Cary Ellison was originally named Ellison Bayles, however he started using his stage name on the advice of his agent, shortly after starting his career as an actor in 1939. He spent many years touring in theatrical productions, and on one such tour met actress Olive Milbourne who he married in 1944. Eventually Ellison decided to move on from acting, and after trying a number of different jobs, he joined the staff of Spotlight in 1953. Spotlight is a major casting directory. When Ellison joined in 1953 he was given the task of improving the number of subscribers- within a few years the directory had more than doubled in size and new actors and actresses were added to its pages every year. As part of his work Ellison would tour the repertory theatre companies twice a year, making notes on the cast, director and play, to help match the actors and actresses with suitable parts, and to spot future theatre stars. Actors he spotted early on include Derek Jacobi, Richard Briers, Judi Dench, Patricia Routledge and Leonard Rossiter. He would also make notes on the performances of such well known actors as Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Vivien Leigh when at the peak of their fame. His influence was not only confined to Spotlight, he also held an advisory service for performers looking to improve their career prospects, and founded ‘12’- an association of those interested in supporting the future of the acting industry. He retired from Spotlight in 1980, at which time many of those whose careers he had helped shape held a tribute concert in his honour. Even after his retirement Ellison continued to advise up and coming actors at Guildford School of Drama. He died in 2002.
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was born on 15 July 1919 in Dublin; later moving with her family to Brook Green, Hammersmith. Murdoch was educated at Froebel Demonstration School at Colet Gardens; Badminton School, Bristol from 1932 and Somerville College Oxford; winning scholarships to both Badminton and Somerville College.
At Oxford, Murdoch was influenced by the classicist, Eduard Fraenkel, and her philosophy tutor Donald MacKinnon and soon joined the Communist Party. Murdoch gained a first in Classics in 1942 and was employed as assistant principal in the Treasury, 1942-1944; later joining the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, working in London, Brussels and Austria. Murdoch returned to London in 1946, winning a place at Vassar College and a Commonwealth Scholarship, however as she had declared herself a communist on her application for an American visa her application was denied. Murdoch studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, 1947-1948 and won a philosophy tutorship at St Anne's, Oxford, where she stayed until 1963, she later worked as a lecturer at Royal College of Art for four years.
Murdoch's first book Sartre: Romantic Rationalist was published in 1953 by Bowes and Bowes in a series titled 'Studies in Modern Thought' and her first novel Under the net was accepted for publication. She went on to write many books including The Bell, 1958, which achieved great commercial success and The Red and the Green, 1965, concerning the Easter rising, reflecting her Irish background. Murdoch was appointed DBE in 1987 and presented with an honorary degree from Kingston University in 1993. In 1997 Murdoch was diagnosed as suffering with Alzheimer's disease and died in Oxford on 8 February 1999.
Publications include: Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Literature and Philosophy, 1997; A Fairly Honourable Defeat, 1970 and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, 1992.
Cheryl Bove co-wrote Iris Murdoch: A descriptive primary and annotated secondary bibliography, and undertook a lot of research into secondary materials for this biography.
Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland on 15 Jul 1919. When she was very young Iris and her parents moved to London, England, and Iris studied at Frobel and Badminton Schools. She followed this with studies in classics, ancient history and philosophy at Oxford, and further study at Cambridge. During the war years Iris worked for the Treasury in London, and then joined the UNRRA providing relief in formerly occupied countries in Europe. In 1948 she became a fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford, where she taught and researched philosophy.
Iris Murdoch wrote a number of tracts on philosophy, however it is for her novels that she is best known. She wrote 26 novels in total, her first being Under the Net published in 1954. Other notable works include The Bell and The Sea, the Sea, for which she won the Booker Prize. Her last novel, Jackson's Dilemma, was published in 1995.
In her youth Iris Murdoch had relationships with a number of individuals, including Elias Canetti. She met author and scholar John Bayley while at Oxford, and they married in 1956. She wrote to a great number of people and maintained friendships in this way.
Later in life Iris Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, the first effects of which she had attributed to writer's block. She died in 1999.
Harry Weinberger was born in 1924 in Berlin, Germany. His family later fled to Czechoslovakia in 1933, and he was later sent by them to England in 1939. After some years in England, including a time in the British Army, Weinberger studied at Chelsea School of Art. He then went on to become an art teacher, as well as being an artist in his own right. Weinberger's work was very colourful, and mostly featured exterior and interior scenes. He did paint occasional portraits. One of these he painted of Iris Murdoch, a long time friend of his he met in the 1970s. Throughout the rest of her lifetime he maintained a correspondence with Murdoch, and would regularly meet with her to visit art galleries. She was a great supporter of his work, owning a number of his paintings, and writing introductions to catalogues for exhibitions of his work. Weinberger had a number of exhibitions of his work held, in the UK and in Europe, including regular exhibitions at the Duncan Campbell Gallery in London. He was married to Barbara, who died of cancer in 1996. They had one daughter.
After an early career in the Army, David Heneker turned his hand to songwriting, composing several songs for revues and cabarets in the 1930s, and composing war time songs during the Second World War. In 1948 he resigned his commission from the Army and became a songwriter, while also working as a pianist at the Embassy Club. He went on to compose songs for or to contribute to several musicals. Some of his notable works include 'Charlie Girl', 'Irma la Douche', 'Phil the Fluter', 'Jorrocks', 'Popkiss', 'Expresso Bongo' and 'Half a Sixpence'. He also composed songs for films and for advertising.
John Bayley was an author and literary critic who was a professor at Oxford for many years. He married the author Iris Murdoch in 1956, and stayed with her until her death in 1999. He published a trilogy of books on his life with Murdoch, particularly on caring for her through her Alzheimer's. After Murdoch's death he married Audi Villiers.
Michael Howard was an army officer during the Second World War. He met John Bayley during this time and continued a friendship and correspondence with him afterwards.
Kingston Polytechnic was formed in 1970 from the merger of Kingston College of Technology and Kingston College of Art. Gipsy Hill Teacher Training College then became part of the Polytechnic in 1975. In 1992 the Polytechnic was given university status to form Kingston University.
Rams Rugby Football Club was the student rugby club of Kingston Polytechnic.
John Shepherd was a student at Kingston Polytechnic and a member of the Rams Rugby Football Club from 1979-1982.
Kingston Polytechnic was formed in 1970 by the merger of Kingston College of Technology and Kingston College of Art. In 1975 Gipsy Hill Teacher Training College became part of the Polytechnic. In 1992 the Polytechnic was awarded University status, and became Kingston University.
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was born on 15 July 1919 in Dublin; later moving with her family to Brook Green, Hammersmith. Murdoch was educated at Froebel Demonstration School at Colet Gardens; Badminton School, Bristol from 1932 and Somerville College Oxford; winning scholarships to both Badminton and Somerville College.
At Oxford, Murdoch was influenced by the classicist, Eduard Fraenkel, and her philosophy tutor Donald MacKinnon and soon joined the Communist Party. Murdoch gained a first in Classics in 1942 and was employed as assistant principal in the Treasury, 1942-1944; later joining the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, working in London, Brussels and Austria. Murdoch returned to London in 1946 winning a place at Vassar College and a Commonwealth Scholarship, however as she had declared herself a communist on her application for an American visa her application was denied. Murdoch studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, 1947-1948 and won a philosophy tutorship at St Anne's, Oxford, where she stayed until 1963, she later worked as a lecturer at Royal College of Art for four years.
Murdoch's first book Sartre: Romantic Rationalist was published in 1953 by Bowes and Bowes in a series titled 'Studies in Modern Thought' and her first novel Under the net was accepted for publication. She went on to write many books including The Bell, 1958, which achieved great commercial success and The Red and the Green, 1965, concerning the Easter rising, reflecting her Irish background. Murdoch was appointed DBE in 1987 and presented with an honorary degree from Kingston University in 1993. In 1997 Murdoch was diagnosed as suffering with Alzheimer's disease and died in Oxford on 8 February 1999.
Publications include: Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Literature and Philosophy, 1997; A Fairly Honourable Defeat, 1970 and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, 1992.
Sugana Ramanathan, an academic employed by St Xaviers College, Ahmedabad, India [1998], wrote about Iris in Figures of Good (Macmillan, London, 1990) and met her 1987 at Murdoch's house. Ramanathan corresponded with Murdoch regularly during 1980s-1990s.
Wendy Perriam is the author of several novels, often associated with suburban life. Her work includes Sin City, Absinthe for Elevenses and Broken Places. She has also published several collections of short stories and had these, poetry and other works published in magazines. After studying at a convent school Perriam studied at Oxford and Kingston School of Art before becoming a full-time author. She also teaches creative writing.
The Stephen Sondheim Society was established in 1993 to promote the works of the musical theatre composer and lyricist in the UK and elsewhere, and to build an appreciation and interest in them. The Society has a number of patrons connected to the world of musical theatre, including Sondheim himself. Their work includes running a website and forums dedicated to Sondheim, sharing news of performances of Sondheim’s shows and arranging trips to see them, and publishing a magazine on Sondheim’s work. They also run an annual competition for student performers, the Stephen Sondheim Society Performer of the Year awards (or SSSPOTY), as well as organising other events such as an annual garden party. As part of their aim to educate others on the work of Sondheim, the Society has built up an archival collection relating to him and his work. The core of the Collection was formed by antiquarian bookseller Peter Wood which was then passed to the Society, and it has since continued to be added to. The Archive will continue to grow as more items are collected.
Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland on 15 Jul 1919. When she was very young Iris and her parents moved to London, England, and Iris studied at Frobel and Badminton Schools. She followed this with studies in classics, ancient history and philosophy at Oxford, and further study at Cambridge. During the war years Iris worked for the Treasury in London, and then joined the UNRRA providing relief in formerly occupied countries in Europe. In 1948 she became a fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford, where she taught and researched philosophy.
Iris Murdoch wrote a number of tracts on philosophy, however it is for her novels that she is best known. She wrote 26 novels in total, her first being 'Under the Net' published in 1954. Other notable works include 'The Bell' and 'The Sea, the Sea', for which she won the Booker Prize. Her last novel, 'Jackson's Dilemma', was published in 1995.
In her youth Iris Murdoch had relationships with a number of individuals, including Elias Canetti. She met author and scholar John Bayley while at Oxford, and they married in 1956. She wrote to a great number of people and maintained friendships in this way.
Later in life Iris Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, the first effects of which she had attributed to writer's block. She died in 1999.
Mary McIntosh was a renowned sociologist, particularly for her work on gender and sexuality.
Ernest Howard Shepard was born on December 10, 1879, in London. His father was an architect, and his mother was the daughter of a watercolorist. He was educated at St.Paul's School, Heatherley's Art School, and the Royal Academy Schools. His first picture was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1901 and in 1907 Shepard had his first piece of work accepted by Punch. In 1915 he was commissioned by the Royal Artillery and served in France, Belgium, and Italy. During this time he continued to send regular contributions to Punch. On his return to civilian life in 1919, Shepard was elected to the Punch Editorial Table, where he met E.V. Lucas, who would later introduce him to A.A. Milne, author of the Winnie the Pooh books. The success of the Pooh books made Shepard famous and he contributed illustrations to more than fifty books, for both adults and children, among them Kenneth Grahame's classic The Wind in the Willows. He also contributed a weekly cartoon to Punch until 1949 and thereafter a monthly illustration. Although he closed his London studio in 1955 and retired to Lodsworth in Sussex, Shepard continued working into old age, completing some new Pooh drawings for a revised edition in 1968 and colouring his drawings for a special edition in 1973. He was twice married, in 1903 to Florence Chaplin (d.1927), a fellow student at the Academy, and in 1944 to Norah Carrol. He died in 1976.
The University of Surrey began as the Battersea Polytechnic Institute founded in 1891 under the City of London Parochial Charities Act (1883) scheme to establish Polytechnic Institutes throughout London. Situated in Battersea Park Road, the Institute was the second of three proposed Polytechnics for South London and was formally opened in 1894 with six main departments: Mechanical Engineering and Building Trades; Electrical Engineering and Physics; Chemistry; Women's Subjects; and Art and Music.
The Polytechnic, Institute was dropped from the title in 1898, was well-established by 1900 although courses were mainly part-time. From 1901 the Principal, S.H. Wells promoted the establishment of "feeder" institutes for the Polytechnic, these later came under the London County Council but remained closely associated with Battersea. Through the employment of teachers recognised by the University of London full-time degree courses were established and the Polytechnic enjoyed considerable academic success leading to application for recognition as a School of the University in 1911. The application failed but recognition of its academic status remained a continuing concern for the Polytechnic. The increasingly academic nature of the courses led to an investigation by the City Parochial Foundation but Battersea was able to prove that the majority of its advanced students came from the poorer classes.
During the years 1927 to 1939 the Polytechnic consolidated with a growing emphasis on science and engineering and the addition of metallurgy but the closure of the Art Department. Post-war expansion was curtailed by the site at Battersea despite the separation in 1950 of the Domestic College, successor of the original Women's Subjects Department. However this did not prevent the Polytechnic being designated a College of Advanced Technology in 1957 when the name was changed to Battersea College of Technology. In 1966 it received its charter as a University and the decision to move from London was made. Building began on the site adjacent to Guildford Cathedral and the University of Surrey started the move to its new premises in 1968. The Battersea site was completely vacated by 1970.
In April 1991 the University was awarded the Queen's Award for Export Achievement and in February 1997 the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of the University's outstanding achievement in satellite engineering and communications, teaching and research by the Centre for Satellite Engineering and it's associated companies. In 1998 in recognition of the long standing relationship between the University of Surrey and the Roehampton Institute, London the two institutions decided to form an academic federation. This unique partnership was approved by the Privy Council in 1999 and the Federal University comprised the University of Surrey, Guildford and the University of Surrey, Roehampton. On 1st August 2004 Roehampton became a University in its own right as Roehampton University but the two Universities continue to support collaborative activities.
Battersea College of Education was established in the department of 'Women's Studies' at Battersea Polytechnic Institute as the Training School of Domestic Economy. A special grant had been given to the Polytechnic by the London County Council to open a teacher training school in domestic economy, and the first eleven full time students started their course in 1894. The department was recognised by the Board of Education as a teachers' training school in 1895. The department flourished, and in 1903 a new block was opened to provide improved accommodation. In January 1911 the first hall of residence was opened, with further halls provided in 1914.
After the Second World War the premises of Manor House School on Clapham Common Northside were purchased by London County Council for the Department. In 1948 London County Council took over the management of the department from Battersea Polytechnic and it was re-designated Battersea College of Domestic Science. A programme of building was undertaken, including a new science block which opened in 1953, and further new buildings opened in 1960. The College acquired a new site, Manresa House in Roehampton, in 1963, which became the Battersea Training College for Primary Teachers, providing courses for mature students. The College had also become a constituent college of the University of London Institute of Education, with courses leading to a Teachers' Certificate with special reference to domestic subjects and Department of Education and Science recognition of Qualified Teacher Status. In 1965 responsibility for the college was transferred from the London County Council to the newly established Inner London Education Authority and the College became known as the Battersea College of Education.
In 1976 it was proposed that Battersea should merge with the Polytechnic of the South Bank. Manresa House was closed in 1979, and primary education students were transferred to Rachel McMillan College. Home Economics students remained at Manor House which became part of the Polytechnic of the South Bank. The teacher training certificate was phased out in 1979, and in 1981/1982 the students transferred to the Polytechnic campus.
The London County Council School of Building was opened on 26th February 1904 to provide a specialist training college for the large number of building workers in Camberwell and Lambeth. The Lambeth Polytechnic building in Ferndale Road, Brixton was renovated to contain workshops for painting and decorating, carpentry and joinery and a drawing office. When it opened in 1904, 643 students enrolled on classes covering stone carving, plasters' modelling, drawing, chemistry and physics of building materials, land surveying and levelling.
The School soon gained a world-wide reputation as a centre of excellence in the fields of town planning, building technology, estate management and building architecture. In 1906 a school of architecture was added which was organised by Professor Beresford Pite of the Royal Academy of Art. Demand for courses increased rapidly so that in 1908 the School added a Junior Day Technical College for Boys and then a Senior Day Technical School as well as a new extension in 1909.
In 1910 five-year courses were introduced in all trade subjects, followed in 1911 by a four year course in reinforced concrete and in 1912 a course in structural engineering all examined by the City and Guilds of London Institute. In 1922, Sir Robert Blair (LCC Education Officer) wrote, '…the Brixton School is easily the first and most complete school of building in the world'. The Board of Education classified the School as a College of Further Education in 1928 and the following year a three year day course was introduced leading to the Ordinary and Higher National Diploma in Building or the Intermediate Examination of the Royal Institute of British Architects or the Chartered Surveyors Institute.
In 1943 it became the Brixton School of Building and after the Second World War the School rapidly expanded so that by 1949 the number of full time students exceeded 400, studying courses in architecture, surveying and structural engineering. In 1956 Brixton was designated a regional college, and the governors decided not to concentrate on work at higher levels, but to retain its craft work and lower level teaching.
Under the government's policy for higher education, given in the White Paper 'A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges', published in 1966, the higher level studies at Brixton would have to be continued within a new institution based on the polytechnic model. Brixton School of Building became part of the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1970, along with the Borough Polytechnic, City of Westminster College and the National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering. Five of the six departments from Brixton became the new Polytechnic's Faculty of Construction, Technology and Design. The sixth department, along with some work from other departments formed the Vauxhall College of Further Education. The faculty moved into a new building on the Wandsworth Road in 1972, a decade after the first draft schedule of accommodation was made.
City of Westminster College has its origins in an evening institute established in the First World War providing lip-reading classes for deafened servicemen in the vestry of St George's Church in Hanover Square, Westminster. The institute, which became known as St George's Institute, only ran evening classes and moved to a number of different sites, successively St George's Row School, Ebury Bridge and Dean Farrar Street. A further move was made to the Burdett Cookery School, with some classes held in the Townsend Foundation School, Rochester Row. The institute grew rapidly during the 1930s, becoming one of the largest commercial institutes in London, with classrooms and chemistry laboratories in Westminster City College. In 1936 an arrangement with Westminster Training College was made enabling the institute to provide more student hours than any comparable institute in London and replacing the link with Westminster City College. The institute moved again to the Millbank School, Erasmus Street. In 1939 two social studies courses were introduced, whilst languages and commercial, administrative and social studies were all well established.
The Waterloo Road School site was taken over by the institute in 1951, shared with the Law Department of Kennington College. By 1959 there were 41 full-time staff, more part-time lecturers and over 30 rooms used. Full-time courses were offered in 1959 in the institute's three departments of Civil Service, Commerce and University Entrance, with part-time and evening work. In 1954 the institute moved to Francis House, renting space from the Army and Navy Stores. Further space was rented from them in 1955, enabling matriculation work to be transferred from Regent Street Polytechnic. New departments of Science, Social Studies and Day Release work were created. Awards and courses were rationalised following the 1959 McMeeking report 'Further Education in Commerce', with the introduction of national certificates in business studies, and establishment of new departments of Economics and Arts and Science and Maths. By 1962 there were over 6000 students associated with the institute. In 1965 the work of the Arts Department was transferred to the West London College of Commerce.
In 1959 the institute was renamed City of Westminster College. In the early 1960s the first courses in Hospital Administration were organised, and part of the college moved in 1966 to Blackfriars Road where housing laboratories and the Social Studies Department were accommodated (later to become part of Southwark College). In the mid 1960s new departments of Professional Studies, later renamed Accountancy and Finance, and Business Studies were established. The publication of the White Paper 'A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges', published in 1966, had announced the creation of some 30 polytechnics throughout the country to form what became called the public sector of the binary system of higher education. The 13 existing colleges managed by ILEA were to be reorganised into five. City of Westminster College joined with Borough Polytechnic, the Brixton School of Building, and the National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering to become the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1970.
David Breyer Singmaster (b.1939) is a Professor Emeritus at London South Bank University. A self-described metagrobologist, Singmaster became famous for his solution to the Rubik's cube, known as the "Singmaster notation" and his large personal collection of mechanical puzzles and books of brainteasers.
The GLAWARS was set up in April 1984 during the height of the Cold War by the Greater London Council (GLC) to investigate the impact of a nuclear or conventional war on London. To date the GLAWARS has been the most extensive scientific investigation of possibilities for civil protection and civil defence of a metropolitan area in a modern war.
During 1979 the Government's perceived lack of readiness for such attack pushed the Home Office into publishing in May 1980 a public information series called 'Protect and Survive' on civil defence. It was intended to inform British citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack, and consisted of a mixture of pamphlets, radio broadcasts, and public information films. However many thought the publication misleading when confronted by the real outcome of nuclear war. In 1983 the GLC was required to draw up civil defence plans for the city under the Civil Defence Regulations and asked the Government for more information about the scale and nature of any likely attack, but met a refusal from the Home Office.
In 1984 Ken Livingstone's GLC commissioned the GLAWARS research project to consider the effect of an attack on London and Londoners. The brief was to establish how London would cope with an all-out attack, nuclear or otherwise, and what would happen to the capital's residents, the food, the water, roads, railways, houses and hospitals. The GLC appointed an international Commission of five experts guiding the direction of the study who were Dr Anne Ehrlich (Stanford University USA), Dr S William Gunn (International Red Cross/Head of Emergency Relief Operations, World Health Organisation), Dr Stuart Horner (DMO, Croydon Health Authority/British Medical Association Council Member), Vice-Admiral John M Lee (Assistant Director, US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, retired) and Dr Peter Sharfman (US Congress Office of Technology Assessment).
At the same time, the GLC commissioned the Polytechnic of the South Bank (now London South Bank University) to carry out the GLAWARS study, under the overall direction of the Commission. In all 44 expert authors, including scientists, military experts and disaster-relief specialists, mostly from outside the Polytechnic, produced 33 separate research papers on topics such as Emergency Nursing Services, Nuclear Blast and Building Stress, Communication Destruction and Food Pollution. The researchers took as the basis of their report, five scales of nuclear attack ranging from eight megatons dropped on Britain by bombers carrying nuclear bombs and air-to-surface missiles to 10-35 megatons targeted on London alone by SS20 missiles. The report also addressed the possibilty of a conventional, non-nuclear attack on London's services.
The final horrifying results were presented to the GLC in early 1986 and were subsequently published in June 1986 in a 397-page book entitled 'London Under Attack: The Report of the Greater London Area War Risk Study'. The book was highly critical of Government and Home Office policy on civil defence and with its specific and merciless statistics destroyed the fairy tale of survival after a nuclear attack. "The prospect facing those who initially survived would be fear, exhaustion, disease, pain and long, lonely misery. Avoiding a nuclear war is still the only way of avoiding this fate", warns the Report. The depth and breadth of the conclusions of the GLAWARS went far beyond any investigation previously available to any official body, country or organization, and have since been found applicable to most major urban centres.
Schemes are legal documents by which the Charity Commision may amend, replace or amplify a charity's governing document.
London South Bank University was established as the Borough Polytechnic Institute in 1892. It owed its existence to a local solicitor, Edric Bayley, who in 1883 heard that the government's Charity Commissioners were given powers to redistribute redundant money from City of London parishes to improve the physical and moral condition of poor Londoners. This led him to set up the South London Polytechnic Institutes Council in 1887, whose members included the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Mayor of London. With Evan Spicer as its Chairman and the Prince of Wales as its President, the Council on the 16th January 1888, petitioned the Charity Commissioners for money. The petition worked and the Charity Commissioners pledged funds to match any money up to £150,000 raised by the public to establish three polytechnics in South London. As a result a committee of the Council, the South London Polytechnic Institutes Committee, was appointed to raise the funds, select sites and make plans for the three polytechnics, chosen to be located at Elephant and Castle, New Cross and Battersea. After a very public appeal by the Committee at Mansion House in June 1888, £78,000 was raised by 1892 to set up the Battersea and Borough Polytechnics. By the same year the polytechnic's Governing Body had been set up and the British and Foreign Schools Society's, Borough Road Training College had been bought to house the Borough Polytechnic.
The stated aims of the Charity Commissioners' Scheme for Borough Polytechnic were 'the promotion of the industrial skill, general knowledge, health and well being of young men and women belonging to the poorer classes'. It was opened on 30 September 1892 by Lord Rosebery. The first Chair of the Board of Governors was Edric Bayley. The first principal was Charles Millis and the Secretary and Clerk to the Board of Governors was William Richardson. From 1893 the Polytechnic received grants from the Technical Education Board (TEB) of the London County Council. The London Polytechnic Council (LPC) was established to inspect and co-ordinate the work of the polytechnics. Both the TEB and the LPC were abolished following the London Education Act in 1904, when the London County Council took over responsibility for education in London.
From its inception, the Polytechnic focused on teaching skills relevant to industry and the workplace. The first 'Technical and Trade' classes were offered to apprentices or tradesmen and included woodcarving, boot and shoe manufacture, typography, oils, colours and varnishes, oils and fats, and for women laundry, needlework and dressmaking. Science classes comprised chemistry, building construction and drawing, machine construction and drawing and hygiene. Music courses, art and design, commercial classes and elocution were also offered in the early years, but most emphasis was placed on the trade classes. The National School of Bakery and Confectionary (now the National Bakery School) was opened in 1894 with 78 students, and by 1898 comprised the largest group of students at Borough.
In 1894 the Polytechnic established Junior Technical Schools, partly due to the fact that so many rooms in its premises were left empty during the day (much of the teaching and activities taking place in the evenings), as a justification for a nucleus of full-time staff and to produce students able to take up the polytechnic's courses. The Domestic Economy School for Girls in 1894, the Technical Day School for Boys in 1897 and the Day Trade School of Waistcoat-making for Girls in 1904. The schools, for boys and girls aged 12 years and above, taught practical skills for the home and the future workplace.
The governors of the Polytechnic sought to integrate their work with that of neighbouring institutions, in particular Herold's Institute, the London Technical School of Leather Manufacture and the Norwood Technical Institute. In 1907 some work was transferred to Morley College in an attempt to rationalise technical education in London, and a Joint Committee established. In 1917 commercial classes and some language work also transferred to Morley. In 1898 the Polytechnic introduced its own diplomas, and in 1921 the Ordinary National Certificate (ONC) and Higher National Certificate (HNC) were introduced.
During the 1920s diplomas and certificate work for structured courses were introduced, pioneered by the Borough Polytechnic and soon after introduced into other polytechnics as part of a national system. Courses evolved over time and were also continually adapted to the vocational needs of students. Single courses were divided into elementary and advanced parts, preliminary and ancillary courses were added, such as mathematics or basic science, and gradually the course grew until it became suitable for examination under the National Certificate or some other scheme. This led to a considerable amount of specialisation in course content and level.
During the Second World War, the polytechnic was bombed with more than 13,000 square feet of the buildings destroyed or made unsafe. New courses were introduced during the war, notably accelerated Higher National Certificate engineering courses under the Hankey scheme by Lord Hankey, Chairman of the War Cabinet's Scientific and Engineering Advisory Committee, and two-year engineering courses were developed for the army. At the end of the war degree courses in Pure Science and Engineering were introduced, and the polytechnic decided to concentrate on these courses. Some courses were discontinued, such as in welding, metal plate work and paper technology. Scientists were recruited from the services and war industries, and accommodation and equipment required for degree standard work developed. In 1948 BSc courses were offered in physics and pure science. Degree courses were offered in the late 1940s, and in 1955 the National Council for Technological Awards (NCTA) began awarding Diplomas of Technology and Technology Engineering. The diploma was the first major award of first degree standing for technical colleges, and was quickly adopted by the different departments of the polytechnic. Further education and training was reorganised following the White Paper on Technical Education in 1956. The variety of levels of work at Borough meant that it was designated a regional college rather than a college of advanced technology, after which the governors decided to reduce the proportion of lower level work. The NCTA was replaced in 1964 by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) and the South Bank Academic Board established. There was a large increase in full-time and sandwich courses in diploma, CNAA and external degree courses.
The publication of the White Paper 'A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges', published in 1966, had announced the creation of some 30 polytechnics throughout the country to form what became called the public sector of the binary system of higher education. The 13 existing colleges managed by the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) were to be reorganised into five. Borough Polytechnic, the Brixton School of Building, City of Westminster College and the National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering joined together to become the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1970.
First degree courses were the mainstay of the new polytechnic's activities, and by the mid 1970s departments were offering full-time or sandwich courses and part-time courses in each major discipline. There was a rise in full-time and sandwich education leading to diplomas, CNAA and external degree awards. CNAA honours degrees in several subjects replaced London external degrees and CNAA ordinary degrees, and new awards were introduced. The polytechnic expanded its range of courses into new areas of work, including sociology, town planning, management, education and law, in an environment where science and engineering had been dominant. Courses such as dental technology and building crafts were also transferred in order to rationalise work at South Bank. Engineering and science courses continued to be central, with electrical and mechanical engineering and chemical engineering in particular growing in importance. Postgraduate work increased during the 1970s and 1980s, with 16% of students studying on postgraduate courses by 1990. In 1976 Battersea College of Education was incorporated into the Polytechnic, and parts of Rachel McMillan College of Education (courses based at the New Kent Road annexe) amalgamated with South Bank Polytechnic. During the 1980s the Polytechnic pioneered the provision of access courses, including one in legal studies, for part-time and mature students. A new Department of Hospitality, Food and Product Management provided a new range of courses, including hotel management, and in 1988 the South Bank Polytechnic was accredited for first degrees by CNAA. In 1991 students from South West London College transferred to South Bank on the dissolution of the College, and the Central Catering College was also incorporated into the Polytechnic.
In 1987 the Polytechnic became known as South Bank Polytechnic, and as result of the Education Reform Act of 1988 was awarded corporate status and became independent of local authority control. Funding of polytechnics was given over to a new body, the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC), which was itself replaced in 1992 when the Higher and Further Education Act created a single Higher Education Funding Council, removing any remaining distinctions between polytechnics and universities. As a consequence South Bank Polytechnic became South Bank University on 18 June 1992 with the power to award its own degrees.
South Bank University consolidated and developed course specialities in computing, internet and multimedia, engineering, applied science; architecture, construction and estate management; business studies, management, languages and law; social sciences, arts, media studies, digital media and video production; English and a new programme of Combined Honours degree subjects. In 1995 Redwood College of Health Studies and Great Ormond Street School of Nursing were incorporated into the University, bringing a number of health courses including nursing and allied health professions.
In 2003 the University underwent another name change to London South Bank University and teaching was split into four faculties: Arts and Human Sciences (AHS), Business, Computing and Information Management (BCIM), Engineering, Science and the Built Environment (ESBE) and Health and Social Care (HSC).
In December 1945 the Education Board for the Heating and Ventilating Industry set up a committee to look into the possibility of establishing a National School for the Heating and Ventilating Industries. This was in response to the Percy Report which recommended that National Schools associated with certain industries should be established. In 1946, with the agreement of the National Association of Heating, Ventilating and Domestic Engineering Employers, discussions were opened with the Ministry of Education on the establishment of a National School. These proposals were well received and in January 1947 a memorandum, drawn up by the Ministry on National Colleges and financial arrangements, were discussed by the Ministry and the Board. It was agreed that Industry should pay £50 per student per session with a guaranteed minimum of £1000 per year. The National Association also agreed to this and in April 1947 it was decided that a National College for Heating and Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering be formed within the Borough Polytechnic. The agreement of the London County Council was secured in November 1947 and the first meeting of the Board of Governors of the newly established National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering was held on 20 January 1948 at the Borough Polytechnic.
The first Chair of Governors was Hubert Secretan and there were representatives from the three industries on the Board of Governors. There were high hopes for the new College and the third annual report of the Education Board for the Heating and Ventilating Industry hoped 'it will be the centre for the highest grade of technological training for the industry and will be in close contact with the most up-to-date development and research' (NC/7/2/3). The College existed to meet the needs of the industries and had two principal aims: to provide a high standard of technological training and to undertake research.
In its first session, commencing in September 1948, the College offered full-time Diploma courses in the three industries: Heating and Ventilating Engineering, Refrigeration Engineering and Fan Engineering. The College also offered part-time day or evening refresher courses for those employed in industry. Courses led to diplomas after full-time study for two terms, and later one year, or an Associateship of the National College with post graduate or post HND entry.
The College was, from its inception, closely linked with the Borough Polytechnic. Its premises were located within the grounds of the Borough Polytechnic Annexe and the College used the facilities of the Polytechnic for teaching ancillary subjects. Before the National College was established the Polytechnic had become the principal college in heating and ventilating engineering in London. A lecturer in heating and ventilating engineering had been appointed in 1917 for evening courses and after World War 1 part-time day classes were introduced. At first, the college was heavily dependent on service teaching from other departments of Borough Polytechnic, especially mechanical engineering, mathematics and humanities, but began to widen its work by undertaking research.
The College was given a logo of a shield divided into four, representing the three industries and the Borough Polytechnic. It also had a motto, 'e tribus unum', meaning 'one from three'.
In the 1950s the accommodation within the Borough Polytechnic was too small to allow the continued expansion of student numbers and to undertake research. The Ministry of Education agreed to cover the costs of the building and industry donated money to purchase new equipment. The new building on Southwark Bridge Road (now the Faraday Wing) was opened to students in September 1960.
By the 1960s government policy had moved away from National Colleges which taught a limited syllabus. The Ministry of Education preferred Technical Education Institutions to provide a broader education than covered by the National Colleges and in 1964 it began discussions with the National College on its future. It was proposed that the National College become a department of the Borough Polytechnic.
In September 1970 the National College amalgamated with the Borough Polytechnic, Brixton School of Building and City of Westminster College to become the Polytechnic of the South Bank. In effect, the National College became the Polytechnic's Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology.
Rachel McMillan was born in 1859, the daughter of Scottish immigrants. On visiting Edinburgh at the age of 28, Rachel was influenced by Socialism and the following year moved to London to be near Margaret, her governess sister and also attend socialist meetings, write articles, and give free evening lessons to working class girls. The sisters moved to Bradford and joined the Fabian Society, Social Democratic Federation, and Labour Party. In 1892 Margaret with Dr James Kerr published a report on the health of elementary children in Britain and began campaigning for improvements. Rachel returned to London and was active in the Labour Party movement. In 1906 the sisters campaigned for, and had passed, the Provision of School Meals Act. In 1908 they opened the country's first school clinic in Bow and another in 1910 in Deptford as well as a Night Camp for children. In 1914 they started an open-air nursery and training centre in Peckham but sadly Rachel died in March 1917. The re-named Rachel McMillan College moved premises to Deptford in 1930 and in 1961 was taken over by the London County Council (LCC). The LCC created an annexe of the College on the New Kent Road, which went on to merge with South Bank Polytechnic in 1976. The rest of Rachel McMillan College merged with Goldsmith's College in 1977.
South West London College was founded in 1966 from the amalgamation of other educational institutions. The College specialised in degrees and diplomas in accountancy, business and management studies, with the first full time course offered in 1967. The College was designated a Higher Education Centre under the Education Reform Act 1988 but was dissolved by the Secretary of State for Education in 1991. The College's Students were dispersed to a number of colleges: South Bank Polytechnic, Thames Polytechnic, City of London Polytechnic, Kingston Polytechnic, Polytechnic of Central London and the Polytechnic of North London. Staff were combined with those at South Bank Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic.
Avery Hill College was established in 1906 by the London County Council as a residential female teacher training college. The mansion at Avery Hill, Eltham had been purchased by London County Council in 1902. It had previously been the home of Colonel John Thomas North and his family, who had spent up to �200,000 on renovating and adding to the property to create a large Italianate mansion. On his death in 1896 his widow sold the property, which was eventually bought by London County Council for �25,000. The College opened in 1906 with 45 resident and 115 day students. Most of the students were between 18 and 21 and came from London, and had already worked as pupil-teachers. The syllabus included nature study, drawing, music and the theory of education as well as the more usual academic subjects. Science was not taught until the 1930s as so few of the girls had been taught the subject at school. Games included tennis, hockey, cricket and netball, and student societies were established to organise social events and activities. By 1908 the College had purchased nearby Southwood House and a school building in Deansfield Road which were converted to hostels. Numbers of applicants to the College continued to rise, and four new halls of residence were built in the grounds of Southwood House, the last opening in 1916. During the First World War Roper Hall became a convalescent home for soldiers, but the College remained open.
In 1928 Avery Hill was attached to the University of London to conduct examinations for Teacher's Certificates, along with all teacher training colleges. In 1935 a range of improvements were made to the College's facilities, when the halls of residence were updated and mains electricity introduced. The Principal, Freda Hawtrey, introduced training for nursery school work as an important feature of Avery Hill courses after 1935.
During the Second World War Avery Hill was evacuated to Huddersfield Technical College. The College returned to Eltham in 1946, although all the buildings had suffered war damage, including most of the original mansion. Three large houses in Chislehurst were purchased in 1947 and converted into hostels, easing the problem of student accommodation.
After the war the College continued to attract rising numbers of students, with up to a third coming from the north of England by the late 1940s. Students continued to take a two year course leading to a Teacher's Certificate validated by the University of London. In 1959 Avery Hill took on male students, but inadequate accommodation meant that they boarded at the former Methodist training college in Westminster. The College also established an annexe at Mile End for mature students in 1968. In 1960 a third year was added to the teacher training course, according to the Ministry of Education's requirements. From the 1960s the future of Avery Hill as an independent college was under close consideration by the Inner London Education Authority as well as the college itself. After several years of resisting plans for mergers and retaining its independence Avery Hill merged with Thames Polytechnic in 1985, when Avery Hill became the Polytechnic's Faculty of Education and Community Studies.
Evelyn Alice Osborne attended Woolwich Polytechnic Junior Technical School for Girls between 1928 and 1930.
Charles R Browning and Mabel E Chaney attended Woolwich Polytechnic School and married in 1917.
Winifred Bale attended Avery Hill College, a London County Council teacher training college for women in Eltham, from 1908 to 1910.
Mr H G Deacon studied at Woolwich Polytechnic, and later went on to teach drawing and physics at the Polytechnic.
George F Driver was a carpentry and joinery student at Woolwich Polytechnic in 1928-1929.
Mr J R Edmonds worked at Woolwich Arsenal and read papers to Woolwich Polytechnic Engineering Society.
A Training College for Technical Teachers was opened in 1946 at North Western Polytechnic in North London as part of the Ministry of Education's emergency scheme for training teachers. In 1950 the College was separated from North Western Polytechnic and maintained by London County Council. The College was renamed Garnett College in 1953 after William Garnett, a former Secretary to the London County Council's Technical Education Board. In 1963 Garnett College was moved to Roehampton, continuing to run courses for students training to work in further and higher education. The College moved into two Georgian villas: Mount Clare, which became the college's residential facility, and Downshire House, its administrative centre with a teaching block in the grounds. In 1978 Garnett became responsible for most of a further adjacent house, Manresa House, which was used for teaching.
By the 1980s Garnett College had about 500 students at Roehampton and about the same number studying part-time and attending various colleges in the south of England or Garnett's annexe in West Square near Elephant and Castle.The College ran a one year or equivalent course leading to a Teacher's Certificate for further education teachers, with some students full-time, others taking sandwich courses and some day-release students. Students were normally over 25 and already professionally qualified in the subjects they would teach or were already teaching. Garnett also offered a range of courses in teacher training unique to the College, leading to University of London diplomas, MA, or CNAA B.Ed. (Council for National Academic Awards). With a student-staff ration of 8 to 1 the college was considered expensive to maintain, and was one of only four further education teacher training colleges in the country. With the support of the Inner London Education Authority, Thames Polytechnic negotiated a merger with Garnett College in 1986. By 1990 all the students from Garnett College had been moved to Thames Polytechnic's Avery Hill site and a new site at Wapping.
Rhoda Frances Moss Herbert attended Avery Hill College, a London County Council teacher training college for women in Eltham, from 1917 to 1919. On leaving Avery Hill she was employed by London County Council, teaching at Ancona Road Boys' School. She was head teacher at Goresbrook Road Junior School, Barking in the 1920s and head teacher of the village school in Freshfield, Lancashire from 1934 to 1942. She taught at Orpington Secondary School for Girls in Kent from 1942 to 1947 and was Head of Grove County Secondary Girls' School, Gosport from 1947 to 1963.
E Myra Kellaway attended Avery Hill College, a London County Council teacher training college for women in Eltham, from 1935 to 1937. Her father owned a photographic business in Sidcup, Kent.
Keyes was born in Dartford in 1922, the son of an army officer. He was brought up largely by his grandfather and was educated at Dartford Grammar School, Tonbridge School and at Oxford University. He began to write poetry whilst at school, and at Oxford became friendly with the poet John Heath-Stubbs. He joined the army in 1942 as a lieutenant in the West Kent Regiment. He was killed in action in Tunisia during a raid on 19th April 1943. He was awarded the Hawthornden Prize posthumously in 1944.
Publications: Co-editor with Michael Meyer, Eight Oxford Poets (1941), which contains some of his own work; The Iron Laurel (1942); The Cruel Solstice (1943); Collected Poems (1945) with a Memoir by Michael Meyer.
Beatrice Look was a student at Woolwich Polytechnic in 1921-1922. She was an athlete at the 1st Women's Olympiad in Monte Carlo, 1921. She died in 1995, aged 93.
The sisters Margaret and Rachel McMillan were Christian Socialists active in British politics and in campaigning for better education and health for poor children. They were born in 1860 and 1859 to a Scottish family, and educated in Inverness. In 1888 Rachel joined Margaret in London, where Margaret was employed as a junior superintendent in a home for young girls. She found Rachel a similar job in Bloomsbury. The sisters attended socialist meetings in London where they met William Morris, H M Hyndman, Peter Kropotkin, William Stead and Ben Tillet, and began contributing to the magazine Christian Socialist. They gave free evening lessons to working class girls in London, and in doing so became aware of the connection between the girls' physical environment and their intellectual development.
In October 1889, Rachel and Margaret helped the workers during the London Dock Strike. In 1892 they moved to Bradford, touring the industrial regions speaking at meetings and visiting the homes of the poor. As well as attending Christian Socialist meetings, the sisters joined the Fabian Society, the Labour Church, the Social Democratic Federation and the newly formed Independent Labour Party (ILP).
Margaret and Rachel's work in Bradford convinced them that they should concentrate on trying to improve the physical and intellectual welfare of slum children. In 1892 Margaret joined Dr James Kerr, Bradford's school medical officer, to carry out the first medical inspection of elementary school children in Britain. Kerr and McMillan published a report on the medical problems that they found and began a campaign to improve the health of children by arguing that local authorities should install bathrooms, improve ventilation and supply free school meals.
The sisters remained active in politics and Margaret McMillan became the Independent Labour Party candidate for the Bradford School Board. Elected in 1894 she was now in a position to influence what went on in Bradford schools. She also wrote several books and pamphlets on the subject including Child Labour and the Half Time System (1896) and Early Childhood (1900). In 1902 Margaret joined her sister Rachel in London. The sisters joined the recently formed Labour Party and worked closely with leaders of the movement including James Keir Hardie and George Lansbury. Margaret continued to write books on health and education, publishing Education Through the Imagination (1904) followed by The Economic Aspects of Child Labour and Education (1905). The two sisters were prominent in the campaign for school meals which eventually led to the 1906 Provision of School Meals Act.
Margaret and Rachel worked together in London to obtain medical inspection for the city's school children. In 1908 they opened the country's first school clinic in Bow. This was followed by the Deptford Clinic in 1910 that served a number of schools in the area. The clinic provided dental help, surgical aid and lessons in breathing and posture. The sisters also established a Night Camp where slum children could wash and wear clean nightclothes. The Girls' Camp was at 353 Evelyn Street, and the Boys' Camp at 24 Albury Street, Deptford. In 1914 the sisters decided to start an Open-Air Nursery School and Training Centre in Peckham, and within a few weeks there were thirty children at the school ranging in age from eighteen months to seven years. As the Deptford Clinic developed, so did the the training provision for teachers and in 1919 it was accorded recognition by the Board of Education as a training centre for nursery staff.
Rachel died in 1917. Margaret continued to run the Peckham Nursery and served on the London County Council. She continued to write on teaching and schools, producing a series of influential books that included The Nursery School (1919) and Nursery Schools: A Practical Handbook (1920). The teaching at Deptford continued to expand and, with financial help from Lloyds of London, new buildings in Creek Road, Deptford, were opened to continue to train nurses and teachers. The Rachel McMillan Teacher Training College, named in honour of her sister, was opened on 8th May, 1930. Students took a three year full-time course leading to a Froebel Certificate. In 1961 London County Council took over management of the College and an annexe on New Kent Road previously occupied by Garnett College was opened. Courses at the annexe focused on nursery, infant or junior teaching, leading to a London University Certificate in Education after a four-year part-time course. In 1976 the College was incorporated into Goldsmiths' College, and courses were moved from Deptford to Goldsmiths' main building at New Cross. Courses at the New Kent Road annexe became part of the Polytechnic of the South Bank. From 1980 onwards Goldsmiths' Science Departments were moved to the old Rachel McMillan building, which was refurbished and converted into laboratories. When Goldsmiths' became a School of the University of London in 1988 Science teaching was transferred to Thames Polytechnic, and the Rachel McMillan building was given over to the Polytechnic.
Ethel Marshall attended Avery Hill College, a London County Council teacher training college for women in Eltham, from 1909 to 1911.
Martina Bergman Osterberg was a Swedish woman and an early supporter of women's suffrage in Sweden. She trained at the Royal Central Gymnastic Institute in Stockholm, and was appointed Superintendant of Physical Education in Girls' and Infants' Schools by the London School Board in 1881. She founded a college for girls in Hampstead in 1885, known as the Hampstead College of Physical Training. Teacher training was the central activity of the College, following the scientific method of the Swedish teacher Per Henrik Ling. The students were taught anatomy, physiology, hygiene, massage and remedial exercises. Corsets, which most women regarded as an essential garment, were not worn by the students and gym tunics were designed for the College in 1892. The design was adopted by most other schools in the country and became standard school uniform. Games and sports became a principal activity of the College, with students taking part in swimming, tennis and fives from the opening, and soon after fencing and cricket.
In 1895 Madame Osterberg transferred her college and the 27 students to Kingsfield, a large country house near Dartford. Activities continued much as before, with the addition of a track which was used for running, marching and cycling. Basketball was adapted at the College for soft surfaces, and given the name netball. By 1904 lacrosse was also introduced. On her death in 1915 the trustees and Committee of Management continued to run the College much as Madame Osterberg herself had done so.
In 1919 a third year was added to the College course, allowing students to specialise in specific subjects. In 1936 Dartford began an association with the University of London with students able to work for the University's Diploma in Theory and Practice of Physical Education. Increasing numbers of students led the college to expand, opening Oakfield Hall and hostel and acquiring 28 acres of land for more playing fields. During the Second World War the College was evacuated to Cornwall, and at the same time became Dartford College of Physical Education. The College became grant-aided, and in 1960 was transferred to the management of London County Council (LCC), when the Committee of Management was replaced by a Governing Body. In 1968 the LCC began plans to increase student numbers from 165 to 750. A three year course was also introduced to train teachers for general teaching in primary and middle schools, but the College continued its emphasis on games playing and training physical education teachers.
Dartford College amalgamated with Thames Polytechnic in 1976. By 1979 the PE course for women teachers of sports and gymnastics was closed, and by 1986 teacher training at Dartford had ceased. Thames Polytechnic had located the Faculties of the Built Environment and of Education and Movement Studies at Dartford by 1985.
Emmeline Pike attended Avery Hill College, a London County Council teacher training college for women in Eltham, from 1907 to 1909.
Doris M Pollard attended Avery Hill College, a London County Council teacher training college for women in Eltham, from 1928 to 1930.
A number of institutions amalgamated to create South West London College in 1966. A Branch Institute of Battersea Polytechnic was opened in 1901 at Tooting to serve the Balham and Tooting area. Balham Commercial Institute moved to Tooting Broadway in 1935 and offered evening courses. The Clapham Junction Commercial Evening Institute amalgamated with Balham Commercial Institute and became the Balham and Tooting College of Commerce in 1957. The College comprised two departments, professional studies and social and general studies. In 1961 London County Council included the College among its seven commercial colleges designated for advanced work, and in 1966 it was renamed South West London College. The College specialised in degrees and diplomas in accountancy, business and management studies, with the first full time course offered in 1967. By 1991 a range of sub-degree level work was offered along with management courses. The College was designated a Higher Education Centre under the Education Reform Act 1988 and in 1990 planned to merge with Thames Polytechnic in order to attract greater numbers of students. Thames planned to move the College to Manresa House in Roehampton from its Tooting Broadway site. South Bank Polytechnic also proposed a merger, but the College was dissolved by the Secretary of State for Education in 1991. Students were dispersed to a number of colleges: South Bank Polytechnic, Thames Polytechnic, City of London Polytechnic, Kingston Polytechnic, Polytechnic of Central London and the Polytechnic of North London. Staff were amalgamated with South Bank Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic.
Thames Polytechnic was designated on 1 May 1970 as a result of the government's White Paper A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges, published in 1966. This outlined the arrangements for implementing the government's policy for a dual system of higher education, divided by the binary line, first outlined by Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for Education, in a speech at Woolwich Polytechnic in 1965. The polytechnics in the public sector would provide vocational, professional and industrially-based courses, some for degrees awarded by the Council of National Academic Awards (CNAA), some at sub-degree level, and some to provide a second chance for those who had missed the opportunity for further education on leaving school.
In 1968 three departments of Hammersmith College of Art and Building, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Surveying had amalgamated with Woolwich Polytechnic, and the institution became Thames Polytechnic in 1970. During the 1970s Thames concentrated on the teaching of a wide range of subjects at an advanced level, although unlike universities was unable to grant its own degrees. These were awarded by the CNAA for courses which required CNAA approval, and were reviewed by a peer group drawn from industry and other polytechnics and universities. Many students took sandwich courses, and several CNAA courses were vocational in nature.
Dartford College, a teacher training college which had been founded in and specialised in training women sport and gymnastics teachers, amalgamated with Thames Polytechnic on 1 August 1976. The amalgamation was the result of government policy for reorganising teacher training colleges, set out in a White Paper in 1972 Education: A Framework for Expansion, which aimed to reduce the numbers of students training as teachers and required smaller training colleges to form closer associations with other institutions or expand their course range. Teacher training at Dartford was restructured to form the Faculty of Education and Movement Studies, but by 1979 the PE course for women teachers of sports and gymnastics was closed and by 1986 teacher training at Dartford had ceased. The Department of Landscape Architecture, previously part of Hammersmith Polytechnic, was moved to the Dartford campus in 1979, and was followed two years later by Architecture, Civil Engineering and in 1985 by the School of Surveying, creating a Faculty of the Built Environment.
During 1980-1 there was a gradual introduction of a modular scheme at Thames Polytechnic, offering a limited number of study units to be selected by students relating to their core subject, eventually becoming known as credit accumulation. The separation of full-time, part-time and sandwich students was abandoned, and by 1983-4 nearly every course admitted part-time students. Thames also aimed to increase the number of students, and in 1979-80 over 1000 first year students were recruited, the highest ever number, and recruitment for engineering, mathematics and science courses was high, against national trends.
Avery Hill College of Education, a teacher training college for women established in 1906, merged with Thames Polytechnic in 1985. Avery Hill had resisted plans for mergers and retained its independence for several years, but in line with the Inner London Education Authority's proposals and a general review of Advanced Further Education the idea of amalgamation was again raised in 1983. Thames was keen on the merger as an opportunity to improve the polytechnic's chances of becoming a university. On the merger Avery Hill became Thames Polytechnic's Faculty of Education and Community Studies.
Thames Polytechnic continued its programme of expansion by merging with Garnett College, a training college for technical teachers at Roehampton established in 1946, in 1986. With a student-staff ratio of 8 to 1 the college was considered expensive to maintain, and by 1985 the Inner London Education Authority was encouraging Garnett to merge. Thames Polytechnic was among the many institutions who had approached Garnett College with a view to merging, including South Bank Polytechnic and Roehampton Institute. With the support of the Inner London Education Authority, a merger with Thames Polytechnic was negotiated in 1986. Garnett became a new faculty of the polytechnic and then the School of Post-Compulsory Education and Training. By 1990 all the students from Garnett College had been moved to Thames Polytechnic's Avery Hill site and a new site at Wapping, and the two education faculties of the polytechnic were integrated to become one Faculty of Education.
In 1989 the science departments of the City of London Polytechnic and Goldsmiths' College were also transferred to Thames Polytechnic. Goldsmiths' had become a School of the University of London in 1988, and this was partly dependent on Goldsmiths' disposing of its science work. The City of London Polytechnic had found the numbers of students recruited to its science courses dropping and the courses became an economic liability. Thames acquired Goldsmiths' Deptford campus and City's Shadwell campus through the merger, as well as a new School of Earth Sciences from the geology departments of City and Goldsmiths'. Goldsmiths' former campus in Deptford, the Rachel McMillan buildings, was taken over by the School of Environmental Sciences in 1988-9.
In 1990 West Kent College at Tonbridge became an Associated College to Thames Polytechnic, as Thames aimed to increase higher and further education opportunities for the local community. Successful students at West Kent were to be guaranteed places at Thames and programmes of a Higher National Diploma Course in Business Studies and Finance at West Kent were validated by Thames. In 1991 parts of South West London College were transferred to Thames Polytechnic when the College was dissolved after initially seeking a merger with Thames. The transfer of staff and students enabled Thames to set up a law school within the Faculty of Business, with law degree courses at Avery Hill and business administration courses at Roehampton.
The Education Reform Act of 1988 had removed polytechnics from the control of local authorities and transferred their funding to a new body, the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC). PCFC was replaced in 1992 when the Higher and Further Education Act created a single Higher Education Funding Council, removing any remaining distinctions between polytechnics and universities. Subsequently Thames Polytechnic became the University of Greenwich in 1992. Plans for the merger of Thames Polytechnic with Thames College of Health Care Studies, itself a merger of three local nursing and midwifery training schools, began in the late 1980s as a result of the Department of Health's objective to overhaul the training of nurses, midwives and health visitors by increasing the academic content of training. The College officially merged with the newly designated University of Greenwich on 1 January 1993, becoming a full faculty of the University.
Margaret Twocock attended Avery Hill College from 1923 to 1925. She was Deputy Head Mistress at Ruxley Manor Junior School from 1955 to 1964, when she retired.
Thames Polytechnic was designated in 1970 following the merger of Hammersmith Departments of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Surveying with Woolwich Polytechnic in 1969. Other mergers followed, Dartford College of Education in 1976, Avery Hill College of Education 1985 and Garnet College in 1987. In 1988 science teaching was transferred from Goldsmiths' (McMillan Building, Deptford) and from City Polytechnic to Thames Polytechnic to become the School of Earth Sciences. South West London College, Wandsworth was dissolved in 1991 and many staff and students transferred to Thames Polytechnic.
In 1992 Thames Polytechnic was redesignated as the University of Greenwich following the Higher and Further Education Act (1992), which created a single funding council, the Higher Education Funding Council, for England and abolished the remaining distinctions between polytechnics and universities. The transformation of the polytechnic into a university gave access to a wider range of research funding, both from government and industry. As a result the number of research projects at the university quickly rose, from 41 in 1992 to over 300 in 1995, reflecting the increase of external income from �2.5 million to over �6 million in 1995 and subsequent increase in postgraduate students. The new university had seven campuses and over 14,000 students, and various plans to reorganise the university's structure and geographical spread were considered. In 1993 the first stage of the new student village at Avery Hill was opened, and in 1994 Woolwich public swimming baths were acquired as a new Students' Union headquarters.
Discussions began in 1992 on a merger with the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) based at Chatham. A settlement was reached with the NRI in 1996 and 360 NRI staff joined the University, and a campus for the School of Earth Science and School of Engineering was established at Chatham.
After a successful partnership with West Kent College at Tonbridge during the 1990s, Greenwich established partnerships with a further seven colleges in south-east London, Kent and Essex as Associated Colleges. The university and college worked closely together to develop courses and students from the colleges were able to transfer to Greenwich at the end of their courses. Looser arrangements were also put in place with several 'linked' colleges, with the development of joint courses such as the MSc course in osteopathy developed with the European School of Osteopathy, Maidstone.
In 1995 a long leasehold was secured by the University of the Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital and Devonport Nurses Home at Greenwich and the University made a bid for the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The Government accepted the University's proposals for the Royal Naval College as the preferred option and between 1998 and 2001 the University relocated five schools to make the Maritime Greenwich Campus the principal centre of the University.
In 2002 the University decided to consolidate on three campuses, Greenwich, Avery Hill and Medway and the Dartford and Woolwich campuses were closed, although Woolwich continues as an administrative centre for the University.
Woolwich Polytechnic opened on 28 September 1891, at 47 William Street, London. It was the second Polytechnic in the country to be opened after Regent Street Polytechnic. Men and women were admitted to study 38 subjects, although women were prohibited from studying a few subjects, including engineering and English Language. Classes were held in the evenings, and after five weeks 504 students had attended.
Quintin Hogg, a central figure in the polytechnic movement, had founded the Young Men's Christian Institute (later Regent Street Polytechnic) in 1873. Francis (Frank) Dibben, a former student at the Institute, moved to Woolwich in 1884 to become a fitter at the Royal Arsenal, and began to work on founding a similar institution there. Dibben gained local support for his scheme, and in 1888 the Polytechnic Athletics Club was formed. After several failed attempts to raise money for the planned Polytechnic, T A Denny, an enthusiastic supporter, purchased a house and grounds in William Street in 1890. A gymnasium was built in the garden and several clubs formed, including a Cycling Club and Christian Workers' Union.
A Council was formed in 1891, comprising representatives from each of the sections of the Institute and trustees' representatives. Quintin Hogg was Chairman. An Education Committee was also established to choose subjects for study, and included Dibben, Hogg and those who were to become teachers at the Polytechnic. For the 1892-3 session classes were offered in 80 subjects, with music and dressmaking for women among the subjects added. In 1892-3 new chemistry laboratories were built, and the adjacent house purchased for the Polytechnic. A new hall was built and a library established. The City Parochial Foundation (CPF) and Technical Education Board (TEB) of the London County Council both gave Woolwich Polytechnic grants for the first time in 1893, but the Polytechnic closed in July 1894, having run out of money. The Technical Education Board took over the management of the institute and the Polytechnic re-opened in September.
The Polytechnic was given a new charter in 1895, stating that 'the object of this institution is the promotion of the industrial skill, general knowledge, health and well-being of young men and women belonging to the poorer classes'. Despite the financial and management difficulties of the Polytechnic, during the 1894-5 session 518 men and 199 women attended classes in science, technical and commercial subjects and in the Art department. Chronically short of space, the Polytechnic began to expand, with new chemical and physical laboratories, an engineering laboratory, art room and two large classrooms built by 1898, doubling the floor area. By 1899 subjects offered included book-keeping, typewriting and elocution, and 1,111 students attended the Polytechnic. The teaching of engineering was expanded under the principals of the Polytechnic, who believed that Woolwich should aim to excel in the subject as the Arsenal was the main employer in the district. Until 1904 Woolwich struggled to achieve Hogg's and Dibben's unified vision of Polytechnic education and combine the educational side, which dealt with students and the organisation of classes, and the social side, which organised social, sporting and religious activities. In 1904 the Head of the Social Side and pivotal figure in the founding of the Polytechnic, Frank Dibben, was dismissed and the Polytechnic concentrated on the provision of education, particularly in engineering and technical subjects.
In 1901 the Woolwich University Education Association was absorbed into the Polytechnic by forming classes to carry on the association's work, and members were granted equal privileges with Polytechnic students. In 1902-1903 compound courses were offered to encourage students to take three or four subjects, a trend which the Polytechnic fostered. From 1904 'trade lads' from the Arsenal were sent to the Polytechnic for an afternoon a week, as well as evenings. The scheme was the first 'day release' system in the country, and by 1912 the apprentices spend a day a week at Woolwich Polytechnic.
During the First World War the engineering workshops of the Polytechnic were kept open for the production of munitions, and war economy cooking classes and lectures in war time cookery were held by the Bread and Food Reform League. Major building works took place between 1914 and 1917, with older buildings demolished and a new school of Domestic Economy built, new rooms and workshops for the Engineering Department, School of Art, and Physics Department and rooms for clubs and societies of the Polytechnic. By 1919-20 numbers of students taking evening classes had risen to 2,032 and numbers were rising in the Polytechnic's three trade schools in engineering, dressmaking and ladies tailoring. By the 1920s there was a large increase in the number of students taking integrated courses, with 75% of all students by 1923.
The Academic Board was established in 1932 to advise on all aspects of the teaching of students taking internal degrees at the University of London, whilst the Technical Board acted in the same capacity for work at lower levels. In 1933 the Polytechnic gained full recognition by the University of London for the preparation of students for internal degrees. Part time day courses, some of which led to degrees, were offered for the first time in a variety of subjects and an electrical engineering department was established. In 1934 sandwich courses in engineering were launched, with local factories sponsoring employees to become students. The course lasted 2 years and students then sat the University of London BSc degree examinations. During the 1930s there were several extensions made to the Polytechnic, a new hall was opened in 1936, and new workshops, laboratories and lecture rooms built on newly purchased sites in 1936-1939. A new library was built in 1938-1939.
During the Second World War the technical schools and Junior Art School were evacuated to villages in Kent. When the expected bombing failed to materialise the schools were re-opened in London, but were then evacuated again to Gainsborough, Trowbridge and Northampton. At Woolwich officers and men of the Queen's Own Regiment were billeted in the gymnasium, and a barrage balloon unit established on the sports ground. Part-time day classes and sandwich courses continued, but the numbers of students dropped dramatically.
After the Second World War there was a rapid expansion of students, with a great demand for courses leading to degrees. New full-time courses were started for University of London general degrees and in physics, chemistry, mathematics, as well as the existing engineering courses. An Economics and Management Department was also established. By 1950 the majority of students were attending evening or part-time day courses, and of the full-time students the main studies were mathematics, the sciences and engineering. About a quarter of all students and two thirds of the full-time students were taking degree courses. Woolwich continued to develop its sandwich courses in the 1950s, offering the new Diploma of Technology in mechanical and electrical engineering, a four year course with at least one year of industrial training.
The Government's White Paper on advanced technological training was published in 1956, and proposed to nominate selected colleges as colleges of advanced technology, to receive funding to improve facilities. The large amount of lower level work at Woolwich meant that it was designated a regional college rather than a college of advanced technology. The governors had already started to remove some of the lower level work by discarding the Girls' Technical School and concentrate on science and technical subjects, and this policy was continued. The School of Art, which appeared in the prospectus in 1891, transferred to London County Council Evening Institute in 1962. Some courses of the School of Domestic Economy, which had opened in September 1894, were transferred to Woolwich College in 1957, and the school was closed in 1961. By 1962 lower-level courses (GCEs and ONC work) had been transferred to nearby colleges, and the Polytechnic had started postgraduate and external degree courses for the University of London. By 1965 all lower-level work had been transferred to other institutions. By the late 1960s the transformation of departments to having full-time students working for degrees or equivalent, and to part-time students working for Higher National Certificates or above, was completed. The establishment of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) in 1964 (replacing the National Council for Technological Awards) allowed the scope of degree subjects offered by Woolwich and similar institutions to be extended to include the social sciences and the arts.
After the publication of the Government's White Paper in 1966 on polytechnics and colleges Woolwich continued to work towards more degree courses, reshape its Governing Body and also considered sub-degree work, in line with Government policy on the new polytechnics. Woolwich decided to gradually reduce its University of London courses and concentrate on its four year CNAA courses, preferable to students because they were sandwich courses and could be industry-sponsored. Three faculties of Science, Engineering and Business Studies, Management and Humanities were established for the 1969-70 session. In 1968 three departments of Hammersmith College of Art and Building, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Surveying amalgamated with Woolwich Polytechnic as part of the Ministry's policy for the expansion of most of the new polytechnics. Woolwich Polytechnic and the Hammersmith departments were designated Thames Polytechnic in 1970.
Woolwich Polytechnic founded a number of day schools and junior technical schools, partly in response to the fact that much of its premises was left empty during the day as much of the teaching and activities took place in the evenings. In 1895 a School of Domestic Economy for Girls was opened with a class of 45. The School closed in 1920 as the number of girls declined. In September 1897 a day school for boys was opened, Woolwich Polytechnic Boys Secondary School. It was the first secondary school in Woolwich, and started with 72 boys, rising to 102 by 1897. In September 1899 girls were admitted to the Woolwich Polytechnic Girls Secondary School and a mistress and a headmaster, T F Bowers, were appointed. At first the school was divided into two sections, technical and commercial, but the commercial side proved more popular and the Governors planned to expand this. The school was registered as a Science School so it would qualify for the Technical Education Board's grants. These two schools operated as Woolwich Polytechnic Day Secondary School Department, with one Headmaster assisted by a Senior Master and Senior Mistress. The headmaster was still responsible to the Principal of Woolwich Polytechnic, but had considerable powers, including the right to dismiss students. In 1912 the girls moved out to their own school in Plumstead, which became known as the County School, Plumstead, and subsequently Kings Warren and then Plumstead Manor School. The Boys School moved to a new building in 1928 as the Shooters Hill County Secondary School. A third secondary school, the Junior Art School, was also established in the 1920s, and transferred to London County Council in 1956.
Two technical schools were established in 1906 for 15-19 year olds to train apprentices, one of science and engineering (closed in 1908), and one of commerce. In 1913 the Commercial School stopped admitting boys, and in 1918 the school closed as the numbers of girls applying dropped. A trade school in dressmaking was also established, with 50 girls starting initially. From 1904 'trade lads' from the Arsenal were sent to the Polytechnic for an afternoon a week, as well as evenings. The scheme was the first 'day release' system in the country. A daytime Engineering Trade School, Woolwich Polytechnic Junior Technical School for Boys, was established in 1912 to train boys for jobs at engineering works. The School became the responsibility of London County Council in 1956, as Woolwich Polytechnic Boys School. Woolwich Polytechnic Junior Technical School for Girls opened in April 1906 and became part of Kidbrooke Comprehensive in 1954.
Although there were a few earlier attempts, it is generally accepted that the first public demonstration of the feasibility of general anaesthesia took place in Boston, USA, in October 1846. The agent was ether and, as the news spread, anaesthetics were soon administered in Britain, and in continental Europe. Surgeons soon realised that the use of anaesthetics allowed the scope of surgery to expand beyond being a treatment of last resort. Once the possibility had been demonstrated the search began for more pleasant and potent agents. Further inhalation agents were introduced, beginning with chloroform in 1847. Local anaesthetics were pioneered with the use of cocaine in eye surgery in 1884, followed by local infiltration, nerve blocks and then spinal and epidural anaesthesia. A further important innovation came in connection with the repair of facial wounds during World War One, with the control of the airway by a tube placed in the trachea, a technique that was elaborated and became standard after World War Two. The introduction of intravenous induction agents (barbiturates) avoided the unpleasantness of induction by inhalational agents. Muscle relaxants first came into use in the second half of the 1940s and improved agents were soon introduced. Drugs were developed with specific actions, so as to be more potent and less toxic. From the 1960s the range of the specialty developed beyond the operating theatre, so that its modern practitioners provide a range of care for patients, from consultation in the preoperative period to involvement in High Dependency and Intensive Care Units, emergency medicine, and acute and chronic pain management. Anaesthetics today forms the largest clinical specialty in the hospital sector of the National Health Service.
The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) was founded by Henry W Featherstone (1894-1967) of Birmingham (President of the Section of Anaesthetics of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1930-1931), who became its first President at the inaugural meeting at the premises of the Medical Society of London in 1932. It was founded at a period when specialist training in anaesthesia was virtually non-existent. One of the Association's objectives was to promote progress and safety in the practice of anaesthesia by improving the expertise, training and status of anaesthetists, so ensuring the safety and comfort of patients in the operating theatre. It now represents anaesthetists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and some overseas members, but although it is often consulted by government bodies it has no direct statutory powers. The maintenance of academic standards is the responsibility of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. At the time of its foundation the Association was the only representative organisation, and it played an important role in developments including the introduction of the first specialist qualification, the Diploma in Anaesthetics (DA) in 1935, and the expansion of the specialty during World War Two (1939-1945). Publication of its journal Anaesthesia began in 1946. It played a part in the founding of the Faculty of Anaesthesia of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1947), which later became the Royal College of Anaesthetists. It was involved in negotiations about the status of the specialty preceding the inception of the National Health Service (1948); in the founding of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (1959); and establishment of the Junior Anaesthetists' Group in 1967 (renamed the Group of Anaesthetists in Training in 1991). The Association holds scientific meetings and provides a forum for clinical and academic discussion; promotes and undertakes research; and promulgates its political views both independently and through the British Medical Association. In addition to the journal Anaesthesia it produces the newsletter Anaesthesia News. The Association was granted the right to bear arms by King George VI in 1945. The Association moved from its offices in the British Medical Association House, Tavistock Square, to new headquarters at no 9 Bedford Square, London, which was acquired in 1985 and opened in 1987. In 2002 its members numbered over 8,000.
The Association is headed by a Council, led by an elected President. Working Parties examine particular issues of relevance to the profession. The Association organises events, including seminars on professional issues as well as its Annual Scientific Meeting (yearly conference) and Winter Scientific Meeting. In addition to its journal it publishes guidelines on professional matters, and an annual report. It also makes grants, including research and travel grants, and awards, including medals and prizes. The Group of Anaesthetists in Training (GAT) caters for trainee anaesthetists, having its own committee, and specific seminars and Annual Scientific Meeting. The Linkman organisation was founded in 1974 as a means of transmitting information to and from AAGBI members. From 1976 Linkman meetings have been held annually, usually before the AGM and ASM. A Junior Linkman scheme was begun in 1985.
The Association administers the British Oxygen Company (BOC) Museum (A Charles King Collection of Historical Anaesthetic Apparatus), which originated with the collection of A Charles King (1888-1965), an engineer and instrument maker who specialised in anaesthetic apparatus from the early 1920s, a period of technical development in the specialty. Following a series of financial problems King's company was taken over by Coxeter's, which subsequently became part of the British Oxygen Company (BOC). King worked with leading anaesthetists in developing instruments and amassed a collection of equipment, which he donated to the Association of Anaesthetists in 1953 and which has subsequently been augmented by further acquisitions. The artefacts date from 1774 to the 1990s. The collection was moved from King's premises in Devonshire Street to the Royal College of Surgeons in 1965 and to the new premises of the Association of Anaesthetists at no 9 Bedford Square in 1987. The Association also rents accommodation at Bedford Square to other organisations including the Intensive Care Society and the Pain Society.
For further information, see Thomas B Boulton, The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland 1932-1992 and the Development of the Specialty of Anaesthesia (Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, London, 1999). On the history of anaesthesia see also the website of the History of Anaesthesia Society: http://www.histansoc.org.uk
The Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCA) is a separate organisation which has statutory responsibility for maintaining professional standards, which it does by the inspection of hospital departments and by examination for higher qualifications, the Diploma in Anaesthetics (DA), and its own Fellowship (FRCA).
The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) was founded by Henry W Featherstone (1894-1967) of Birmingham (President of the Section of Anaesthetics of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1930-1931), who became its first President at the inaugural meeting at the premises of the Medical Society of London in 1932. It was founded at a period when specialist training in anaesthesia was virtually non-existent. One of the Association's objectives was to promote progress and safety in the practice of anaesthesia by improving the expertise, training and status of anaesthetists, so ensuring the safety and comfort of patients in the operating theatre. It now represents anaesthetists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and some overseas members, but although it is often consulted by government bodies it has no direct statutory powers. The maintenance of academic standards is the responsibility of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. At the time of its foundation the Association was the only representative organisation, and it played an important role in developments including the introduction of the first specialist qualification, the Diploma in Anaesthetics (DA) in 1935, and the expansion of the specialty during World War Two (1939-1945). Publication of its journal Anaesthesia began in 1946. It played a part in the founding of the Faculty of Anaesthesia of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1947), which later became the Royal College of Anaesthetists. It was involved in negotiations about the status of the specialty preceding the inception of the National Health Service (1948); in the founding of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (1959); and establishment of the Junior Anaesthetists' Group in 1967 (renamed the Group of Anaesthetists in Training in 1991). The Association holds scientific meetings and provides a forum for clinical and academic discussion; promotes and undertakes research; and promulgates its political views both independently and through the British Medical Association. In addition to the journal Anaesthesia it produces the newsletter Anaesthesia News. The Association was granted the right to bear arms by King George VI in 1945. The Association moved from its offices in the British Medical Association House, Tavistock Square, to new headquarters at no 9 Bedford Square, London, which was acquired in 1985 and opened in 1987. In 2002 its members numbered over 8,000.
Oxford Brookes University was initially commissioned jointly by the Association and the Royal College of Anaesthetists to videotape a series of interviews with eminent anaesthetists. Oxford Brookes continues to make the series commissioned by the Association on its own behalf.
The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) was founded by Henry W Featherstone (1894-1967) of Birmingham (President of the Section of Anaesthetics of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1930-1931), who became its first President at the inaugural meeting at the premises of the Medical Society of London in 1932. It was founded at a period when specialist training in anaesthesia was virtually non-existent. One of the Association's objectives was to promote progress and safety in the practice of anaesthesia by improving the expertise, training and status of anaesthetists, so ensuring the safety and comfort of patients in the operating theatre. It now represents anaesthetists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and some overseas members, but although it is often consulted by government bodies it has no direct statutory powers. The maintenance of academic standards is the responsibility of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. At the time of its foundation the Association was the only representative organisation, and it played an important role in developments including the introduction of the first specialist qualification, the Diploma in Anaesthetics (DA) in 1935, and the expansion of the specialty during World War Two (1939-1945). Publication of its journal Anaesthesia began in 1946. It played a part in the founding of the Faculty of Anaesthesia of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1947), which later became the Royal College of Anaesthetists. It was involved in negotiations about the status of the specialty preceding the inception of the National Health Service (1948); in the founding of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (1959); and establishment of the Junior Anaesthetists' Group in 1967 (renamed the Group of Anaesthetists in Training in 1991). The Association holds scientific meetings and provides a forum for clinical and academic discussion; promotes and undertakes research; and promulgates its political views both independently and through the British Medical Association. In addition to the journal Anaesthesia it produces the newsletter Anaesthesia News. The Association was granted the right to bear arms by King George VI in 1945. The Association moved from its offices in the British Medical Association House, Tavistock Square, to new headquarters at no 9 Bedford Square, London, which was acquired in 1985 and opened in 1987. In 2002 its members numbered over 8,000.
Some of these photographic images were acquired for use in exhibitions by the Association and subsequently retained.
Bachelor of Medicine; Bachelor of Surgery, 1942; MA, Oxford, 1943; Doctor of Medicine, 1955; Lecturer in Anaesthetics at the University of Oxford. Publications: with Gordon Ostlere, Anaesthetics for medical students (1976 and subsequent editions); edited, with J Alfred Lee, Practical regional analgesia (1976).