By SIR JOHN PEEL KCVO FRCP FRCS FRCOG

President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 1966–1969

I first met Will Nixon when we were both applying for a consultant's post at the Soho Hospital. He got the job – rightly, because, although a year younger, I had started medicine much later than usual for a variety of reasons and so was young in experience. He remained loyal to Soho and in the 1940–41 Blitz on London he dealt with air-raid casualties there. From the middle 1930s until his appointment at University College Hospital (UCH) in 1946 he gave the impression of being unsettled and spent long spells abroad in Hong Kong, Turkey and other places. In 1946 he succeeded FJ Browne to the only full time Chair in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in a London undergraduate teaching hospital, apart from the all female one at the Royal Free.

The following pages in this biography record the full extent of the work carried on in his department – teaching, training, research directed towards improving the wellbeing of patients in all aspects of maternity and child welfare. Many members of his team went on to occupy leading positions in obstetrics and gynaecology in the UK and abroad. His close collaboration with outside bodies and individuals engaged in maternity and child welfare was of considerable importance. As a Member of Council of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, he contributed significantly in all aspects of its work.