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Richard von Krafft-Ebing was born in Mannheim, Germany, on 14 August 1840; his father was a civil servant of the Grand Duchy of Baden. Krafft-Ebing went to school and university at Heidelberg, where he studied Medicine. His maternal grandfather, Anton Mittermaier, held the chair of Criminal Law there and is considered to have had a significant effect on his grandson's choice of specialisation. After qualifying in 1863, Krafft-Ebing obtained the post of assistant physician at the Illenau asylum near Baden Baden. He was to remain in regular contact with this institution for the remainder of his life, and particularly with two of his former colleagues there, Heinrich Schüle and Wilhelm Erb. After leaving Illenau in 1869, Krafft-Ebing practised as a nerve doctor in Baden Baden, and after military service in the Franco-Prussian War, as director of a local electrotherapeutic institute. Following a brief period as adjunct professor of Psychiatry at the university of Strasbourg in 1872, Krafft-Ebing was appointed to his first post in the Austrian domains, as medical superintendent of Feldhof, the newly established mental asylum of the province of Styria, and to an associated adjunct chair of Psychiatry at the university of Graz.

In 1880 Krafft-Ebing resigned the asylum post to concentrate on teaching and research. He was already a profilic author, specialising in forensic psychiatry, and his first major work, Lehrbuch der gerichtlichen Psychopathologie (1875) was the first textbook in the German-speaking world to concentrate on the interface between psychiatry and the law. With his three-volume Lehrbuch der Psychiatrie auf klinischer Grundlage (1879-80) he established his reputation as a leader in clinical psychiatry. In 1882 Krafft-Ebing was made full professor and five years later Neurology was added to his chair. In 1889 he obtained one of the chairs of Psychiatry at Vienna; then in 1892 he succeeded Theodor Meynert in the second chair, which was associated with a small psychiatric clinic in the university's general hospital. At the same time Krafft-Ebing became president of the Verein für Psychiatrie und forensische Pyschologie, the leading professional organisation for psychiatrists in Austria. In 1886 Krafft-Ebing published Psychopathia sexualis, the work for which he would become best known. In effect this was a catalogue of case histories of abnormal sexual fantasies and practices drawn from numerous sources. Although intended as a manual for the medical and legal professions it soon gained a wider readership, and as one edition followed another more and longer case histories were included, and a greater proportion of the cases described were Krafft-Ebing's own. To some extent the book itself generated the case histories, as patients read it and were moved to correspond with its author, and sometimes visit him. The work ultimately ran to 17 German-language editions, and was translated into at least 5 foreign languages (earliest English edition 1892). In addition to his institutional roles, Krafft-Ebing practiced privately. In 1886 he founded a sanatorium in the suburbs of Graz, Mariagrün, for wealthy patients suffering from a range of nervous disorders, especially neurasthenia. It was in this private sphere that Krafft-Ebing found greater professional and scientific satisfaction, and he resigned his chair at Vienna in early 1902 to concentrate on writing and the sanatorium in Graz. However, his health was not good and he died on 22 December 1902, aged sixty-two, just after completing the 12th edition of Psychopathia sexualis.

George Macdonald CMG, MD, FRCP, Ch.B, DPH, DTM (1903-1967) was a Professor of Tropical Hygiene, 1946-1967, and Director of the Ross Institute, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 1945-1967. He was an eminent malariologist who is particularly noted for his work on mathematical modelling of the epidemiology of malaria and other vector-borne diseases, in particular schistosomiasis. He was relatively early in perceiving the value of computer analysis in this area.

Joan Malleson was an important figure in ALRA and the FPA/North Kensington Clinic, she undertook pioneering early work in sex counselling. She died in 1956.

Born, 1906; GCVO,FRCP; Physician, clinical haematologist; died, 1982.

Rudolf Karl Freudenberg was born, 1908; Studied medicine at the Universities of Kiel, Munich and Freiburg; Qualified MD, 1932; Became house officer in surgery in Berlin, 1932; Married Gerda Vorster, 1932; Lost job on account of Jewish background; Obtained job at University Neuro-histological Institute, Vienna, 1935; Did work on physiology of insulin coma treatment, 1936; Invited to join the staff of Moorcroft House, a private psychiatric hospital in Hillingdon, Middlesex, and moved to England, 1937; Obtained British medical qualifications (Scottish Triple), 1939; During World War Two was involved in primate research on leucotomy; Obtained Diploma in Psychiatric Medicine, 1945; consultant and Deputy Superintendent at Netherne Hospital, Surrey, 1947; Physician Superintendent at Netherne, 1951-1973; Senior Principal Medical Officer and Head of Medical Mental Section at the Ministry of Health, 1961-1964; President of Psychiatry Section, Royal Society of Medicine, 1965-1966; Establishment of Netherne Postgraduate Medical Centre (later the Freudenberg Centre), 1969; retired from Netherne, 1973; Senior Principal Medical Officer and Chief Advisor on Mental Health Research at the Ministry of Health, 1973-1977, died, 1983.

Gerda Freudenberg was born, 1906; Qualified MD at Freiburg, 1932; Worked in medical posts in Berlin and married Rudolf Karl Freudenberg, 1933; Lost job in Berlin on account of Jewish background, 1935; Found jobs in Vienna, and later Berne, 1936; Joined her husband in England, with their first son, 1938; Worked with League of Friends of Netherne Hospital; Voluntary work for the Council for Music in Hospital, 1947-; Qualification for UK medical practice, 1950; died, 1995.

Siegmund Heinrich Foulkes, FRCPsych (1898-1976), was a psychoanalyst, a pioneer of group analytic psychotherapy and founder of the Group-Analytic Society (London). Elizabeth Therese Fanny Foulkes (née Marx) was his third wife and also a relative. She was a co-founder of the Group-Analytic Society (London) and deeply involved in group analytic psychotherapy. They were both German Jews who emigrated to England in the 1930s.

The Association was started in 1937 following dissatisfaction amongst ophthalmologists with the current arrangements for charging patients (many hospitals were giving free prescriptions). Also it was felt that the National Ophthalmic Treatment Board needed further support, that women should not be excluded from ophthalmic benefit, that the Ophthalmic Committee of the British Medical Association was inadequate and that ophthalmologists needed to conduct their own medico-political affairs. Inevitably, one of the issues which concerned this body throughout the early 1940s was planning for a National Eye Service. In 1946 the Association amalgamated with the reconstituted Faculty of Ophthalmologists.

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Plans to form a British Microcirculation Society came to fruition in 1963 when the decision was made to hold the 4th European Conference on Microcirculation in Cambridge in 1966. The European Society had emerged from the first European Conference in 1960 and Dr P.A.G. Monro of the University of Cambridge Anatomy School, who was on the Committee, was instrumental in setting up the British Society and was its Secretary until 1980.

The Association was founded in 1911, but further details of its historical background, or that of Osteopathic Trusts Ltd., is not known.

In 1977 the Medical Research Council's Medical Commission on Accident Prevention held a conference with Newcastle Department of Child Health on `Children, the environment and accidents'. The conference highlighted the need for a body specifically aimed at child accident prevention, and a steering group was set up to investigate the establishment of such a body. As a result, the Joint Committee on Childhood Accident Prevention was set up in 1979 for a trial period of 3 years, with a grant from the King's Fund. The Joint Committee aimed to initiate and coordinate research into childhood accidents and their prevention, bringing together people from the fields of health services, engineering, design, standards and education. At the end of the trial period the Joint Committee obtained charitable status and became the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), funded by the Department of Health and Social Security. Originally, CAPT had six Trustees, a Council of Management of 33 members, an Executive Committee of eight members and a small full-time staff with a paediatrician as part-time Medical Secretary. In 1988 the Executive Committee was replaced by a Professional Committee and a Management Committee. CAPT disseminates information in a variety of ways: working parties, made up of Trust members and co-opted experts, undertake research and produce reports for presentation at seminars; the Trust's resource centre provides an information and advisory service to those involved in child injury prevention; and CAPT cooperates with other bodies to produce publications such as books, factsheets and videos for both general and specialist consumption. For further details of CAPT's work see their website at http://www.capt.org.uk.

The Camberwell Council on Alcoholism (CCA) promoted preventive and diagnostic work in the study of alcoholism as a disease and in the treatment of alcoholics. Founded in 1963, it was the first of the community councils on alcoholism to be established in the UK. It was active in an area of south London where a very visible vagrant alcoholic problem met a growing interest among the doctors of the Maudsley Hospital in the problems of alcoholism as a disease: in particular Dr Griffith Edwards of the Maudsley was very active in setting up this local council. Recent theoretical developments concerning the problem (mainly from the USA) met the 1960s trend towards the development of community-based organisations to deal with social problems, committed to a self-help approach and involved in direct action, education of the public and campaigning. During this early period of the CCA's history the economic climate was favourable, with public money being available to fund projects such as these.

The CCA became involved in the problems created by alcohol over a wide field from the very obvious problem of the vagrant alcoholic to the unsuspectedly large problem of female alcoholism. The pattern of the CCA's activity was to set up groups to deal with a particular problem (e.g. provision of hostel accommodation for homeless alcoholics, setting an Alcohol Education Centre) and then withdraw as these groups became self-supporting ventures. It also liaised with other organisations doing related work. The CCA became inactive in the early 1980s.

Fennings Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1840 when Alfred Fennings (d 1900) opened the Golden Key Pharmacy in Hammersmith Broadway, London. Fennings sold medicines for the treatment of typhoid and cholera as well as for more minor ailments such as coughs and colds. However he was not a member of The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and there is no trace of him in the Medical Register. In 1850 the business moved to Cowes, Isle of Wight and went into manufacturing. While the general management of the business, including advertising, correspondence, book-keeping, manufacturing and publishing was carried out at the Cowes office, manufacturing, packing and supply of various medicines was also carried out, under agreement, by Sanger and Sons (Seymour Works, 47 Lime Grove, Shepherds Bush London) and G.F. Sutton, Sons and Co. (Osbourne Works, Brandon Road, Kings Cross, London). These two firms collected all acounts due for goods supplied by them. After the death of Alfred Fennings in 1900 Fennings Pharmaceuticals became a Trust, with all profits going to Shaftesbury Homes, a children's charity. In 1948 the main office moved from Cowes to Horsham, West Sussex. From 1964 some medicines were being manufactured and distributed by J. Waterhouse and Co Ltd, (Church Street, Old Square, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire). There was also a manufacturing plant in Mabelthorpe, Lincolnshire. The company ceased trading in 1996. Fennings Pharmaceticals sold products across the Commonwealth, mainly in the area of child proprietary medicines.

The organisation now known as the Health Visitors' Association was founded in 1896 as Women Sanitary Inspectors' Association; renamed in 1915 as the Women Sanitary Inspectors' and Health Visitors' Association and in 1930 became the Women Public Health Officers' Association. The name Health Visitors' Association was adopted in 1962.

The Women Sanitary Inspectors' Association was founded in 1896 by seven women sanitary workers, all based in London. By 1906 the membership had risen to sixty-three and that year invitations to join the Association were sent out to those working in the provinces. The main aims of the Association have remained constant throughout its history - to safeguard the interests and improve the status of women public health workers and to promote the interchange of relevant technical and professional knowledge. In 1915 the name of the Association was changed to The Women Sanitary Inspectors' and Health Visitors' Association to reflect the increased number of Health Visitors who had joined, and in 1929 it became The Women Public Health Officers' Association due to the inclusion in the membership of others working in the public health field. In 1962 it adopted the new name of The Health Visitors' Association as this was seen as more indicative of the work and function of most members, although other types of workers were not excluded.

Throughout its history the Association has been interested in the work of the many different types of health worker who have been eligible for membership at one time or another such as school nurses, tuberculosis visitors, sanitary inspectors, clinic nurses, family planning nurses, domiciliary midwives and matrons of day nurseries as well as health visitors themselves, and has shared connections with parallel professions such as nursing, social work, district nursing and midwifery. In 1918 the Association affiliated to the National Union of Women Workers and in 1924 was the first health service union to affiliate to the Trades Union Congress and has actively negotiated and campaigned on a variety of issues such as pay and conditions, state welfare benefits, training, etc.

The early emphasis of health visiting was on mother and child care, as part of the tide of concern over infant mortality during the late 19th and early 20th century, but later, particularly after the National Health Service Acts of 1946-7, their work extended into involvement with the health of the whole family and other groups such as those needing after-care following admission to hospital, those with long term illness, the recently bereaved, and families with social problems, although the emphasis throughout has remained on public health education. Because of this, and the varied settings in which its members have worked at different times over the years, such as the home and school, workshop and factory, as well as the health centre, clinic and hospital, the records of the Association, and of the individual health visitors which lie alongside them, document many social, rather than purely medical, aspects of health and disease in a wide range of areas ranging from the working conditions of outworkers and the recovery of the tuberculous at the beginning of the century, to, more recently, concern over cigarette advertising and the public health implications of the chemical and nuclear industries.

The archives date from the inauguration of the Committee in 1881 at a conference for those engaged in the teaching of anatomy in London. At this time teachers of anatomy were experiencing severe problems in obtaining subjects for dissection for classes in Practical Anatomy and Operative Surgery, with medical schools competing with one another for this limited supply of bodies. The Anatomical Teachers' Board was set up to represent the various London medical schools, to improve distribution of unclaimed bodies and to improve also their transfer for subsequent burial. A committee was appointed to investigate the workings of the Anatomy Act 1871 and what measures should be taken to improve the supply of subjects. The Board's duties included visiting existing sources of supply (workhouses, infirmaries, etc.) and taking every opportunity to increase the supply, receiving payments from teachers and examining boards for every subject sent to them by the Inspector of Anatomy, maintaining accounts with the undertakers who removed anatomical subjects for burial, and keeping a register of all subjects sent to schools and examining boards open to inspection by the Inspector of Anatomy. The Committee continues to deal with the supplying of cadavers for teaching and examination purposes to London medical schools, under the University of London, responsible to HM Inspector of Anatomy at the Department of Health. However, since unclaimed bodies are in ever-dwindling supply at the end of the twentieth century, most bodies are now those of individuals who have bequeathed them for this purpose.

The Mental After Care Association (MACA) was founded in 1879 by Henry Hawkins, Chaplain of Colney Hatch Asylum, as The After Care Association for Poor and Friendless Female Convalescents on Leaving Asylums for the Insane. Its aims were to provide an alternative to the workhouse for those discharged from asylums by offering a period of convalescence in the homes of private individuals. The ex-patients were given advice, money, clothing, and assisted to find suitable work. The name changed in 1892 when "Friendless" was dropped from the title. In 1893 the Association opened its own home for ex-patients in Redhill, Surrey. It was the first convalescent home for the mentally ill in England and closed in 1895. The Association's name changed again in 1894 when "Female" was dropped from the title. In 1914 the Association became The Mental After Care Association for Poor Persons Convalescent or Recovered from Institutions for the Insane. During World War One (1914-1918) the Association helped shell shock and air raid victims. In the 1930s the Association moved into preventive care, and also provided holiday accommodation for those not ready to leave hospital on a permanent basis. The Association became MACA in 1940. It registered as a limited company in 1949. In the 1960s chronic patients were accommodated in homes administered by MACA. More recently MACA has participated in community and respite care projects. In 2005 MACA became Together: Working for Wellbeing.

Founded in 1929 as the National Ophthalmic Treatment Board Association (NOTBA) to organise eye examinations by medically qualified practitioners. NOTBA changed it's name to the Medical Eye Centre Association (MECA), which ended in 1990.

The Medical Research Club was founded in 1891, for social and medical reasons, by London-based pathologists including Sir Almroth Wright and Sir John Bland Sutton. Its main object was the discussion of original work in general and pathological science, and it had a strong interest in microbiology, immunology, virology and molecular biology. Members are elected after the presentation of a paper and approval by the rest of the Club. Membership stood at 110 in 1993. Past members have included Sir Henry Dale, Sir Ernst Chain, Sir Charles Sherrington, Sir Howard Florey, Sir Alexander Fleming, Sir Henry Head and Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins.

The British Phrenological Society was established in 1886, incorporated in 1899, and disbanded in 1966-1967.

Many of these photographs were taken for use in publications, such as handbooks and guides.

In 1894-1895 Burroughs Wellcome and Co. began to produce antitoxin in central London under supervision of T J Bokenham in a laboratory administered directly from firm's headquarters in Snow Hill.

In 1897 Bokenham's successor, Walter Dowson, was appointed Director perhaps indicating that Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories (WPRL) were now regarded as a separate entity.

In 1902 Henry Wellcome directed that both chemical and physiological research laboratories should be considered as separate from the business.

In 1924 the establishment of The Wellcome Foundation Ltd which formally drew together for the first time, the company and the research laboratories and museums.

While Coopers was primarily a veterinary and agricultural products company, it was not entirely so. During the 1950s and 1960s, Coopers became the first firm in Britain to produce aerosols on a large scale, and this fact is mentioned many times in their advertising for such products. They also branched out, for a time, into the production and/or sale of domestic household goods such as cleaners, toilet rolls and hair care products. Not all of these were actually sold under the Coopers name, and some were manufactured by subsidiaries rather than by Coopers themselves.

The Real Expedición Botánica was launched by the Spanish crown in the late 18th century to investigate the indigenous flora of New Spain. The expedition was led by until his return to Spain in 1803 and thereafter by Vicente de Cervantes.

Manuel Andrade y Pastor was born in Mexico in 1809 and qualified as a surgeon and physician in Mexico in 1831-1833. He travelled to study in Paris in 1833-1836. On his return to Mexico he was appointed Director of the Hospital of Jesus. In 1838 he was made Director of the Escuela Nacional de Cirugía, which was incorporated later that year into the Establecimiento de Ciencias Médicas founded in 1833. He held the chair of anatomy here until his death in 1848.

Charles Donovan obtained his MD at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1889 and was commissioned into the Indian Medical Service in 1891. After service in Burma, he was posted in 1898 to Madras to take up an appointment in the Surgeon-General's Office. He was Second Physician at the Government General Hospital until 1910 and then Superintendent at the Royapetta Hospital until his retirement in 1919. He was also Professor of Physiology at the Madras Medical School, studying at King's College, London, during his leave in 1901, and visiting colleagues in the field of tropical medicine in Paris, Edinburgh and Liverpool. His research came to concentrate on Kala-azar, which was prevalent in Blacktown, a densely-populated part of Madras, and in June 1903 he identified the parasite now known as Leishmania donovani.

Amy Skelland was widowed in 1907. She qualified as a nurse in 1909, having trained at the Government General Hospital at Madras, and she was matron of the Royapetta Hospital at the time that Donovan was Superintendent. His reference for her (B.2/4) mentions her "very good knowledge of microscopical work" and the "great help" she had been in "the record keeping of special cases that interested [him]".

James Acheson graduated MB, BCh, BAO from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1921; Medical Officer for the British South Africa Company and subsequently for the Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia [Zambia], 1923-1948, and had a special interest in dermatology. His MD thesis, 'Framboesia tropica or yaws, with special reference to its occurrence in the Kasempa District of Northern Rhodesia' (1927), was based on the observations recorded in these notes and photographs. Further biographical details can be found in the obituary in the British Medical Journal, 17 February 1968.

Stanley George Browne (CMG, OBE, MD, FRCS, FRCP, DTM) was born on 8 December 1907 in London, and studied medicine at King's College Hospital, London, graduating in 1933. He combined house appointments at King's with postgraduate study, and became Member, Royal College of Physicians, London in 1934 and Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1935. After being accepted by the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) for work in the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Browne studied French and tropical medicine at the Institute de Médecine Tropicale Prince Léopold, Antwerp, obtaining the Diploma in Tropical Medicine in 1936.

From 1936 to 1959 he worked at the BMS hospital in Yakusu, working to control trypanosomiasis and onchocerciasis in the surrounding area. His rural surveys showed a high incidence of leprosy, and he endeavoured to find the cause and cure for this disease, establishing a leprosarium at Yalisombo. While at the hospital he oversaw an area of 10,000 square miles, in which he developed a programme of community care based on 18 health centres and 36 treatment centres. This pioneering programme became a model in Africa for the control of endemic diseases.

From 1959 to 1966 Browne was Director of the Leprosy Research Unit, Uzuakoli, Eastern Nigeria (becoming known in West Africa as Mr Leprosy' and sometimesBonganga'), after which he became Director of the Leprosy Study Centre, London, 1966-1980.

Browne's outstanding skills in leprosy were in great demand throughout the world, and his very many advisory roles included Consultant Advisor in Leprosy, Department of Health and Social Security, 1966-1979, and Medical Consultant to the Leprosy Mission, 1966-1978. Similarly, he was involved with numerous leprosy organisations, including LEPRA (Medical Secretary, 1968-1973, Vice-President, 1984-1986) and the International Leprosy Association (Secretary-Treasurer, 1966-1984, Honorary Vice-President, 1984-1986). His contributions to tropical medicine were recognised by many awards, including the British Medical Association's Stewart Prize for Epidemiology, 1975, the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine's JN Chaudry gold medal, 1978, and the Fellowship of King's College Hospital Medical School, also in 1978.

He was a dedicated and active Christian, and was president of the Christian Medical Fellowship of Great Britain, 1969-1971, and of the Baptist Union 1980-1981. He married Ethel Marion Williamson (known as Mali) in 1940. He died on 29 January 1986.

For further biographical material on Browne see his obituaries in The Lancet, 22 Feb 1986, p 455 and the British Medical Journal, vol 292, 15 Feb 1986, p 491; Munk's Roll, vol 8, p 59; and Who Was Who, 1981-1990, p 98.

Priest's registers: Before the restoration of the hierarchy many individual priests, as opposed to parishes, often kept registers covering diverse geographical areas.

During the Second World War the Wellcome Foundation laboratories at Frant, East Sussex, were engaged in work for the Ministry of Supply, producing scrub typhus vaccine for the armed forces. The project was given the wartime codename of 'Tyburn' after Tyburn Farm, the farm at the Wellcome Veterinary Research Station there. The project was organised by the bacteriologist Marinus van den Ende (1912-1957), serving with the RAMC: his obituary in the Lancet states that "his greatest achievement in England was the organisation of the laboratory at Frant for the large-scale production of scrub typhus vaccine, exacting and dangerous work which he carried out with great speed and precision"

The 28th County of London (Wandsworth) Battalion Home Guard was established on 11 November 1940. It was made up of volunteers from the V Battalion, men from four companies which had been raised as Home Guard Units by Wandsworth Borough Council and men from factories within the new Battalion area including Young & Co. Ltd at Ram Brewery. The Commanding Officer was Lt Col Sanders until 1942 when Major J Black took command. Many of the men in the Home Guard had seen service during World War I. The Battalion participated in civil defence duties during the War particularly helping the Air Raid Wardens during and after bombing raids. In 1942 the Battalion became responsible for Wimbledon Common and a company from the Wimbledon Home Guard Battalion was transferred to the join the Wandsworth Company. The Battalion was comprised of approximately 2000 men of all ranks and it is estimated that during its existence over 6000 served in it. The Battalion was disbanded following a final parade on Sunday 22 October 1944 although many men became members of the Home Guard Social Club and took part in anniversary parades at Ram Brewery until 1982.

Florence Mary Turtle was born on 19th November 1896 in Lambeth, the daughter of Charles E and Florence AM Turtle. After living in Hackney and Fulham, where Florence attended Sherbrooke Road School, the family settled at 135 Putney Bridge Road, Putney, where Mrs Turtle ran a fur shop. In 1917 Florence got a job at Finsbury Library, and then at a branch of W H Smith, before going to work in Harrods book department in 1921. In 1923 she started working at John Barkers department store in Kensington, and by 1929 had become the buyer for the book department. As well as this, she subsequently became a buyer for Barkers' sister store, Derry and Toms. In 1930, at the age of 34, Florence moved out of Putney Bridge Road and into 9 Ranelagh Gardens Mansions, Fulham, where she lived with her younger sister Barbara. Two years later, Florence, Barbara, and their brother Bernard moved into 28 Kingscliffe Gardens, Southfields. In 1933 Florence started volunteering on Saturdays at St James' Hospital in Balham where she would distribute books to the patients. Florence was an avid reader and took an interest in a wide range of subjects, taking evening classes at various times in French, German, public speaking, creative writing, and mothercraft. She occasionally wrote articles on bookselling and related subjects for publications such as 'The Publisher and Bookseller'. She was a member of the Book Craft Guild, serving as chairman in 1929/30. In 1938 she became a member of the Buyers Association of Great Britain. In 1941 Florence became the stationary buyer for British Home Stores, where she worked at their Baker Street headquarters until retiring in 1960. Throughout her life, Florence attended St Etheldreda's church in Fulham, where she was an active member of the choir. She also enjoyed going to the theatre, walking on Wandsworth and Wimbledon Commons, holidaying in the countryside, gardening, and having baths. She was an admirer of antiques, ornaments, and beautiful furniture, and enjoyed visiting the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her lifelong friends since school were Connie Cowgill (nee Bishop) and Gwen Foot. She never married, and continued to live at Kingscliffe Gardens with her brother Brian until her death in 1981.

Geoffrey Haines was born in Barrow-in-Furness in 1899 before his family moved to London. He was educated at St Paul's school. In December 1917 he joined the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps at Whitehall before being sent to Cambridge. In 1918 he had a severe case of Spanish Influenza and subsequently never saw action. After the war he moved to London and worked firstly as an account in his father's company before getting a job as accountant with the London Association for the Blind where he was to remain for the rest of his career. He married Olive in June 1927 and they moved into a house in Balmuir Gardens Putney before moving to Larpent Avenue in Putney in 1934. Their daughter Anne was born in 1928. During World War Two Geoffrey was an Air Raid Warden for the B7 division in Putney and later became a Bomb Reconaissance Officer alongside his wife Olive. The Warden's Reporting Post was in his front room at Larpent Avenue. In 1956 Olive Haines was appointed Mayor of Wandsworth and their daughter Anne was her Mayoress. He had a keen interest in antique coins and he built up an impressive coin collection which he sold to the Barber Institute at the University of Birmingham in 1965. He received an OBE in 1968 and was also made Vice-President of the Blind Association after thirty-seven years of working there. He was the Treasurer of the Royal Numismatic Society and was a member of numerous other institutions. Geoffrey was also involved with the Masons and held several key positions at the Lux in Tenebris lodge and within the larger organisation including Deputy Chair of the Royal Masonic Institute, a position he held for 18 years. He died on 14 September 1981.

Edward Thomas was born on 3 March 1878 in Lambeth, and was educated at Battersea Grammar School, St Paul's School and Lincoln College, Oxford. He married in 1899, and began writing reviews for newspapers and magazines, particularly the Daily Chronicle. Despite regular reviewing work he had consistent financial worries, and made several attempts to find alternative work, few of which were successful. He suffered from depression for several years, including considering suicide, and spent time away from his family in the care of doctors in attempts to recover. In 1915 he decided to enlist in the Army, and was killed in action during the Battle of Arras on 9 April 1917.

William Halle was born in Hastings in 1912, and lived there with his mother and sister, Annette. His father left when he was a child. From the 1960s, possibly earlier, he lived at 7a Mexfield Road, Wandsworth and also had an art studio in Battersea. He worked as an artist and at the Telephone Exchange, possibly because his paintings were not successful enough for him to be an artist full-time. He also wrote novels, and made several attempts to get them published. Also living in 7a Mexfield Road were Julia and Norman McLachlan, referred to by Halle Norman as Mac. Mac was a great friend of Halle's until Mac's death in 1984, which Halle mourned deeply. Halle moved to Olive Haines Lodge in 1990 and died in February 1998. The majority of Halle's friendships were with other men, with whom he often maintained life long friendships, he also records sexual relationships with various men right up until his death. Despite his sister living in South Africa, they clearly remained very close, and he often worried about her and tried to regularly send her money.

The Wandsworth Area Social Democratic Party (SDP) was set up in 1981. The Party was active until 1988 when the SDP merged with the Liberal Party. In the years in which the party was active they worked closely with the Liberal Party in the area to forming the SDP/Liberal Alliance to run at Local and General elections.

Tooting Bec Hospital, just off Tooting Bec Road, was opened in 1903. It specialised in mental health care for the aged. Friends of Tooting Bec Hospital were active between 1961 and 2002. They were a group of volunteers who visited patients at the hospital, organised fundraising activities and tried to raise awareness of the work of the hospital and mental health issues. From 1995 they changed their name to The Bec Community Friends. The hospital was closed in 1995.

T H Adamson and Sons was founded around 1790 in Chiswick, by Thomas Adamson, and was re-named T H Adamson and Sons in 1852, by the original founder's son, Thomas Henry Adamson, with works at Putney, Chiswick and Ealing. The Putney works were at 129 Putney High Street, the site of Essex House, which was demolished in 1872. As well as general building works, the firm also carried out decorative works, and had a showroom at 145 Putney High Street. They were responsible for the stonework on the Cromwell Statue in Westminster Hall Gardens and the Gladstone Memorial on the Strand, as well as repairs to the Clerestorys and the construction of a new Rose Window in Westminster Abbey. The firm worked on several churches, including All Saints, Putney and Trinity Church, Streatham, as well as the Regal Cinema in Putney and Westminster School.

Stanley Bollans was born in 1911. He lived at Penwith Road, Southfields and attended Wandsworth Technical Insitute. He was a keen cyclist and athlete and was a member of the Wandsworth Technical Institute Cycle Club.

Herbert Thomas Charles Battcock was born around 1896. He married Gladys Matthews in Wandsworth in 1921, but was widowed before any children were born. In 1939 he married Aileen O'Callaghan, and a daughter, Celia, was born in 1944.

In a deed of 1922 (D157/3/5) his occupation is given as 'printer', and in 1927 'printers machine manager'. By the time of the Second World War he was working in the Foreign Office, and belonged to the Home Guard. He retired from the Civil Service in 1962.

Herbert Battcock was initiated into the Freemasons Lodge of Affinity in 1927, and was a founder member of the Earlsfield Lodge which was consecrated on 10 October 1938. He received honorary membership of the Earlsfield Lodge in 1979. He died in 1981.

Martin Colin Tupper was born on 20th June 1950 in St James Hospital, Balham. From 1954 to 1960 he attended Hearnville Primary and Balham Central [Chestnut Grove] schools. In 1967 he joined the Libraries Department of Islington Borough Council, where he developed his interest in local history and archaeology. He remained there until his last illness in 2006.

He was a resident of Balham and active in the local Labour Party, which he joined in 1970. He was elected a Wandsworth Borough Councillor in 1986 and combined his interests in local history with membership of the Clapham Society, the Co-operative Movement and the Socialist Educational Movement. He was also connect4ed with the Battersea Churches Chairty and Battersea Combined Charities. Within the Labour Party, he was chair of the Nightingale Ward of Battersea Labour Party 1975-1977. He became secretary of Balham Ward 1978-1982, and publicity officer for the same ward in 1982. He became secretary of Battersea Labour Party 1982-1985. He was chair of Balham Ward 1991-1992, and vice chair towards the end of the 1990s. He attended some meetings of Wandsworth Labour Group in the 1980s, possibly in his capacity as councillor.

He was a governor of Alderbrook Primary School, Balham, 1973-2002, taking the role of vice chair and chair at various times through the 1980s and 1990s. He was a governor of Chestnut Grove School, formerly Hydeburn School, Balham, 1977-2005, taking the role of chair 1981-1984, vice chair 1988-1989, and chair of the exclusions panel 1998-1999. He was a governor of Hearnville Primary School, Balham, 1973-1991.

Wandsworth Common is an important historic common, the remains of more extensive commonland which earlier went by a number of names including Battersea West Heath and Wandsworth East Heath.

It was part of the wastes of the Manor of Battersea and Wandsworth; by the 19th century it had been sub-divided by the railway and encroached upon by building as London was developed, with some 53 enclosures between 1794 and 1866. The larger areas enclosed were taken for building the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, the industrial school of St James, Allfarthing Piece, McKellar's Triangle, the Justices of Surrey.

Attempts by local people to preserve the common against further encroachment began in earnest in 1868 when appeals were made to the metropolitan board of works to take over responsibility, following the metropolitan commons act of 1866, but this was initially unsuccessful. In 1870 a common defence committee was set up, later to become the Wandsworth Common preservation society. Action was taken in April 1870 to try and keep Plough Green open and in the months following fund-raising efforts and lobbying of support accelerated. Eventually Earl Spencer, Lord of the Manor, agreed to transfer most of the common to the defence committee excluding the area which later became Spencer Park. A bill went through Parliament in July 1871, the Wandsworth Common Act, and the common was then transferred to a group of conservators elected by inhabitants of Battersea and Wandsworth for a £250 annuity paid to Earl Spencer. This annuity and maintenance costs were raised by a special rate levied of the inhabitants.

In 1887 responsibility transferred to the Metropolitan Board of Works who carried out a number of improvements including planting, paths layout, creation of the ornamental lakes from old gravel pits as well as the smaller Three Island Pond near Bolingbroke Grove. In 1898 the common became the responsibility of the new London County Council who in 1912 purchased an area of 20 acres of open land to extend the common. This had belonged to the Royal Patriotic Fund Company but prior to the 1850s had been part of the common. The cost of £12,000 included building a wall between the open space and the Royal Patriotic Fund Company's land. However, before this area could be provided for the public's use, it was taken over in World War One for the third London General Hospital by the Government. When it was reinstated after the war, facilities were provided including a bowling green and tennis courts.

In 1971 responsibility for the common transferred to Wandsworth Council. (From the Wandsworth Council website, courtesy of the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust).

William Tarlton Rayment Jackson was born in 1856, the son of a chemist, and married Mary Emily Bruton on 15 September 1888, in the parish church of St Andrew, Holborn. Their son Hugh was born in 1890 and their daughter Mary Marguerite - sometimes referred to as Daisy - in 1893. William, known to his wife as Jack, was a commercial traveller for the firm of Blundell, Spence and Co, who manufactured paint. Jackson also had a sister, Louise, to whom he occasionally wrote and also refers to his wife's younger sister Rose. The family seemed to suffer from financial worries, as this is a regular theme within the letters and Jackson makes clear that he has undertaken his long business trips abroad to try and get the family out of these difficulties. Mary Emily was known as Emily, or affectionately by Jackson as "wifie", and was born in Derbyshire in 1856. From the 1881 census she appears to have been a school teacher prior to her marriage.

Blundell, Spence and Co were a Hull firm, who had offices at Anchor Wharf, 9 Upper Thames Street, London. Jackson refers to other employees of the firm, including Bob Cooke and Richmond.

Susan Ward was a Labour councillor until May 1978.

The deeds were received in a bundle together. It is not clear if they are associated.

Edwin Fairland was an assistant surgeon in the 21 Regiment Hussars, Lucknow. He married Emma Thomson in Lucknow on 3 November 1870. They had three daughters. Emma Fairland died on 21 October 1897 and Edwin Fairland died on 6 August 1909. Edwin Fairland died at the home of his daughter, Mrs Mabel Alice Harrison of 76 Prince of Wales Mansions, Battersea.