1941–2016

'Ted', as he was known to his many friends and colleagues, died on 28 February 2016 at the age of 74, following a period of illness.

Ted was born in Northumberland and studied dentistry at Newcastle Dental School. He was initially commissioned into the Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC). His first posting was to Borneo – quite a baptism of fire for a newly qualified dental practitioner. There followed several postings to Germany and the UK. Ted's talents as a restorative dentist were soon noticed, as a result of which he was sent off to the Eastman Dental Hospital to attend the MSc course in Restorative Dentistry. Following this he was posted to the RADC Headquarters in Aldershot as Clinical Adviser in Restorative Dentistry. Here he gained a reputation as a highly skilled dental practitioner and he excelled in running postgraduate dental courses. He was able to attract the highest calibre of civilian lecturers to impart their knowledge on his courses. Ted became very much involved in teaching and in encouraging young dentists on the early vocational training schemes, initially in collaboration with John Brookman and the Guildford VT scheme.

Ted was one of the first dental practitioners to obtain the Membership in General Dental Surgery, following which he encouraged, sometimes with painful but always well measured arm twisting, a considerable number of RADC dental officers to follow his example. Many of us who have served in the RADC owe Ted a tremendous vote of thanks for the encouragement he gave us. Ted's vision was responsible for elevating the standards of military dentistry to levels that had never been achieved before. It is a pity he was never given the acknowledgement he deserved for his outstanding contribution to military dentistry.

After retiring from the army in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Ted moved to Yorkshire and set up in private practice in Harrogate. He continued to contribute to postgraduate and vocational training by passing on his expertise to young dentists in lectures and courses at the universities of York and Leeds.

Ted was a man of many interests. He was an avid collector of decorative boxes, porcelain, model soldiers and stamps. Each interest he pursued with passion, including his in-depth study of the archaeology and architecture of English churches. His hands never stopped working: professionally, but also as a book binder, silversmith, painter, architectural draughtsman, garden designer and latterly a maker of historic keyboard instruments – all pursued with meticulous attention to detail.

Ted is survived by his wife Trish, whom he married in 1967, and his sister Christine.