Surely the best known appliance in orthopaedics and trauma surgery is the Thomas splint, and the story of its evolution is interesting. Hugh Owen Thomas (1834-1891) came from a family of Welsh bone-setters. His father was determined that Hugh should become a 'proper doctor' so he studied at Edinburgh and University College, London and qualified MRCS in 1857. He spent the whole of his life in general practice in the slums of Liverpool among the dock workers and the numerous seafarers, many with severe injuries sustained weeks or even months before, while at sea, where their only care had been from their shipmates and captain.