Born in Pennsylvania, 1856; educated Bowdoin College, Maine; land surveyor; Civil Engineer Corps Officer in the United States Navy, 1881; engaged on the survey of the projected Nicaragua Ship Canal, 1885-1887; attempted to cross Greenland, 1886; naval dock construction in the US; second expedition to Greenland, 1891-1892; third expedition to Greenland, 1893-1895; expedition to the North Pole where he reached the northern limits of the Greenland archipelago, 1898-1902; second attempt to the North Pole, achieving a Farthest North world record at 87°06'; reached the North Pole, 1908-1909 (although this claim has been subject to doubt); awarded a special Gold Medal by the Royal Geographical Society; died, 1920.
Born, 1868; education, Exmouth House School, Stoke Damerel, and Stubbington House, Fareham, 1879, to be crammed for the Royal Navy; joined the training ship HMS BRITANNIA, 1881; passed out in 1883; served in turn aboard the BOADICEA, the MONARCH, and the ROVER, 1883-1887; Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1887-1888; sub-lieutenant in the SPIDE; posted to the DAPHNE and then to the AMPHION for service on the Pacific station at Esquimalt, British Columbia, 1889; returned to England to serve briefly on the CAROLINE in the Mediterranean, 1891; transferred to the VERNON (shore establishment) to specialise in torpedo work; qualified as torpedo lieutenant, first class, and was appointed to the VULCAN, 1893; 1895 to 1896 Scott served in the torpedo school Defiance, 1895-1896, the battleship EMPRESS OF INDIA, 1896-1897 and the MAJESTIC; appointed commander of the British National Antarctic expedition, 1900; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1900-1913; British National Antarctic expedition, 1901-1904; patron's gold medal, Royal Geographical Society, 1904; returned to active service, commanding in turn the VICTORIOUS, 1906, the ALBEMARLE, 1907, the ESSEX, 1908, and the BULWARK, 1909; naval assistant to the Second Sea Lord, 1909; British Antarctic expedition, 1910-1912; died, 1912.
Publications: The Voyage of the 'Discovery' (1905)
Born, 1858; educated, Glasgow University; mining expert, Spain, 1878; mining expert, Greece, 1879-1886; cartographic work on expedition to Mashonaland, 1891; Royal Geographical Society Murchison Grant, 1892; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1893-1904; expedition to South Africa, 1893-1895; examined the mining districts of Western Australia and Tasmania, 1896; examined the mining districts of Siam, 1898; mining work in the Malay peninsular, 1896-1904; died, 1904.
Born, 1816; master in St Peter's School, York; botanical field work in the Pyrenees, 1845; botanical and geographical work in the Amazon basin, 1849-1864; returned to England, 1864; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1866-1893; died, 1893.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, 1892; taught himself topographical and hydrographical surveying, 1910-1915; served in the First World War in France, 1914-1919; returned and continued his career in mapping South Africa, 1919; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1916-1932; worked in the Orange Free State, South Africa; reconnaissance in Basutoland; privately published the Gazetteer of Basutoland for which he was honoured by the Queen of England; awarded a prize by the Royal Geographical Society; fought to verify the traditional land claims of the Basotho people who lived near the Orange Free State, the Eastern Cape Colony, and Southern Transvaal. In 1955, he was evicted from his home, and 89 percent of his property was appropriated by the State.
Studied at University College London and appointed lecturer at the London School of Economics in 1929. Served in the Geographical Intelligence Division of the Admiralty during World War Two, specialising in railways and south east Europe. In 1950 became founding Professor of Geography at Keele. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1930-1984. Member of the Council of the Royal Geographical Society, 1943-1947. Received the Murchison Grant in 1962.
Born, 1909; Trinity College, Cambridge, 1927-1930; Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich; Royal Academy Schools in London; held his first one-man exhibition at Ackermann's Galleries in London, 1933; made his living as a painter of wildfowl, producing his first book, Morning Flight, (Country Life, 1935) followed by Wild Chorus (1938); won a bronze medal in the 1936 Olympic games, for single-handed yachting; Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 1939; founder and honorary director of the Severn Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, (later known as the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) 1946; conducted scientific research in Iceland, 1951 and the Perry River region of northern Canada, 1949; helped to establish the natural history unit at the BBC Television Centre in Bristol; hosted the natural history programme 'Look' for seventeen years; became involved with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, early 1950s; helped build up the species survival commission of the Union and was chairman, 1962-1981; founded the World Wildlife Fund (later the World Wide Fund for Nature), 1961; rector of Aberdeen University, 1960-1963; appointed Chancellor of Birmingham University, 1974-1983; CH and a fellow of the Royal Society, 1987; died, 1989.
Sir Joseph Banks was born in London in 1743; educated at Harrow School, 1752-1756 and Eton College, 1756-1760, where he showed an interest in botany. Banks matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford and following his father's death in 1761 chose to devote himself to natural history. He was elected a Fellow of Royal Society and Society of Antiquaries, 1766 and in the same year undertook his apprenticeship as a scientifically trained Linnaean naturalist on an expedition to Labrador and Newfoundland. He later undertook the Endeavour voyage of 1768-1771 with James Cook. On his return in 1771, Banks was introduced to King George III, later becoming his friend and advisor on matters concerning science and agriculture.
Banks was president of the Royal Society from 1778 to 1820 and Virtual Director of Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, 1773. Banks was one of the founders of the Africa Society and promoted greater British involvement in the exploration of Africa. He was made a knight in Order of the Bath, 1795 and died in 1820.
The British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA) was founded in York on 27 September 1831. The organisation's initial purpose as expressed through its annual meetings held in different towns and cities throughout the UK was: 'to give a stronger impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry; to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate Science in different parts of the British Empire with one another and with foreign philosophers; to obtain more general attention for the objects of Science and the removal of any disadvantages of a public kind that may impede its progress.'
Notable events at early meetings include the coining of terms such as 'scientist' and 'dinosaur, 1841, also the debate on Darwinism between Huxley and Wilberforce, 1860, Joule's experiments, 1840s and the first demonstration of wireless transmission, 1894.
The BA organises major initiatives across the UK, including the annual BA Festival of Science, National Science and Engineering Week, programmes of regional and local events, and an extensive programme for young people in schools and colleges. The BA is a charity established under Royal Charter and governed by a Council which forms the Board of Trustees.
James Bruce, was born at Kinnaird House, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, on 14 December 1730, son of David Bruce (d 1758), laird of Kinnaird; educated in the family of Councillor William Hamilton in London, and Harrow School in 1742. Although inclined to become an Anglican clergyman on leaving school in 1746, he enrolled in the law faculty at Edinburgh University, May 1747. In 1753 he left Kinnaird for London, intending to embark as a 'free trader' with the East India Company; a year later he married, though his wife died in the same year of consumption.
In July 1757 he embarked for Spain and Portugal, travelled through France, the German states, and the Netherlands. In 1758 Bruce's father died, and he returned to Scotland to assume his responsibilities as laird of Kinnaird. He signed a contract on 4 November 1760 to supply the Carron ironworks with coal from his mines at Kinnaird providing him with the capital and the leisure to travel the world.
Bruce travelled on expeditions to the Algiers and Tunis, Abyssinia and the source of the Nile, returning to England in 1774. He postponed the composition of his Travels for sixteen years and anxious to emulate the form of James Cook's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean (one of the best-selling travel books of the century), Bruce published his 3000-page Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in five quarto volumes in 1790. Bruce died in his home in 1794. Much controversy surrounded Bruce' work and although subsequent travellers did much to restore Bruce's credit, his reputation never fully recovered.
No biographical information available at time of compilation.
James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in the village of Marton in Cleveland, North Riding of Yorkshire; attended Postgate School, Great Ayton; later signing an apprenticeship agreement with John Walker, a highly respected Quaker shipowner, whose ships, based on Whitby, were employed in the North Sea coal trade; in 1755 Cook was offered the command of one of Walker's ships, but instead enlisted in the Royal Navy as an able seaman. In 1757, he passed the examination for master and becoming responsible for the navigation and handling of ships of the Royal Navy. Cook spent most of the Seven Years' War in North American waters and after meeting Major Samuel Holland, took an active interest in hydrographic surveying. During a raid on French settlements in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Cook surveyed the Bay of Gaspé; the chart was published by Mount and Page the following year.
On 19 April 1763, Cook took passage for Newfoundland in Graves's ship the Antelope; on arrival Graves sent Cook to survey the islands of St Pierre and Miquelon which were to be restored to France; over the next four years Cook surveyed the whole of the west and south coasts of the island, returning to England each autumn to draw his charts and refit the schooner. In 1766, with permission from the Admiralty, Cook began publishing his surveys and sailing directions; his surveys were published in 1769 in a folio atlas by Thomas Jeffreys, who republished Cook's sailing directions in the same year in The Newfoundland Pilot. These were incorporated in the famous North American Pilot published by Sayer and Bennett in 1775. Cook returned to England on 15 November 1767 and was appointed by the Royal Society for an expedition to the South Pacific to observe the transit of Venus across the face of the sun, which would enable the distance between the earth and the sun to be calculated. The astronomer Charles Green was appointed by the Royal Society to observe the transit of Venus, with Cook as the second observer. The Endeavour set sail in 1768 and, after calling at Madeira and Rio de Janeiro and rounding Cape Horn, anchored in Matavai Bay on the north coast of Tahiti on 13 April 1769. The east coast of New Zealand was sighted on 6 October and Cook spent the next six months carrying out a running survey of New Zealand's North and South islands; next carrying out a running survey of the unknown east coast of Australia. The voyage was judged a success and Cook was promoted to commander on 29 August 1771.
In spite of the achievements of Cook's first voyage there were vast areas in the Southern Ocean where a great land mass might yet be found and Cook therefore proposed that a search for it should be made by circumnavigating the globe from west to east in a high southern latitude. Cook sailed the Resolution from Plymouth on 13 July 1772 and in 1773 became the first person to cross the Antarctic Circle. On his return to England Cook was promoted to post captain on 9 August 1775 and appointed fourth captain of Greenwich Hospital. In March 1776, Cook was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and at the same time awarded the society's Copley medal for his work on the prevention of scurvy. Cook commanded a further expedition to the Pacific, 1776-1779 in October 1776, the ship anchored in Table Bay, where Cook was joined by the Discovery. On crossing the Indian Ocean, Cook fixed the position of Prince Edward and Marion islands and carried out a running survey of the north coast of Kerguelen, establishing the island's longitude accurately with the aid of K1; later sighting Oahu and Kauai, at the western end of the Hawaiian Islands, 1778. After carrying out a running survey of the easternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, Cook anchored in Kealakekua Bay on the island of Hawaii on 17 January 1779. At first he was well received, however an extended stay was not welcomed, resulting in the theft of the Discovery's cutter. Cook landed with an escort of marines in an attempt to persuade the local chief to return on board where he intended to hold him as a hostage against the return of the cutter. This resulted in an altercation, with Cook and four others being killed. Cook died 14 February 1779.
Bolton Glanville Corney was born 10 December 1851; educated privately in France, England and Germany and eventually at St Thomas' Hospital. In 1876 he travelled to the new Crown Colony in Fiji and was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Fuji in 1887. Corney reported upon the decrease in the Fijian native population and wrote papers concerning Dengue Fever and Leprosy etc. Corney joined the Royal Geographical Society in 1912, served on its council and was awarded the Back Grant in 1923. He died in 1924.
William Bensley Cotton was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1921-1944.
Augustine Courtauld was born on 26 August 1904 at Bocking, Braintree, Essex; educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read engineering and geography, graduating in 1926. In 1926 he joined James Wordie's summer expedition to east Greenland as photographer and in 1927 Courtauld travelled with Francis and Peter Rodd to the mountains of Aïr in the southern Sahara. Courtauld attempted unsuccessfully to become a stockbroker and consequently returned to Greenland in the summer of 1929 on another expedition with Wordie.
In 1930 Courtauld met H. G. Watkins, who was planning an expedition to Greenland to explore the possibilities of an air route from the United Kingdom to western Canada over the ice cap. Part of the meteorological programme was the establishment of the ice-cap station some 140 miles north-west of the base camp manned continually by two men who would be relieved at approximately monthly intervals by dog sledge or aircraft. However, it took six weeks to reach the ice-cap station from the base camp and it became clear there was not enough food for two men to be left safely at the camp. Courtauld persuaded the party to allow him to man the station alone and he was left there on 5 December 1930. Courtauld spent five months alone, part of the time imprisoned beneath the snow and in darkness. In 1932 he was awarded the polar medal by George V.
Before World War Two Courtauld joined the organisation which was to become the Special Operations Executive, and in the summer of 1939 was asked by naval intelligence to take Duet up the Norwegian coast from Bergen to Trondheim gathering as much intelligence as he could. Courtauld served throughout World War Two in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as sub-lieutenant, 1939, and lieutenant, 1940-1945.
After the war, he devoted himself to local government and community service, serving on Essex County Council from 1945 to 1955; becoming a JP and Deputy Lieutenant in 1946 and High Sheriff of Essex in 1953. He was a governor of Felsted School, chairman of Essex Association of Boys' Clubs, and vice-president of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, 1957. He served three times on the council of the Royal Geographical Society; was Honorary Secretary between 1948 and 1951 and served on the committee of management of the Scott Polar Research Institute. Courtauld died in hospital in London on 3 March 1959.
Vero Louis Bosazza was born 21 January 1911; graduated in geography from University of Witswatersrand and obtained his Doctor's degree from University of South Africa; and worked as a practical field geologist, gaining extensive knowledge of South and Central Africa. During World War Two, Bosazza served with the South African Forces and on his return home worked in the Mineral Research Laboratories. Bosazza had an interest in the work of David Livingstone, maintaining that the scientific results of the Zambesi expedition of 1854-1864 were more important than previously considered. Bosazza was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1947-1980. Bosazza died in Johannesburg on 26 March 1980.
Lieutenant Thomas Howard Molyneux led an expedition from the HM SPARTAN to examine the course of the Jordan and and the valley through which it runs and to measure the depth of the Dead Sea, 1847.
Alley was an English merchant who was active in the East India trade as an interloper where his flamboyant behaviour caused considerable irritation to the East India Company. Numerous pious interjections suggest he may have been a Puritan. He mentions that his wife travelled with him.
Born, 1788; merchant service; Royal Navy, 1805; surveying in Italian, Adriatic, Greek, and north African waters; Founder member of the Royal Geographical Society of London (RGS), 1830; President of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1845-1846; retired, 1846; President of the RGS, 1849-1850; Vice-President and Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society; Vice-President and Director of the Society of Antiquaries; died, 1865.
Born, 1811; medical missionary in China; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1858-1896; died, 1896.
Born, England, 1873; educated, Alleyn's College of God's Gift, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1892-1903; St Thomas's Hospital, London; member of the Royal College of Surgeons; licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, 1903; joined the Daniells anthropological expedition to British New Guinea to investigate cancer, 1903; assistant resident magistrate at Kairuku, Central Division, 1904; resident magistrate of North Eastern Division of Papua, 1908; led investigation on dysentery among Papuan labourers, 1912; chief medical health and quarantine officer, [1919]; implemented a programme for training Papuans as medical assistants, 1933-1935; retired, 1938; died, 1946.
Under the 1909 Royal Charter of Incorporation, the Bedford College Board of Education was replaced by the Academic Board, which also took over the functions of the Staff Meeting. It was originally composed of the Principal, who was also the ex officio Chairman, Heads of Departments or their representatives, and various other teaching staff as appointed by the Council on the recommendation of the Academic Board. These last were to number no more than five. The Secretary of the Council also acted as Secretary of the Board (until 1978 when this function was taken over by the Registrar. The Secretary of the Council was still to attend meetings). Faculties of Art and Science were created, each led by a Dean and consisting of teachers from those disciplines, the Secretaries of which reported to the Board on a regular basis. Membership was widened in 1920 and 1929 to increase the number of Assistant Staff.
At first its powers were confined to giving advice on educational matters, but the scope was enlarged in 1911 when it was permitted to make representation to the Council on matters concerning the wider management of the College. The Board was also empowered to appoint Committees made up of its members. The Charter of 1909 allowed for the election of two members of the Board to the Council, with this being increased to five by 1930. Staff Councillors held office for 3 years. The composition of the Academic Board changed in the years up to 1982 to include ex officio the Principal, the Vice-Principal, the Deans of Faculties, and the Librarian, as well as Heads of Departments and elected members from the Faculties.
The Bedford College Academic Board was empowered to create Committees made up of its own members by the terms of the Royal Charter granted in 1909.
The Faculties of Arts and Science were first organised in 1909, following the reorganisation of the constitution of Bedford College when it was granted a Royal Charter. Each was presided over by a Dean, who reported directly to the Academic Board, and included Heads of Departments, Lecturers and Recognised Teachers of London University. The Deans gradually came to play an important role within the College, sitting on the Academic Board and later on the Finance Committee (1972) and the Policy and Estimates Committee (1972).
The Hygiene Diploma, intended as a preparation for women intending to take posts in the Department of Public Health, ran from 1895-1919. Taking over its role in 1916 was the newly formed Social Studies Department, which had been created as the result of an application by the Charity Organisations Society for courses of lectures on Social Economics and Social Ethics as part of the C.O.S. Certificate for Social Workers. In 1918, the Department changed its name to the Department of Sociology, Social Studies and Economics. By 1912 a special course in Public Health had been arranged for international nurses with scholarships from the League of Red Cross Societies, and continued for six years. At this point a Committee comprising College members, representatives of the League and the College of Nursing, was formed to carry on and develop this course. A second course for Nurse Administrators and Teachers in Schools of Nursing was set up in 1925-1926. In 1934 the courses were carried on under the auspices of the Florence Nightingale International Foundation.
The Department for the Professional Training of Teachers was inaugurated in 1892, and a Loan Fund created to help the students (this was extended to the whole College in 1896). It quickly established a reputation as a leading training Centre for Assistant Mistresses in secondary schools, and received grants from the Board of Education. It was closed in 1922 following the demolition of South Villa, where it had been housed since 1913.
Art students had attended Bedford College since its opening in 1849. An Art Studio was provided at Bedford Square, which was the first in England to allow women to paint and draw from the life. A gradual decline in the number of pupils, despite injections of funds from female artists such as Madame Bodichon (Barbara Leigh Smith), led to its closure in 1914.
During the early existence of Bedford College, the Professors were all part-time, some with second jobs elsewhere. Appointments were made in a haphazard fashion by the Council, giving the staff no period of notice if their services were dispensed with. Various Committees were set up to recommend candidates to the Council. Following the Incorporation of 1869, the staff were accorded the right of appeal to the Members of the College if dismissed, but not until 1892 was a three month period of notice instituted. Assistant members of staff, of which there were a growing number, mainly former students, were also employed by the Council, who received nominations from the Professors concerned. After 1896 the Board of Education had advisory powers relating to staff appointments.
For some time, staff files remained in the keeping of the Principal, though it appears that the day to day organisation of personnel matters resided with the Secretary until recent times.
Until the grant of a Royal Charter in 1909, Bedford College had no modern administration system, relying instead on the good offices of several volunteers. With the move to Regent's Park in 1911-1913, the burden on the Secretary became too great, and the salaried offices of Bursar and Registrar were created in 1913. The Registrar's Department was concerned with all matters affecting the students and their studies, such as registration, academic development and student administration. From 1913 to 1945 and 1981-1985 the post of Registrar was combined with that of the Principal's Secretary.
Previous to this, files relating to individual students and the classes attended were kept in the Principal's Office. Before the appointment of a Principal in 1892, the Lady Resident kept details of fees and pupils. In 1888, student registers dating back to 1849 were compiled by Henrietta Busk.
Throughout its history, the financial records of Bedford College have been created and maintained by a variety of different departments. Financial responsibility and control was always in the hands of the Council. For the first year of its existence, the Chairman, Rev Dr James Booth, kept accounts, until the institution in 1850 of a procedure for the drawing of cheques and a decision to appoint an auditor to check the accounts regularly. The Lady Resident and Lady Superintendent administered the fees and the household of the College and the Residence respectively from 1849-1893, both roles later being taken over by the Principal. The Council instituted a Finance Committee in 1889 (the joint post of Honorary Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Committee was created in 1899), which reported to the Council upon all the financial affairs of the College. Day-to-day administration of financial matters seems to have been left to the Secretary, with help from the Honorary Treasurer, especially relating to Staff salaries, scholarship trusts and building and extension fundraising. [All expenditure had to be agreed by the Finance Committee and the Council].
Student societies began to emerge at Bedford College in the 1880s, and were actively encouraged by the first Principal, Emily Penrose, in order to increase the sense of community felt by the students. Types of society included subject-based academic groups, sporting societies such as the Boating Club, and political clubs. The Bedford College Union Society was created in 1913, and all the student societies except the Athletics Union and restricted societies (such as religious groups) came under its control. The Athletics Union, also formed in 1913, was responsible for sporting groups. Each society had its own set of rules (some even had magazines) and reported regularly in the College news sheet until World War Two. The number of student societies continued to increase, with 32 in 1936, 42 in the 1950s and 51 in 1980-1981. The Athletics Union ceased to exist as a separate body in 1969-1970, when it was replaced by a Sports Committee of the Bedford College Union Society.
Following deliberations in 1849 by various provisional committees, the management structure of Bedford College was arranged into a Board, a Council, a Ladies Committee and a Professors Committee, coming into effect as a corporate body in Sep 1849.
The Council was the most important of these bodies, being the holder of the executive functions and responsible for the general and educational management of Bedford College. It comprised nine members: one Trustee, two representatives of the Board, three Lady Visitors, and three Professors, the women on the Council being the final authority for 'all matters in which female propriety and comfort is concerned'. The Ladies Committee and the Professors Committee were intended to report to the Council, which would mediate between and unite the opinions of the two advisory bodies. Other powers included appointment and remuneration of staff and overseeing of College finances. Various decisions made by the Council included new plans for the conduct of finances, 1850, including a rigorous procedure for the drawing of cheques and the appointment of an auditor to oversee the accounts; the drawing up in 1856 of a systematic four year course of study for pupils, including a terminal examination; and the creation of a Committee of Education to assess and advise students.
The draft constitution of Bedford College, however, had never been formally adopted by the Board, and lacked any legal power. Despite numerous attempts, no formal charter could be agreed upon by all sections of the management structure, and the College was also suffering under financial pressures and suspicions of inadequate teaching methods. Following the death of Mrs Reid, her Trustees instigated the replacement of the College government by a Committee of Management chaired by Mark Pattison and containing several members of the old Council. After a period of autocratic rule, the Committee of Management framed a Constitution that was accepted by the Board and came into force in 1869. The College was incorporated as an Association under the Board of Trade, and the Articles of Association placed the government of Bedford College in the hands of a body of Members named 'The College', who took the place of the previous Board. The Council remained the main executive body, though it was no longer made up of representatives from different sections of the College, but was consist of ten Members, nine elected by 'The College' in General Meeting (with one third being women) and the Honorary Secretary. This Council had full executive powers and was also empowered to create Committees: a Committee of Education was instituted immediately.
The membership of the Council was changed from ten to twenty in 1892 to allow for the presence of representatives of the Residence, and a need for closer communication between Staff and the College government led to Staff representatives being awarded the position of assessors on the Council in 1902.
Following the grant of a Royal Charter in 1909, the Council was restructured to include representatives of the University of London, the London County Council, the teaching Staff, and the Governors, with the Principal becoming an ex officio member. One-third of the Councillors were still to be women. Meetings were held at least once a term, with the annual election of a Chairman, Vice Chairman and Honorary Treasurer at the first Council meeting after the Annual General Meeting. One-fifth of the elected Councillors (those chosen from among the Governors) was to resign at every AGM.
The Council conducted the general business of College, with powers to appoint and dismiss the Principal, Secretary, teaching staff and other employees, to appoint Standing or Special Committees (the Chairman of Council being an ex officio member of all committees), and supervise the overall revenue and expenditure of the College. They also maintained the Common Seal of the College, the affixing of which had to be attested by two Councillors and the Secretary of Council.
The size and makeup of the Bedford College Council has varied over the years, the final total being fixed at 32 by the Governors in 1982. Student Councillors were admitted to the Council in 1973 - elected by whole student body in secret ballot - and had to include the President and former President of Bedford College Union Society.
Born 1885; educated privately and at Girton College, Cambridge University, 1905-1908, and the University of London, where she obtained an MA (Philosophy) in 1912; Visiting Lecturer and subsequently Director in Moral Sciences Studies, Girton and Newnham Colleges, Cambridge University, 1911-1924; Lecturer in Philosophy, King's College, University of London, 1913-1915; Visiting Lecturer in Philosophy at Homerton Training College, 1914-1921, and at Westfield College, University of London, 1914-1920; Lecturer in Philosophy, Bedford College, University of London, 1920; Reader, 1924-1933, and Professor of Philosophy, 1933-1943, Bedford College; Principal, Kingsley Lodge School for Girls, Hampstead, London, 1915-1943; Research Fellow, Girton College, 1923-1924; Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, 1916; Visiting Professor, Columbia University, New York, USA, 1931-1932; President of the Aristotelian Society, 1933-1934; President of the Mind Association, 1934-1935; died 1943.
Publications: Philosophical studies: essays in memory of L. Susan Stebbing (Allen and Unwin, London, 1948); A modern elementary logic (Methuen and Co, London, 1943); A modern introduction to logic (Methuen and Co, London, 1930); Ideals and illusions (Watts and Co, London, 1941); Logic in practice (London, 1934); Logical positivism and analysis (Humphrey Milford, London, [193]); Men and moral principles (Oxford University Press, London, 1944); Philosophy and the physicists (Methuen and Co, London, 1937); Pragmatism and French voluntarism (1914); Thinking to some purpose (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1939).
Stephen Schenk as he is known in many of his papers actually had the initials R.S Schenk but it is unclear as to what the "R" represented; born, 29th July 1921 and was awarded a BSc. in Sociology; began teaching on a temporary basis at Bedford College in 1962 as a visiting lecturer before in 1966 taking up a permanent lectureship; died 1987.
Born 1893; educated Rochester Grammar School for Girls; obtained Kent County Major Scholarship, 1912; gained degree in English, Royal Holloway College, University of London, 1915; Assistant Mistress, The Kerri School, Reigate, 1916; Assistant Mistress, Junior House, Reodean School, Brighton, 1916-1921; Assistant Mistress, 1921-1926, and Second Mistress, 1926-1929, The High School, North Brink, Wisbech; Assistant Mistress, Wheelright Grammar School for Girls, Dewsbury, 1929-1932; Assistant Mistress, County School for Girls, East Sheen, London; Assistant Mistress, Richmond and East Sheen County School for Girls, 1939-1941; Assistant Mistress, Rosebery County School, Epsom, 1941-1955; retired 1955; died 1994.
Born 1894; educated privately and at Trinity College of Music and King's College London; research work on the literary ballad in English, Somerville College, Oxford University, 1916-1917; Lecturer in German, University of Liverpool, 1917-1921; Independent Lecturer in German and Teutonic Philology, University College of North Wales, Bangor, 1921-1933; served on the Court of the University of Wales, 1926-1929; Member of the Council, University College of North Wales, 1928; Professor of German Language and Literature, Bedford College, University of London, 1933-1962; Member of Senate of University of London, 1950-1962; President of the Music Society, Bedford College; Fellow of Trinity College of Music, 1951; Chairman of Committee of Management, Warburg Institute, University of London, 1945-1965; Chairman, 1950-1953, and Director, 1953-1956, Institute of Germanic Languages and Literature; Emeritus Professor, 1962; retired 1962; died 1968.
Publications: editor of Von deutscher art und kunst (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1924); editor of Herodes und Mariamne (Oxford, 1943); Poems. Selected and edited by Edna Purdie (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1953); Friedrich Hebbel, etc (Oxford University Press, London, 1932); Studies in German literature of the eighteenth century: some aspects of literary affiliation (Athlone Press, London, 1965); The story of Judith in German and English literature (Honoré Champion, Paris, 1927); editor of Henry Handel Richardson: some personal impressions (Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1957); A history of German literature (Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1959); editor of Essays and addresses in literature (Routledge and Sons, London, 1935); editor of Lessing's dramatic theory. Being an introduction to and commentary on his 'Hamburgische Dramaturgie' (Cambridge University Press, 1939).
Born 1864; educated in Dresden, Germany, Cheltenham Ladies College, Gloucestershire, and Queen's College and Bedford College, London; travelled extensively on the continent and in the USA; member of London literary circles; actively interested in the women's' rights movement; received a civil list pension in recognition of her literary work, 1930; died 1936.
Publications: Two health-seekers in Southern California (Lippincott Co, Philadelphia, 1897) with W A Edwards; preface to Nature rambles in London (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1908); A new book of the fairies (Griffith and Farran, London, [1891]); Concerning 'Ships that pass in the night' (S.S. McClure, London, [1894]); Hilda Stafford and the Remittance Man (Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh, 1897); In varying moods (Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh, 1894); Interplay (Methuen and Co, London, 1908); Katherine Frensham: a novel (Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1903); Master Roley (F. Warne and Co, London and New York, 1889); Our warrior women (Witherby and Co, London, 1916); Out of the wreck I rise (Thomas Nelson and Sons, London, 1912); Patuffa (Hodder and Stoughton, London, [1923]); Rachel (Hodder and Stoughton, London, [1926]); Search will find it out (Mills and Boon, London, 1928); Ships that pass in the night (Lawrence and Bullen, London, 1893); Spring shall plant (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1920); The fowler (Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh, 1899); The guiding thread (Methuen and Co, London, 1916); The scholar's daughter (Methuen and Co, London, 1906); Things will take a turn (Blackie and Son, London, [1889]); Thirteen all told (Methuen and Co, London, 1921); Untold tales of the past (Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1897); Where your treasure is (Hutchinson and Co, London, 1918); Youth calling (Hodder and Stoughton, London, [1924]).
Elizabeth Jesser Sturch was born on 25 December 1789 in London, daughter of William Sturch, a wealthy Unitarian ironmonger. In 1821 she married John Reid, M.D., author of 'Essay on hypochondriasis and other nervous affections' (1816). His father and brother had been hosiers in Leicester, but the family's roots appear to have been in Scotland, and Dr Reid had inherited land on the River Clyde at Glasgow which had become extremely valuable as the port grew in size. His death in July 1822 gave Mrs Reid an independent income with which she patronised various philanthropic causes. Active in liberal Unitarian circles, she was an anti-slavery activist, attending the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 and taking a close interest in the American Civil War (1860-1865), and was in contact with leading figures in the revolutions in France and Germany in 1848, and the struggles for Italian independence. In 1849 she founded the 'Ladies College' in Bedford Square, London, which became Bedford College for Women. She died on 1st April 1866.
Born 1886; educated Notting Hill High School, London; won Entrance Scholarship to Royal Holloway College, 1906, where she gained a BSc Hons in Mathematics in 1909; Mistress, Wimbledon High School, London, 1909-1910; Mistress, Maida Vale School, London, 1910-[1914]; Private Mistress in Sedburgh, Yorkshire, [1914-1917]; Assistant Mistress, St Sampsons Elementary School, Guernsey, 1918; Assistant Mistress, Twickenham Girls' School, 1918-[1927]; died, 1929.
The Principal's Secretary, who was responsible for student records and examinations, initially undertook the work of the registrar. In 1944, a new Registrar's Department was created to deal with the clerical work and official correspondence of the College.
The Secretary acted as the administrative officer of the Governors. Responsibilities of the post included dealing with the College accounts, the ordering of supplies and the maintenance of College buildings and property, as well as taking minutes of meetings and preparing official correspondence. On the death of the first Secretary of the Governors, Mr J L Clifford-Smith, in 1898, the decision was taken that in future a woman should fill the post. The appointment of Dorothy Hustler in 1948 led to the reorganisation of the College accounts, and she was also responsible for ongoing negotiations for the purchase of surrounding properties, in order to facilitate the expansion of the College in the 1950s. 1969 saw the establishment of a separate Accounts Department. Titled the Secretary to the Governors until 1949, the postholder then became known as the College Secretary.
The Royal Holloway College Association was formed as a result of the first College Meeting (held in July 1890). The purpose of the Association was to enable former students and staff to keep in touch with the activities of the College and its present students. Current students and staff at the College were automatically made honorary members of the Association, which met once a year.
A Committee, consisting of the Principal and a number of members and representatives of honorary members of the RHCA, met al least once a term to discuss matters relating to the RHCA.
The College Letter, founded in 1890, contained news about the College and was issued twice a year to all members of the RHCA. A separate College Letter Committee was formed to deal with this. In 1970, a new body known as RHESUS (Royal Holloway Ex-Students Union Society) was formed as an alternative alumni association to counter the elderly membership of the RHCA. The two groups merged in 1984, retaining the original name.
Thomas Holloway (1800-1883) was a highly successful pill and ointment manufacturer, who pioneered the use of product advertising. He married Jane Driver in 1840, and together they built up a large and prosperous business. Having no descendants, Holloway decided to use his fortune for philanthropic causes, and was encouraged by Lord Shaftesbury to found a mental hospital and by his wife to found a college for the higher education of women. This resulted in the Holloway Sanatorium (opened 1885) and Royal Holloway College (opened 1886), the latter serving as a memorial to Jane Holloway, who died in 1875. Thomas Holloway died before either project was completed, but not before the composition of a Royal Holloway College Foundation Deed. He left a large sum of money with which to endow the College.
The various Committees were created by the Board of Governors/the Council. Standing Committees included the Library Committee, the Garden Committee and the Finance Committee. Other ad hoc committees were created according to need.
Various unofficial records collated by members of Royal Holloway College on an ad-hoc basis.
Sue Cullinan was born in South Africa in 1956. She worked as a journalist and researcher in South Africa until 1985. In 1985 she went to Namibia to help launch the Namibian newspaper in Windhoek, Namibia. The newspaper was launched with the intent to be: "an independent newspaper committed to independence for Namibia. The newspaper will follow an independent editorial policy and will strive to achieve a greater flow of information and open debate...". While in Namibia, Sue Cullinan also pursued research for a Master's degree on the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO). This was based partially on primary interviews with people involved in the organisation. Her studies were broken abruptly (and not completed) when her fiancé was expelled from South Africa in 1987 by the government of PW Botha. Sue Cullinan lived in a number of cities in Africa and Europe and continued to work as journalist.
The Society was founded in London in 1834 and incorporated by royal charter in 1887. The founding aims were " the collection and classification of all facts illustrative of the present condition and prospects of Society, especially as it exists in the British Dominions". The founders included Charles Babbage and T.R. Malthus and members of the Society were, and are, known as Fellows. From the beginning there has been no bar on women as either Fellows or guests at meetings. Through its Fellows, the Society has always had close connections with Government as well as with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics. The new Society organised itself into a number of Committees to investigate the several branches of statistics and compile new and reliable data. Very soon it became clear that this broad approach and imposed structure could not be maintained and in 1837 the Committee on the practical working of the Society reported almost total failure of the Committee structure as established with only the Medical Committee still in existence. In future Committees would be established on an ad hoc basis as required by Fellows or following requests to the Society. An initial aim of the Society had been to establish and develop a Library of statistical works and the demise of the committee structure led to the decision to concentrate on building up the Library. The other principle activities of the Society were the publication of a Journal and the holding of monthly meetings at which papers were delivered and discussed by Fellows and their guests. A continuing concern of the Society has been the development of an efficient census system. The Society's activities began to expand in the 20th century with the establishment of the Industrial and Agricultural Research Section. In 1993 the Institute of Statisticians, founded in 1948 as a professional and examining body for statisticians, was merged with the Society. Today the Society is the main professional and learned society for statisticians which awards professional status, validates university courses and runs examinations world-wide. The Society has had a variety of London addresses. It was originally based in offices at Royal Society of Literature, moved to 11 Regent Street in 1843 and within 2 years to offices on the ground floor of the London Library. The next move, in 1874, was to share offices with the Institute of Actuaries in the Principal's House at King's College. Ten years later the Society moved to a more permanent home at 9 Adelphi Terrace where it remained until moving to 4 Portugal Street in 1936, then in 1954 to 21 Bentinck Street, to 25 Enford Street in 1975, and finally to its present premises in Errol Street in 1995.
Born in Kensington, 1779; student of the Royal Academy, and began to paint portraits under John Hoppner, successfully exhibiting a portrait of Miss Roberts at the Royal Academy, 1799; his preference at this time was for landscapes, and after 1804 exhibited only these for a number of years; elected an associate member of the Royal Academy, 1806; elected a full member of the Royal Academy, 1810; married Maria Graham, a well-known author of the day, and visited Europe (including Italy for the first time), 1827-1828; knighted, 1837, and began to compose figure paintings as well as landscapes; appointed Conservator of the Royal Pictures, 1844; died 1844 and was buried at Kensal Green cemetery, London.
There were five Devis family artists: Arthur Devis ([1711]-1787), his half-brother Anthony Devis, (1729-1816), the two sons of Arthur, Thomas Anthony Devis (1757-1810), and Arthur William Devis (1762-1822), and Arthur Devis' son-in-law Robert Marris (1750-1827). Arthur Devis was a pupil of Peter Tillemans. He exhibited twenty paintings at the Free Society of Artists, largely portraits, 1762-1780, (he specialised in portraits of landed familes), and also restored Sir James Thornhill's paintings in the hall at Greenwich. Anthony Devis produced largely landscapes. His original work provided material for some of the engravings used by Wedgwood to decorate Catherine the Great's 'Frog Service'. Little is known of Thomas Anthony Devis, and almost none of his work can be identified. Arthur William Devis was appointed draughtsman on the Antelope, in about 1783, and was shipwrecked. He travelled onto Bengal, India, and painted portraits of English society and local people during his stay there, 1784-1795. On his return to England in 1795, he continued his work, including 'The Death of Nelson', 1805 (at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich). He exhibited sixty-five pictures at the Royal Academy during his professional career between 1779-1821. Robert Maris married Arthur Devis' daughter Frances. His work is not well known, but comprises largely landscape drawings. Whilst a young man he lived and travelled with Anthony Devis, who very probably influenced his work.
Sydney Herbert Pavière (1891-1971), was Art Director and Curator, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, Lancashire, 1926-1959. The collection of Devis family art held by the gallery almost certainly inspired Pavière's interest, leading him to produce a number of publications about them.
The position of Deputy College Secretary was established in the late 1970s. The Deputy College Secretary is the head of the College's Administration Department and also provides secretarial and administrative support for all the Honorary Officers. The Deputy College Secretary is responsible for: management and supervision of the department, editorial, production and circulation of all major printing requirements for the College, the RCOG website, public relations, the Fellows & Members database and Admission ceremonies, RCOG publications and the Bookshop, travel for College business, international meetings and congresses, representatives on outside bodies, attendance at Committee meetings, special projects given by Officers. The department services the Consumers' Forum, the Ethics Committee, the Services Board, Joint Standing Committees with other Medical Colleges and associations and related sub-committees, and working parties. The Annual Report, Register of Fellows and Members and The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist are compiled within this department, as are proceedings of study groups and reports of working parties. The department is additionally responsible for the issue of press releases, press conferences and all media contacts. The College has an appointed Honorary Public Relations Officer who is a Fellow of the College.
In 1964 the Lord Chancellor's Law Reform Committee began a review of the law of evidence in civil cases, with particular reference to the law governing evidence which a medical practitioner might have to give in a court of law. It requested a response from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which forwarded its evidence in 1965.
The joint working party to consider a proposed Faculty of Family Planning arose out of discussions between the National Association of Family Planning Doctors and the Joint Committee on Contraception of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP)(normally referred to as the Joint Committee on Contraception). The first meeting was held in November 1987. Initially it was expected that a joint RCOG/RCGP Faculty would be established; in 1991, however, the RCGP withdrew and the RCOG finally set up a Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care (FFPRHC) within the College in 1993. In 1998 the FFPRHC withdrew from the College to its own premises.