bedford was appointed in 1946 the bradshaw lecturer, in 1960 the lumleian lecturer, and in 1968 the harveian orator. he was president from 1960 to 1964 of the british cardiac society and was in 1963 appointed cbe. he was intimately familiar with the history of cardiology and often quoted from memory such sources as rokitansky’s "die defecte der scheidewande des herzens", lower’s "tractatus de corde", or the writings of the irish victorians, adams, stokes and corrigan.