Gordon Hamilton-Fairley

Overview
Gordon Hamilton-Fairley (1930-1975), was one of the world's leading cancer specialists. Born and raised in Australia, he moved to the United Kingdom where he studied and worked. He was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

His life
The son of an eminent research worker in tropical diseases (Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley), Gordon Fairley grew up in Australia. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, and St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.

Trained in hematology as Leverhulme Research Scholar at the Royal College of Physicians, he continued his research with an emphasis on immunohematology.

In 1968 he became director of the Clinical Research Unit at the Institute of Cancer Research. In 1970 he became director of the Medical Oncology Research Unit. In 1972 he became Imperial Cancer Fund Professor of Oncology.

He was killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army car bomb in London on 22 October 1975. The bomb was intended for Sir Hugh Fraser, his wife Lady Antonia Fraser and their guest Caroline Kennedy, who lived nearby but Dr. Hamilton-Fairley accidentally set it off when he spotted the suspicious package under their car while walking his dog.