Dr. Robert Newill, who will be remembered by many residents from the time when he practiced at the Bovingdon surgery, died on Remembrance Sunday last year. When he returned from service with the Royal Armoured Corps during World War 2, he trained to be a doctor at St. Bartholomews Hospital in London. After several years in general practice he gained a Rockefeller research grant and began a second career in research at the infertility clinic at University College Hospital, London. He made a significant contribution in the area of male infertility and published a number of papers on the subject. His book Infertile Marriage, published in 1974, was written specifically for a non-medical audience and generated wide interest. He brought great hope and happiness to many who thought they would always be denied the pleasure of bearing and raising children.
He was a keen choral singer, a great lover of music, a yachtsman, gardener and passionate birdwatcher. Many will remember him regularly sounding the Last Post on the bugle at the annual service on Remembrance Sunday at the War Memorial. Robert Newills wife, Patricia, died in 1995 and he is survived by his two daughters, Heather and Angela. Angela Newill