Geoffrey Robert Peberdy

Geoffrey Robert Peberdy

Former consultant psychiatrist Newcastle General Hospital (b Leicester 1921; q Durham 1937 (first class honours and first place in year); DPM (Leeds) 1939; MD (Dunelm) 1939; FRCPsych 1971), d 11 August 2001.

During the war Geoffrey served as specialist psychiatrist in the Royal Army Medical Corps, with rank of major. After demobilisation he continued his career in psychiatry and until his retirement in 1977 devoted himself to the care of patients who came from all over the counties of Northumberland and Durham to seek his advice and help. It was typical of him to interrupt his flourishing practice in Newcastle to spend a year in Perth, Western Australia, so that one of his daughters could receive the medical treatment she needed.

Perhaps the most characteristic feature of Geoffrey’s personality was his abounding energy and enthusiasm, which was evident in everything he did. He had an original mind and was a consummate practitioner of lateral thinking, long before the term was coined.

His research interests were many and resulted in publications on a wide range of subjects, including psychosexual disorders, and hypnosis, which he used expertly in his clinical work.

He was a founder member of the North of England Medical Society, later its president, and subsequently an honorary member. He was a member of Lincoln’s Inn.

Retirement provided him the opportunity to invest all his energies to the life of Whittingham, the Northumbrian village that had been his home for 50 years and that he, and his wife Mary, loved so much. He played a part in many of its activities. He was president of its annual fair and was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide for any visitor who strayed into that lovely part of the county. Geoffrey was a deeply religious man and much involved with the village church of St Bartholomew, and was an authority on its history.

He leaves his wife, Mary, to whom he had been married for over 60 years; three daughters; seven grandchildren; and one great granddaughter. He will be remembered with much affection by his patients and colleagues for his courtesy and kindness. [Kurt Schapira]