James Cosbie Ross was born in Liverpool on 17 May 1904. He was the son and grandson of doctors, his father being James Ross, a general practitioner in Walton, Liverpool. His mother was Delia Cosbie and James, as the eldest child, took the name of Cosbie. James used this name and linked Ross as 'Cobb

Arthur Elliot-Smith was born in Cairo on 3 June 1901. He was the son of Sir Grafton Elliot-Smith the distinguished anatomist and anthropologist; his mother's maiden name was Kathleen Macready. He graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, before coming to University College Hospital and on from which

R H O B Robinson was born in 1897 in London. He was known to his friends as Joey. His childhood was spent in Upper Wimpole Street where his father practised as a consulting surgeon; and he lived all his days in a world of surgery that was changing. His career spanned the years that marked the evo

John Arthur Pocock, the son of a general practitioner, was born on 22 August 1905. He went to school at Oundle and then to Cambridge and University College, London, where he qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in 1928. He took the Cambridge degree in 1931 and the FRCS in 1934, and after some junior

John Patrick Acton Weaver was a consultant urological surgeon at Dundee Royal Infirmary and a senior lecturer in surgery at the Universities of St Andrews and Dundee. He was born in Oxford, the son of John Reginald Homer Weaver, professor of history and president of Trinity College, and Stella Mary

Born at Stretford, near Manchester, on 2 February 1874, the second child and eldest son of John Henry Burgess, a merchant, and his wife, nee Sharrocks. He was educated at Rose Hill School, Bowden, Cheshire and, after a year in a shipping office, at Owens College, Manchester, where he won the Dalton

Pradip Basu was a urological and general surgeon in Lincoln. He was born on 4 January 1942 into a medical family in Calcutta, India, the sixth child of Bibhuti Bhusan and Durga Rani Basu née Sinha. His grandfather and father qualified in Calcutta; his father became chief medical officer to the east

Ivan Jose was born on 13 February 1893 in China where his father was an Anglican missionary. When he was ten years old the family moved to Adelaide, South Australia, where his father became first the Rector of Christ Church, North Adelaide, and later Dean of the Adelaide diocese. Ivan had two younge

Peter Boreham was a much-loved and highly respected general surgeon in Cheltenham with a major urological interest. He was born on 26 May 1922 in Szechuan, China, into a missionary family. He was the second son of the Reverend Frederick Boreham and his wife Mildred née Slater: an older brother, Doug

Born in London in 1903, he was educated at Alleyn's School and King's College Hospital where he qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in 1927. After qualification he became resident surgical officer at the Hallam Hospital West Bromwich and then, returning to King's College Hospital, surgical registrar

Jeremiah Burke was born at Douglas, Cork, on 19 February 1913 the son of Jeremiah Burke, a farmer and his mother was Ellen O'Reagan, the daughter of a farmer. He was educated at Christian College, Cork, and at University College, Cork (National University of Ireland), where he gained the Hutchinson

Sudhanshu Sekhar Gayen was a surgeon at Joyce Green Hospital, Dartford, Kent, and then a general practitioner. He was born on 1 August 1930 in the Midnapore district of West Bengal, India, the son of Jogendra Nath Gayen, a schoolteacher, and Bimala Bala Betz Gayen, a housewife. His family were lando