During the Great War (1914-1918) he and his sister Maureen were sent to live with their uncle and aunts on the family farm at Creery near to Castlederg in County Tyrone, Ireland.
He studied medicine at St Bartholemews Hospital, London.
His parents disapproved of his marriage and disinherited him, so that instead of inheriting his father's medical practice, as would have been usual at the time, he had to buy his own medical practice and started his married life in debt.
During the Second World War (1939-1945) he initially volunteered for the Navy, but was given a posting at a time when he was unable to leave his medical practice. He later became a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
During the War he studied at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and was then sent to West Africa with the Army. Following the D-Day landings he spent some time running hospitals in Belgium and Germany.
Supplement to the London Gazette, 11th February 1941, mentioning that Lionel was to be made a lieutenant
After the war the family settled in Rochdale, Lancashire where he was a GP until his retirement in 1970.
He was a strong supporter of the National Health Service. He was also dedicated to his work and his patients. He disapproved of the use of poisons such as strychnine as medicines and prefered to prescibe potassium citrate as a placebo for such minor ailments as colds and sleeplessness when patients insisted on being given pills.
Lionel and Betty retired to the seaside town of Exmouth in Devon. They called their house there "Sandown" after the place where they first met. He enjoyed walking in the local countryside, on the cliffs and the beach. He and Betty were members of the National Trust for many years and enjoyed visiting various local historical houses and gardens.
During their retirement Lionel and Betty looked after their grandchildren, Nicola and Kegan Harrison for nine years.
Lionel died at home in June 1996, at the age of 87.