Caroline Spurgeon was born in India on 24 October 1869, the daughter of Christopher Spurgeon, a Captain in the 36th Foot, and Caroline Dunsmuir (according to the record of her baptism in the India Office births, marriages and deaths records, Vol. 130 folio 65). Her mother died giving birth to her (see letter of 1 May 1910 in PP7/1/2), and her father appears to have married again, but himself died in 1874. She was educated at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire; Dresden, Germany; and King's College and University College, London; Quain Essayist and Morley Medallist, University College London, 1898; First Class Final Honours in English, Oxford University, 1899. For Michaelmas Term 1899, she acted as assistant to Miss Lee, Tutor and Lecturer to the Association for the Education of Women, but then for family reasons had to give up work for some months. From May 1900 she was lecturing in London: she was appointed Lecturer in English Literature under the London School Board, giving weekly lectures in the Evening Continuation Schools at South Hackney, and on Shakespeare in Welwyn, Hertfordshire. She was appointed to the staff of Bedford College, University of London, in 1901: Assistant Lecturer in English, 1901-1906, Lecturer in English Literature, 1906-1913, and Hildred Carlile Professor of English Literature (and Head of Department), 1913-1929. She was made Emeritus Professor of English Literature in 1929. In 1911 she was awarded a doctorate of the University of Paris for her thesis 'Chaucer devant la critique', and in 1929 she was made D. Lit. of the University of London for her '500 years of Chaucer criticism and allusion'. She was awarded a Research Fellowship by the Federation of University Women, 1912, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1916. She was a member of the British Educational Mission to America in 1918, on which she met Virginia Gildersleeve, Dean of Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, USA, with whom she lived during the summer vacations, either in England or in the USA, for the rest of her life. She was Visiting Professor at Columbia University, 1920-1921, first President of the International Federation of University Women, 1920-1924, and member of the Departmental Committee to inquire into the position of English in the Educational System of England, 1929-1931. She settled in 1936 in Tucson, Arizona, USA, in the hope of relieving her arthritis, and she died there on 24 October 1942. Publications include: 'The works of Dr. Samuel Johnson' (H.K.Lewis, London, 1898); 'Richard Brathwait's comments in 1665, upon Chaucer's Tales of the Miller and the Wife of Bath' (ed.) (London, 1901); preface to an edition of 'The Castle of Otranto' by Horace Walpole (Chatto & Windus, 1907); 'Chaucer devant la critique en Angleterre et en France depuis son temps jusqu'à nos jours' (Paris, 1911); 'William Law and the mystics' in the Cambridge History of English Literature (1912); 'Mysticism in English literature' (Cambridge University Press, 1913); 'The privilege of living in war-time: an inaugural address to King's College for Women' (University of London Press, London, 1914); 'Five hundred years of Chaucer criticism and allusion, 1357-1900' (Chaucer Society, 1914-1922, Cambridge University Press, 1925); 'The training of the combatant: an address delivered for the Fight for Right movement' (Dent and Sons, London, 1916); 'Poetry in the light of war' (English Association, London, 1917); 'The refashioning of English education: a lesson of the Great War' (Atlantic Monthly, Jan. 1922); Essay on Jane Austen in 'Essays by Divers Hands' (Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature) Vol VII (Humphrey Milford, London, 1928); 'Essays and studies by Members of the English Association' (ed.) (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1928); 'Keats's Shakespeare: a descriptive study based on new material' (Humphrey Milford, London, 1928); 'Imagery in the Sir Thomas More fragment' (Review of English Studies, Vol VI, No 23, July 1930); 'Leading motives in the imagery of Shakespeare's tragedies' (London, 1930); 'Shakespeare's iterative imagery, i, as undersong, ii, as touchstone, in his work' (London, [1931]); 'Shakespeare's imagery and what it tells us' (Cambridge University Press, 1935)
The Foundation Deed of Royal Holloway College laid down that the Principal should be an unmarried woman or childless widow, a stipulation which was adhered to until the Royal Holloway College Act of 1962. The Principal had responsibility for the entire internal management and discipline of the College (subject to the approval of the Council). Her department's administrative responsibilities therefore included student welfare and discipline, examinations, Chapel services and general administration of the Household staff. Miss E M Guinness acted as Vice-Principal from 1899-1908, entailing the transfer of her Library duties to the Principal's Department, though she was eventually replaced by an administrative assistant. The assistant's duties, already reduced by the appointment of a full-time librarian in 1935, were divided after 1937 between the Principal's Secretary and a Tutor. The latter became responsible for discipline and student welfare, while the Principal's Secretary, who was also given the title of Registrar, became responsible for student records and examinations. In 1944, with the creation of a separate Registry, the post became known as the Principal's Private Secretary. The post of Tutor, initially an experimental one, proved a success and by 1946 there were two Tutors and a Dean. The post of Vice-Principal was reinstituted in 1946, to be filled by a member of academic staff.
The Principal maintained close contact with the administrative staff, seeing the College Secretary, the Housekeeper, the Nurse and the Caretaker every morning, the Butler and the Gardener twice a week, and the Cook, Engineer and Nightwatchman when necessary. This system remained in place until the growth of the College in the 1960s.
The art collection housed in the Picture Gallery at Royal Holloway College was based on the similar model at Vassar College in America. Thomas Holloway compiled the collection through purchases at auction from 1881-1883, when he bought at every Christie's sale of note. Although the initial plan was to obtain modern British paintings, examples of work by European painters were also acquired. The collection totalled 77 pictures at the time of Holloway's death in 1883. Charles W Carey was appointed to act as Curator of the Picture Gallery, a task he undertook from 1887 until his death in 1943.
His main role was to supervise the conservation of the pictures, compile the catalogue, show the collection to visitors, and correspond with artists, art historians and students concerning the works.
The various residence officers were responsible to the Principal, whom they met with on a regular basis. The Principal saw the Housekeeper, Nurse and Caretaker every morning, the Butler and the Gardener twice a week, and the Cook, Engineer and Nightwatchman when necessary. With the growth of the College in the 1960s, the numbers of residence staff increased, and such direct contact was no longer possible, though reports were still made to the Principal.
A Domestic Bursar replaced the Lady Housekeeper in 1944, and was in turn replaced by a Catering Officer (1965). A Security Officer took over the role of the Nightwatchman about the same time.
Henry William Macrosty was born on the Isle of Arran on 14th January, 1865, the eldest of 10 children. In 1881 he obtained University of London BA whilst working in the Civil Service where he was given a permanent appointment in the Exchequer and Audit Department in 1884. He transferred to the newly established Census of Production Office within the Board of Trade in 1907 and became its Assistant Director in 1911. Reorganisation in 1919 resulted in the establishment of a Statistical Department of which Macrosty was appointed Senior Principal. His work for the next 20 years, until his retirement in 1930, was concentrated on gathering statistical information on trade and industry. In retirement he continued to be consulted on statistical issues relevant to trade and industry, including serving on at least one committee for Political and Economic Planning (PEP), one of the forerunners of the Policy Studies Institute.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society in 1904 and served on its Council from 1917 to 1920 and again from 1925 to 1940 when he became President having served as Honorary Secretary since 1928. He was awarded the Society’s silver Guy Medal in 1927. Macrosty married Edith Julia Bain in 1894 and had two surviving children; he died on 19th January, 1941.
Publications: The Trust Movement in British Industry, 1909; The Annals of the Royal Statistical Society, 1834-1934, 1934.
Born, 1907; educated at Marlborough College; studied mathematics and modern languages at Trinity College Cambridge, forming close friendships with Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, H A R `Kim' Philby; Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, 1932-1937; invited to lecture at the Courtauld Institute by the director, W G Constable, on submission of his MA thesis, 1932; joined the staff of the Warburg Institute, 1937-1939; recruited by Guy Burgess into the Russian secret intelligence service; Reader in History of Art at London University; worked for MI5, and as an enemy agent for the Soviet Union, 1940-1945; Deputy Director, 1939-1947 and Director, 1947-1974, Courtauld Institute; Surveyor of the King's (later Queen's) Pictures, 1945-1972; knighted, 1956; unmasked as a spy by the FBI and secretly confessed, 1964; honorary fellowship Trinity College Cambridge, 1967; Adviser for the Queen's Pictures and Drawings, 1972-1978; researched and published on a wide range of topics, his special subject being Nicolas Poussin; publicly confirmed as a spy by the Prime Minister, knighthood and honorary fellowship annulled, 1979; died, 1983.
Publications: include: Artistic Theory in Italy 1450 to 1600 (Oxford University Press, 1940); François Mansart and the origins of French classical architecture (Warburg Institute, London, 1941); The French drawings in the collection of His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle (Phaidon Press, 1945); The Nation's Pictures: a guide to the chief national and municipal picture galleries of England, Scotland and Wales joint editor with Margaret Whinney (Chatto & Windus, 1950); Art and Architecture in France 1500 to 1700 (Penguin, 1953); The Drawings of G.B. Castiglione and Stephano Della Bella in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle (Phaidon Press, 1954); Venetian Drawings of the XVII and XVIII centuries in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle with Edward Croft-Murray (Phaidon Press, 1957); Philibert de l'Orme (Zwemmer, 1958); The Art of William Blake (Columbia University Press, 1959); Picasso, the formative years: a study of his sources with Phoebe Pool (Studio Books, London, 1962); Nicolas Poussin. Lettres et propos sur l'art. Textes réunis et presentes par Anthony Blunt (Hermann, Paris, [1964]); Picasso's "Guernica" (Oxford University Press, 1966); The paintings of Nicolas Poussin (London, Phaidon, [1966]); Nicolas Poussin with plates and illustrations 2 vol (Phaidon Press, London; Bollingen Series, New York, [1967]); The James A de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor General editor [A catalogue] (Fribourg, Aylesbury printed, 1967-); Sicilian Baroque (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1968); Neapolitan Baroque and Rococo Architecture (Zwemmer, [1975]); Baroque and Rococo: Architecture and Decoration (Elek, 1978); Borromini (Allen Lane, London, 1979); The Drawings of Poussin (Yale University Press, 1979); Guide to Baroque Rome (Granada, London, 1982); Paul Fréart de Chantelou: Diary of the cavaliere Bernini's visit to France editor (Princeton University Press, 1985).
Born in Deptford, 1797; taught perspective by his father (a drawing master) and Samuel Prout; exhibited two drawings at the Royal Academy aged thirteen; became a water-colour painter and was awarded a silver medal by the Society of Arts aged eighteen; exhibited with the Society of Painters in Water-colours, 1818, and continued to exhibit there regularly; became a member of the Society, 1821; adopted lithography as a way of providing examples for the use of students, publishing a number of well received lithographic works, notably Sketches at Home and Abroad, 1836, The Park and the Forest, 1841, and Picturesque Selections, 1861; died in Barnes, 1863.
Publications: Views of Pompeii drawn on stone by J D Harding; after drawings by W Light (London, 1828); Pugin's Gothic Ornaments, selected from various buildings in England and France, drawn on stone by J D Harding (London, [1831]); The Costumes of the French Pyrenees, drawn on stone by J D Harding, from original sketches, by J Johnson (London, 1832);Elementary Art, or the Use of the Lead Pencil (London, 1834); Sketches at Home and Abroad (London, 1836); J D H's Drawing Book (London, 1838); H's Sketches at home and abroad (London, [1839]); The Park and the Forest (London, 1841); Principles and Practices of Art (London, 1845); Lessons on Art (London, 1849); Lessons on Trees (London, 1850); Drawing Models and their Uses (London, 1854); The Early Drawing Book (London, [1856]); The Guide and Companion to the "Lessons on Art" (London, [1858]); Picturesque Selections: drawn on stone (London, [1861]).
Born in Budapest, 1891; educated at the State Gymnasium in Budapest, University of Budapest, 1909-1914; studied art, archaeology and philosophy, University of Vienna, 1915-1917, under Max Dvorák; awarded the degree Doctor Philosophiae by Vienna University for his thesis 'Die Anfange der italienischen Radierung', 1918; Assistant Keeper, Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, 1918-1922, where he gained his interest in the study of Old Master drawings, assisted in organising the sequestration of works of art considered of national importance, collaborated with Karl Swoboda on the collected works of Dvorák; Assistant Keeper, then Keeper, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1923-1938; developed the use of x-rays to discover the condition of paintings and the artists' creative process; fearing for the safety of his Hungarian-Jewish wife, they left to visit Holland, 1939, then to England as guests of Sir Kenneth Clark; went to Aberystwyth to look after Count Antoine Seilern's pictures, and assisted with cataloguing the National Gallery's pictures in store there; approached by Arthur Ewart Popham, Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, to help write a catalogue of Old Master drawings at Windsor Castle, 1939; interned and deported to a concentration camp in Canada, 1940-1941; allowed to return to England, 1941, resumed his work on the Windsor Castle catalogue and began lecturing at the Courtauld Institute; reader in the History of Art, London University, 1947; Deputy Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, 1948-1958; Professor of History of Art, 1950; fellow of the British Academy, 1951; published his catalogue of the Michelangelo drawings in the British Museum, 1953; CBE, 1955; member of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art, 1957-1963; Serena medal of the British Academy, 1963; died in Dulwich, London, 1970.
Publications: Kunstgeschichte als Geistesgeschichte. Studien zur abendländischen Kunstentwicklung, etc Max Dvorák [edited by Carl M Swoboda and Johannes Wilde](München, 1924); 'Michelangelo and his Studio' by Johannes Wilde (translated by J A Gere and T H Scrutton) 1953, in Italian Drawings in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (London, 1950-62); The Italian Drawings of the XV and XVI Centuries ... at Windsor Castle By A E Popham and Johannes Wilde [A catalogue, with reproductions. The sections relating to Michelangelo and his school by J Wilde, translated by J Leveen] (Phaidon Press, London, 1949); Michelangelo's 'Victory' (Oxford University Press, London, 1954); Venetian art from Bellini to Titian (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1974); Michelangelo: six lectures by Johannes Wilde edited by John Shearman and Michael Hirst (Oxford University Press, 1978); 'The Decoration of the Sistine Chapel' (1958), in Art and Politics in Renaissance Italy: British Academy Lectures edited by George Holmes, (Oxford University Press, 1993); Michelangelo: Selected Scholarship in English [5 volumes], edited by William E Wallace (New York: Garland Publishing Inc, 1995). Includes [volume 1] 'Michelangelo, Vasari, and Condivi' (1978), 'The Hall of the Great Council of Florence' (1944), 'Michelangelo and Leonardo' (1953), [volume 2] 'The Decoration of the Sistine Chapel' (1958), [volume 3] 'Michelangelo's Designs for the Medici Tombs' (1955), 'Notes on the Genesis of Michelangelo's "Leda"' (1957), 'Michelangelo's "Victory"' (1954).
Born in Dundee, 1898; educated at a local preparatory school, and at Rugby, 1912-[1917]; Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 1917-1919; served on the Western Front and was awarded the MC, World War One, 1918; read modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford, 1919-1921; Fellow and Tutor of Hertford College, Oxford, 1922-1937; Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art and Professor of History of Art, University of London, 1937-1947; served with the Government Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park, and then with the RAF at Cairo, Egypt, 1939-1941; head of British Council activities in the Middle East as Chief Representative, based at Cairo, 1943-1945; President of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1947-1968; Vice-Chancellor, Oxford University, 1958-1960; Fellow of the British Academy, 1961; Trustee of the National Gallery, 1947-1953, and British Museum, 1950-1969; member of the Advisory Council of the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1947-1970; collected material for various publications, and edited Hanns Hammelmann's notes, which led to the publication of Book Illustrators in Eighteenth-century England (details below), 1971-1974; died 1974.
Publications: Boniface VIII (Constable and Co, London, 1933); St Francis of Assisi (Duckworth, London, 1936); Bodleian picture book no. 1: English Romanesque Illumination (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1951); general editor of the Oxford History of English Art, also writing two out of eleven volumes (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1949-); English Art, 1100-1216 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1953); Bodleian picture book no. 10: English Illumination of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (Bodleian Library, Oxford, 1954); Christ bearing the Cross. A study in taste (Oxford University Press, London, 1955); English Art 1800-1870 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1959); The York Psalter (Faber and Faber, London, 1962); Castles and Churches of the Crusading Kingdom (Oxford University Press, London, 1967); Kingdoms and Strongholds of the Crusaders (Thames and Hudson, London, 1971); Death in the Middle Ages; mortality, judgement and remembrance (Thames and Hudson, London, 1972);Georgio Vasari: the man and the book (Princeton University Press, 1979); Nebuchadnezzar (with Arthur Boyd) (Thames and Hudson, London, 1972); Book Illustrators in Eighteenth-century England (with H.A.Hammelmann) (Yale University Press, 1975); The Cilian Kingdom of Armenia Editor (Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1978); A History of the Crusades: Volume IV - The Art and Architecture of the Crusader States (mainly consists of essays by Boase) edited by H W Hazard (University of Wisconsin Press, 1977).
Articles:'Fontevrault and the Plantagenets' British Archaeological Journal Series III, Vol. XXXIV pp1-10 (1971); 'An extra-illustrated second folio of Shakespeare' British Museum Quarterly Vol. XX pp4-8 (March 1955); 'The Frescoes of Cremona Cathedral' Papers of the British School at Rome Vol XXIV pp206-215 (1956); 'Samuel Courtauld' Burlington Magazine Vol XC p29 (Jan 1948); 'Sir David Wilkie's Chair' Country Life Vol CXXV pp349 (1959); 'The Arts in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem' Journal of the Warburg Institute Vol II pp1-21 (1938); from the Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes: 'A seventeenth-century Carmelite legend based on Tacitus' Vol III pp107-118 (1939); 'Illustrations of Shakespeare's plays in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries' Vol X pp83-108 (1947); 'A seventeenth-century typographical cycle of paintings in the Armenian cathedral of Julfa' Vol XIII pp323-327 (1950); 'An English copy of a Carracci altarpiece' Vol XV pp253-254 (1953); 'The decoration of the new Palace of Westminster, 1841 - 1863' Vol XVII pp319-358 (1954); 'English artists and the Val d'Aorta' Vol XIX pp283-293 (1956); 'Shipwrecks in English Romantic painting' Vol XXII pp332-346 (1959); 'John Graham Rough: a transitional sculptor' Vol XXIII pp277-290 (1960); 'Macklin and Bowyer' Vol XXVI pp148-77 (1963); 'Biblical Illustration in Nineteenth-century English Art' Vol XXIX pp349-67 (1966); 'The Medici in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama' Vol XXVII pp373-378 (1974).
David John Wallace, whose photographs form a large part of this collection, lived in Athens, and travelled through the Balkans, Greece and Turkey in the 1930s, photographing sites of archaeological interest to those engaged in studies of the Crusader period. These photographs are of inestimable value, particularly as many of the sites he photographed are probably no longer in existence today. Wallace was killed in action in Greece, August 1944, serving with the 10th Greek Division, and was awarded the George Cross.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) was founded in 1929 following collaboration between William Blair-Bell, who became the first president, and William Fletcher Shaw, the first honorary secretary. Prior to 1929 England had two distinguished medical Royal colleges, the Royal College of Physicians of London (founded 1518) and the Royal College of Surgeons of England (founded 1800). The three Scottish medical royal colleges had all been founded by the end of the seventeenth century. The RCOG was the first to represent a speciality other than medicine and surgery. It was followed in due course by the establishment of the Royal Colleges of General Practitioners, Radiologists, Pathologists, Psychiatrists, Ophthalmologists, Anaesthetists and Paediatricians.
The College is a professional membership association with charitable status and is concerned with all matters relating to the science and practice of obstetrics and gynaecology. The main purpose is to act as the examination body for doctors wanting to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology and then as a membership organisation to those who pass the examination. It is a self-funded and independent body. The College operates through a system of committees, serviced by the College departments.
The President is one of the honorary officers of the College and is elected by Council for a maximum of three years from amongst the College Fellows. The president is ex officio chairman of all College committees and is empowered under the bye-laws to undertake emergency action where it is impossible to summon a meeting of Council or the appropriate committee to deal with such an emergency. Biographical details of the Presidents can be found by consulting Sir John Peel's book The Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 1929-1969, Whitefriars Press Ltd, 1975.
Under the By-laws of the College drawn up in 1929, two Vice Presidents were to be chosen from among the Fellows of the College. The Senior Vice President, or in his absence, the Junior Vice President, was to undertake the President's duties in the case of the latter's inability or unwillingness to undertake his duties. The Senior Vice President was to be the Vice President who had held office for a longer period. The Vice President assumed primary responsibility for overseas affairs in the early 1980s; prior to this time the College Secretary was responsible for overseas affairs.
Joint committees and working groups were set up frequently at the behest of one or other of the medical colleges or bodies to discuss matters of mutual concern. Minutes were usually kept and distributed to all participants, and published reports frequently produced. Servicing the College's contribution to these joint committees and working groups and maintenance of the College's own records of proceedings are currently the responsibility of the Committee Secretary, Administration Department.
In 1991 the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) instituted a series of joint meetings to consider maternity services in the light of changes in the organisation of the National Health Service, advances in clinical knowledge, and changes in the social framework in which general practitioners, midwives and obstetricians operated. The result was the production of a joint document on maternity care. A draft version of this document was also submitted to the House of Commons Health Committee Enquiry into Maternity Services.
The Blair-Bell Research Society was initially established as a research club to informally discuss obstetrical and gynaecological issues at meetings held approximately every three months. In 1961 the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists agreed that the society could use College premises as a regular venue for the club's meetings. From 1962 the club is referred to in College correspondence as "the Blair-Bell Research Society", and the College President has usually been the Society's president.
The first official residence of the College was at 58 Queen Anne Street, London, W1; it was purchased with funds donated anonymously by William Blair-Bell, who also set up an endowment fund and a purchasing fund for the house. The building was officially opened by the Duchess of York (H M the Queen Mother) on December 5, 1932. The house gradually became too small for the College's needs and was sold and replaced in 1955 by the present site at 27 Sussex Place, NW1. The College additionally maintains a house for the President at 8 Kent Terrace, NW1; the house is also used for functions and for accommodating visitors.
The first Memorandum and Articles of Association of the College were approved on 13 September 1929. The first royal charter was granted in 1947, with a supplemental charter in 1948. Further amendments were made to the charter, articles of association, ordinances and by-laws in 1963, 1971, 1979, 1984 and 1999.
In 1971 the College established a Family Planning Sub-committee to discuss proposals for the RCOG, together with the Royal College of General Practitioners, to issue a joint certificate of training in family planning based on assessment in family planning clinics. It was agreed that those doctors already recognised by the Family Planning Association (FPA) should be accepted under the new scheme, and that the FPA should be represented on the committee. The committee was superseded in 1972 by the RCOG/RCGP Committee on Contraception and Family Planning.
On 26 April 1973 it was decided that the committee should be renamed the Joint Committee on Contraception of the RCOG and RCGP, normally abbreviated as the Joint Committee on Contraception (JCC). The personnel of the committee remained unchanged, being dominated by representatives of the two eponymous royal colleges, with representatives from the FPA and the Society of Community Medicine. In December 1974 the RCOG agreed to take over the secretarial work for the JCC and office space was allotted for this purpose. In 1993 the JCC was superseded by the Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care (FFPRHC).
Special working groups or ad hoc committees and sub-committees were set up at various times, usually by Council or the Finance and Executive Committee, to investigate and report on particular issues of concern to the College. Servicing the working groups and committees is currently the responsibility of the College's Administration Department.
The working group was set up in 1978 at the request of Sir Henry Yellowlees, Chief Medical Officer, in order to "advise on what guidance might be given to health authorities on the introduction into routine antenatal care of a service to detect neural tube defects". The group was chaired by the President of the Royal College of Physicians and the RCOG was represented by the College President. The final report was produced in July 1979.
The establishment of the Royal Commission on the National Health Service (NHS) was announced by the government in 1975. It was to consider the "best use and management of the financial and manpower resources of the NHS" (see the introduction to the minute book of the working party at M15M/1). The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) working party on evidence to the Royal Commission was set up on 16 June 1976, under the chairmanship of T L T Lewis, by the Finance and Executive Committee in order to submit evidence to the Commission on behalf of the College.
The working party was established by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) Council following a request from the General Medical Council's Standards Committee for guidance on the clinical aspects of conducting intimate examinations with a view to establishing recognisable standards of good practice. The working party's terms of reference were:- 1:to review the draft guidance issued by the GMC; 2:to prepare guidance in relation to obstetrics and gynaecology; 3: to consider the implications of the guidance for future training and research in obstetrics and gynaecology; 4: to make recommendations to the Council within six months. A draft report was produced in 1997.
The RCOG working party and confidential enquiry into laparoscopy was formed under the chairmanship of G V P Chamberlain in order to conduct an investigation into the use of laparoscopy within the United Kingdom. The College was to be assisted by the DHSS, which agreed to handle all data processing and analysis, and by the Defence Societies, which were to help finance printing and postage (see first meeting, 10 June 1975, in minute book: Archives reference M21M/1 p. 1). Although the working party produced its final report in 1978, and no minutes appear to have survived after 1977, it continued to carry out its investigations until 1982.
The Institutional versus Domiciliary Midwifery Committee was established by the RCOG Council under the chairmanship of R C Thomas in 1951 to assess National Health Service obstetric services, to study trends in places of birth, and to define objectives for the next two decades. It changed its title to the Maternity' Services Committee later in 1951 and to the Obstetric Services Committee in 1954. It published its report in the same year; a revised version was published by the College in November 1956. The committee does not appear to have met after 1954. According to a note in T5, p. 17, this committee continued the work of an earlier RCOG committee, the Maternity Committee, 1929-1939.
This committee was set up by Council in January 1961 under the chairmanship of H R MacLennan. Its report, Recommendations on the Principles and Organisation of General Practitioner Maternity Units and their relation to specialist Maternity Units, was published in January 1962.
This committee was first convened in May 1972 under the chairmanship of Norman Jeffcoate PRCOG. Its terms of reference were "to consider the medical staffing at all levels in hospital departments of obstetrics and gynaecology in the United Kingdom in relation to training, service and career structure" (minute book, meeting 23 June 1972: Archives reference M29M/1). The committee was asked also to bear in mind the staffing situation that existed at the time, registrar "freeze" and the limited opportunities for trainees to secure promotion to senior registrar and consultant status. Seven meetings were held with Sir Norman Jeffcoate and later Sir Stanley Clayton in the chair. The Medical Officer of the Department of Health, Dr W J Modle, joined the committee on one occasion. The committee reported to Council in 1973.
The working party met throughout 1984 and 1985 and their report was published in May 1987. The required information was collected through the use of questionnaires, letters and verbal evidence. The Chairman was Mrs W J A Francis FRCOG.
The College's Committee on Human Fertility was established in 1944 to assist the Biological and Medical Committee of the Royal Commission on Population in clinical investigations of sterility. It held meetings from May 1944 to March 1945. The questionnaire sub-committee met from March 1945 to March 1949; it supervised an enquiry (by questionnaire) into infertility which was conducted by E Lewis-Faning. Lewis-Faning's report was published in typescript as follows: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Report on an enquiry into family limitation and its influence on human fertility during the past fifty years.
In August 1994 two articles based on unsubstantiated research were published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Due to the resulting furore the College President, who was also the Journal editor, felt it necessary to resign from both positions, despite being exonerated from collusion in the deception. This committee was set up as an independent body by Council in November 1994 and produced its report in June 1995. The College Secretary's Office provided the secretariat for the enquiry.
The Council of the RCOG convened the sub-committee under the chairmanship of Mr V Lack in March 1955 at the request of the General Medical Council in December 1954. The committee's remit was to comment on the General Medical Council Recommendations Committee as to the medical curriculum of 1947. The sub-committee concluded: 1) The purpose of the medical curriculum should be to train General Practitioners. 2) The medical curriculum should be shortened. 3) No reduction of time in the training of Midwifery should be allowed.
The working party was set up by Council on the recommendation of the RCOG's Examination Committee in 1991 under the chairmanship of Professor W Dunlop. Its terms of reference were "to consider the need for change in the current system of assessment leading to the award of MRCOG; to define the educational objectives upon which assessment should be based, and to suggest revision of the current system of assessment and to make recommendations on the implementation of this revision". It reported to Council in 1991.
The working party was established by the Council of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in March 1992 with the following remit: "to consider all matters relating to training, with particular reference to the length of training and structured training programmes" (report, p.3 Ref: M52).
The Court of Patrons was inaugurated following the decision of Council on 30 November 1982, with HM Elizabeth the Queen Mother presiding as Patron of the College. Members of the Court were to be 'composed of persons of distinction who have an interest in and concern for the College' (Council minutes, 28 November 1981). The Court was comprised of up to thirty members and the first members were admitted at a Fellows Admission Ceremony on 2 June 1982. Honorary officers were ex-officio members. Membership included seventeen lay members and eight medical members, comprising five former presidents and three former vice-presidents of the College. Members of the Court were appointed by Council. The Court was intended to recognise and honour those who had contributed to securing the fortunes and future of the College, financially or in another capacity.
It was initially intended the Court would meet annually followed by a dinner, meetings however became infrequent and the Court only met a few times. A possible reason for this was that there was never a clear statement of the Court's aims and objectives. This led to its role and remit being discussed and investigated on a number of occasions between 1993-1996. As the Court had no specfic place in the College constitution The Court was serviced variously by the President's Office and the College Secretary's Office.
Up until 2005 the College Secretary's Office was responsible for staff management matters, when a separate Personnel Department was formed.
Until 1930 the College did not have a permanent Secretary, but in December 1930 the President recommended that the private secretary of Sir William Fletcher Shaw, Miss W E Mallon be appointed as permanent Secretary to the College. Initially the function of the Secretary was purely administrative, as the College grew in size the Secretary became the senior manager of the College, responsible for general management of the College and all its departments in direct liaison with the College Officers, Council and committee chairmen. As the College Secretary's responsibilities expanded, it became necessary to pass certain functions to other departments or officers (for example, in the 1980's responsibility for overseas affairs was passed to the Vice President). In 1999 a Personnel Officer was appointed, under the overall control of the College Secretary. The role involves:
Attendance of Council meetings, the Finance and Executive Committee and Council elections.
Control of special funds.
Operational and management responsibility for major projects.
Overseeing the production of educational resources for training and continuing professional development.
Providing general education development support and advice in a number of forums.
In 2005 the post was renamed as the Chief Executive/Secretary to the Board of Trustees.
The decision-making work of the College is carried out through a Committee system, with administrative support from the various internal departments. The committees below are or were standing committees of the College established to make policy in relation to particular functions and interests of the College.
The Publications Panel was set up in 1978 to consider the format, typesetting, binding and print runs of College scientific publications (ref: RCOG/B16/1, internal memo 22/1/85). It reported to the Finance and Executive Committee. In February 1985 the Panel was reformed to 'meet only when necessary to discuss printers quotations, publishers proposals, print quantities and handling charges to Fellows and Members' (ref: RCOG/B16/1, agenda Feb 1985). The Panel was chaired by the Honorary Treasurer.
In 1987 the Joint Planning Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the Department of Health invited a submission from the RCOG on training grade numbers. Ad hoc meetings were held to formulate a response. This was followed by an occasional Manpower Working Party which met from 1988 to advise Council on these issues. The Working Party began to undertake annual censuses to identify numbers in training, career prospects and related areas of concern and also to hold annual meetings to update members of the profession in manpower issues and to allow sharing of views between the College, the Department of Health, purchasers and providers of health care. Special surveys and studies on specific issues were also undertaken. By 1990 the Working Party had gradually evolved into full committee but did not adopt a formal constitution and terms of reference until 1992, when it was decided that its role was 'to advise Council on all matters relating to manpower in obstetrics and gynaecology' and 'to keep Council informed of the census results and manpower and staffing trends which are identified.' In 1997 it was decided that the term 'manpower' was outdated and the committee was renamed the Medical Workforce Advisory Committee (MWAC).
This Committee was established to act as a channel of communication between trainees and the RCOG and as a forum for discussion of issues relevant to training in obstetrics and gynaecology. The idea for the committee originally arose in the early 1990s in response to health service reform, the reduction of working hours and changing working practices of junior doctors, the Calman reforms in medical education, and concerns about the retention and recruitment of trainees in obstetrics and gynaecology. It was to be a constituted as a democratically-elected standing committee of the RCOG, members being elected by other trainees, and would liaise with the College about examinations, accreditation and training issues in the light of the current health service reforms. This national committee was to be accompanied by regional committees that would liaise with Regional College Advisers, Postgraduate Deans and District Tutors about local matters. An Interim Trainees Committee was established in 1993, with Dr Susan Bewley as Chair. Elections were held early in 1994 and the National Trainees Committee proper held its first meeting in July 1994. In 1998 it became known as the Trainees Committee. In addition to giving them a voice within the RCOG, the committee organised a series of surveys of trainees, to ascertain their views on training in obstetrics and gynaecology, working patterns, remuneration and the effect of health service reforms.
The Education Board was established in November 1992 on the recommendation of the Futures Working Party of the College. Its remit was 'to act as a forum to disseminate information and to act as required on particular items of educational interest in its widest sense' (Education Board: minutes of preliminary meeting, 20 Nov 1992, ref: B24M/1 p. 1). It took reports from the relevant standing committees and discussed those matters arising from their activities that would not normally have received an airing at Council. These included the Examinations, Higher Training, Hospital Recognition, Subspecialty, Continuing Professional Development, Manpower, and Meetings Committees. In 2000, the RCOG put in place a new board structure in order to free-up Council's time to concentrate on strategic and specialty wide issues. The Education Board became one of three boards (along with Standards and Services) that were given executive and decision-making authority and were able to ratify the decisions of reporting committees and groups. They were responsible directly to Council and met quarterly. The remit of the Education Board became: to facilitate the ongoing development of valid, fair and appropriate College examination processes; to promote and facilitate the development of the continuing professional development programme; to facilitate the initiation and development of the distance learning programme and related education initiatives; and to co-ordinate and facilitate the development of education in its widest sense (Finance and Executive Committee: minutes, 4 May 2000, ref: A3/30/4). At this date it had the following reporting committees: Examinations, Continuing Professional Development, Standing Joint RCOG/RCR, Meetings, CAL [Computer Assisted Learning] Editorial Board. In 2002, in order to forge closer ties between examinations and training, a revised Board structure was established and the reporting of the three training committees (Specialist Training, Subspecialty, Trainees) was diverted from the Standards Board to the Education Board. By 2008, the Education Board's remit was as follows: to co-ordinate postgraduate training, assessment and testing of training and accreditation of place of training; to facilitate the continuing development of valid, fair and appropriate College examination processes; to facilitate the initiation and development of distance learning programmes; to co-ordinate and facilitate the development of specialist education, training and assessment in the widest sense, in accordance with the College curricula.
In 2000, the RCOG put in place a new board structure to free-up Council's time to concentrate on strategic and specialty wide issues. The three boards (Standards, Services and Education) were given executive and decision-making authority and were able to ratify the decisions of reporting committees and groups. They were be responsible to Council and met quarterly. The Services Board was set up to develop and co-ordinate services to Fellows and Members, Trainees, members of the public, the media and RCOG internal departments. Its original terms of reference were to co-ordinate and facilitate publishing activities, including responsibility for editorial production, management, marketing and distribution services. Its remit was also to co-ordinate the production of information to Fellows and Members, the public and the media; whether paper, electronic or verbal/oral. The Board was intended to have executive and decision-making authority in addition to ratifying decisions by reporting committees. It was also expected to report matters of political, financial importance and/or which had personnel implications, to the Finance and Executive Group (FEG). It was also, ultimately, answerable to Council. Its original membership consisted of the Chairman (Honorary Officer), the Chairmen of the Publications Management Committee, the Information Technology Committee, the Information Services Committee and the Website Working Group, the Public Relations Officer, a Fellows and Members representative each from Council, the Head of the Services Division and any other 'relevant managerial staff' according to agenda items, i.e. they were to attend on an ad hoc basis. A later remit was agreed or dated 23rd January 2002, but it is apparent that there were amendments made to the membership in the early stages of its existence. In 2003 the Services Board was disbanded because Council felt that there was duplication of reporting. Responsibility for awards, overseas activities, fellowship selection, publications management and press were passed to the Finance and Executive Group. A new Services Committee was established on 23rd May 2003, reporting to Finance and Executive. It incorporated the remits from the old Services Board, House Committee and Information Services Committee and was responsible for the activities of Administration, Facilities, Information Services, Information Technology, Membership Services and Premises. However, in 2005 Council ratified Finance and Executive's decision for the Services Committee to revert to its former title and executive status as the Services Board. So despite some to-and-froing, by 2008 the Services Board's remit was essentially little changed from that of its establishment in 2000. The Board was to develop and co-ordinate services for Fellows, Members, Trainees, Associates and Affiliates, and to assist in supporting College strategy by developing new services and regularly reviewing the provision of current services provided by the College departments of Administration, Facilities, Information Services, Information Technology, Premises, Communications and External Affairs, and Publications. It retained its status as an executive authority and had the power to ratify the decisions of the following groups and committees that report to it: Public Affairs Committee, Publications Committee, Services Group, Website Group, Cross-Departmental Marketing and Focus Group, and Red Eventful Cuisine/RCOG Group.
In order to assist the work of the Clinical Standards Department and the Standards Board in planning the development of clinical standards, clinical directors of obstetrics and gynaecology in the UK were invited to a meeting in October 2000 to consider the College's approach in this area; to enable liaison with clinical directors and to define how the College's programme of work might help them. From this date regular bi-annual meetings were held 'to identify issues of importance to those at the coal-face and to exchange experiences and views.'
The Hospital Recognition Committee (HRC) was first established in 1944 as a sub-committee of the Examination Committee. It became a full standing committee in 1947. From 1935 the inspection and recognition of hospitals had been a regular part of the Examination Committee's work. The impetus behind the establishment of the Hospital Recognition Sub-committee in 1944 was provided by the Interdepartmental Committee on Medical Schools (Goodenough Committee). The Hospital Recognition Sub-committee was established to draw up a list of hospitals which could be recognised for training to consultant status. The Sub-committee reported in January 1945. Its earliest extant minutes (numbered K1) date from September 1946, and show that the Sub-committee was performing the functions previously routinely performed by the Examination Committee in administering the recognition of hospital posts. The first meeting of the HRC as a full standing committee took place on 19 March 1947 (K2). In the 1950s and 1960s its membership was co-extensive with that of the Examination Committee. In 1973, however, Council undertook a review of the College's committees and decided to streamline the Examination Committee, making it into a small executive committee. The existing composition and functions of the HRC were maintained. In 1998 the HRC took over the functions of the Higher Training Committee (HTC) (which had been dissolved) relating to recognition of Specialist Registrar hospital posts. The HRC's current remit is: to undertake regular assessment and, where appropriate, recognise as satisfactory, training in obstetrics and gynaecology in defined posts, against defined standards, for hospitals who request such recognition, both in the UK and overseas; to make recommendations for the improvement of training and monitor the implementation of such recommendations. The HRC is serviced by the College's Postgraduate Training Department.
The establishment featured in the early vision for the College. In April 1933, A E Giles (1864-1936) was elected as the first Honorary Librarian and a Library Committee was formed. Giles became Resident Librarian in 1937. After the Second World War this post was discontinued, and in 1946 W J Bishop (1903- 1961) became part-time librarian (later Consultant Librarian). Hitherto the collection had been primarily historical, but when the College moved to new purpose-built premises in 1960, the Library was an important element in the design of the new building and it extended its activities to cover current literature in the specialty. Grant funding from the Wellcome Trust enabled major developments in the 1960s and in 1970 the Library premises were further extended. Meanwhile, the rare book collections continued to grow. Notable donors included Roy Samuel Dobbin (1873-1939), Sir Eardley Holland (1879-1967), and Miles Phillips (1875-1965). In 2000, the Library Committee changed its name to become the Information Services Committee in order to reflect the developing activities of the Library in this area. In 2001 it assumed additional responsibilities with regard to Information Technology and the College website from the previous Information Technology Committee and Website Working Group. In the same year, the Library became the major constituent, along with the College Archives, of a new department, the Information Services Department. The Information Services Committee met for the last time in March 2003. The Information Services Department continued to function, reporting to Services Board, and in 2005 acquired responsibility for the College web-site.
Committees and Councils of the RCOG were set up internationally in various countries. The earliest were Reference Committees, which were set up and appointed to advise Council on local matters, such as the recognition of training posts and the training programmes of individual trainees, and to encourage local scientific meetings and social gatherings of Fellows and Members. The first reference committee was set up in Canada in 1932, closely followed by one in India and subsequently in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Gradually Regional Councils replaced Reference Committees in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Australia and New Zealand replaced their Councils with their own Royal Colleges of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1980 and 1982 respectively. Representative Committees were set up as the corporate body of College membership in a particular country or region and nominated and elected by the Fellows of that country or region. Functions were to bring together the collective advice of Fellows and Members and to undertake tasks on the College's behalf which were also in the interests of the country. In the 1980's the remaining Regional Councils were replaced by Representative Committees. The Dominions Committee was founded as a sub-committee of the RCOG in 1945 and became a full committee in 1952. It comprised representatives from the dominions (Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India) and met in London. The meetings were consequently infrequent and the Committee was disbanded in 1958. The Overseas Policy Committee based in England, met from 1960 to 1962 when it became known as the Overseas Committee. Its terms of reference were: to consider development and change in countries overseas, particularly within the Commonwealth, in so far as they affect the aims and objectives of the College; to consider with the regional councils and reference committees means of fostering a close relationship between Fellows and Members abroad; to help with the placing of recommended postgraduates in recognised training posts in England and abroad; to be concerned with arrangements for the reception, both professional and social, of visitors from overseas. By 1967 the Overseas Committee had been superseded by the appointment of an Adviser to Overseas Candidates and after 1967 there is no record of the Committee meeting again.
The Representative Committee was formed in 1943 at the invitation of the Minister for Health who asked the British Medical Association (BMA), in collaboration with the royal colleges, to form a committee representative of all branches of the medical profession to discuss with him the problems involved in establishing a comprehensive national health service. The following bodies were represented on the committee: Medical Planning Committee; BMA; Royal College of Surgeons of England; Royal College of Physicians; Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh; Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow; Society of Apothecaries; Society of Medical Officers of Health; Medical Women's Federation; Provincial Teaching Hospitals' Staffs' Association. The purpose of the committee was to explore the medical problems raised by the Beveridge Report and to promote the views of the majority of the medical professions. In 1944 the Representative Committee was restyled as the National Health Service Negotiating Committee; it was disbanded in December 1948 following the establishment of a Joint Committee of the Royal Colleges, the Royal Scottish Corporations and the Consultants and Specialists Committee (established by the BMA), which continued to represent consultants and specialists in negotiation with the Government in matters arising from the National Health Service Acts.
The first meeting of the Standing Advisory Committee on Obstetric Anaesthesia and Analgesia was held on 16 February 1982. The Committee was comprised of three representatives of the Royal College of Gynaecologists and three representatives of the Faculty of Anaesthetists, to 'consider and make recommendations on matters of common interest to its parent bodies' (minutes, ref: C20/5). It agreed on the following areas of common interest in teaching: anaesthesia for operative deliveries, pain relief in labour, obstetric intensive care and resuscitation of the newborn. In 1987 a Working Party on Resuscitation of the Newborn was formed by the Committee and included representatives from the Royal Colleges of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Anaesthetists, and Midwives, and from the British Paediatric Association. Its aim was to produce two instruction manuals covering basic resuscitation of the newborn and the special skills needed for advanced resuscitation. From 1995 the Standing Advisory Committee became known as the Standing Joint Committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Anaesthetists, following a review of the functions the committee performed. Its new terms of reference became: to discuss and advise on matters of mutual interest and concern in both obstetric and gynaecological anaesthesia, and to report routinely on discussions by submission of minutes to Councils. The Chair reported to the Finance and Executive Committee, then later to the Standards Board; traditionally the committee met twice a year.
Advisory appointments committees were set up by regional hospital boards in 1955 to select consultants for appointment in hospitals around the country. Committee members were external assessors who came from a different area to where the appointment was being made. Method of selection of assessors was as follows: requests would be made to the relevant medical college for nominations for membership of committees, and those persons nominated approached directly by the President of the College.