckland, the only son of William and Catherine Bowden. He was educated at Takapuna Grammar School and entered Auckland University as a Sinclair Scholar, graduating BSc in 1948. He spent that year as a junior master at King's College, Auckland, but

Andrew Gentles was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Harrogate District General Hospital and Ripon and District General Hospital. He studied at Cambridge University and gained his diploma in ophthalmology in 1962 and his FRCS in 1968. Prior to his consultant appointment he was a senior registrar

John Myles Bickerton was born at Hoylake, Cheshire on 28 August 1894, the youngest son of Thomas Herbert Bickerton, and Mary Jessie, née Burton. He was educated at the Leas School, Hoylake, Leighton Park School, Reading, Pembroke College, Cambridge, and King's College Hospital Medical School where h

Thomas Stanley Sherwood Gregory was born on 9 February 1916 at New Malden, Surrey, the son of Thomas Gregory, manipulative therapist and Ivy, nee Sherwood. He was educated at Newport Grammar School, Essex, Sherborne School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He studied medicine at St Bartholo

Albert Boswell Nutt was born in Sheffield on 7 July 1898, the only son of Ernest Smith Nutt. He had the essential virtue of humility, particularly in his approach to the treatment of his patients, following the classical tradition of relating their ophthalmological state to the whole body condition.

John Edward Cairns was born on 15 August 1925 the son of T D Cairns, a Northumberland shepherd. After early education in the single room school in his local village he won a scholarship to King Edward VII Grammar School in Morpeth and later went to King's College, University of Durham to read classi

Frederick Ridley was born in Birmingham, where his father was a schoolteacher. Having graduated BSc at Birmingham in 1922 he took the MB, BS in 1925 and the FRCS in 1928. As a young man he worked with Fleming on lysozyme, and his basic work on purification helped in the subsequent development of pen