The Education Board was established in November 1992 on the recommendation of the Futures Working Party of the College. Its remit was 'to act as a forum to disseminate information and to act as required on particular items of educational interest in its widest sense' (Education Board: minutes of preliminary meeting, 20 Nov 1992, ref: B24M/1 p. 1). It took reports from the relevant standing committees and discussed those matters arising from their activities that would not normally have received an airing at Council. These included the Examinations, Higher Training, Hospital Recognition, Subspecialty, Continuing Professional Development, Manpower, and Meetings Committees. In 2000, the RCOG put in place a new board structure in order to free-up Council's time to concentrate on strategic and specialty wide issues. The Education Board became one of three boards (along with Standards and Services) that were given executive and decision-making authority and were able to ratify the decisions of reporting committees and groups. They were responsible directly to Council and met quarterly. The remit of the Education Board became: to facilitate the ongoing development of valid, fair and appropriate College examination processes; to promote and facilitate the development of the continuing professional development programme; to facilitate the initiation and development of the distance learning programme and related education initiatives; and to co-ordinate and facilitate the development of education in its widest sense (Finance and Executive Committee: minutes, 4 May 2000, ref: A3/30/4). At this date it had the following reporting committees: Examinations, Continuing Professional Development, Standing Joint RCOG/RCR, Meetings, CAL [Computer Assisted Learning] Editorial Board. In 2002, in order to forge closer ties between examinations and training, a revised Board structure was established and the reporting of the three training committees (Specialist Training, Subspecialty, Trainees) was diverted from the Standards Board to the Education Board. By 2008, the Education Board's remit was as follows: to co-ordinate postgraduate training, assessment and testing of training and accreditation of place of training; to facilitate the continuing development of valid, fair and appropriate College examination processes; to facilitate the initiation and development of distance learning programmes; to co-ordinate and facilitate the development of specialist education, training and assessment in the widest sense, in accordance with the College curricula.
The House Committee met on only a few occasions during 2003 with the following remit: to advise and make recommendations on all matters relating to the care of College buildings including maintenance, health and safety, environmental health and security; to oversee the maintenance of a register of assets and to review the condition of fixtures and fittings, including paintings, furniture and fabrics; to develop, monitor and evaluate space allocation and the use of the building; and to develop and regularly review the domestic and social functions of the College. It reported to the College's Services Board.
The Services Committee was established when Council decided to disband the Services Board in 2003. The new Services Committee took over a large proportion of what had been the Services Boards' responsibilities, and reported to Finance and Executive. Its remit was dated 24th March 2003; the main objective of the committee was to develop and co-ordinate services for Fellows and Members in the British Isles and Overseas. Its broadest terms of reference were to regularly develop and review a strategic plan, in relation to the provision of services by the Facilities Department, the Information Services Department, the Information Technology Department, the Membership Services Department and the Premises Department. More specifically, the Committee was to frame policies for access to, and storage of, rare books and manuscripts, instruments, personal papers and artefacts of historical interest for the benefit of Fellows, Members and suitably accredited visitors. It was also to keep abreast of, and advise upon, the development of computerised services within the College and to ensure that the services themselves were integrated with national developments. Additionally, it was to develop, monitor and evaluate the use of the RCOG website and to frame polices for the development of membership services. Finally, it was to advise and make recommendations concerning all matters relating to the care of the buildings and assets at 27 Sussex Place and 8 Kent Terrace. The Committee met on a quarterly basis from 2003 to 2005. Its existence was short-lived because in 2005 Council ratified the decision for the Services Committee to revert back to its former title and executive status as the Services Board.
The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Empire was first published in 1902. It was owned by the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Empire Publishing Company Limited. From 1933 the meetings of the board of directors of the Company took place in the College's premises. In 1950 the ownership of the Journal was acquired by the College and the Company was wound up. The Journal Committee was set up by the College following its acquisition of the Journal in 1950. In 1980 the Committee was reconstituted as a separate Journal Business Committee (renamed the Journal Management Board in 1988) to run the organisational and business aspects of the Journal, and an Editorial Committee to decide editorial policy and function. In 1992 these bodies were renamed the Journal Management Committee and Journal Editorial Board respectively and in 2000 they became BJOG Management Board and BJOG Editorial Board. The Journal has changed its name on several occasions since it was founded. It became The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Commonwealth, from 1975 it was published as British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and, in January 2002 BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
The birth of the world's first baby conceived using in vitro fertilisation (IVF), in July 1978, and advances in fertilisation and embryology led to the appointment of a Committee of Inquiry in 1982. Chaired by Baroness Warnock, it was established 'against [a] background of public excitement and concern' about human fertilisation and embryology". The Committee reported in 1984 (the Warnock Report). It recommended the establishment of a new statutory licensing authority to regulate both research and infertility services. In March 1985 the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) founded the Voluntary Licensing Authority for Human in vitro Fertilisation and Embryology (VLA) as an interim measure to regulate work on human in vitro fertilisation until the introduction of government legislation. The authority was given two functions: to grant licences to those wishing to offer infertility treatment; and to grant licences to researchers wishing to work with human gametes (sperm and eggs) and embryos. Applications for licences, accompanied by specific research proposals, were made to the authority by centres involved in such work. A visit was normally then made to the centre by members of the authority, which then made a decision on whether to grant a licence. The Authority was based at the Medical Research Council premises in Park Crescent, London. In 1987, following a period of consultation, the Government published a White Paper, Human Fertilisation and Embryology: A Framework for Legislation. The legislation which subsequently came into being was the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (the HFE Act).
Surrounded by the Cape Province (in the portion that is now Eastern Cape) of South Africa, the black "homeland" of Ciskei consisted of two parcels of land, the larger one bordering the Indian Ocean to the southeast.
Under acts of the South African Parliament, land was set aside for blacks in pseudoindependent territories (originally called Bantustans), allegedly to allow blacks self-government and cultural preservation. Ciskei was designated for Xhosa-speaking people. In 1961, Ciskei became a separate administrative territory and in 1972 was declared "self-governing. Following the 1973 Election Lennox L Sebe replaced Thandatha Jongilizwe Mabandla as Chief Minster. Sebe remained Chief Minster until 1981, and was President from 1981-1990. During the 1970s Xhosa-speaking people were relocated to the homeland.
In 1981, Ciskei became the fourth homeland to be granted "independence and subsequently its residents' South African citizenship was revoked. Ciskei, like all of the homelands, was not recognized as an independent nation by the international community. Even after the legal foundation of apartheid was largely struck down in 1991-92, the Ciskei government remained closely aligned with the South African government. In September 1992, Ciskei police fired on a crowd of African National Congress demonstrators, killing 28 and wounding several hundred. South Africa took control of Ciskei in early 1994 after a coup by local police, and later that year, Ciskei and the other homelands were reincorporated into South Africa after the nation's first all-race elections.
Sir (William) Edward Parry: b 1790; entered Royal Navy 1803; Lt 1810; in 1818 he commanded the ALEXANDER, a hired brig under the orders of Captain John Ross in his expedition to the Arctic; in 1819 he was appointed to the HECLA, in command of an expedition to discover the north-west passage; promoted Commander, 1820 and Captain 1821; led a further three expeditions to the Arctic, 1821-1825; Hydrographer to the Admiralty, 1825; led a further expedition to the North Pole, 1827, reaching further north than any previous expedition; knighted 1829; Commissioner, Australian Agricultural Company, 1829-1834; Assistant Poor-Law Commissioner in Norfolk, 1835-1836; controller of steam department of the Navy , 1837-1846; Captain-Superintendent, Haslar Hospital, 1846-1852; Rear Admiral, 1852; Lt Governor of Greenwich Hospital, 1853; died 1855.
The Australian Agricultural Company was established by charter in 1824, with a grant of one million acres in New South Wales, and the object of breeding fine-woolled sheep and employing a large number of convicts. The directors of the company appointed Robert Dawson as chief agent, and appointed a local committee to supervise him. Dawson chose Port Stephens, an inlet about 100 miles from Sydney for the Company's grant. In time much of this land was pronounced unsuitable for sheep and Dawson was dismissed. Sir William Edward Parry was appointed Commissioner in 1829, with the task of finding better grazing land, and to arrange for the exchange of at least part of the grant.
Bantu Stephen Biko was born in Kingwilliamstown on the 18th December 1946. He was educated at Marianhill Secondary School in Kwazulu. He entered the Medical School of the University of Natal (Black Section), 1966; he and his colleagues founded the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) in 1968. He was elected the first President of the organisation at its inaugural congress held at Turfloop in 1969; he was instrumental in the formation of one of SASO's projects, the Black Workers' Project (BWP) which was co-sponsored by the Black Community Programmes (BCP) the project addressed problems of Black workers whose unions were then not recognised in law; After serving as President, Biko was elected Publications Director of SASO where he wrote prolifically under the pen name Frank Talk in the SASO Newsletter; he was expelled from medical school in 1972 and joined the BCP; in March 1973 he was banned and restricted to Kingwilliamstown, there he set up a BCP office where he worked as aBranch Executive, but shortly afterwards his banning order was amended to prohibit him from working or associating with the BCP; on 18th August 1977, he was arrested in a police roadblock with his colleague and comrade, Peter Cyril Jones and detained under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act. He died in custody, on 12 Sept 1977.
Kenneth Ernest Robinson b 1914; educated at Monoux Grammar School, Walthamstow; Hertford College, Oxford; Beit Senior Scholar in Colonial History; Colonial Office, 1936-1948; Fellow of Nuffield College and Reader in Commonwealth Government, Oxford, 1948-1957; Director, Institute of Commonwealth Studies and Professor of Commonwealth Affairs, University. of London, 1957-1965; Vice-Chancellor, University of Hong Kong, 1965-1972; Hallsworth Research Fellow, University of Manchester, 1972-1974; Director, Commonwealth Studies Resources Survey, University of London, 1974-1976; Editor, Journal of Commonwealth Political Studies, 1961-1965.
Publications (with W. J. M. Mackenzie) Five Elections in Africa, 1960; (with A. F. Madden) Essays in Imperial Government presented to Margery Perham, 1963; The Dilemmas of Trusteeship, 1965; (with W. B. Hamilton & C. D. Goodwin) A Decade of the Commonwealth 1955-64 (USA), 1966.
John Patrick Cope, the son of C F J Cope, was born on Mooi River, Natal, South Africa, on 17 Mar 1906. He was educated at St Andrews College, Grahamstown and in 1924 joined the Rand Daily Mail as a reporter. In 1930 he joined the Natal Mercury as their parliamentary and political correspondent, and became friendly with Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, and other prominent political figures.
In 1935 he went to Abyssinia and discovered the Italian Plot to annex the country. In 1937 he went to China to cover the Sino-Japanese war for three South African papers. In 1937 he joined his former editor, R J Kingston Russell in his venture to found a political weekly Forum. On Russell's retirement through ill health he assumed the editorship, which he retained for 14 years under the chairmanship of Hofmeyr.
In 1951 Forum closed, and Cope rejoined the Rand Daily Mail as editorial assistant. He entered politics and was returned for Parktown in 1953 and 1958 as a United Party MP. In 1958 he was one of a group of UP members who broke away to form the Progressive Party, but he lost his seat after a smear campaign in the 1961 election.
Cope married Margaret Nancy Rouillard in 1939 and they have 3 children.
The Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee (BABC) was set up in 1984 by the British Government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to supervise the British involvement in the Australian Bicentennial. It was chaired by Sir Peter Gadsden. Initially a steering committee was set up, which later became the BABC. In 1985 the Britain Australia Bicentennial Trust was set up to deal with the public money raised, at this time the BABC also set up a number of National Task subcommittees and regional subcommittees.
One of the tasks of the BABC was to make a recommendation for the UK gift to Australia for the Bicentennial. Several ideas were put forward for consideration, notably a re-enactment of the voyage of the First Fleet under Admiral Arthur Philip, This was decided against, although the re-enactment fleet did sail from the Isle of Wight, 13 May 1987 and arrived in Australia 26 Jan 1988, without the support of the BABC. The UK gift to Australia was eventually decided on as the sail training schooner STS Young Endeavour, proposed by Arthur Weller. The building of STS Young Endeavour, was supervised by the Schooner Trust, supervised by Weller. The Bicentennial events in the UK were widespread including balls, banquets and church services, notably at Westminster Abbey led by Archbishop Robert Runcie, 14 Jul 1988.
Born 1889; educated Oxford; Ceylon 1925-1935; appointed by the Secretary of State, 1926; Divisional Inspector, 1929-1930; Assistant Director of Education (Supply and training of teachers), 1930-[1935].
Born in Ceylon, 1913; higher education, England, 1932; joined Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP); attended Pan-African Conference held in Manchester, 1947; elected to parliament of Ceylon, 1947; left LSSP, 1955 and joined Independent Socialist Party; Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs, 1956-1959; resigned and joined the opposition party, 1959; ran as an independant candidate, 1960; Speaker 1960; Ambassador to the USSR, 1960-1965; Ambassador to the UN; MP for Sri-Lanka Freedom Party, 1965; Minister of Industies and Scientific Affairs; 1970-1977; retired 1977; died 1995.
The Commonwealth Journalists' Association was founded by a group of journalists in 1978 following a conference of Commonwealth non-governmental organisations held at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada, to cater for the needs of individual journalists in Commonwealth countries. The CJA's objectives include the raising of journalistic standards by the provision of training courses, the encouragement of an interest in and knowledge of Commonwealth affairs and the defence of the independence of journalists where a threat is perceived. The CJA takes a particular interest in safeguarding the rights of journalists in countries where press freedom is restricted and has intervened on several occasions, sometimes in collaboration with other interested bodies, to secure the re-opening of a newspaper or the release of journalists from prison. The CJA's main activity is the provision of training courses for journalists in developing countries. Other activities include holding conferences, open to the whole membership, every three years. Where there is sufficiently large individual membership in a given country or region members are encouraged to set up local branches or chapters to organise their own activities and, where possible, organise their own training. A newsletter devoted to subjects of professional interest is published and distributed to members three times yearly.
Abdullah Abdurahman was born December 18, 1872? in Cape Town, South Africa. He married Helen Potter James and they had two children, of whom the younger, Zainunnissa Abdurahman, like her father, was a prominent figure in Cape Town municipal affairs. After the dissolution of his first marriage, Dr. Abdurahman in 1925 married Margaret May Stansfield. They had a son and two daughters. Dr. Abdurahman was educated at Marist Brothers School and the South African College School. In 1888 he went to Glasgow University, where he obtained the M.B., Ch.M. medical degree in 1893.
In 1895 he returned to South Africa and acquired an extensive practice in Cape Town, among both Coloured and White people. In 1904 he was elected to the Cape Town City Council, and was the first Coloured person to become a Councillor. Except for two years (1913-1915) he remained a member up to the time of his death. Dr. Abdurahman was also a member of the Cape Provincial Council from 1914 until his death, and was largely responsible in establishing a system of school medical instruction for the Cape Province. In 1905 Dr. Abdurahman founded and was president of the South African Native and Coloured People's Organization, later known as the African People's Organization.
In 1909 he was a member of a delegation led by W. P. Schreiner to London. He was also a member of the Indian National Congress and in 1925 went to India to discuss the Indian's position in South Africa with the National Congress and Viceroy.
In 1934 he was appointed a member of the coloured People's Fact-finding Commission and served on the Cape Coloured Commission of 1937. He died in Cape Town in 1940
'World in Action', produced by Granada Television, is one of Britain's longest running current affairs programmes. First launched in 1963, World in Action was the first weekly current affairs programme in Britain to pioneer pictorial journalism on film and to risk taking an independent editorial stance. Guyana achieved independence in 1966, the 1968 General Election was won by the People's National Congress, led by Forbes Burnham.
Baruch Hirson was born at Doornfontein near Johannesburg, South Africa on 10 December 1921, the son of a Jewish electrician. Between 1944 and 1946 he worked as the political organiser for the Workers' International League, and subsequently he combined his politics with an academic career as a physicist at the University of the Witwatersrand. Towards the end of the 1950s he joined the Congress of Democrats, the white arm of the African National Congress-led congress alliance. Highly critical of its leadership and policies, with other disaffected left-wing congress activists Hirson formed the Socialist League of Africa just before the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, and later the National Committee for Liberation/African Resistance Movement (ARM). The ARM was broken in 1964, and Hirson and other leading activists arrested and imprisoned for nine years. After his release he moved to Britain, he taught physics at Bradford and Middlesex Universities, and devoted much of his time to history and the publication of Searchlight South Africa (1988-1995), a left-wing analysis of South African politics. He wrote several books or aspects of South African history and an autobiography, Revolutions in my Life (1995). He died in London on 3 October 1999.
In 1961 Basutoland was one of three British High Commission Territories in South Africa. In the original treaties between the British Government and Chief Moshoeshoe [Mshweshwe] on behalf of the Sotho people in 1843 and 1862, a British Protectorate was established. In 1871, after Moshoeshoe's death, Basutoland became part of Cape Colony without the consent of the Sotho, and then in 1884 was relinquished to British rule, becoming a High Commission Territory. During the 20th century there was increasing concern among the Sotho people about continued colonial rule, not least because the changes in status of Basutoland had not been subject to their agreement and were contrary to the original treaties. Also, there were serious fears about the possibility of the territory becoming part of the Union of South Africa, which became acute when the Republic of South Africa was due to be created at the time of the memorandum in 1961. The memorandum details these issues, and seeks UN aid in making the voice of the Basuto nation heard. It was written by Josiel Lefela, a member of the National Council since 1916. In the event, Basutoland remained outside the Republic of South Africa and became independent as Lesotho in 1966.
Not known
The Southern Rhodesia African National Congress was founded in 1957 under the leadership of Joshua Nkomo. It was banned by the Government in 1959, and several prominent members were arrested and detained. The detainees were released early in 1961. Their claim for compensation does not appear to have been successful.
On 10 February 1955 the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was incorporated by Royal Charter. In 1956 the College entered into a ' Scheme of Special Relation' with the University of London. An Academic Board of the College negotiated with the University of London the entrance requirements for the admission of students, syllabuses, examination procedures, the award of London degrees and other academic matters.
After the break up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1963, Zambian and Malawian students were to be catered for by universities in their own countries but it was agreed that the College should continue as 'an independent institution of learning, open to all races, serving not only the higher education requirements of Rhodesia but also contributing to the advancement of knowledge, science and research in Central Africa and within the international community of Universities'.
In 1970 the 'Schemes of Special Relation' were phased out and in September that year the University of Rhodesia was established, to be governed by a Council and a Senate. At the end of 1973, the first students with University of Rhodesia degrees graduated from the Faculties of Arts, Science and Social Studies.
The College now forms part of the University of Zimbabwe.
Tim Matthews was expelled from the College in 1970.
In 1976 the Parti Québécois led by René Lévesque won the Québec provincial election, promising to hold a referendum on sovereignty-association. The referendum was held in May 1980 and federalists won with 60% of vote. Lévesque adopted a constitutional strategy known as the 'beau risque' based on the idea that a political reconciliation with the rest of Canada was possible.
T W Roberts joined the Ceylon Civil Service in 1902, having obtained a degree in Greats from Oxford University, and failed to find a job as a school master in the UK 'probably because of a colour bar in the teaching ranks of public schools'. He was initally appointed office assistant at Matara, and was later posted to Kurunegala and Chilaw. He became a Magistrate in 1904 and sat on the bench until 1916.
The Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers, were established in 1881 by proclamation of the lieutenant governor. This new volunteer force was commanded by British officers, while the ranks were filled out largely with Burghers, a highly Westernized group that adapted well to the demands of volunteer service. A mounted infantry company was added in 1892, and in 1900 this contingent was called to South Africa to assist the British army in the Boer War.
In 1910 the volunteer corps was redesignated as the Ceylon Defence Force. Although Sri Lankan units were not deployed outside the island in either of the world wars, individual soldiers served in the British and British Indian armies. In World War II, the British crown took direct control of the island's armed forces from the colonial government. During this period, the Ceylon Light Infantry grew from 1 battalion to 5 battalions, while the total number of troops in uniform increased to 12,000. Most of these were engaged in maintenance and transport functions. Their most direct contact with the war came in April 1942 when the Japanese launched an air attack on Colombo.
The International Socialist League was founded in 1915, in opposition to World War One and the racist and conservative policies of the all-white South African Labour Party and the craft unions supporting it. It was initially rooted amongst white labour militants, but from the start it attracted black workers. The League argued in its weekly paper, the International, for a "new movement" to found One Big Union that would overcome the "bounds of Craft and race and sex," "recognise no bounds of craft, no exclusions of colour," and destroy capitalism through a "lockout of the capitalist class." From 1917 onwards, the International Socialist League began to organise amongst black and coloured workers. In March 1917, it founded an Indian Workers Industrial Union in Durban; in 1918, it founded a Clothing Workers Industrial Union (later spreading to Johannesburg) and horse drivers' union in the diamond mining town of Kimberly; in Cape Town, a sister organisation, the Industrial Socialist League, founded the Sweet and Jam Workers Industrial Union that same year. The International Workers of Africa was founded in 1917, the new general union's demands were simple, summed up in its slogan- "Sifuna Zonke!" ("We want everything!"). It was the first trade union for African workers ever formed in South Africa.
British settlement in the area began in the 1830s, and Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company assumed control in the 1890s. Britain took over administration from the Company in 1923 and granted self-government to white colonists. Southern Rhodesia federated in 1953 with Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland with a view to achieving independence as a unified country. The Federation dissolved in 1963, and the three constituent countries pursued separate paths to independence. Britain rejected independence for the white Southern Rhodesia regime in 1964, and the government unilaterally declared independence (UDI) in 1965 as Rhodesia. British colonial rule was briefly reimposed in 1979 in order to achieve a settlement, and independence was granted in 1980 under black majority rule as Zimbabwe.
John Ferguson was born in Tain, Easter Ross in 1842. He was educated at Tain Royal Academy, then trained as a journalist in Inverness and London before going to Ceylon om 1861 to take up a position as Assistant Editor of the Columbo Observer, under his uncle, the proprietor and Editor, Alastair Mackenzie (AM) Ferguson. He was to remain with the paper (renamed the Ceylon Observer) in 1867) for nearly 50 years, initially assisting his uncle, but gradually taking a more senior role, and becoming the proprietor and editor on his uncle's death in 1892.
Ferguson developed an active role in the political, commercial and cultural affairs of Ceylon. He took a particular interest in the development and expansion of the railway system, and became closely involved in the tea, coffee, coconut and other planting trades for which he compiled and published statistics in his annually issued Handbook and Directory of Ceylon. His interest in these trades also led to his founding and publishing the Tropical Agriculturalist, a journal covering planting in all tropical regions, which began in 1881 and continued under his control until 1904, when responsibility for it was assumed by the Agricultural Society. Ferguson was very active in the Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church (as was his uncle), and lectured on many of his interests. He travelled overseas from Ceylon on several occasions, visiting Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, North America and Britain.
In 1903 Ferguson was awarded the CMG, and in the same year was appointed as a member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon. In this role he continued to support his interests, such as extension of the railway system and supporting trade. He resigned in 1908, and in 1912 returned to Britain for the last time, and he died there in 1913. He was married twice: firstly in 1871 to Charlotte Haddon (died 1903), by whom he had two sons and two daughters; secondly in 1905 to Ella Smith, who survived him.
Alastair Mackenzie (AM) Ferguson, the uncle of John, was born in Wester Ross in 1816. He came to Ceylon in 1837 as one of the staff of JA Stewart Mackenzie, the newly appointed Governor. After holding various posts, he became assistant editor on the Ceylon Observer in 1846, under the then owner, Dr Elliott. In 1859 Dr Elliott sold the newspaper to Ferguson, who was himself joined by his nephew as assistant editor in 1861. From 1879 he took a lesser role in the production of the newspaper, but continued to contribute material, while in 1880-1 he was the Ceylon Commissioner to the Melboune Exhibition. He was awarded the CMG shortly after this event. He made return visits to Britain in the 1860s and 1870s but not thereafter for health reasons; however he continued to make visits abroad to India and Australia. He became a highly respected figure in Ceylon, and like his nephew was very supportive of the planting trades and railway development. He died in 1892.
The origins of the Royal Society lie in an "invisible college" of natural philosophers who began meeting in the mid-1640s to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon. Its official foundation date is 28 November 1660, when 12 of them met at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren, the Gresham Professor of Astronomy, and decided to found 'a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning'. This group included Wren himself, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray, and William, Viscount Brouncker. The Society was to meet weekly to witness experiments and discuss what we would now call scientific topics. The first Curator of Experiments was Robert Hooke. It was Moray who first told the King, Charles II, of this venture and secured his approval and encouragement. At first apparently nameless, the name The Royal Society first appears in print in 1661, and in the second Royal Charter of 1663 the Society is referred to as 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge'. The Society found accommodation at Gresham College and rapidly began to acquire a library (the first book was presented in 1661) and a repository or museum of specimens of scientific interest. After the Fire of 1666 it moved for some years to Arundel House, London home of the Dukes of Norfolk. It was not until 1710, under the Presidency of Isaac Newton, that the Society acquired its own home, two houses in Crane Court, off the Strand. In 1662 the Society was permitted by Royal Charter to publish and the first two books it produced were John Evelyn's Sylva and Micrographia by Robert Hooke. In 1665, the first issue of Philosophical Transactions was edited by Henry Oldenburg, the Society's Secretary. The Society took over publication some years later and Philosophical Transactions is now the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication. From the beginning, Fellows of the Society had to be elected, although the criteria for election were vague and the vast majority of the Fellowship were not professional scientists. In 1731 a new rule established that each candidate for election had to be proposed in writing and this written certificate signed by those who supported his candidature. These certificates survive and give a glimpse of both the reasons why Fellows were elected and the contacts between Fellows. The Society moved again in 1780 to premises at Somerset House provided by the Crown, an arrangement made by Sir Joseph Banks who had become President in 1778 and was to remain so until his death in 1820. Banks was in favour of maintaining a mixture among the Fellowship of working scientists and wealthy amateurs who might become their patrons. This view grew less popular in the first half of the 19th century and in 1847 the Society decided that in future Fellows would be elected solely on the merit of their scientific work. This new professional approach meant that the Society was no longer just a learned society but also de facto an academy of scientists. The Government recognised this in 1850 by giving a grant to the Society of £1,000 to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment. Therefore a Government Grant system was established and a close relationship began, which nonetheless still allowed the Society to maintain its autonomy, essential for scientific research. In 1857 the Society moved once more, to Burlington House in Piccadilly, with its staff of two. Over the next century the work and staff of the Society grew rapidly and soon outgrew this site. Therefore in 1967 the Society moved again to its present location on Carlton House Terrace with a staff which has now grown to over 120, all working to further the Royal Society's roles as independent scientific academy, learned society and funding body.
Born, 1819; Assistant in the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope (1835-1845), cooperated with Sir Thomas Maclear in the extension of Lacaille's arc; produced oldest known calotypes of people and scenes in Southern Africa with the help of John Herschel; Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Regius Professor of Astronomy, University of Edinburgh (1845-1888), introduced time service for Edinburgh with time ball on the Nelson monument and later a time gun fired from Edinburgh Castle (1861); resigned Fellowship on 7 February 1874 on the Society denying him the reading of his paper on the interpretation of the design of the Great Pyramid, published "The Great Pyramid and the Royal Society"; Became obsessed with the metre - he believed the decimal system was foreign, French, and atheist. Claimed if the pyramids were measured very accurately, it was possible to tell that they were based on the British yard, given by God and built by the Hebrews. Led expeditions to Egypt to measure them accurately to prove this. Use of the yard in the Pyramids proved there were common values between the founders of Egypt and the Anglo-Saxons, and so helped to justify the Conquest of Egypt in 1881-2; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1857; died, 1900.
The 1856 expedition to the rugged volcanic mountain of Tenerife in the Canary Islands was an accomplishment which transformed the relatively unknown son of a famous admiral into an international scientific figure. It was also the focus of important and extensive activity in photographic publishing. It was this trip to Teneriffe which gave Smyth his entry into the elite scientific community. It also marked a turning point regarding his use of photography, having been certainly almost the first to experiment with calotypes at the Cape of Good Hope, and received his instruction from Talbot, Herschel and Hunt. The major donation for the expedition came from Robert Stephenson, who had read Smyth's 1855 'Royal Observatory of Edinburgh Report' and offered Smyth passage to Tenerife aboard his iron hulled yacht, the 'Titania', handing it to him for his exclusive use for the expedition in 1856, which departed from Cowes on 24 June. Santa Cruz was reached on 8 July.
Born in Hampshire, England; physician; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1734; died, 1759.
William Dines was born on 5 August 1855, son of George Dines, inventor of a hygrometer and an active Fellow of the Meteorological Society. Never robust, he was the only son to survive childhood. He attended Woodcote House School in Windlesham. He learned engineering as a pupil at the Nine Elm Works of the South Western Railway, and after completing his apprenticeship went to Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, taking his BA degree in 1881 as twentieth wrangler. In 1882 he remained at Cambridge as a mathematical coach. He continued to teach mathematics, first as assistant to an army coach, and then in correspondence classes, but subsequently his meteorological work absorbed all his time. The Tay Bridge disaster of 28 December 1879, when a train crossing the bridge was carried away with the bridge into the river by a squall of wind, claimed attention of both meterologists and engineers to decide what allowance should be made for wind force on engineers' structures. Dines became the most active member of a Wind-Force Committee appointed by the Meteorological Society in 1886, revising the equation for wind-force from three 'significant figures' with a tolerance for 40 per cent to a single figure with very little error. He also designed the pressure tube anemograph for measuring wind velocity, including a device for recording the direction as well as velocity, hence providing a record of wind indispensable for the study of dynamical meterology. In his investigation of the structure of the upper air, Dines was equally successful, being the prime mover in establishing a committee for the investigation of the characteristics of the free atmosphere by the Royal Meteorological Society and the British Association in 1901. Dines began with diamond shaped kites of his own design at Oxshott, and moved to the Chiltern Hills near Watlington. Here he developed the use of sounding balloons, maintaining the investigation with kites at the same time. He was helped by his assistant H W Baker, and other stations were set up by C J P Cave of Ditcham Park, Dr G C Simpson at the experimental station at Glossop Moor in Derbyshire, S H R Salmon with a kite station at Brighton, Captain C H Ley RE with sounding balloons at Ross in Herefordshire and subsequently at Bird Hill, Limerick. Later Mungret College in Limerick became a regular station for work in the upper air. By 1913 the scientific value of the use of sounding-balloons had been recognised, and in 1914 Dines acquired the property at Benson (Wallingford, Berkshire) with the assent of the Meteorological Office. During the war the various centres of meteorological activity co-operated through the Meteorological Sub-Committee of the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The work at Benson was significant both in experimental work and in co-ordinating and discussing results. After the war L F Richardson joined Dines, and they worked on investigating solar radiation. In 1922 Dines resigned the official charge of the observatory, his son L H G Dines becoming Assistant Superintendent to take charge of the official work, until in 1923 it was transferred to Kew Observatory. His main efforts of investigation were wind-measurement, investigation of the upper air, and solar and terrestrial radiation; but he was equally at home with the design of instruments, co-ordination and discussion of results, and consideration of current theory. He died in 1927.
Sowerby trained as an artist and studied at the Royal Academy of Arts. He was best known for his illustrations to English Botany: or Coloured Figures of British Plants, With Their Essential Characters, Synonyms, and Places of Growth (1790-1814). This subsequently became known as 'Sowerby's Botany', although the text was supplied by James Edward Smith, whose name was at first withheld at his own request. His accurate descriptions and Sowerby's skilful drawings, beautifully coloured, made it a highly esteemed work which was frequently re-issued. Sowerby then published British Mineralogy in parts beginning in 1802, and his more important Mineral Conchology of Great Britain, again issued in parts from 1812. Sowerby also provided illustrations for other natural history works, such as that of Strata Identified by Organized Fossils by William Smith. His major contribution to natural history was his vast correspondence with naturalists in Britain and abroad, illustrating the advice he gave and his encouragement to collectors of plants, birds, insects, fossils and minerals. Many specimens were sent to him for identification. He too sent others in return, together with copies of parts of his publications, stimulating further research. He had his own museum at 2 Mead Place Lambeth, which was regularly visited by other naturalists. He married Anne de Carle of Norwich. His eldest son James de Carle Sowerby (1787-1871) and second son George Brettingham Sowerby (1788-1854) assisted him in his work. Their children too were artists and naturalists.
Born, c 1637; Education: Westminster School; Christ Church, Oxford; BA (1658), MA (1660); Career: Began his travels before he had taken his Master's degree, captured by pirates and sold; returned to Oxford (c 1660); accompanied the Earl of Carlisle, Ambassador-Extraordinary to Sweden (1668); Secretary to the Embassy at Paris, where he acted as medium of communication between men of science in England and France (1669-1671); Fellow of the Royal Society, 1672; travelled through Venice, Dalmatia, Greece, Turkey and Persia, where he was murdered by some Arabs in a quarrel over a penknife, 1677.
Born, 1856; Education: Owen's College, Manchester; Trinity College, Cambridge. BA (1880); Career: Fellow and Lecturer of Trinity College, Cambridge; Profesor of Natural Philosophy, Royal Institution, London; Cavendish Professor of Physics, Cambridge (1884-1918); Master of Trinity College, Cambridge (1918); Fellow of the Royal Society, 1884; died, 1940.
Born in Victoria, Australia, 1891; Education: MBBS (Melbourne, 1915); MD, DSc; career: Served in the Australian Army Medical Corps (World War One); Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne (1920); Medical Research Officer, Bombay; returned to Hall Institute (1927); Lecturer, School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1929-1940); Consulting Physician, Australian Military Forces (1940-1942); Director of Medicine and Chairman, Combined Advisory Committee on Tropical Medicine, South Pacific Area (1942-1946); Professor of Tropical Medicine, London (1946); resigned on health grounds (1948); Fellow of the Royal Society, 1942; Buchanan Medal, 1957; died, 1966.
Born, 1859; Education: DSc (Lond); Honours: CIE 1908; KCIE 1913; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1895; died 1940.
Born, 1827; Education: University College, London; PhD (Giessen); Career: Assistant Lecturer in Chemistry, St Thomas's ( by 1852); Fullerian Professor of Chemistry, Royal Institution (1874-1877); undertook pioneer research in optics and spectroscopy; worked with the Young Men's Christian Association, and the Christian Evidence Society (CES); suffered a cardiac seizure after a meeting of the CES and was found dead in his study; Royal Society, 1853; Davy Medal, 1897; died, 1902.
Born in Edinburgh. Son of James Cumming of Duthil, Inverness-shire. Taken into service by Lord Milton on account of his precocious mechanical skill. Member of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh. Working in Inverary, Argyll as watchmaker and enrolled as burgess by 1752. With his brother John employed by Duke fo Argyll in making a new organ for his castle at Inverary, and a long case clock for the castle. Argyll's family connections with John Stuart, third Earl of Bute and tutor to George III led to patronage and Cumming's establishment in New Bond Street London. His reputation led him to be appointed a member of the commission to adjudicate on John Harrisons's 'timekeeper for discovering the longitude at sea'. One of those who insisted that a second timekeeper be made according to Harrison's principles to prove he had both fully disclosed his methods and had invented a reliable means of checking longitude. His essay 'Elements of Clock and Watch Work Adapted to Practice' printed in 1766 where he outlined his ideas about clockwork and included one fo the earliest designf for a gravity escarpment, seemingly arose when he was appointed to the commission on Harrison's timekeeper, and he deposited it with the Philosophicle Society of Edinburgh to protect himself against the possibility of charges of plagiarism after he had heard Harrison's explanation.
He was especially interested in the measurement of air pressure and the ideas outlined by Robert Hooke for recording barometer readings, in 1765 making a special clock for George III which recorded on a chart the changes in barometer readings over a year. This is considered to be the first effective recording barograph, and he was paid £15 per year to maintain it. The next year he made a slightly different version for his own use, which after his death was bought by Luke Howard, who used it for the observations that formed the basis of his pioneering work ' The Climate of London'. He made two gold stopwatches for William Hamilton FRS 1766 at Naples, and in 1769 a watch for Charles Blagden FRS 1772, on whose behalf he ordered an electifying machine from Jesse Ramsden FRS 1786.
Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (1857-1952) was Professor-Superintendent of the Brown Institution, which specialised in research into diseases of domestic animals. The Institute was situated in Wandsworth Road, South West London and was destroyed by bombing in 1944. Sherrington was later Professor of Pathology, University of London, and Lecturer on Physiology at St Thomas's Hospital.
John Newport Langley was born, 1852; Education: Exeter Grammar School; St John's College, Cambridge. BA (1875), MA (1878), ScD (1896); Career: Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (1877, re-elected 1885); Lecturer, Trinity College, Cambridge; Lecturer, Cambridge University (1883-1903); Professor of Physiology, Cambridge (1903-1925); Fellow of the Royal Society, 1883; Royal Medal, 1892; Royal Society Council, 1897-1898; Royal Society Vice President, 1904-1905; died, 1925.
Francis Gotch was born, 1853; Education: BA; BSc (Lond); Hon MA (Oxon); MRCS; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1892; died, 1913.
Born, 1759; Foreign Member of the Royal Society, 1819; died, 1829.
The British Empire Exhibition was an exhibition held at Wembley, Middlesex in 1924 and 1925. Its official aim was " to stimulate trade, to strengthen the bonds that bind the Mother Country to her Sister States and Daughter Nations, to bring all into closer touch, the one with the other, to enable all who owe allegiance to the British Flag to meet on common ground, and to learn to know each other. It is a family party, to which every member of the Empire is invited, and at which every part of the Empire is represented". It was opened by King George V 23 April 1924. Of the 58 members of the British Empire only Gambia and Gibraltar did not take part.