Louis Solomon was professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Bristol. He was born on 31 May 1928 in Keimoes in what is now the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. His parents were of Jewish Russian descent - his mother, Anne, was from Glasgow, his father, Solly, was from Ireland. He a

Arne Christophe Andreas Hempel worked for many years as an ophthalmologist in clinics at the Westminster Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. Born in Oslo on 6 May 1931, he was one of five children. He spent much of his early life in Dublin, where his father, Eduard Hempel, a career dipl

As head of the department of ophthalmology at the University of Bristol David Easty was responsible for developing the UK’s first nationwide eye bank. He was born on 6 August 1933, the son of Arthur Victor Easty, an engineer, and Florence Margaret Easty née Kennedy, a nurse. His great-grandfather, T

Iain Gillespie was a professor of surgery at Manchester University and an honorary consultant surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Manchester, at the centre of the Industrial Revolution, and the location of one of the ‘redbrick universities’, was characterised by the championing of Nonconformist v

Jack Walsh was director of the National Spinal Injuries Centre, Stoke Mandeville Hospital. The son of Thomas Walsh, a doctor, and Margaret Walsh née O’Sullivan, he was born in Cork on 4 July 1917. He was educated at Mungret College, University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin, where he qualif

As a haven for severely disabled rheumatic patients, Bath presents a formidable challenge to the orthopaedic surgeon and it was there that Philip Metcalfe Yeoman excelled in the correction and mobilisation of fixed deformities. He was born into a family of Yorkshire doctors. His grandfather, William

Neil Orr was a much-loved general surgeon at Colchester Hospital known for his superlative surgical technique, his charm and unfailing courtesy, his questioning of surgical dogma and his immaculate dress, complete with a daily button hole picked fresh from his garden. He was born in Neyyoor, sout

Christopher Adrian Holborow was a distinguished and well-known surgeon in London. He was born in Beccles, Suffolk, on 24 December 1926, the son of Canon George Holborow, a clerk in holy orders. His mother was Barbara Stella Watson, the daughter of the Reverend Herbert Watson of Cransford, Suffolk. H

Jack Stevens was born in Ingleton in Yorkshire and was proud of his West Riding roots. He won a scholarship from his school to Christ College, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in the rowing club, as well as academically. He graduated MA, MB ChB in 1949, and spent two years as a National Ser

Joseph Peacock was born in Brentford, London, on 22 October 1918, the only child (two sisters having died) of Henry James Peacock, general manager of the Great Western Railway, and of Florence Peacock, née Milton. After education at Reading School and Bristol Grammar School he entered Birmingham Uni

Brendan Devlin pioneered the use of surgical audit in the UK. He was born in Lancashire on 17 December 1932, the son of John Devlin OBE, a general practitioner from Leix in Ireland, who acted as the local orthopaedic surgeon during the war and was active in medical politics. His mother was Kathleen