Miles Vaughan Williams obituary

My father, Miles Vaughan Williams, who has died aged 98, received global recognition for his work on heart rhythm problems. He realised that these were the commonest cause of sudden death, and his main contribution was to put the pharmacological treatment of arrhythmias on a firm scientific basis. He conducted pioneering work on beta-blockers, which have saved countless lives since. The Vaughan Williams index of anti-arrhythmic drugs - established in 1970 - is still used today. His work was recognised with an honorary fellowship of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology and an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne.

Son of Stella (nee Pressey) and Arthur Vaughan Williams, he was born in Bangalore, India. His father, first cousin of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, was an engineer charged with managing all the steam engines of the Madras and Southern Mahratta railway. Aged six, Miles was sent to Crowthorne Towers prep school in Berkshire, then to Wellington college. He went to Wadham College, Oxford, in 1937 to read classics and philosophy.