• Home
  • About
  • Advocacy
  • Careers
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Library
  • Surgical News
  • Sign In
RACS logo
  • Become a surgeon
  • Trainees
  • Fellows
  • SIMGs
  • Research & audit

Key Information

  • About specialist surgeons
  • How do I become a surgeon?
  • Selection process and requirements
  • Admission to Fellowship
  • International surgical training
  • View all

Resources

  • eLearning courses & resources
  • College events
  • Interest groups and sections
  • Scholarships and grants

Key Information

  • Trainee Association (RACSTA)
  • The surgical training program
  • Surgical specialties
  • Examinations
  • Training post accreditation
  • View all

Education for Trainees

  • Skills training courses
  • eLearning courses & resources
  • Specialist training program
  • Library
  • View all

Resources

  • Training standards for surgeons
  • Surgeon wellbeing
  • College events
  • Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Interest groups and sections
  • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
  • View all

Key Information and resources

  • 'Find a Surgeon' & 'practice card'
  • Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
  • Reports, guidelines & publications
  • Fellowship
  • Interest groups and sections
  • View all

Fellowship Education and Training

  • eLearning courses & resources
  • Skills training courses
  • Wellbeing
  • Professional development courses
  • Library
  • View all

For supervisors, educators and trainers

  • Academy of Surgical Educators
  • Supervisor Support Hub
  • RACS skills & education centre
  • Become a mentor
  • Post-fellowship training
  • View all

Key Information

  • SIMG overview
  • Pathways
  • Apply
  • Contacts, guidelines and forms
  • View all

Education for SIMGs

  • Fellowship Examination
  • eLearning courses & resources
  • Skills training courses
  • Professional development courses
  • Library

Resources

  • Working in Australia and New Zealand
  • Surgeon wellbeing
  • Member benefits & services
  • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)

Key Information

  • Surgical mortality audits
  • Morbidity audits
  • Research & Evaluation, inc. ASERNIP-S
  • Laparoscopic skills training
  • Trauma Verification program
  • View all

Resources

  • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
  • My audits
  • College events
  • Interest groups and sections
  • Books & merchandise
  • View all
RACS logo
  • RACS login
    Sign In
  • Become a surgeon
    • Key Information

      Key Information

      • About specialist surgeons
      • How do I become a surgeon?
      • Selection process and requirements
      • Admission to Fellowship
      • International surgical training
      • View all
    • Resources

      Resources

      • eLearning courses & resources
      • College events
      • Interest groups and sections
      • Scholarships and grants
  • Trainees
    • Key Information

      Key Information

      • Trainee Association (RACSTA)
      • The surgical training program
      • Surgical specialties
      • Examinations
      • Training post accreditation
      • View all
    • Education for Trainees

      Education for Trainees

      • Skills training courses
      • eLearning courses & resources
      • Specialist training program
      • Library
      • View all
    • Resources

      Resources

      • Training standards for surgeons
      • Surgeon wellbeing
      • College events
      • Monitoring and Evaluation
      • Interest groups and sections
      • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
      • View all
  • Fellows
    • Key Information

      Key Information and resources

      • 'Find a Surgeon' & 'practice card'
      • Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
      • Reports, guidelines & publications
      • Fellowship
      • Interest groups and sections
      • View all
    • Fellowship Education and Training

      Fellowship Education and Training

      • eLearning courses & resources
      • Skills training courses
      • Wellbeing
      • Professional development courses
      • Library
      • View all
    • For Educators and Trainers

      For supervisors, educators and trainers

      • Academy of Surgical Educators
      • Supervisor Support Hub
      • RACS skills & education centre
      • Become a mentor
      • Post-fellowship training
      • View all
  • SIMGs
    • Key Information

      Key Information

      • SIMG overview
      • Pathways
      • Apply
      • Contacts, guidelines and forms
      • View all
    • Education for IMGs

    • Resources

      Resources

      • Working in Australia and New Zealand
      • Surgeon wellbeing
      • Member benefits & services
      • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
  • Research & audit
    • Key Information

      Key Information

      • Surgical mortality audits
      • Morbidity audits
      • Research & Evaluation, inc. ASERNIP-S
      • Laparoscopic skills training
      • Trauma Verification program
      • View all
    • Resources

      Resources

      • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
      • My audits
      • College events
      • Interest groups and sections
      • Books & merchandise
      • View all
  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • Careers
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Surgical News
  • Library
In This Section
  • Bernard Catchpole
  • Bruce Neil Procter Benjamin
  • Donald Simpson
  • Richard (Dick) Clayton Bennett
  • Brendan John Dooley
  • Donald Marshall
  • Geoffrey Chiam
  • Neil Bright
  • Thomas Connelley
  • Patrick Cregan
  • James Downie
  • John Lester
  • William (Bruce) Conolly
  • Robert Smith
  • Dean Mackie
  • Brian Shearman
  • Solomon Levitt
  • James McKinnon Watts
  • George Wilson
  • James O’Collins
  1. HOME
  2. About RACS
  3. About the College of Surgeons
  4. In memoriam
  5. Obituaries
  6. Norman Stokoe

Norman Stokoe

Obituary of Norman Stokoe

Norman Leslie Stokoe
17 May 1923 - 23 August 2017
Ophthalmologist 

Norman Leslie Stokoe, eminent ophthalmologist who practised in Edinburgh, Fife and the Borders

Norman Leslie Stokoe, MB, ChB, (Edinburgh, 1945), Dip Ophthalm (RCS, h London, 1958), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh, 1953), Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (Melbourne, 1958), Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. Born: 17 May, 1923. Died 23 August 2017, aged 94.

Norman Leslie Stokoe (always known as Leslie) was born in Edinburgh in 1923. The son of William Norman Stokoe and Annie Barbour (Henderson) Stokoe, he was the second of four children and extremely proud of his Edinburgh upbringing and education, being a graduate of Watson's College and Edinburgh University.

There were strong scientific traditions on both sides of his family, and following their parents' lead, Leslie, his two brothers and his sister became two medics, a veterinary surgeon and a biochemical research scientist. Although his university studies were affected by the Second World War, Leslie graduated as a Bachelor of Medicine (MB, ChB) in 1945. In 1944 he undertook a placement in the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, where he trained in obstetrics, and attended 20 cases of labour, conducting 16 personally.

Upon graduating he entered the Royal Army Medical Corps, rising to the ranks of Lieutenant (1946) and Captain (1948), and seeing service in Cambridge. It was during these formative early years in his career that Leslie chose and developed his specialism in ophthalmology. This choice reflected his love of physical sciences, and in particular, optics. As a specialism, ophthalmic surgery was also particularly appropriate as Leslie's dextrous fingers, with which he also made tiny, intricate models, were also perfect for delicate micro-surgery on eyes. Thus it was that in which Leslie began his civilian career as Registrar, then Senior Registrar, in ophthalmology in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (1948-1955).

In 1949 Leslie married Agnes (Nancie) Wallace Campbell Storrar, the daughter of Sir John Storrar, then Town Clerk of Edinburgh. Medically qualified in her own right, she was to be his companion throughout his life, passing away just three months before him. Their two daughters, Fiona and Yvonne, were born in 1950 and 1952.

Leslie moved to a post as Senior Registrar in Ophthalmology at the Leeds General Infirmary with his young family in 1955, and then in 1958, they emigrated to Adelaide in Australia. That was to prove a short-term adventure: in 1959 they returned to Leslie's native Edinburgh, where he was to spend the rest of his life, apart from brief secondments to hospitals in Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Baghdad. Leslie held his post in Scotland as Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon in East Fife Hospitals (based at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy) and the Royal Infirmary Eye Pavilion, Edinburgh, until his retirement in 1987.

He researched and published in the field of detachment of the retina and specialised in remedial surgery for sufferers of that condition. Leslie was well-respected for his forensic skills in diagnosing rare conditions, and he particularly delighted in his association with the Edinburgh Royal Blind School. His compassion and humanity shone through in his work with blind and partially-sighted children. He served as President of the Scottish Ophthalmological Club (1984-1985), and for many years was an adjudicator for the Fellowship Examinations of the Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons. At various times in his career he held the title of Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, and Honorary Professor in the Department of Physiology in the University of St. Andrews.

Leslie developed a flourishing private practice, using consulting rooms in his house in Bruntsfield and in Moray Place. The admixture of medical practice and his hobbies had significant impact on his family's daily life at home. A keen yachtsman, who raced at Linlithgow and in the Firth of Forth, he built a yacht with his own hands, although when it was finished he declared it to be too heavy to move with appropriate speed.

The consulting room in his house also served as the boat builder's workshop, and when the room was required for professional purposes, the family had to be rounded up to carry the hull into an adjacent room where it could be hidden out of sight behind curtains.

After retiring in Edinburgh, Leslie continued to practise part-time in the Borders, and took the opportunity to pursue his interest in the history of ophthalmic surgery, by researching the hagiography of Lucy, the patron saint of the blind, and through volunteering in the Surgeons' Hall Museum of the Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons.

Leslie was a long-standing communicant in Greenbank Parish Church and an established member of the choir. He was a passionate photographer, a trait which he may have inherited from his mother, and greatly enjoyed recording his travels and family events.

He died peacefully in his sleep after a long struggle with heart disease and is survived by his sister, Nancy, his two daughters, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

 

This obituary was kindly provided by Prof. Stephen Hill

Back to Obituaries
  • Bernard Catchpole
  • Bruce Neil Procter Benjamin
  • Donald Simpson
  • Richard (Dick) Clayton Bennett
  • Brendan John Dooley
  • Donald Marshall
  • Geoffrey Chiam
  • Neil Bright
  • Thomas Connelley
  • Patrick Cregan
  • James Downie
  • John Lester
  • William (Bruce) Conolly
  • Robert Smith
  • Dean Mackie
  • Brian Shearman
  • Solomon Levitt
  • James McKinnon Watts
  • George Wilson
  • James O’Collins
Back To Top
  • For Patients
  • Find a surgeon
  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • Corporate Partnerships
  • Careers
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Library
  • Sign in
  • Surgical News
  • About RACS
  • About the College of Surgeons
  • About RACS offices
  • Global Health
  • Specialty societies & affiliated organisations
  • Surgeon wellbeing
  • Building Respect
  • College fees
  • Position papers
  • Policies
  • College events
  • Education
  • Skills training courses
  • Professional Development
  • eLearning courses & resources
  • Specialist Training Program
  • Become a Surgeon
  • About specialist surgeons
  • How do I become a surgeon?
  • Selection requirements
  • International surgical training
  • Admission to Fellowship
  • Fellowship
See all News

  • RACS: Let's make safe roads a shared priority every day, not just during National Road Safety Week
  • RACS makes submission regarding speed limit consultation on 16 Urban Connectors
  • RACS calls on all levels of government for reform
Indigenous motifs
Logo
  • ABN 29 004 167 766
  • Disclaimer and privacy