Born at Edgbaston, Birmingham on 29 October 1845, the son of Brooke Smith. His father belonged to an old Unitarian family and the son was named after Joseph Priestley, the preacher and discoverer of oxygen, who was driven to the United States when the Birmingham mob burnt his house. Brooke Smith was

Ian William Payne was a consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Eye Infirmary in Plymouth. He was born in Bedford on 15 June 1923, the only child of Benjamin William Payne, an engineer who had served with the Royal Engineers during the First World War, and Ann Payne née Simpson. During his early chi

Howard Reed was an ophthalmologist in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was born in London on 28 April 1914, the son of Morris William Reed, a chartered secretary, and Emmeline Louise Reed. He attended West Ham Secondary School and first qualified as an optometrist. He then decided to become a doctor a

Born on 22 July 1875 the only child of Ernest Wirgman and Mary Williams his wife, he was educated at Harrow and University College Hospital, where he served as ophthalmic house surgeon. He was clinical assistant at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, and practised throughout his career

Lindo Ferguson died peacefully on 19 January 2014 at the age of 90 years. Lindo was born in an historic home on his parents' dairy farm at Waimate North. He was educated by a governess until the family moved to Dunedin during the 1929 depression when he was aged 7. He attended John McGlashan Scho

Samir Kumar Biswas was born in Khatura, a village in the Nadir district of West Bengal on 1 July 1929 and was educated at the St Xavier's College and the Medical College, Calcutta. He was always a meritorious student and graduated in 1954 and passed DOMS of Calcutta University in 1956. He then went

Hussein Ahmed Hussein was born in Berber, Sudan, on 14 November 1904, the son of Ahmed Hussein, an army officer. His early education was at Gordon College and he then entered the Kitchener School of Medicine qualifying in 1931, having obtained a surgical prize. After early appointments he came to En

Bryan Paul Cooper was born in Leicester on 26 December 1931. His family emigrated to Australia four years later and settled in Croydon, New South Wales, where his father worked as a carpenter and joiner. Cooper was educated at the Christian Brothers, Lewisham, Sydney, from which he won an exhibition

Born at Dalston, London, on 13 September 1860, the fourth son and sixth surviving child of George Hewkley, a member of the Stock Exchange, and Mary Dore his wife. He was educated at the City of London School and took his medical training at the London Hospital, Durham University, and Brussels. Hewkl

Munawar Ahmad was educated at Punjab University and graduated MB BS in 1961 from King Edward Medical College, Lahore. After house appointments at the Mayo Hospital he took his primary FRCS in Lahore, and went to the USA in 1962 as an intern. Three years later he came to Britain and started his ca

Andrew McKie Reid was born on 14 April 1893 and educated at Liverpool University. In 1914 he interrupted his undergraduate career to be commissioned in the King's Liverpool Regiment, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 when serving on the Somme with the Machine Gun Corps. In 1918 he was wound

Fred Hollows was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 9 April 1929, the son of an engine driver. After schooling in Palmerston North he entered the Church of Christ College of Otago University, intending to devote his life to the ministry. He changed his mind however and studied medicine, qualifying MB