Sir James Fraser

James David Fraser had a difficult act to follow. His father, Sir John Fraser, was regius professor of clinical surgery at Edinburgh University for nearly two decades and latterly was principal of the university from 1943 to 1947.

Educated at Edinburgh Academy, where he was pipe major of the OTC pipe band, he proceeded to Magdalen College, Oxford. There he was engaged in pre-clinical studies, resulting under that university's peculiar pro- tocols in a BA in 1945.

His hankering was for physiology rather than surgery but at Oxford he also evinced the quiet courage and determination which became his hallmark. Despite suffering a severe poliomyelitis infection in a leg bone at the age of 11, he persevered to gain a Blue in golf. From then on he struggled to keep down his golfing handicap but rarely spoke of the physical one which left him with a slight limp and latterly with arthritis which caused great pain and discomfort.

Fraser came back to Edinburgh to continue his studies at the medical faculty. He had a mischievous sense of humour, tripping up student colleagues in front of great medical

legends as they proceeded with their retinues down the corridors of the royal infirmary.

For a few months after his father's death the young baronet and his friends also had the unusual privilege of driving around in the Principal's Rolls-Royce. They became a celebrated group, graduating in medicine from Edinburgh on the day the National Health Service was set up in July, 1948.

Sir James's first house jobs were followed by national service with the RAMC in the Far East where he worked in the surgical division and attained the rank of major. He and his fiancee Maureen Reay, whose brother was also an Edinburgh medical graduate later to rise to become head of the Army's medical services, were married in Singapore Cathedral.

On his return to Edinburgh he worked as a registrar under Sir James Learmonth, who had succeeded his father as regius professor of clinical surgery.

In 1958, however, to the astonishment of his colleagues, he eschewed the inevitable career path in the wake of his father and broke out to follow his own fancy.

He took a job in Sarawak, working for the Government medical service as surgical head of district hospital where inferior facilities by Western standards were offset by hard work and dedication.

Sir James returned to Edinburgh in 1963, having gained the degree of master of surgery, became a senior lecturer, and in 1970 was appointed to the chair of surgery at the new medical school at Southampton University.

He contributed much to its rapidly-won reputation as a centre of medical excellence and in his own field he pioneered the practice of cryosurgery, whereby a cold cutting device is used for incisions thereby reducing bleeding and spread of

cancerous cells.

Sir James returned to Edinburgh again in 1981 as post-graduate medical dean, a position which he held until his retirement in 1989.

His long service to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was recognised in 1982 when he was elected to the presidency. His three-year tenure was marked by a major building programme and consensual agreements with the other British and Irish surgical colleges on advanced and specialty training and assessment. Such contributions won him several honorary fellowships at home and abroad.

Sir James is survived by his wife Maureen, and sons Iain, who will inherit the baronetcy, and Christopher.