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Stella Charnaud was born in Constantinople in 1894, the daughter of the director of the tobacco monopoly of the Ottoman Empire. In 1914 she travelled to London to train as a secretary, and in 1925 she went to India as the secretary of Alice, Lady Reading, wife of the new Viceroy Rufus Daniel Isaacs, Lord Reading. Lord Reading was a lawyer, judge, diplomat, ambassador and politician. He was created marquess in 1926, becoming the first commoner to rise to this rank since Wellington.

Stella became Lord Reading's private secretary after they returned from India. He came to depend on her, and after Alice died of cancer in 1930, he and Stella were married in 1931. Lord Reading was 71 and Stella was 37. They had no children. Stella devoted herself to the marriage, but after his death in 1935, as the Dowager Marchioness of Reading, she stood out in her own right as capable and determined in support of various causes. In 1938 she was asked by the Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, to form a service of women to prepare for the civil dislocation inevitable during wartime. The result was the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS).

After the War Stella, while maintaining her leadership of the WVS, also served for other causes including Governor of the BBC, 1946-51, and chair of the Advisory Council on Commonwealth Immigration. She was awarded 5 honorary doctorates from universities around the world. In 1958 she was created Baroness Swanborough, becoming the first woman life peer to take a seat in the House of Lords.

Information from Windlesham, 'Isaacs , Stella, marchioness of Reading and Baroness Swanborough (1894-1971)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 and A. Lentin, 'Isaacs, Rufus Daniel, first marquess of Reading (1860-1935)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011.

Born, 1896; educated at the Grocers' Company's School, Hackney Downs; civil service, 1912-1916; active service in France as a lieutenant (Territorial Army) in the Royal Garrison Artillery, 1916-1918; Exeter College, Oxford, 1919; assistant lecturer in English at the University College of North Wales, Bangor, 1921-1924; assistant lecturer in English at King's College, University of London, 1924-1928; lecturer in English, 1928; first Montefiore Professor of English in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Palestine, 1942-1945; returned to England, 1945; chair of English Language and Literature at Queen Mary College, University of London, 1952-1964; retired from the chair and appointed Professor Emeritus, 1964; died, 1973.

G. W. Issac qualified at Edinburgh in 1882, and had a large practice in Bloomsbury, London [cf. B.M.J. 1931, ii, p. 681.].

Irwin Harrisons and Whitney Incorporated was registered in 1924 on the merger of Irwin Harrisons and Crosfield Incorporated (which was formed in 1914 on the merger of the New York branch of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited and A.P. Irwin and Company) and J.C. Whitney (tea importers and exporters).

Irwin Harrisons and Crosfield Incorporated were tea importers and exporters with branches in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco. In 1944 the export trade was taken over by Harrisons and Crosfield (America) Incorporated (CLC/B/112-065). In 1978 Irwin Harrisons and Whitney became a wholly owned subsidiary of Harrisons and Crosfield. In 1979 it was restyled as part of Harcros Inc, a subsidiary of Harrisons and Crosfield (America) Incorporated (see CLC/B/112/MS37523-9).

For historical notes on Harrisons and Crosfield Ltd's shareholdings in the Company see CLC/B/112/MS37392. For staff lists see CLC/B/112/MS37341.

Lucy Irwin appears to have been a pupil at No. 2 School, Marlborough Street, Dublin. Her address is given as Leinster Terrace, Aughrim Street, North Circular Road, Dublin.

Brash Brothers first appear in a commercial directory in 1892, as a partnership, at 9 and 11 Fenchurch Avenue and 13 St Mary Axe. By 1918, they were at 38 Mincing Lane. From 1923 they were at 23 Rood Lane, and 1935-69 at 13 Rood Lane. They also had various warehouses in the London suburbs at various dates. Brash Brothers appear to have become a limited company, Brash Brothers (Tea) Limited, circa 1940. In 1996 the firm was taken over and no corporate records are known to survive.

Born, 1914; educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford; joined RAF, 1936; service with 211 Sqn, UK and Egypt, 1937-1938; on staff, RAF Headquarters, Amman, Transjordan, 1938; service with 14 Sqn, Ismailia, Egypt, 1938; service with 14 Sqn at Port Sudan, Sudan, 1940; made an unauthorised raid on Italian naval base, Massawa, Eritrea, June 1940; service with 113 Sqn, Western Desert, 1940-1941; service with 211 Sqn, Greece, 1941; killed in action, Parymythia, Greece, Apr 1941

The Morgan Owen medal is the insurance world's most prestigious essay prize. The silver gilt medal and award of up to £2,000 is offered for the best essay entered by a Fellow or Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. The competition is run annually.

The archive was begun by the Irish in Britain History Group, and was donated to the Irish Studies Centre at the University of North London in 1991, who have continued to develop and expand the collection. The aim is to create a representative record of the experiences of the Irish in Britain.

Born 1918; student, RAF College Cranwell, 1936-1938; pupil, School of Army Co-operation, 22 (Army Co-operation) Group, Old Sarum, Salisbury, Wiltshire, 1938; pilot, 20 Sqn, North West Frontier, India, 1939-1940; ADC to Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Headquarters, India, 1941; 155 Sqn, Risalpur, North West Frontier, India, 1942; Officer Commanding B Flight, 5 Sqn, Dum Dum, India, 1942; Sqn Ldr, 67 Sqn, Alipore, India, 1942; Commanding Officer, 17 Sqn, Bengal, India, 1942; on staff, 224 Group Headquarters, Chittagong, 1942, India, 1942-1943; Sqn Ldr, 197 Sqn, RAF Tangmere, 1943-1944; Commanding Officer, 486 (New Zealand) Sqn, Fighter Command and Tactical Air Force, 1944; 83 Group, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 1944-1945; Wg Cdr, 83 Group Headquarters, Germany, 1945; student, RAF Staff College, Bracknell, 1945-1946; Fighter Command Headquarters, 1946-1948; Sqn Ldr, Central Fighter Establishment, West Raynham, 1948; Personal Staff Officer to Commander-in-Chief, Fighter Command Headquarters, 1948-1949; Air Ministry, 1949-1951; RAF Kabrit, Egypt, 1951-1954; Senior Air Staff Officer, British Forces Aden Headquarters, 1954; Fighter Command Headquarters, 1954-1955; Commander, RAF Horsham St Faith, 1955-1958

Born 1900; RN Cadet, Royal Naval College, Osborne, Isle of Wight, 1913-1914; Midshipman, battleship HMS BELLEROPHON, Grand Fleet, Scapa Flow, 1916; battle of Jutland, 1916; witnessed scuttling of captured German Fleet, Scapa Flow, 1919; Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 1919-1920; Lt, HMS VENOMOUS, 1920-1921; Flinders Naval Depot, Australia, 1922-1924; HMS FROBISHER, 1924-1926; trained as observer, Fleet Air Arm, 1926; HMS FURIOUS, 1926-1928; Ground Instructor, RAF Leuchars, Scotland, 1928-1929; HMS HERMES, Hong Kong, 1929-1931; HMS FURIOUS, 1931-1934; HMS COURAGEOUS, 1934-1935; Staff Officer, Operations, to Adm Noel Frank Laurence, HMS GLORIOUS, 1936; Director of Training and Staff Duties, Air Ministry, 1936-1938; Second in Command, HMS NEWCASTLE, 1939-1941; Air Ministry, 1941-1942; commanded HMS OWL, Fearn, Scotland, 1942-1944; Deputy Director (Naval), Combined Operations Headquarters, 1944-1945; commanded HMS AJAX, 1946-1948; Deputy Director, Department of Naval Equipment, Admiralty 1948-1951; retired, 1951

The Ionian Bank was founded in London in 1839 to finance trade between the Ionian Islands, (a British protectorate) and Great Britain. After the cession to Greece of the islands in 1864, the Bank extended its operations to the rest of Greece and during the twentieth century to Egypt, Cyprus and Turkey. The Greek assets were sold to the Commercial Bank of Greece in the 1950s and the Egyptian assets were sequestrated. The Ionian Bank ceased trading as such in 1978, though certain parts of its business were carried on by Ionian Securities Ltd, which was taken over by Alpha Credit Bank in 1999, forming the Alpha Bank.

In 1968 the Advisory Centre for Education published a supplement to Where: Information on Education entitled Unstreaming Comprehensives. As a result of this, the Librarian of the Institute of Education, University of London, Douglas John Foskett, wrote to schools which were listed as participating in mixed ability teaching.

Following the enactment of the Financial Services Act 1986, the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation was one of a number of Self Regulatory Organisations established to regulate companies dealing in investments as a means of protecting investors. Its responsibilities were transferred to the Financial Services Authority in December 2001, following the Chancellor of the Exchequer's decision to merge banking supervision and investment services regulation.

Information available at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/About/Who/History/index.shtml (accessed October 2010).

Lady Invernairn, nee Elspeth Tullis, married William (later Sir William) Beardmore (1856-1936), Chairman and Managing Director of William Beardmore and Co., Engineers and Shipbuilders, in 1902. He was created Baron Invernairn of Strathnairn in 1921. They both met Ernest (later Sir Ernest) Shackleton (1874-1922) in Edinburgh in 1905, not long after the latter's return from the Antarctic where he had taken part as a junior officer in the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901 to 1904. In 1906 Shackleton entered Beardmore's employment at Parkhead, Glasgow. With Mrs Beardmore's encouragement, he planned his own British Antarctic Expedition in the NIMROD in 1907. Shackleton went south again in the ENDURANCE as leader of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914 to 1917. See H.R. Mill, The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton (London, 1923) and Margery and James Fisher, Shackleton(London, 1957).

The Invalids Magazine Album was edited by the sisters Gladys E. Dickinson (1885-1979) and Violet A. Dickinson, daughters of a dealer in oriental porcelain, who lived in Hampstead, the Isle of Wight and Little Bower Farm at Molash near Canterbury.

The enterprise was highly organised: with the involvement of subscribers and contributors, an album of stories, poems, pictures, and literary criticism was created every couple of months. The sisters, Gladys and Violet Dickinson, acted as editors, as well as contributing material themselves. They apparently took over from their friend Lettice Pelham Clinton. The albums were called the I.M.A. (Invalids Magazine Album), and the two editors laid down strict rules about deadlines for articles and subscriptions, and particularly for how long readers were allowed to keep them before sending them on the next subscriber.

As laid down in November 1903:
1) All members must be invalids, or delicate, and need only contribute 3 times a year.
2) Anyone may have the magazine sent to them on payment of 1 shilling and 6 pence a year, towards expenses. They need not then contribute.
3) Anyone else may belong, if they will contribute to every number, they will be called contributors.
4) Everyone else, whether Members, Contributors, or Subscribers, MUST OBEY the following rule - Everyone may keep the magazine for 2 days, inclusive of day of receipt. They must then forward it to the next address on the Postal List, having first voted for their favourite contributions, and written dates of receipt and despatch beside their name and address. They must also send a post-card to the Editor, to notify her of these dates, as that is the only way in which the magazine can be traced if lost.
5) If the magazine is kept over time, a fine of 1 pence per day will be imposed.
6) Everyone is asked to criticise, on the pages set apart for criticisms. (non members may criticise also).

The albums were posted to subscribers, not just locally in Hampstead, the Isle of Wight or Somerset, but also to Cornwall, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Scotland, Ireland and even, at one point, to Dresden in Germany. The magazine was so popular with contributors that in 1904 they decided to split it into two parts - a senior and junior version which would go out alternate months. Violet remained as senior editor, and Gladys became editor of the Junior IMA.

Contributors include:
'Vita';
Dickinson, Cedric;
Dickinson, Frank Leslie;
Dickinson, Gladys Evelyn;
Dickinson, Violet A.
Dicksee, Amy;
Dicksee, Dorothy;
Dicksee, Harold J.H.
Dicksee, Maurice;
Dicksee, Phylis M.
Dohrman, John;
Dohrman, Margery;
Duke, Kathleen (Kittens);
Elmsall, Gertrude;
Finnemore, Elaine;
Finnemore, Ethelwyn;
Finnemore, Gordon;
Finnemore, Hilda;
Fitch, W.E.
Hart, Dick;
Hillyard Swinstead, Eulalia;
Hillyard Swinstead, Valerie;
Hoste, Daisy;
Hoste, Pansy;
Hoste, Violet;
Huxham, Gertrude;
Lanyon, Doctor;
Lely, Effie;
Lely, Eileen;
Lely, Enid;
MacKintosh, Will;
Miller, Alice;
Nicholson, Alianor (Pussums);
Pelham Clinton, Lettice;
Pollexfen, Ruth;
Rogers, Hetty;
Shead, Beatrice Irene (Queenie);
Skinner, Lionel;
Snell, Hester;
Starke, Oscar;
Storer, Violet;
Straith, Eileen L.
Thompson, Gwen;
Touch, Edith M.
Trendelburg, Paul G.
Vaughan Stevens, Dudley;
Vaughan Stevens, Muriel;
Vaughan Stevens, Ruth;
Walker, B.E. Rain;
Warren, Miss;
West, Eric;
Young, Madelaine.

Invalid Meals for London was a fore-runner of 'Meals-on-Wheels'. It was founded in 1910 as Invalid Kitchens of London, with the aim to supply nourishing food to persons suffering or emerging from illness who were unable to provide for themselves. The first 5 kitchens were located in Southwark, Bermondsey, Hoxton, Stepney and Victoria Docks; during the First World War the number of kitchens was increased.

As a voluntary body the organisation received a grant and support from the London County Council. In 1961 it was taken over by the LCC who continued the work of supplying meals to the elderly and invalids.

Invalid Children's Aid Nationwide (I CAN) is a national registered charity (number 210031) for children with speech and language difficulties. The charity began as the Invalid Children's Aid Association (ICAA) on 26 November 1888, founded by Allen Dowdeswell Graham, a clergyman, to help poor children who were either seriously ill or handicapped. In 1888, he wrote 'Poverty is bad enough, God knows, but the poor handicapped exist in a living hell. It's up to us to do something about it'. Allen Graham organised a group of home visit volunteers who took food, bedding and medicine to children and their families, and helped arrange admissions into hospitals and convalescent homes, holidays, apprenticeships, and the loan of spinal carriages, wheel chairs and perambulators. Royal patronage began in 1891 and continued throughout the 20th century.

As the Association grew, volunteers were gradually replaced by professional social workers and 'Homes of Recovery' were set up, where the treatment of children with tuberculosis and rheumatic heart disease was first pioneered. The first of these residential establishments was Holt Sanatorium opened in 1906 and Parkstone Home for boys was opened in 1909. In 1935, the ICAA helped publicise the need for immunisation against diptheria by holding a conference in London. The ICAA worked closely with the London County Council in providing Care Committee Secretaries to the Schools for Physically Handicapped Children, and acting as an agent for the tuberculosis 'TB Contact Scheme' from 1925. During 1939 to 1945, the Association was involved in the special arrangements for the evacuation of physically handicapped children to homes or selected foster homes.

The National Health Service Act 1948 introduced financial support for medical care and appliances required by the Association's social workers, enabling greater concentration on providing casework support to help alleviate the stress experienced by families with handicapped children. The Act also led to the transferral of the Association's Heart Hospital, which had been opened in 1926 to the Health Authorities and the gradual replacement of convalescence by short term holidays.

In the 1950s the Association's motto was 'To every child a chance' and aims were:
"1. To collect and put at the disposal of parents and others, all information with regard to the care of invalid and crippled children, and the facilities which exist for their treatment.

2. To co-operate with doctors, hospital almoners and others by reporting on those aspects of the child's social background which are relevant to the understanding and treatment of the illness.
3. To assist parents to carry out the doctor's advice with regard to treatment by :-
   a) Arranging convalescence where necessary.
   b) Helping them to understand, and where possible rectify, any adverse social conditions that may exist.
4. To help in the re-establishment of the child in normal life.

5. To visit the seriously invalided child."

   With improvements in health care, the Association also began to concentrate on the educational problems arising from specific disabilities or chronic illness. In 1961 the Association organised an International Conference of Dyslexia and in 1964 the Word Blind Centre, Coram's Fields, was opened to study dyslexia and other reading difficulties. This led to the formation of the British Dyslexia Association.

   By 1981 the ICAA was maintaining five residential schools for children with special educational needs. It also ran a central information service, which provided free advice, and hired publications and films, and centres run by social workers in London and Surrey offering support to families with handicapped children. Social work services were run partly through grant aid from local authorities, and included Keith Grove Centre, Hammersmith which was opened in 1967, and Grenfell House Social Work Centre in 1981.

   In 1983 a Curriculum Development centre was opened for the research of teaching materials for children with speech and language disorders. The ICAA also expanded its area of work to include the Midlands and the North East with the opening of Carshalton Family Advice and Support Centre and regional offices.

   In 1986 the ICAA was renamed as I CAN. In the late 1990s I CAN delivered a range of direct and partnership services to help children by pioneering work in special schools, nurseries and centres within local schools and by providing training and information for parents, teachers and therapists. In 1999 there were 25,000 children with severe and complex speech and language impairment, with only 14 specialised schools available in the country, I CAN managing three of these at Dawn House School, John Horniman School and Meath School. In these schools I CAN employed teachers, speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, care staff and social workers. In the financial year April 2000 to March 2001 the charity's gross income was £6,151,000, and expenditure was £7,035,000. I CAN has been involved in national projects such as 'Changing lives', an initiative launched in 1999, aimed at changing 'early years' provision to support 1,200 children in 2002.

   Schools managed by ICAA and I CAN:

   • Meath School, Surrey, established 1945, for junior boys with severe asthma and other respiratory disorders, later from1982 for pupils with speech, language and communication difficulties.
   • Pilgrims School, East Sussex, established in 1955, for senior boys with severe asthma and eczemia (the only specialised school for these conditions in England and Wales).
   • John Horniman School, West Sussex, established in 1958, for children with severe communication disorders including hearing impairment.
   • Dawn House School, Nottinghamshire, established in 1974, for children with hearing impairment.
   • Edith Edwards House School, Surrey, established in 1956, for children with severe communication disorders and behavioural difficulties.

   Royal patrons
   1891 Princess Mary of Teck (later Queen Mary);
   1953 Elizabeth II.

   Presidents
   Before 1957 Duchess of Portland;
   1957 Princess Margaret.

The Invalid Asylum for Respectable Females was established in 1825 by Miss Mary Lister, (an aunt of Joseph Lister, the founder of antiseptic surgery), to 'afford a temporary Asylum to Respectable Females, employed in shops and in other dependent situations, and Servants, obliged by illness to quit their places'. It was intended to provide nursing and medical attention for those women not ill enough for admittance to a large public hospital, but not well enough to enter a convalescent home. A certificate of good moral conduct was required of each woman before admittance, and patients were subject to strict rules and numerous requirements, including the care of their fellow patients and cleaning of the wards.

The institution altered its name to the Invalid Asylum and Stoke Newington Home Hospital for Women in 1911. By 1916 the establishment was known as the Stoke Newington Home Hospital for Women. It appears that the Invalid Asylum was initially established in Church Street in Stoke Newington. By 1834, the Asylum was housed in a different building to that in which it had begun. This new building was located at 187 High Street, Stoke Newington, and the Asylum remained there until immediately prior to the Second World War. In July and August 1939, the patients were moved to The Firs in Stevenage, the property there having been taken on a lease. In 1944, the Home Hospital bought The Firs, selling their former property in Stoke Newington at the same time.

From its beginning the Invalid Asylum had a physician and surgeon in attendance every working day, and the attendance of a dentist is noted from 1866. In 1826, its first full year, the Asylum treated forty-seven women. By the time of its centenary in 1926, this number had risen to 264. The original purpose had also been extended, with convalescent and maternity cases being admitted. The Invalid Asylum was overseen by a Ladies Committee, and the establishment very quickly gained royal patronage, with Princess Augusta acting as Patroness from 1826 until 1840, when Queen Victoria accepted the role. Queen Victoria served as Patroness of the Invalid Asylum for over 60 years, and the tradition of royal patronage continued right up to the incorporation of the Home into the National Health Service in 1948.

Interradio AG was a holding company comprising numerous German-owned foreign broadcasting stations and was owned in equal share by the Nazi Foreign Affairs Department and the Propaganda Ministry. On 22 October 1941 it was merged with the Nazi radio monitoring service 'Seehaus' (named after the building in Berlin where it was located).

The International Year of the Family, 1994, was established by the United Nations General Assembly in a resolution of 9 December 1989. The theme of the Year was "Family: resources and responsibilities in a changing world". Activities marking the Year were organised at local and regional level, supported by the United Nations.

The International Wine and Food Society was founded in London in 1933 by Andre Simon, intended as a dining society for enthusiasts who were not professionally connected to the wine and food trade. By 1934 branches had been founded in the United States, and later in Australia and South Africa.

The International Transport Workers' Federation was founded in London in 1886 by European seafarers and dockers' union leaders who realised the need to organize internationally against strike breakers. In 2001 it is a Federation of 570 trade unions in 132 countries, representing around 5 million workers. The ITF represents transport workers at world level and promotes their interests through global campaigning and solidarity. It is dedicated to the advancement of independent and democratic trade unionism, and to the defence of fundamental human and trade union rights. It is opposed to any form of totalitarianism, aggression and discrimination.

The origins of the International Tracing Service date back to a 1943 initiative at the Headquarters of the Allied Forces, which enabled the section for International Affairs at the British Red Cross in London to provide this function. Spurred by the need to acquire more precise information about the fate of forced labourers and refugees in Europe, the task was taken over by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces on 15 February 1944. From the end of the war until 30 June 1947 the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration assumed the task of supporting and repatriating millions of non-German refugees. It moved to Bad Arolsen, Germany in January 1946, which was the geographical centre of the 4 occupation zones. On 1 July 1947 the International Refugee Organisation took over the Central Tracing Bureau, which, as of 1 January 1948, under the name International Tracing Service, is still valid today.

Lebensborn (Fount of life), registered association, established in December 1935 within the SS Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt (Race and Resettlement Main Office- RuSHA). In an extension of the marriage order of 1932, the Lebensborn Statute of September 1936 charged every SS man to produce at least 4 children, whether in or out of wedlock. The children were to come into the world in well-equipped Lebensborn homes, which protected the mothers from the surrounding world. Lebensborn provided birth documents and the child's basic support, and recruited adoptive parents. Financed by compulsory contributions from the RuSHA leadership, by 1944 a total of 13 homes were maintained, in which some 11,000 children were born. Estimates for the number of kidnappings of racially suitable non-aryans vary from several thousand to 200,000.

The International Tin Council was established in 1956, following on from the work of the International Tin Study Group, which was established in 1947 to survey the world supply and demand of tin. The ITCs aims were to promote the achievement of a long-term balance between world production and consumption of tin, and to prevent excessive fluctuation in price. This was achieved by the creation and operation of a buffer stock system involving mandatory contributions by producer and consumer countries, the fixing of floor and ceiling prices, and the regulation of exports. The activities of the Council were governed by a series of six 5-year International Tin Agreements, commencing in 1956. The sixth agreement was extended for a further two years in 1987. The Council was dissolved in 1990.

This appears to have been a fund set up to provide memorials to submarine telegraphy and its pioneers. John Denison-Pender, son of John Pender, founder of the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies Group, was a member. For further details of telegraph companies founded by Pender, see the history of the Globe Telegraph and Trust Company, reference CLC/B/101.

The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers was founded by Francis Howard on 23rd December 1897, and inaugurated in May 1898. Known as the 'International Society', it acted as a forum for independent artists from Europe and the USA who were invited to send work to, and support, international exhibitions in London and abroad. In the early years work from Royal Academicians was discouraged. In 1904, the Society was registered as a company under the Companies Act. The first President of the Society was Whistler, followed by Rodin. The first council included among others, John Lavery (Chairman), E.A. Walton, Sauter, Joseph Pennell and Gilbert. The Society organised its own exhibitions at various London galleries, including eventually the Royal Academy. In all, it held twenty-nine London exhibitions, between 1898 and 1925. The Council of the Society voted to wind up its Public Regulated Company in 1937, however the Society itself was to continue, and support exhibitions and purchase works of art until its existing funding ran out.

The International Refugee Organisation (IRO) was a non-permanent specialised agency of the United Nations. It came into being on 20 Aug 1948. Its functions were previously carried out by a Preparatory Commission (PCIRO), which assumed on 1 Jul 1947 functions formerly exercised by its predecessor organisations: The League of Nations; the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees; the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and the allied armies.

The IRO was concerned principally with the repatriation and resettlement of refugees. It also provided for the care and maintenance of refugees in Displaced Persons camps. The objective was to offer sufficient maintenance and care to prevent serious physical and psychological deterioration. In addition it gave legal and political protection, a function normally performed by consulates on behalf of their governments.

Unknown.

The archive dates from the period after the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910. The Conference of British Missionary Societies was founded in 1912 with over 40 member missionary societies of various denominations. The International Missionary Council was founded in 1921 and its members comprised interdenominational associations of missionary societies in various countries and interdenominational field bodies. The two bodies shared premises at Edinburgh House, near Sloane Square, London, until the IMC became part of the World Council of Churches in 1961.

The International Missionary Council (IMC) was established in 1921, the result of currents in Christianity apparent as far back as the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910. The IMC divided its work between its London office and a New York office, opened in 1924. There was later a Far Eastern office. The IMC linked 14 interdenominational associations of missionary societies, such as the Division of Foreign Missions of the National Council of Churches of Christ, USA, with 16 interdenominational field bodies, such as the National Christian Council of India. The Council served its member bodies through study, consultation and programmes of mutual assistance, addressing issues such as missionary freedom, general and theological education, opium addiction, labour, slavery, racial discrimination, the church in rural and industrial society, home and family life, and literature, and advised local and regional church bodies. Several major international conferences were held, the subjects of which included the message, especially in relation to modern secularism (Jerusalem, 1928); the study of the Christian message in a non-Christian world (Madras, 1938); the relevance of the gospel in a world recovering from war (Whitby, Ontario, 1947); church unity as a condition of effective witness and advance (Willingen, Germany, 1952); and the establishment of a theological education fund (Ghana, 1958). J H Oldham, John R Mott, William Paton and A L Warnhuis were among those instrumental in the Council's work. The IMC became a focus of the emerging ecumenical movement soon after its formation and had a close relationship with the World Council of Churches from 1939, becoming in 1961 the Division of (later Commission on) World Mission and Evangelism of the WCC. The periodical International Review of Missions was produced from 1912. See the biography of the Secretary of the World Missionary Conference of 1910: Keith Clements, Faith on the Frontier: a Life of J H Oldham (1999).

The International Medical Congress was held in London on 2nd to 9th August 1881; the seventh annual meeting of the Congress. According to the Transactions of the Congress the discussions included anatomy, physiology, pathology, materia medica, general medicine and surgery, military medicine and surgery, ophthalmology, diseases of the skin, throat, ear and teeth, mental disease and diseases of children.

The International Marxist Group is a British Trotskyite revolutionary group affiliated to the Fourth International. Its broad aims are the overthrow of imperialist capitalism followed be the setting up of a government based on direct democratic control by the people.

The International Geographical Congress is currently the congress of the International Geographical Union which was established in Brussels in 1922. However, the history of international meetings of geographers is much longer. The first of a series of congresses met in 1871 in Antwerp.

The International Federation of Workers' Education Associations (IFWEA) officially started in October 1947 when its first official conference was held in London and its constitution was adopted. It developed from an initiative of Ernest Green, General Secretary of the UK WEA who had organised a conference for representatives of workers educational associations worldwide. It was at this conference that the decision was taken to develop a formal international body to promote cooperation. The functions of IFWEA were to coordinate experience in adult education and to stimulate the expansion of voluntary workers' education in other countries. It now holds triennial conferences, international seminars and participates in research and special projects.

The Royal Society is the UK adhering body for the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).

Unknown

The Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA) was founded in 1971 when the London Corn Trade Association merged with the London Cattle Food Trade Association. GAFTA is a trade association for those working in the international grain trade. It came to hold the records of various related organisations which it merged with or acquired. For further information see CLC/B/103.

At the Second International Conference, which took place in Frankfurt in 1932, 60 Jewish delegates decided to organise a parallel Jewish conference for 1936. The president of the Jewish Conference was Dr M J Karpf, Director of the Graduate School for Jewish Social Work, New York. The central committee for the conference comprised leading figures in the social work field from all over the world. The secretariat was situated in Paris at the offices of the American Joint Distribution Committee. The Third International Conference on Social Work took place in London in July 1936 and was held in conjunction with the International Conference for Jewish Social Work.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the widespread campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts had had the effect of focussing attention on the issue of prostitution. This had the result of encouraging the growth of groups like the National Vigilance Association whose aim was to work against the trade and its causes. In 1898, this body agreed to address concerns about the international aspect of prostitution and began laying the foundations of an international federation of bodies, working towards the abolition of the traffic in persons, which came into being in 1899. This International Bureau for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons consisted of representatives from each of the constituent bodies, including five from the National Vigilance Association itself. Subsequently, this core of five became the English National Committee in accordance with the International Bureau's constitution regarding its branches. Subsequently, other British groups and societies were requested to send representatives to their meetings so that in 1907 the organisation became the British National Committee for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade. Six years later, their increasingly broad base may be judged from a list of member associations and societies in 1913: Church Army, Church of England Moral Welfare Society, Association for Moral and Social Hygiene, West London Mission, British Social Hygiene Council, Catholic Women's League, Manchester Moral Welfare Association, Alliance of Honour, National Vigilance Association, Liverpool Hygiene Association, National Vigilance Association of Scotland, Jewish Association for the Protection of Women and Girls, the International Bureau, London Haven for Women and Girls, Missions to Seamen, National Council of Women, Public Morality Council, Central After Care Association for Women and Girls, Presbyterian Church of England, Methodist Church, and the Hull Vigilance Association. During World War I the Committee did not meet between 1915 and 1918 but was reconstituted in 1919 when its name was changed to The British National Committee for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic and the International Traffic in Women. By 1932, membership was open to all major British organisations doing practical work for the protection of women and children and the group flourished throughout the 1930s. World War II again disrupted international work and in the post-war years membership was widened once more to include societies working for the protection of women and children. The National Vigilance Association's faced financial difficulties after the war, leading to its amalgamation with the British National Committee in 1953. The new body was called The British Vigilance Association and the National Committee for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons, but was generally known as the British Vigilance Association.

The International Bureau for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons (1899-1971) was established at a time when the widespread campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts had had the effect of focussing attention on the issue of prostitution. This had the result of encouraging the growth of groups like the National Vigilance Association whose aim was to work against the trade and its causes. In 1898, following the precedent of the International Abolitionist Federation, the National Vigilance Association agreed to address concerns about the international aspect of prostitution and began laying the foundations of an international federation of bodies working towards the abolition of the trade which would be known as the International Bureau for Suppression of Traffic in Persons. An international congress was held in London in Jun 1899 attended by ten delegations from European countries and one from the United States of America, as well as representatives of forty-eight local and national societies for the UK. The first meeting of the International Bureau was held in 1900, and throughout its existence the National Vigilance Association provided the premises, secretariat and the major part of the funding for international work, although the International Bureau for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons was always a separate organisation. Its constitution guaranteed that there should be a national committee in each of the partner countries. Each of these would send two representatives to sit on the international committee. The assembled representatives would, along with three other members elected by the National Vigilance Association, form the Bureau of the Congress or the central governing body. The NVA evidently saw the Bureau as the machinery for its international work, which would later lead to some tension with the partners. International work ceased during World War I after 1915 when it was decided that each national committee should continue working in its own way. The first official post-war meeting was held in 1920, but it was not until 1923 that national committees of former enemy countries felt able to re-establish international links. The first post-war Congress was held in Graz, Austria in 1924. The International Bureau for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons became closely involved with the agencies of the newly formed League of Nations which had responsibility for the work towards the suppression of traffic in persons. On the outbreak of World War II in 1939, work was again halted, only fully to resume in 1949 when constituent national committees became particularly active in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Indonesia and the United States of America. Unfortunately, this resumption coincided with a financial crisis within the National Vigilance Association, which was obliged to close down its Travellers' aid work in 1951 and re-assess its role.

After the revision of that organisation's Constitution in 1952-1953 and reappearance as the British Vigilance Association, the International Bureau's work changed. It concentrated on encouraging nation states to ratify the United Nations convention for the suppression of the traffic in persons and of the exploitation of the prostitution of others (2 Dec 1949).

The International Bureau also reported on international travellers' aid work in association with the International Catholic Association of Young Women's Services (ACISJF) and the World Young Women's Christian Association /Amies de la Jeune Fille. In addition, there was particular emphasis on the status of young women working as au pairs. Constituent national committees were particularly active in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Indonesia and the United States of America.

During the latter years of the IBS the organisation was struggling to survive under severe financial restraints and a main preoccupation was retaining its status as a non-governmental organisation with consultative status at the United Nations. The aims of the IBS seemed no longer in tune with the times, and the organisation did not long survive Richard Russell's retirement from ill-health in 1971.

The Information Service of The International Bureau for the Right of Asylum and Aid to Political Refugees was created by the Conférence Internationale pour le Droit d'Asile, held in Paris on June 20-21, 1936. It served as an umbrella organization for all German émigré associations. A major aim of the organisation was to lobby the League of Nations for a more secure refugee status. The organisation's secretary general was Paul Perrin, a left wing deputy, who was also president of the Centre de Liaison des Comités pour le Statut des Immigrés, and one of eight members of a consultative commission, nominated by the French minister of the interior, with the object of screening applicants for refugee status.

The Internationale Auschwitz Komitee was founded in 1952 by former inmates of the death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, with the following aims: to bear witness to the crimes of the Nazis in the camp; to fight for compensation for former inmates and their families; to work with the Auschwitz Museum to preserve the site of the camp as a permanent memorial. It became involved in the gathering of statements and testimony against former camp guards and other Nazi personnel. Many of the witnesses who provided testimony later took part in the 'Frankfurt Trial' of perpetrators at Auschwitz.

The Internationale Auschwitz Komitee (IAK) was founded in 1952 by former inmates of the death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, with the following aims: to bear witness to the crimes of the Nazis in the camp; to fight for compensation for former inmates and their families; to work with the Auschwitz Museum to preserve the site of the camp as a permanent memorial. The IAK became involved in the gathering of statements and testimony against former camp guards and other Nazi personnel. Many of the witnesses who provided testimony later took part in the 'Frankfurt Trial' of perpetrators at Auschwitz.

Hermann Langbein (1912-1995), secretary of the International Auschwitz Committee was an Austrian who fought in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades for the Spanish Republicans against the Nationalists under Francisco Franco. He was interned in France after the end of the Spanish Civil War, and then sent to German concentration camps after the fall of France in 1940. Over the next few years he was imprisoned in several different camps (Dachau, Auschwitz and others). He was among the leadership of the International Resistance groups in the camps he was held in. After 1945 he was General Secretary of the International Auschwitz Committee, and later Secretary of the 'Comite' Internationale des Camps'. Hermann Langbein was among those awarded the Righteous Among the Nations status by Yad Vashem.

The International Association of Academies (1899-1913) was an association designed for the purpose of linking the various Academies around the world, of which the first meeting was held in Paris, France, in 1900.

The decision to establish the International Alliance of Women was taken in Washington in 1902 as part of an annual convention of the National American Women Suffrage Association, although it took some nine months to come to fruition. It was originally named the International Woman Suffrage Committee, with Susan B Anthony as president, Vida Goldstein of Australia as secretary and with a committee of five members. This committee consisted of the secretary, Britain's representative Florence Fenwick Miller, Rachel Avery of the USA, Mrs Antoine Stolle of Germany and Mrs Gundrun Drewson of Norway. At this date, it was envisaged as a central bureau to collect, exchange and disseminate information on suffrage work internationally. Its objects were: (1) To secure enfranchisement for the women of all nations, by the promotion of woman suffrage and all such other reforms as are necessary to establish a real equality of liberties, status and opportunities between men and women, and (2) to urge women to use their rights and influence in public life to ensure that the status of every individual, without distinction of sex, race or creed, shall be based on respect for human personality, the only guarantee for individual freedom. A second conference was held in Berlin in 1904 at which the organisation was formally constituted. A third took place in 1906, the same year that its periodical Jus Suffragii was created. Work progressed despite some dissension produced by conflicts at national level. One such incident occurred that same year when Millicent Fawcett challenged the Women's Social and Political Union's representative Dora Montefiore. However, by June 1911, 24 associations were affiliated. The group continued throughout the First World War, although members' opinions were divided over the issue of pacifism, which led to the creation of another body, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1915. At the end of the conflict, representatives from its ranks attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 to work with some of the special commissions that touched on women's interests internationally. With the extension of the franchise to women in a number of countries after the Great War, there was some discussion of disbanding the organisation. However, it was decided that it should go on after a conference in Geneva in 1920, divided into franchised and non-franchised sections. The next conference three years later took place in Rome where the leadership passed from Carrie Chapman Catt to Margery Corbett Ashby. The organisation of the group was also changed, due to the increased sized of the group (38 affiliated members in 1923). From this point there was an increasing number of special committees on subject areas such as equal pay and the right to work, equal moral standards and the status of wives and mothers. The 1926 conference in Paris responded to this widening of their areas of interest by changing the name of the organisation to the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship. By 1929 the organisation took as its five principles 1. equal suffrage 2. working for peace and human solidarity 3. equal access to education as a means of attaining equality of economic and working rights 4. equality of moral standards 5. equality of legal rights, especially for married women The principle of working for peace and disarmament was an area which would grow in importance throughout the late twenties and into the thirties as contact with the League of Nations grew through joint work on women's status. The outbreak of the Second World War saw the work falter, though not end, and in 1946 the body re-emerged as the International Alliance of Women: Equal Rights - Equal Responsibilities. Since then, it has worked closely with the United Nations. The organisation was among the first of the Non-Governmental Organisations to be accredited with Consultative Status by the Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC) of the newly established United Nations in 1948 and contributed to work on the Declaration of Human Rights. It also increased its work with individual commissions attached to the larger international group, particularly those on social matters, the status of women, the International Labour Organisation and UNESCO. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, their involvement with organisations based in post-colonial countries increased and with it their focus on issues such as population and family planning. By 1989 the revised objectives were: (a) To secure all such reforms as are necessary to establish a real equality of liberties, status and opportunities between men and women and to work for equal partnership between men and women in all spheres of life (b) To urge women to accept their responsibilities and to use their rights and influence in public life to ensure that the status of every individual without distinction of sex, race or creed, shall be based on respect for the person, the only guarantee for individual freedom (c) To promote a better quality of life and good understanding among peoples Between triennial Congresses, a Board Meeting and an International Meeting are held, each accompanied by a seminar. The official organ of the IAW is the International Women's News Journal. This periodical was taken over for a short period by the Women's Publicity Planning Association between 1940 and 1945. Prior to that it was known as Jus Suffragii.

The IAI was founded in 1926 as the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures. It is governed by a council representing a balance between African and non African countries. The IAI's principle aim is "to promote the education of the public in the study of Africa and its languages and cultures". Its activities range from supporting seminars and other means of disseminating knowledge within and about Africa, to a range of publications, which include an international journal, monographs by distinguished authorities on African society and edited volumes. In recent years the Institute has extended its activities to encourage projects concerned with stimulating scholarship within Africa.

The International Academy of the History of Medicine was founded in 1962.

Dr Noel Poynter was born, 1906; Librarian, 1954-1964; Director of the Wellcome Institute, 1964-1973; founder member and president of the International Academy of the History of Medicine; died, 1979.

Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie was a German conglomerate of companies formed in 1925 - many produced dyes, but soon later turning to advanced chemistry. IG Farben was founded as a reaction to Germany's defeat in World War One and held a monopoly on chemical production. During the National Socialist regime, it manufactured Zyklon B, a poison used for delousing, and later used as the lethal agent in the gas chambers of the death camps of Auschwitz and Majdanek. The company was a major user of slave labour and as a result 13 directors of IG Farben were sentenced to prison terms between one and eight years before a US military tribunal at the Nuremberg Trials, following the IG Farben Trial (1947-1948). As a result, in 1951, the company was split up into the original constituent companies.