Born in Leeds, 1811; LRCP, Edinburgh 1860; MRSC, Eng. 1844; LSA, 1839; Surgeon on a Whaling Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 1839-1843; died, 1879.
Born 1910; educated at Marlborough College and the Royal Military College Sandhurst; passed out first from Royal Military College Sandhurst and awarded King's Gold Medal and the Anson Memorial Sword, 1930; commissioned into 2 Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps, 1930; served in Tidworth, Wiltshire, 1930; posted to 1 Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps, Lucknow, India, 1931; Lt,1933; seconded to Indian Police with local rank of Capt, Bengal, 1934-1935; service in Burma with 1 Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps, 1935-1938; qualified as Interpreter in French and German, 1936; Capt, 1938; seconded to Indian Police with local rank of Capt, Bengal, 1938-1940; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; awarded Indian Police Medal, 1940; Maj, 1940; Second in Command, 10 Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps (2 Rangers), 1942-1943; Chief Instructor, Commando Mountain and Snow Warfare Training Camp, Braemar, Aberdeenshire, 1943; Commanding Officer, 11 Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps, Italy and Palestine, 1944; Lt Col, 1944; awarded DSO, 1944; commanded 11 Indian Infantry Bde, Italy and Greece, 1944-1945; awarded CBE, 1945; Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1946; General Staff Officer 1, Joint Planning Staffs, Middle East Land Forces, 1946-1948; Joint Services Staff College, 1949; Western Europe's Commanders-in-Chief Committee, 1950-1951; Col, 1951; Allied Land Forces, Central Europe, 1951-1952; Col, General Staff, Headquarters 1 (British) Corps, 1952; Leader of British Everest Expedition, Tibet, 1952-1953; Knighted, 1953; Assistant Commandant, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1953-1955; awarded Founder's Medal, Royal Geographical Society, 1954; awarded Lawrence Memorial Medal, Royal Central Asian Society, 1954; President, National Association of Youth Clubs, 1954-1970; commanded 168 Infantry Bde, Territorial Army, 1955-1956; retired as Hon Brig, 1956; President, The Alpine Club, 1956-1958; Director, Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, 1956-1966; President, Britain and Nepal Society, 1960-1975; Rector, Aberdeen University, 1963-1966; President, Climbers' Club, 1963-1966; President, British Mountaineering Council, 1965-1968; Life Peer, 1966; Chairman, Parole Board for England and Wales, 1967-1974; Personal Adviser to Prime Minister Rt Hon (James) Harold Wilson during Nigerian Civil War, 1968-1970; President, The National Ski Federation, 1968-1972; President, Council for Volunteers Overseas, 1968-1974; Chairman, Advisory Committee on Police in Northern Ireland, 1969; President, Rainer Foundation, 1971-1985; Member, Royal Commission on the Press, 1974-1977; President, National Association of Probation Officers, 1974-1980; President, Royal Geographical Society, 1977-1980; created KG, 1979; Chairman, Intermediate Treatment Committee, 1980-1985; President, Council for National Parks, 1980-1986; joined Social Democratic Party, 1981; joined Social and Liberal Democrats, 1988; President, National Association for Outdoor Education, 1991-1993; awarded King Albert I Memorial Medal for Mountaineering, 1994; died 1998.
Publications: The ascent of Everest (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1953); Sir John Hunt's diary (Everest 1953) [1953]; Our Everest adventure. The pictorial history from Kathmandu to the summit, with Christopher Brasher (Brockhampton Press, Leicester, 1954); translation with Wilfrid Noyce of Starlight and storm. The ascent of six great north faces of the Alps by Gaston Rébuffat (Dent,London, 1956); The red snows. An account of the British Caucasus Expedition, 1958, with Christopher Brasher (Hutchinson, London, 1960); Nigeria. The problem of relief in the aftermath of the Nigerian civil war. Report of Lord Hunt's mission. (HMSO, London, 1970); Hunt Report on Mountain Training, July 1975 (British Mountaineering Council, Manchester, 1975); Life is meeting (Hodder andStoughton, London, 1978); editor of My favourite mountaineering stories (Lutterworth Press, Guildford, Surrey, 1978); In search of adventure [1989].
César L M Des Graz was Secretary to the Commandant of the ASTROLABE on the voyage, 1837-1840.
In 1836 Emperor Louis Philippe of France wanted France to play a part in the exploration of the Southern Seas. Dumont d'Urville in ASTROLABE would lead and would be accompanied by another ship LA ZELEE captained by Charles Hector Jacquinot. Seven scientists accompanied the crews on the voyage. The ships left Toulon 7 Sep 1837, the aim to locate the southern magnetic pole. On 22 Jan 1838 the ships came across Antarctic ice in the Antarctic peninsula region. They sailed across the Pacific in more temperate and tropical climes before heading south again to Tasmania arriving in November 1839. They set sail for Antarctica once again on 1 Jan 1840 and on the 19th sighted a part of the continent where the first ever landing on continental Antarctica was made. They determined the approximate position of the southern magnetic pole before heading back to Tasmania and New Zealand arriving back in Toulon France on 7 Nov 1840.
The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) was founded in 1830 as the Royal Geographical Society of London. Its aim was the advancement of Geographical Science. The Society was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in 1859. In 1995 the RGS merged with the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) to create the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers).
L R R Machin made an attempt to climb Mt Kenya in 1920 with J W Arthur, J T Oulton and James Youngson. Bad conditions made their climb unsuccessful.
Born, 1880; archæologist; physician at the Queen Victoria Hospital; doctor to the Duke of Connaught; pioneer of winter sports in the French Alps; died 1960.
Publications: Le col Alpin franchi par Hannibal (1958)
The North Australian Expedition explored North Australia from the Victoria River to Brisbane, 1855-1857. It was led by Augustus Charles Gregory (1819-1905) and was partly sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society.
Sir Percy Zachariah Cox was born on 20 November 1864 at Herongate, Essex; educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Cox obtained a commission with the 2nd Cameronians, stationed in India in 1884 and in 1889 joined the Indian Staff Corps. In 1893 Cox left India for the protectorate of British Somaliland; was appointed assistant political resident at Zeila, transferred to the principal port of Berbera in 1894, and in May 1895 was made Captain of an expedition against the Rer Hared clan, which had blocked trade routes and was raiding coastal groups. Given the expedition's success, he was promoted assistant to the viceroy's agent in Baroda.
In 1899 the new viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, offered Cox the chance to become political agent and consul at Muscat. In 1904 Cox was promoted as Acting Political Resident in the Persian Gulf as well as Consul-General for the Persian provinces of Fars, Lurestan, and Khuzestan. He became resident in 1909.
Cox became Secretary to the Government of India early in 1914, but the outbreak of war saw his dispatch back to the Gulf as chief political officer with the Indian expeditionary force. He was promoted to honorary Major-General in the course of the war, and saw some action with Major-General Charles Townshend, but his main role was administrative and political. In November 1918 Cox became acting-minister in Tehran, where he negotiated an Anglo-Persian treaty, but in June 1920 was made high commissioner in Iraq. Cox arrived in Baghdad in October 1920 to replace Sir Arnold Wilson and embarked on the most important work of his career, setting up a council of state under the venerable naqib of Baghdad.
In 1902, Cox was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire; Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, 1911; Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India, 1915; Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1917 and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1920. Cox received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, 1925 and Manchester, 1929; was Fellow of Royal Geographical Society, 1895-1937; President of the Royal Geographical Society, 1933-1936 and chairman of the Mount Everest committee. He died on 20 February 1937 while hunting.
Sir Richard Francis Burton was born 19 March 1821; he matriculated from Trinity College, Oxford in 1840. Colonel Burton purchased a commission for Burton in the Bombay army and he arrived in India in October 1842, serving as a staff interpreter, surveyor, and intelligence officer as well as carrying out infantry duties. Burton demonstrated proficiency in the East India Company's language examinations and during his life mastered more than forty languages and dialects. Burton also mastered cultures, enabling him to 'pass among native peoples in disguise'. Following a bout of cholera Burton returned to England and began to write, publishing dozens of books.
In 1852 Burton proposed to the Royal Geographical Society that he make the hajj, or pilgrimage, to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Forbidden to non-Muslims, Burton intended to make the pilgrimage in complete disguise as a Muslim native of the Middle East. With the RGS's support, Burton set off in 1854, taking notes and A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 1855-1856 became a classic piece of travel literature. Following this on 29 October 1854, disguised as a Turkish merchant, Burton began an expedition to Harar, an area no European had ever entered. On his return to England Burton was awarded the RGS's gold medal. Burton continued to travel to places including Damascus and North America and to write and died 20 October 1890.
Born, 1868; education, Exmouth House School, Stoke Damerel, and Stubbington House, Fareham, 1879, to be crammed for the Royal Navy; joined the training ship HMS BRITANNIA, 1881; passed out in 1883; served in turn aboard the BOADICEA, the MONARCH, and the ROVER, 1883-1887; Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1887-1888; sub-lieutenant in the SPIDE; posted to the DAPHNE and then to the AMPHION for service on the Pacific station at Esquimalt, British Columbia, 1889; returned to England to serve briefly on the CAROLINE in the Mediterranean, 1891; transferred to the VERNON (shore establishment) to specialise in torpedo work; qualified as torpedo lieutenant, first class, and was appointed to the VULCAN, 1893; 1895 to 1896 Scott served in the torpedo school Defiance, 1895-1896, the battleship EMPRESS OF INDIA, 1896-1897 and the MAJESTIC; appointed commander of the British National Antarctic expedition, 1900; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1900-1913; British National Antarctic expedition, 1901-1904; patron's gold medal, Royal Geographical Society, 1904; returned to active service, commanding in turn the VICTORIOUS, 1906, the ALBEMARLE, 1907, the ESSEX, 1908, and the BULWARK, 1909; naval assistant to the Second Sea Lord, 1909; British Antarctic expedition, 1910-1912; died, 1912.
Publications: The Voyage of the 'Discovery' (1905)
Born in Freiburg in Saxony, 1804; educated in Germany; entered business with his uncle and in 1826 went to the USA; West Indies, 1830 and surveyed, at his own cost, the littoral of Anegada, one of the Virgin Islands, 1831; explored the rivers Essequibo (the sources of which he was the first European to reach), Corentyn, and Berbice, and investigated in detail the capabilities of the colony of British Guiana under the direction of the Royal Geographical Society, 1835-1839; commissioner for surveying and marking out the boundaries of British Guiana, 1840-1844; Director of the Barbados General Railway Company; gazetted British consul in Santo Domingo, 1848; made a plenipotentiary to conclude a treaty of amity and commerce between Great Britain and the Dominican Republic,1849; British consul at Bangkok, Siam, 1857; undertook an important journey from Bangkok to Chiengmai, the capital of the tributary Kingdom of Laos, and then across the mountains to Moulmein on the Gulf of Martaban, 1859-1860; retired from the public service, 1864; died, 1865.
A Robert Jarratt Money was Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1891-1949, this may be the same person as Robert I Money.
Publications: 'The Hindiya Barrage, Mesopotamia' by Robert I. Money, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 50, No. 3 (Sep., 1917), pp. 217-222.
Born, 1858; educated, Glasgow University; mining expert, Spain, 1878; mining expert, Greece, 1879-1886; cartographic work on expedition to Mashonaland, 1891; Royal Geographical Society Murchison Grant, 1892; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1893-1904; expedition to South Africa, 1893-1895; examined the mining districts of Western Australia and Tasmania, 1896; examined the mining districts of Siam, 1898; mining work in the Malay peninsular, 1896-1904; died, 1904.
Born, 1816; master in St Peter's School, York; botanical field work in the Pyrenees, 1845; botanical and geographical work in the Amazon basin, 1849-1864; returned to England, 1864; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1866-1893; died, 1893.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, 1892; taught himself topographical and hydrographical surveying, 1910-1915; served in the First World War in France, 1914-1919; returned and continued his career in mapping South Africa, 1919; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1916-1932; worked in the Orange Free State, South Africa; reconnaissance in Basutoland; privately published the Gazetteer of Basutoland for which he was honoured by the Queen of England; awarded a prize by the Royal Geographical Society; fought to verify the traditional land claims of the Basotho people who lived near the Orange Free State, the Eastern Cape Colony, and Southern Transvaal. In 1955, he was evicted from his home, and 89 percent of his property was appropriated by the State.
Ashburnham served in the British Army in the Indian Mutiny, 1857-1858, the Second Afghan War, 1878-1880, the first Boer War, and in Egypt and the Sudan from 1882-1884. He was an ADC to Queen Victoria and awarded the KCB in 1882. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society,1897-1917.
The Survey of India Reunion was set up in Nov 1954 and was originally chaired by Brig Sir Clinton Lewis. Its inaugural party was held in the Overseas Club, 11 Feb 1955. The purpose of the Reunion was chiefly to serve the needs of those who had worked on the Survey of India previous to the partition of India, especially in making contact with former colleagues, but also served to keep in touch with the successor departments: Survey of India and Survey of Pakistan. The organisation was wound up in 1988.
Brant served as HM Consul in Erzerum, Turkey, from 1836-1840 and in Damascus during the late 1850s. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1857-1861.
The British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA) was founded in York on 27 September 1831. The organisation's initial purpose as expressed through its annual meetings held in different towns and cities throughout the UK was: 'to give a stronger impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry; to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate Science in different parts of the British Empire with one another and with foreign philosophers; to obtain more general attention for the objects of Science and the removal of any disadvantages of a public kind that may impede its progress.'
Notable events at early meetings include the coining of terms such as 'scientist' and 'dinosaur, 1841, also the debate on Darwinism between Huxley and Wilberforce, 1860, Joule's experiments, 1840s and the first demonstration of wireless transmission, 1894.
The BA organises major initiatives across the UK, including the annual BA Festival of Science, National Science and Engineering Week, programmes of regional and local events, and an extensive programme for young people in schools and colleges. The BA is a charity established under Royal Charter and governed by a Council which forms the Board of Trustees.
James Bruce, was born at Kinnaird House, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, on 14 December 1730, son of David Bruce (d 1758), laird of Kinnaird; educated in the family of Councillor William Hamilton in London, and Harrow School in 1742. Although inclined to become an Anglican clergyman on leaving school in 1746, he enrolled in the law faculty at Edinburgh University, May 1747. In 1753 he left Kinnaird for London, intending to embark as a 'free trader' with the East India Company; a year later he married, though his wife died in the same year of consumption.
In July 1757 he embarked for Spain and Portugal, travelled through France, the German states, and the Netherlands. In 1758 Bruce's father died, and he returned to Scotland to assume his responsibilities as laird of Kinnaird. He signed a contract on 4 November 1760 to supply the Carron ironworks with coal from his mines at Kinnaird providing him with the capital and the leisure to travel the world.
Bruce travelled on expeditions to the Algiers and Tunis, Abyssinia and the source of the Nile, returning to England in 1774. He postponed the composition of his Travels for sixteen years and anxious to emulate the form of James Cook's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean (one of the best-selling travel books of the century), Bruce published his 3000-page Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in five quarto volumes in 1790. Bruce died in his home in 1794. Much controversy surrounded Bruce' work and although subsequent travellers did much to restore Bruce's credit, his reputation never fully recovered.
Margaret A Chambers was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1913-1928.
Publications by Coleman include The 1766 Navy List, Captain Vancouver and The Royal Navy and Polar Exploration: From Franklin to Scott.
Cape Coast Castle, a fortification in Ghana, was built to secure the trade in timber and gold and later used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It was first built in 1653 in timber for the Swedish Africa Company; later rebuilt in stone and seized by the Danes before being conquered by the British in 1654. It was extensively rebuilt by the 'Committee of Merchants' and in 1844 became the seat of the colonial Government of the British Gold Coast.
The Royal African Company was established by the Stuarts and London Merchants for slaving following the Restoration in 1660. The Company was led by James, Duke of York and brother to King Charles II, and was originally known as the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa. The company abandoned slaving in 1731 and began trafficking ivory and gold dust. Charles Hayes was the sub-governor of the Company until 1752 when it was dissolved and succeeded by the Africa Company. The Company's logo was of an elephant and a castle; the Royal Africa Company provided gold to the English mint, 1668-1772 and coins made from this gold bore a depiction of an elephant below the bust of the monarch and were named the 'guinea'.
James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in the village of Marton in Cleveland, North Riding of Yorkshire; attended Postgate School, Great Ayton; later signing an apprenticeship agreement with John Walker, a highly respected Quaker shipowner, whose ships, based on Whitby, were employed in the North Sea coal trade; in 1755 Cook was offered the command of one of Walker's ships, but instead enlisted in the Royal Navy as an able seaman. In 1757, he passed the examination for master and becoming responsible for the navigation and handling of ships of the Royal Navy. Cook spent most of the Seven Years' War in North American waters and after meeting Major Samuel Holland, took an active interest in hydrographic surveying. During a raid on French settlements in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Cook surveyed the Bay of Gaspé; the chart was published by Mount and Page the following year.
On 19 April 1763, Cook took passage for Newfoundland in Graves's ship the Antelope; on arrival Graves sent Cook to survey the islands of St Pierre and Miquelon which were to be restored to France; over the next four years Cook surveyed the whole of the west and south coasts of the island, returning to England each autumn to draw his charts and refit the schooner. In 1766, with permission from the Admiralty, Cook began publishing his surveys and sailing directions; his surveys were published in 1769 in a folio atlas by Thomas Jeffreys, who republished Cook's sailing directions in the same year in The Newfoundland Pilot. These were incorporated in the famous North American Pilot published by Sayer and Bennett in 1775. Cook returned to England on 15 November 1767 and was appointed by the Royal Society for an expedition to the South Pacific to observe the transit of Venus across the face of the sun, which would enable the distance between the earth and the sun to be calculated. The astronomer Charles Green was appointed by the Royal Society to observe the transit of Venus, with Cook as the second observer. The Endeavour set sail in 1768 and, after calling at Madeira and Rio de Janeiro and rounding Cape Horn, anchored in Matavai Bay on the north coast of Tahiti on 13 April 1769. The east coast of New Zealand was sighted on 6 October and Cook spent the next six months carrying out a running survey of New Zealand's North and South islands; next carrying out a running survey of the unknown east coast of Australia. The voyage was judged a success and Cook was promoted to commander on 29 August 1771.
In spite of the achievements of Cook's first voyage there were vast areas in the Southern Ocean where a great land mass might yet be found and Cook therefore proposed that a search for it should be made by circumnavigating the globe from west to east in a high southern latitude. Cook sailed the Resolution from Plymouth on 13 July 1772 and in 1773 became the first person to cross the Antarctic Circle. On his return to England Cook was promoted to post captain on 9 August 1775 and appointed fourth captain of Greenwich Hospital. In March 1776, Cook was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and at the same time awarded the society's Copley medal for his work on the prevention of scurvy. Cook commanded a further expedition to the Pacific, 1776-1779 in October 1776, the ship anchored in Table Bay, where Cook was joined by the Discovery. On crossing the Indian Ocean, Cook fixed the position of Prince Edward and Marion islands and carried out a running survey of the north coast of Kerguelen, establishing the island's longitude accurately with the aid of K1; later sighting Oahu and Kauai, at the western end of the Hawaiian Islands, 1778. After carrying out a running survey of the easternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, Cook anchored in Kealakekua Bay on the island of Hawaii on 17 January 1779. At first he was well received, however an extended stay was not welcomed, resulting in the theft of the Discovery's cutter. Cook landed with an escort of marines in an attempt to persuade the local chief to return on board where he intended to hold him as a hostage against the return of the cutter. This resulted in an altercation, with Cook and four others being killed. Cook died 14 February 1779.
Born, 1821; educated, private school at Rottingdean; College School, Gloucester, 1833-1835; private tutor, 1838-1840; departed for Germany to finish his education, 1840; travelled to Mauritius to manage the family estate, 1845; relocated to Ceylon to establish a coffee plantation and an English colony at Nuwera Eliya, 1845-1854; while in Ceylon he established an impressive reputation as a big game hunter; traveled in eastern Europe; manager-general with the Danube and Black Sea Railway, 1859-1860; traveled in Asia Minor; expedition to discover the sources of the Nile River, 1861-1865; Royal Geographical Society's gold medal, 1865; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1865-1893; governor-general of the equatorial Nile basin, 1869-1873; returned to England, 1873; died, 1893.
W C Fox served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in India, 1916-1919.
Born, 1811; medical missionary in China; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1858-1896; died, 1896.
William Archibald MacFadyen was in the employ of several petroleum companies and of the Iraqi government, 1921-1939; served in the Army, 1939-1945; went to British Somaliland in the employ of the General Survey, 1946; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1927-1985; died, 1985.
W O McEwan was awarded the Royal Geographical Society Cuthbert Peek grant to travel to Lake Nyasa to take up the work of James Stewart of the 'Lake Junction road', 1884. Before leaving for Africa he took a course of instruction on Practical Astronomy at the Royal Geographical Society. He died sometime before 1888.
Born, USA, 1912; educated Lincoln School, New York, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon, 1925-1931; Trinity College, Cambridge, 1931-1933; left Cambridge to devote himself to motor sport, 1933; formed the Straight Corporation, 1935; Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 1940; air aide-de-camp to King George VI, 1944; first deputy chairman and managing director of British European Airways, 1946; chairman of Government advisory committee on private flying, 1947; chairman of the Royal Aero Club, 1946-1951; deputy chairman British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), 1947; executive vice-chairman BOAC 1949-1957; executive vice-chairman, Rolls-Royce Ltd, 1955; deputy chairman; chairman, 1971-1976; board of the Midland Bank, 1956; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1964-1979; deputy chairman of the new Post Office Corporation, 1969-1974; died, 1979.
Mate in the RESOLUTE under Captain Austin in the expedition of 1850-1851; first lieutenant of the ASSISTANCE in Sir E Belcher's expedition, [1852]-1854; retired captain, 1869; died, 1896.
The Hygiene Course at Bedford College was established in 1896 under the encouragement of Dr Louis Parkes, Medical Officer of Health for Chelsea as he felt there was an opportunity for the training of women as hygiene inspectors. The course was recognised as being very academic and criticised as too academic for the role of hygiene inspector by some members of the medical establishment. In 1918, the Department of Hygiene was closed, but some of the staff transferred to the new Department of Social Studies where a course offering training to Health Visitors was offered. This course was again criticised as too academic and too rigorous as it was a one-year course rather than the six month minimum duration required by the Ministry of Health. However the course survived and had to adapt to meet the increasing requirements from the Ministry of Health.
In 1921, Bedford College partnered with the League of Red Cross Societies and the College of Nursing to offer courses in Public Health to international nursing students. The League of Red Cross Societies offered scholarships to qualified nurses from all over the world to study Public Health for a year in London. The students undertook academic lectures at Bedford College and completed practical work in hospitals around London and later further afield in Britain and mainland Europe. The students also had guest lecturers from other colleges including King's College, University College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 1925, a second course was introduced for nurse administrators and teachers in schools of nursing. The nurses lived at a residence owned by the League of Red Cross Societies at 15 Manchester Square.
In 1934, due to financial difficulties the League of Red Cross Societies withdrew from the administration of the courses and the Florence Nightingale International Foundation was established to raise funds and provide scholarships to nurses. In 1938 the courses were merged and allowed students to choose which subjects they wanted to study. 1939 proved to be the last year of the courses as they were cancelled in September due to the beginning of World War Two.
Nursing studies was not reintroduced at Bedford College until 1981. However, since the late 1960s students had been able to take a joint degree in Sociology with a qualification as a registered nurse in conjunction with the Royal Middlesex Hospital. The Nursing Studies course was a four year BSc degree course including a qualification as a State Registered Nurse. The course only had two intakes of students due to the suspension of the course following the merger of Bedford College with Royal Holloway. The possibility of relocating the course to Royal Holloway's Egham site was considered but due to the inability to find a suitable hospital to offer practical placements, the course was permanently discontinued. The final students graduated in 1986.
The Council set up the Library Committee in 1886, though Rachel Notcutt had been Librarian since 1872. The original Committee included six former students, a representative of the present students, the Secretary of Council, and the Librarian. A member of the Council and a further two present students were added in 1890, but staff were not represented until 1895, when two were allowed to sit on the Committee. At the same time, the former students were removed from the Library Committee and replaced by the Chairman and seven members of the Council. The Principal became an ex officio member, and a fourth present student was added. The 1909 Charter removed student representation altogether. The composition altered once more in 1937, and the Committee comprised all Heads of Departments, a member of Assistant staff from each Faculty, four Council representatives and the ex officio Committee members. The Librarian has throughout acted as Secretary to the Committee. After the resignation of Rachel Notcutt in 1896, volunteers held the post until 1902, when a full time Librarian was appointed. The Library staff slowly increased, and in 1926 the Librarian was assigned the status of Head of an academic department. The scope of the Committee was to draw up rules for the use of the Library, and to arrange the books.
Until the grant of a Royal Charter in 1909, Bedford College had no modern administration system, relying instead on the good offices of several volunteers. With the move to Regent's Park in 1911-1913, the burden on the Secretary became too great, and the salaried offices of Bursar and Registrar were created in 1913. The Registrar's Department was concerned with all matters affecting the students and their studies, such as registration, academic development and student administration. From 1913 to 1945 and 1981-1985 the post of Registrar was combined with that of the Principal's Secretary.
Previous to this, files relating to individual students and the classes attended were kept in the Principal's Office. Before the appointment of a Principal in 1892, the Lady Resident kept details of fees and pupils. In 1888, student registers dating back to 1849 were compiled by Henrietta Busk.
'The Residence': Mrs Reid's home in Grenville Street housed early boarders attending Bedford College, until the purchase of 48 Bedford Square.
Bedford Square: The College opened at 47 Bedford Square in 1849. In 1860, Mrs Reid created a Trust for the Managers of the Residence to lease 48 Bedford Square for the use of boarders. The leases were given up on the move of the College to York Place.
York Place, Baker Street: Bedford College moved here in 1874. The Managers of the Residence leased Numbers 8 and 9, and though the College were their tenants for Number 8, the two houses acted as one, with the College using the downstairs rooms and the Residence the upstairs. The Managers passed the lease for both houses to the College Council in 1894. In 1889-1890, the Shaen Wing was built behind the York Place houses to create Physics and Chemistry laboratories. In 1896 10 York Place was leased to provide for Botany and Geology laboratories, a Training Department, a gymnasium, a Library extension and a Professors' Common Room. 7 York Place was leased in 1903. All the York Place leases were sold by 1915.
East Street: Running behind York Place, 64, 65 and 66 East Street were leased by the Managers of the Residence and held for Bedford College until the move to Regent's Park.
Regent's Park Site: Bedford College bought the lease to the South Villa Estate in 1908, and raised money for a new college through a Building and Endowment Fund. The existing house was maintained until after World War One, and from 1909 housed the Training Department and the Art School, and acted as a Residence for the boarders. Designed by the architect Basil Champneys, the new Bedford College was built 1910-1913, and included Reid and Shaen Halls of Residence, (later [1948-1950] renamed Reid Hall, with Shaen, Bostock and Oliver Wings), Oliver Dining Hall, South and North Science Blocks, the Arts and Administration Block, and the Tate Library. Several extensions were made to the original buildings. The Sargent Laboratory for Botany was opened in 1925, the Tuke Building, designed by Maxwell Ayrton, was completed in 1931 and included Inorganic and Physical Chemistry laboratories, an Observatory, space for the Departments of Philosophy, Psychology, Social Studies, Geography, Italian, French and German, lecture rooms, staff rooms, common rooms, Student Union rooms and a large hall, and the Tate Library was divided into two storeys in 1932. Following severe bombing during World War Two, Oliver Hall, the Arts and Administration Building and the North Science Block were practically destroyed. Rebuilding began immediately, and comprised a rebuilt Oliver Hall (1947-1949) with kitchens, refectory, common rooms and a Mathematics Department; a new arts building called the Herringham Building (1948-1951) housing a Hall, Council Room, and the Departments of Greek, Dutch and Latin; and the Darwin Building (1950-1952) to contain the Departments of Geology, Botany and Zoology. The South Science Block was renamed the Arthur Acland Building. Owing to the growth of the College, further extensions were made, such as additions to the Acland Building in the 1950s; the extension of Reid Hall to house a Common Room and Student's Union (1958-1959); the addition of a new wing and extra storey to the Tuke Building; the building of the Botany Garden Laboratories, 1965-1966; the four-storey extension of the Library known as the Jebb Building, 1962-1964; the rebuilding of the kitchens in 1967-1969; the Tuke-Darwin Infill Building in 1971; and the Wolfson Psychology Library, built over the kitchens in Oliver Hall.
Dorset Square: In 1915, 20 Dorset Square was taken as a hostel for 15 students (it was given up in 1924). Numbers 35 and 36 were acquired in 1918 to provide additional accommodation. In 1925, the buildings were extended further with the purchase of two more adjoining houses and the refurbishment of the premises to hold 60 students. The buildings were then named Notcutt House in memory of the former student and Librarian, Miss Rachel Notcutt. The Hall was damaged beyond repair by the 1941 bombing raids on London. The leases of 10, 11 and 12 Dorset Square were acquired in 1966 after money was received from an anonymous benefactor. Named Tennyson Hall, the building opened in 1968 as a residence for 50 male students.
Bedford College House: Three adjoining houses in Adamson Road and one house in Buckland Crescent were taken in 1919. These housed 37 students and were named Bedford College House in 1925. They formed the nucleus of a residential centre to which more houses were later added. Bedford College House was renamed Lindsell Hall in 1944. Various changes were made over the years so that by 1968 the buildings housed 87 students. During the 1969-1970 session male students were housed in part of the Hall in Buckland Crescent. It therefore became the first mixed Hall of Residence.
Hanover Lodge: The building stood in the Outer Circle of Regent's Park, and was leased in 1947 as a residence for 30 students. It was extended in 1962-1963 so that by the 1966-1967 session it provided accommodation for a total of 231 students. From 1970 the accommodation was made available for men and women.
Broadhurst Gardens: 15-26 Broadhurst Gardens were taken as a residence in 1945 to solve the accommodation problem caused by damage to buildings during World War Two. The six buildings housed 60 students and were kept until 1949.
The Holme: Another property taken as a result of bomb damage to College buildings, the Holme was leased from 1946. Situated in the Inner Circle, it housed the Departments of English, Classics and Italian, while the second floor became an extension of the College Residence. The lease was given up in 1975.
St John's Lodge: This building in the Inner Circle, just beyond The Holme, was leased in 1944-1946 to hold the English and Classics Departments. In 1959 it was leased again. At first it provided residential and Union accommodation and later housed the Departments of History, Greek and Latin. Alterations were made to it in 1962.
Nottingham Place: This building was acquired in 1951 and later renamed Rachel Notcutt Hall. It was reserved for women and accommodated 16-22 students. It was given up in 1984.
The power to create Standing and Special Committees was given to the Council of Bedford College when the Articles of Association were drawn up in 1869. This power remained with the Council following the Incorporation by Royal Charter in 1909, with the Chairman of Council, the Honorary Treasurer, the Vice-Chairman, the Principal and the Vice-Principal all becoming ex officio members of every Committee. All appointments to Committees were made annually by the Council at its first meeting after the AGM, with the term of office usually being three years. All Committees were required to appoint a Chairman, and the Secretary of the Council also acted as Secretary to all its Committees.
Standing Committees comprise:
The Finance Committee, formed by the Council in 1889, with the Honorary Treasurer being automatically created its Chair after administrative reforms in 1899. The Charter of 1909 allowed for its four members to be elected by the Council, though revisions to the by-laws in 1972, 1977, 1979 and 1983 meant it became much larger and made up of the ex officio members plus the Deans of the Faculties, the President and Vice-President of the Union Society, and 8-10 Governors. The Committee is responsible for reporting to the Council on all financial affairs of the College.
The Policy and Estimates Committee, instituted by the Council in 1972, and revoked in 1979. It consisted of the Chairman of the Council, the Honorary Treasurer, the Principal, the Deans of the Faculties, 2 lay members of the Council, and 4 members elected by the Academic Board. Its role was to advise the Council on development policy in its inter-related academic, physical and financial aspects, and to exercise scrutiny over quinquennial and annual estimates of expenditure. Reports were sent to the Council and the Academic Board.
Standing Committee on Laboratory Expenditure.
The Committee of Education, constituted by the Committee of Management in 1868, and intended to address all educational questions. The original members were Pattison, Bostock, Bryce and Eleanor Smith, and one of their number met with all students entering the College to advise them in their choice of subjects. The Committee had the main responsibility for the administration of educational matters, such as timetables and examinations. (A Sub-Committee was formed in 1882 for the purpose of advising students on courses of study, but seems to have only functioned at the beginning of term.) In 1881 the Council passed a resolution allowing Professors to elect three of their number onto the Committee of Education, with Staff representation increasing to six in 1892. The Committee was replaced by the Board of Education in 1896. The Board consisted of three ex officio members (Chairman and Honorary Secretary of the Council, and the Principal) and five representatives each from the Council and the teaching staff. This incarnation possessed wide advisory powers in educational matters, including staff appointments. In the 1909 Royal Charter of Incorporation the Board of Education was replaced by the Academic Board.
Physical Education Committee.
In 1871 the Professors were requested by the Council to form themselves into Board of Studies, though there appear to have been no regular meetings for ten years. At their occasional meetings they gave general advice on educational matters, and in 1881 were allowed by the Council to elect three representatives to the Education Committee. At the meeting to elect these representatives, the staff also resolved to meet twice a term and appointed a Chairman and Secretary. From then on the Staff Meeting met regularly, at least once a term, with duties including the nomination of students for scholarships and other minor educational matters referred to it by the Council. The membership of the Staff Meeting was officially laid down in 1882, and was initially confined to Professors, though Assistant staff were invited to attend and take part. In the by-laws of 1902, membership was widened to include Lecturers, Assistant Lecturers, and the Principal. By 1892, the representation of the Staff Meeting on the Education Committee had increased to six. Following agitation by the Staff Meeting for official representation in the government of Bedford College, the new Board of Education was set up in 1896, the composition of which included five members of the staff. The duties of the Staff Meeting were taken over by the Academic Board in 1909.
The Loan Fund Committee for the Training of Teachers came into being following the inauguration at Bedford College of the Department for Professional Training of Teachers. A Loan Fund was set up for students in the Department in 1892, though this was extended to all students of the College in 1896 (see Principal's Loan Fund).
Building Committees were founded on an ad hoc basis in response to a particular need until 1978. Therefore there are Committees relating to different building projects undertaken by the College, such as the Premises Committee, 1908-1915, which oversaw the purchase and alteration of the Regent's Park site and worked hand-in-hand with the Building Fund Committee that raised funds for the venture. The Regent's Park site was subject to constant extension and building work, especially following severe bombing in World War Two, and several Committees were set up to control planning, expenditure, and contracts. The House Committee, created in 1876, was a different matter. Its role was to superintend the maintenance of the College premises and residences, regulate the housekeeping expenses and submit reports to the Council and Finance Committee every term. It consisted of five Governors appointed by the Council, one member of the teaching staff nominated annually by the Academic Board, and the Principal, who was to act as ex officio Secretary. In 1978 overall responsibility for building and maintenance was put into the hands of the Estates Management Committee, which took on domestic concerns as well as building and maintenance. It consisted of the ex officio Committee members, three Councillors, three teaching staff, one member of the Space Committee, two undergraduate students appointed by the Bedford College Union Society, one post-graduate student, and the Wardens of the Halls of Residence. Its brief was to monitor negotiations for the purchase, sale, lease or planning permission of sites and premises; to supervise the planning, costing, drawing up of contracts and progress of building, improvement and maintenance work; to control and supervise the management and routine maintenance of College's grounds, premises and household services; to present accounts and estimates for building work; to report expenditure on maintenance of the household, Refectory, Halls of Residence, sports facilities and parking; and present recommendations for fees and charges.
Special Committees were formed as required, mainly to deal with constitutional matters. For example, the Acland Committee, formed in 1899 and chaired by the Rt Hon Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland, was appointed 'to consider steps for the setting of the College on a sound financial basis' and 'to recommend to the Council any changes in the constitution or organisation of the College...' Its report resulted in the increase of College revenue and the increased representation of the staff in the government of the College. Other Special Committees have been set up to scrutinise the implications of the admission of men to Bedford College, and the possibility of merging with various other colleges of the University of London, including Westfield, King's College, and Royal Holloway. Joint Planning Committees of Bedford College and Royal Holloway College oversaw the mechanics of the merger in 1982-1985.
(Charles) Neal Ascherson (1932-) was born in Edinburgh and educated at Cambridge. He is a journalist and writer who has written extensively on Eastern Europe, particularly Poland. Ascherson first visited Poland in 1957, to report for the Manchester Guardian and has returned frequently. In 1980-1981 he covered the rise of the Solidarity movement and the subsequent imposition of martial law for The Observer. Ascherson also reported on the "Prague Spring" in Czechoslovakia in 1968. His publications on Eastern European topics have included Polish August (London, 1981), The Struggles for Poland (London, 1987) and Black Sea (London, 1995).
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J Bloch and Co, Moscow were agents for the importation of pumps, weighing machines, Otis lifts, Remington typewriters and Edison's mimeographs
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Alfred Claude Bromhead (1876-1963) worked before the First World War as the British representative of the French film projector company belonging to Leon Gaumont. This led to him also becoming involved with the showing and distribution of films. Bromhead was also a territorial officer in an infantry battalion of the Queen's Regiment. After the outbreak of the First World War he was chosen by the British Government to undertake British Military Cinematographic Mission to Russia to show British propaganda films to Russian troops. The aim was to impress upon Russian troops the scale of the British war effort in order to keep up morale and to encourage pro-British sentiment.
D E Budgen was a research student at St John's College Oxford, 1976.
David Roden Buxton travelled to the Soviet Union as a student in 1928 to engage in a study of medieval architecture. He also made observations on the living conditions and way of life of the Soviet people. He visited Central and North West Russia, the Volga Region and parts of the Ukraine. He returned in 1932 for a similar visit to Northern Russia. He published accounts of both these journeys. In later life Buxton wrote a number of other works on architecture and on Ethiopia where he lived 1942-1949.
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is a Christian human rights organization for religious liberty helping victims of religious repression, victimized children and victims of disaster. CSI was founded by Revd. Hans Stückelberger, following silent demonstrations in Switzerland in support of persecuted Christians, in 1977.
Stephen Clissold (1913-1982) held various appointments in or relating to Yugoslavia and served in the British Council and the Foreign Office Research Department. He wrote a number of works on Yugoslavia.
Olive Marjorie Deacon (1891-1950) was born in Scotland. During World War One she went to work at the Scottish Womens' Hospital in Belgrade, Serbia. After the hospital was closed Olive Deacon and three other aid workers under the auspices of the American Relief Administration Childrens' Fund went to Pec Montenegro to establish two orphanages. They left in 1920 after this had been accomplished.
John Deane (1679-1762) entered the Russian Navy in 1711 as a lieutenant and served until 1722 when he returned to Britain. In 1725 he was employed by the British Foreign Office to act officially as a commercial consul in St Petersburg and unofficially as a spy. He went on serve as commercial consul in Flanders before retiring to Britain.