Sir Roger Bannister

On 28th September 2021 a memorial stone was unveiled by Lady Bannister in the north aisle of the nave of Westminster Abbey in memory of her husband Sir Roger Bannister CH, CBE. The blue Purbeck marble floorstone, just opposite the grave of Professor Stephen Hawking, was designed and cut by John Maine and the inscription reads:

ROGER BANNISTER Pioneering Neurologist World Champion Runner 1929-2018

Sir Roger was a British athlete who was the first man ever to run a mile in under four minutes on 6th May 1954. At that period it was not thought possible that someone could achieve this fast time.

He was born on 23rd March 1929 in London, the son of Ralph and Alice. He was educated at Oxford university and St Mary's Hospital in London. In 1955 he married artist Moyra Jacobsson and their children are Clive, Erin, Charlotte and Thurstan. In the same year he got his medical degrees, after retiring from athletics, and published his first book The first four minutes. During his National Service in the army he went out to Aden to research the cause of death among young soldiers in hot climates.

Afterwards he studied neurology in London and spent time at Harvard university in the USA. His particular expertise lay in the autonomic nervous system. He was a consultant at two London teaching hospitals and served on many committees to do with medicine and sport as well as writing more books. In 1975 he was knighted and was later master of Pembroke College, Oxford. He helped carry the 2012 London Olympic torch and died on 3rd March 2018.

Further reading

Twin Tracks, his autobiography, 2014.