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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.

See the biography for Billinghurst; Rosa May (1875-1953); suffragette

Rosa May Billinghurst (1875-1953) was born in Lewisham in 1875. As a child she suffered total paralysis that left her disabled throughout her adult life. However, this did not prevent her becoming active in social work in a Greenwich workhouse, teaching in a Sunday school and joining the Band of Hope. She was also politically active in the Women's Liberal Association before becoming a member of the Women's Social & Political Union (WSPU) in 1907. She took part in the WSPU's march to the Albert Hall in Jun 1908 and also helped run the group's action in the Haggerston by-election the following month. Two years later, she founded and was the first secretary of the Greenwich branch of the WSPU and that same year she took part in the 'Black Friday' demonstrations where she was thrown out of her adapted tricycle and arrested. She was arrested several more times in the next few years culminating in a sentence of eight months for damage to letterboxes ('pillar box arson') and imprisoned in Holloway Prison. She went on hunger strike and was force-fed with other suffragettes. The experience led her to be released two weeks later on grounds of ill health. She was able to speak at a public meeting in West Hampstead in Mar 1913 and took part in the funeral procession of Emily Wilding Davison two months later.

She supported Christabel Pankhurst's campaign to be elected in Smethwick in 1918 and the friendship with the Pankhursts seems to have survived into the 1920s. However, she later joined the Women's Freedom League and became part of the Suffragette Fellowship. She lived for some time with her brother Henry Billinghurst, an artist, and spent the last years of her life in Weybridge, Surrey. She died on the 4 Sep 1953.

Rosa May Billinghurst (1875-1953) was born in Lewisham in 1875. As a child she suffered total paralysis that left her disabled throughout her adult life. However, this did not prevent her becoming active in social work in a Greenwich workhouse, teaching in a Sunday school and joining the Band of Hope. She was also politically active in the Women's Liberal Association before becoming a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1907. She took part in the WSPU's march to the Albert Hall in Jun 1908 and also helped run the group's action in the Haggerston by-election the following month. Two years later, she founded and was the first secretary of the Greenwich branch of the WSPU and that same year she took part in the 'Black Friday' demonstrations where she was thrown out of her adapted tricycle and arrested. She was arrested several more times in the next few years culminating in a sentence of eight months for damage to letterboxes ('pillar box arson') and imprisoned in Holloway Prison. She went on hunger strike and was force-fed with other suffragettes. The experience led her to be released two weeks later on grounds of ill health. She was able to speak at a public meeting in West Hampstead in Mar 1913 and took part in the funeral procession of Emily Wilding Davison two months later. She supported Christabel Pankhurst's campaign to be elected in Smethwick in 1918 and the friendship with the Pankhursts seems to have survived into the 1920s. However, she later joined the Women's Freedom League and became part of the Suffragette Fellowship. She lived for some time with her brother Henry Billinghurst, an artist, and spent the last years of her life in Weybridge, Surrey. She died on the 4 Sep 1953.

Alice Jane Shannon Ker (1853-1943) was born in 1853, the eldest daughter of Edward Stewart Ker, a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. In 1872 she attended University Classes for Ladies in literature and physiology and became a friend of Sophia Jex-Blake who was involved in a dispute with the University of Edinburgh to allow women to study medicine there. Ker eventually studied and took her degree at the King and Queen's College of Physicians in Dublin. She went on to share a practice with Jex-Blake for a year in Edinburgh before studying at Berne University, then working as a house surgeon at the Children's Hospital in Birmingham. She returned to Edinburgh in 1887 and set up an independent practice. The following year she married her cousin Edward Ker and moved with him to Birkenhead and became Honorary Medical Officer to the Wirral Hospital for Sick Children and to the Wirral Lying-In Hospital. During this time, she lectured in domestic economy as well as becoming involved in the Temperance Movement and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In the 1890s she also became active in local suffrage work in the Birkenhead Women's Suffrage Society. In 1907, her husband died suddenly. After this point, Dr Ker's suffrage activities increased and she became increasingly involved with the militant Women's Social and Political Union along with her seventeen year old daughter Margaret. She was in contact with Lady Constance Lytton and Mary Gawthorpe as well as Mrs Forbes Robertson. In Mar 1912 she took part in a smashing raid at Harrods Department Store in London and was arrested and subsequently imprisoned in Holloway Prison for three months. She was released on 10 May 1912 and continued her suffrage activities as well as war work, in Liverpool, where she moved in 1914. She was the host of Sylvia Pankhurst when she spoke there in 1916, before moving to London, where she died in 1943. Her daughter Margaret was a student at the University of Liverpool at this time and she too took part in militant activity. She was arrested twice, the second time spending three months in Walton Gaol from Nov 1912 to Jan 1913. She died in 1943.

Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) (1903-c 1919) was the prime mover of suffrage militancy. In Oct 1903 the WSPU was founded in Manchester at Emmeline Pankhurst's home in Nelson Street. Members include: Emmeline, Adela and Christabel Pankhrst, Teresa Billington-Greig, Annie Kenney and Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy. Several had been members of the NUWSS and had links with the Independent Labour Party, but were frustrated with progress, reflected in the WSPU motto 'Deeds, not Words'. An initial aim of WSPU was to recruit more working class women into the struggle for the vote. In late 1905 the WSPU began militant action with the consequent imprisonment of their members. The first incident was on 13 Oct 1905, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney attended a meeting in London where they heckled the speaker Sir Edward Grey, a minister in the British government. Pankhurst and Kenney were arrested, charged with assault upon a police officer and fined five shillings each. They refused to pay the fine and were sent to prison. In 1906 the WSPU moved to London and continued militant action - with the Daily Mail calling the activists 'suffragettes' an unfavourable term adopted by the group. Between 1906-1908 there were several constitutional disagreements with the Women's Freedom League being founded in Nov 1907 by the 'Charlotte Despard faction'. From 1908 the WSPU tactics of disturbing meetings developed to breaking the windows of government buildings. This increased the number of women imprisoned. In Jul 1909 Marion Dunlop was the first imprisoned suffragette to go on hunger strike, many suffragettes followed her example and force-feeding was introduced. Between 1910-1911 the Conciliation Bills were presented to Parliament and militant activity ceased, but when Parliament sidelined these Bills the WSPU re-introduced their active protests.

Between 1912-1914 there was an escalation of WSPU violence - damage to property and arson and bombing attacks became common tactics. Targets included government and public buildings, politicians' homes, cricket pavilions, racecourse stands and golf clubhouses. Some members of the WSPU such as the Pethick-Lawrences, disagreed with this arson campaign and were expelled. Other members showed their disapproval by leaving the WSPU. The Pethick-Lawrences took with them the journal 'Votes for Women', hence the new journal of the WSPU the 'Suffragette' launched in Oct 1912. In 1913 in response to the escalation of violence, imprisonment and hunger strikes the government introduced the Prisoner's Temporary Discharge of Ill Health Act (popularly known as the 'Cat and Mouse Act'). Suffragettes who went on hunger strike were released from prison as soon as they became ill and when recovered they were re-imprisoned.

Discord within the WSPU continued - In Jan 1914 Sylvia Pankhurst's 'East London Federation of the WSPU' was expelled from the WSPU and became an independent suffrage organisation. On 4 Aug 1914, England declared war on Germany. Two days later the NUWSS announced that it was suspending all political activity until the war was over. In return for the release of all suffragettes from prison the WSPU agreed to end their militant activities. The WSPU organised a major rally attended by 30,000 people in London to emphasise the change of direction. In Oct 1915, The WSPU changed its newspaper's name from 'The Suffragette' to 'Britannia'. Emmeline's patriotic view of the war was reflected in the paper's new slogan: 'For King, For Country, for Freedom'. the paper was 'conservative' in tone and attacked campaigners, politicians, military leaders and pacifists for not furthering the war effort. Not all members supported the WSPU war policy and several independent groups were set up as members left the WSPU. In 1917 the WSPU became known as the 'Women's Party and in Dec 1918 fielded candidates at the general election (including Christabel Pankhurst). However they were not successful and the organisation does not appear to have survived beyond 1919.

Tower Ward School was founded by voluntary subscription in 1707 for girls and in 1709 for boys. In 1808 the school bought a house in Great Tower Street; 9 Black Raven Court was purchased in 1846 for use as a school house. In 1874 the school was united with the Billingsgate Ward School and both properties were subsequently sold.

Billingsgate Ward School was established by subscription in 1714 to educate and clothe boys and girls. From 1852 32 Botolph Lane was used as the schoolhouse and when the school united with Tower Ward School in 1874, this property continued to be used.

The united school merged with the combined Bridge, Candlewick and Dowgate Wards School in 1891 and this school combined with St Botolph Parochial School in 1905 to form the Sir John Cass Junior School.

The Billingsgate Christian Mission was founded in 1878. The mission incorporated the humanitarian aims of the former Billingsgate District Association with Christian missionary work within Billingsgate Fish Market. The dispensary was established in 1897 when the need for medical work within the market became evident. Free first aid treatment was offered to those engaged in or about the market and the mission was subsequently renamed the Billingsgate Christian Mission and Dispensary. The mission also trained nurses and missionary students prior to undertaking missionary work abroad until the mid-1950's.

Until 1890 the mission met at the Weigh House Chapel, 31 King Street. In this year the building work begun in July 1889 was completed and the mission moved into its own premises at 19 St Mary at Hill, opposite the market gates.

The mission was a registered charity (No. 225189) and was predominately funded by subscriptions and donations from companies and businessmen associated with the market. It was closed on 31 December 1990, the majority of its work and its income having been relocated with the Fish Market in 1982.

Billingsgate Cold Stores Ltd

Billingsgate Cold Stores Limited was formed in 1975 to take over the operation of the market cold stores from the London Ice and Cold Storage Company Limited.

James Hall was a Fellowship Porter of 32 Hollybush Gardens, Bethnal Green. He was born c 1861. A a 'fellowship porter' was a specific class of market porter who was a member of the Fellowship of the Porters of Billingsgate, the fish market.

The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council.

One of the twenty-six wards of the City of London, fronting the River Thames, running west from Tower Ward to London Bridge. The ward with its quays on the water front was home to a large fish market. In addition, the ward contained five City parish churches: St Mary At Hill, St Margaret Pattens, St Andrew Hubbard, St George Botolph Lane and St Botolph.

Billingsgate Ward School

The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council. Billingsgate Ward fronts the River Thames, running west from Tower Ward to London Bridge. The ward with its quays on the water front was home to a large fish market.

Billingsgate Ward School was established by subscription in 1714 to educate and clothe boys and girls. From 1852, 32 Botolph Lane was used as the schoolhouse and when the school united with Tower Ward School in 1874, this property continued to be used. St Botolph Aldgate Parochial School amalgamated with Billingsgate Ward School and Tower Ward School in 1905 to form the Sir John Cass Junior School.

Bilson born 1547 in Winchester, where he was educated and at New College Oxford; fellow 1564/5; Prebendary of Winchester, and Warden of the College there; Bishop of Worcester, 1596; translated to the see of Winchester, three years later; died 1616.

Sandline International is a private military consultancy set up in the early 1990s providing conflict resolution and military support services to governments and organisations. Its staff include retired military personnel, legal and commercial experts who provide advice on armed forces restructuring, military training and threat analysis.

Edward Bindloss was ordained priest in 1837 and, after serving a number of curacies in England, was appointed chaplain to the British Factory (Russia Company) at Archangel, Russia, in 1847.

On 12 June 1861 he married Maria Mathilda Clarke, daughter of Felix Clarke of Archangel, merchant. They had five children, Edward Richard, died 1864; Arthur Henry, born 1863; Mary Alice, born 1865; Amy Helen Maud, born 1868; Edward Alexander Morgan, born 1875. Maria Mathilda Bindloss died in 1881.

Edward retained his post until his death, and resided at Archangel except for periods of leave until 1882, when the death of his wife led the Company to grant him perpetual leave of absence on full pay so as to care for his children in England. He died in 1883.

S.T. Bindoff was born 8 April 1908 in Hove, Sussex, to Thomas Henry and Mary Bindoff. He was educated at Brighton Grammar School and University College London, where he achieved a BA (History Hons) in 1929 and an MA with a mark of distinction in 1933.

After graduation he worked as a research assistant, a professional indexer and a history tutor. He worked at University College London from 1935-45, as an Assistant Lecturer and then a Lecturer in History. During World War Two he served in the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty from 1942-1945. He then worked as a Reader in Modern History at University College London from 1945-1951. In 1951 he became the first Professor of History at Queen Mary College, University of London, where his impact was great. During his time at Queen Mary College he served as Head of the History Department, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and as a representative of the Academic Board on the Governing Body. He also became involved in the complex affairs of the University of London; he performed roles including Chairman of the Board of Studies in History, and Representative of the University on the Essex Records Committee, and on the Governing Bodies of several educational institutions. Bindoff also worked as a Visiting Professor in History at U.S. universities including Claremont Graduate School, California, in 1966, and Harvard University, in 1968. In addition, Bindoff acted as an External Examiner for the Universities of Oxford, Reading, and Nottingham. Bindoff remained at Queen Mary College until his retirement in 1975.

Bindoff wrote one book, Tudor England (Pelican History of England series, 1950), which was highly successful. He had twenty nine items published, not including several reviews. These items included The Scheldt Question to 1839 (1945), and Ket's Rebellion (a Historical Association pamphlet, 1949). He also jointly edited Elizabethan Government and Society (1961). Bindoff devoted much of his later years to the History of Parliament, a gazetteer of the members and constituencies of The House of Commons. Bindoff was the editor of the section covering the parliaments of 1509-58, published in 1982.

In addition, Bindoff served on committees and councils of various organisations, including the Royal Historical Society, which he became Vice-President of in 1967, the Historical Association, and the Advisory Council on Public Records.

Bindoff married Marjorie Blatcher (1906/7-1979), in 1938. She was A.F. Pollard's research assistant, an authority on the technicalities of legal history. They had a daughter, Helen, and a son, Tom. He died 23 December 1980 in Surbiton, Surrey, after falling ill with bronchopneumonia.

Gertrud Bing was born in Hamburg and studied at the Universities of Munich and Hamburg. After receiving her doctorate in 1921, she became a librarian at the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg, subsequently serving as Assistant to Aby Warburg (1924-1929). She moved to London with the Warburg Institute in 1933 and became a British citizen in 1946. She was Assistant Director (1944-1954) and then Director (1955-1959) of the Institute, and subsequently an Honorary Fellow until her death in 1964.

Bing family

The Bing family was a German Jewish family from Berlin some of whose members died in the Holocaust and others managed to escape to Great Britain.

The Manor of Laleham was purchased in 1802 by Richard Bingham, the second Earl of Lucan (1764-1839). His son George Charles Bingham, the third Earl of Lucan (1800-1888), was famous for ordering the 'Charge of the Light Brigade' during the Crimean War.

Born in 1883; Gunnery Officer, HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, 1914-1918; served on staff of Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet, 1918; Capt, 1922; HMS CARDIFF, 1923-1925; Deputy Director of Plans, Admiralty, 1925-1927; Flag Capt, HMS NELSON, 1928-1930; Director, Tactical School, 1931-1932; commanded HMS HOOD, 18932-1933; Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, 1933-1935; ADC to King George V, 1934; R Adm, 1934; R Adm, 1 Battle Sqn, 1936-1938; V Adm, 1938; Commandant, Imperial Defence College, 1939; Adm Commanding Orkneys and Shetlands, 1939-1942; Adm, 1942; member of Board of Enquiry appointed to investigate the escape from Brest of the German battle cruisers SCHARNHORST, GNEISENAU and PRINZ EUGEN, 1942; retired list, 1943; Flag Officer, 1944; Governor of Tasmania, 1945-1951; died in 1953.

John Binny established himself in business in South India in 1799. In the early years banking was the mainstay of his business, but from the mid 19th century Binnys began to acquire steamship agencies and to diversify into trade in general commodities, particularly coffee. In the last quarter of the 19th century the company turned its attention to textiles, establishing the Buckingham Mill Company and the Carnatic Mill, both near Madras, in 1876 and 1881 respectively. A little later, they took over the managing agency of the Bangalore Woollen, Cotton and Silk Mill.

In 1906 the collapse of the banking house of Arbuthnot and Company in Madras caused a run on Binnys which forced it to wind up. Sir James Mackay, then managing director of British India Steam Navigation Company, and later first Earl of Inchcape, bought the old firm and formed a new public company, incorporated in London as Binny and Company Limited, which took over the agencies formerly held by Binnys. The new head office was in London, rather than Madras, located in the offices of BISN, and former partners were appointed as managers in Madras.

In 1920, Binny hived off all its Indian interests to a new company, incorporated in India as Binny and Company (Madras) Limited. Binnys in London acted as agent for its Madras associate. At about the same time, the Buckingham and Carnatic Company Limited was incorporated in India to consolidate the two Madras mill companies.

In 1924 Binny and Company (Madras) Limited became Madras agents for the P & O Company, thus bringing closer the connection with Lord Inchcape. Binny and Company (Madras) Limited also formed an engineering department, dealing chiefly with ship repairs at first, but later extending to structural steel work and becoming a subsidiary company, Binny's Engineering Works (Private) Limited.

Binny and Company Limited joined the Inchcape Group in 1958. The company had offices successively in East India Avenue, Fenchurch Street, Throgmorton Avenue and Leadenhall Street.

Biometrika, a journal for the statistical study of biological problems, was founded by the eugenicist (Sir) Francis Galton (1822-1911), the mathematician and biologist Karl Pearson (1857-1936), and the zoologist Walter Frank Raphael Weldon (1860-1906), in 1901. It was initially edited by Pearson and Weldon. The journal was later published by the Biometrika Trust, whose offices are accommodated in the the Department of Statistical Science at University College London (founded in 1911 as the Department of Applied Statistics). It is distributed by Oxford University Press.

Jean-Baptiste Biot was born in Paris and educated at the Ecole Polytechnique. His fields of research included astonomy, the Earth's atmosphere, and light and optics, but he is best known for his work on electricity and magnetism; the Biot-Savart law in electromagnetics is named after him, and Felix Savart.

St Kitts-Nevis comprises the islands of St Kitts or St Christopher, in 1623 the first West Indian island to be settled by the British, and Nevis which was colonised in 1628. The two islands, together with Anguilla were united in 1882, and became an independent state in association with the United Kingdom in 1967. There were objections by Anguilla to the administration, which it considered to be dominated by St Kitts, and independence was declared by Anguilla later that year. Negotiations to resolve the dispute failed, and after being placed directly under British control in 1971, Anguilla was granted its own constitution in 1975 and union with St Kitts and Nevis formally severed in 1980.
There was a Constitutional Conference in London in 1982 to discuss the independence of St Kitts and Nevis. Despite disagreements over special provisions for Nevis in the proposed constitution, the independence process continued and was formally achieved on 19 September 1983. The objections came principally from the Labour Opposition, which until recently had dominated the administration and was still the largest party. Since 1980, however, the Government had consisted of a coalition of the People's Action Movement and Nevis's Reform Party, which held the balance of power and which the Opposition felt was instrumental in achieving Nevis's strong position in the new constitution.

The business was originally established by Mr Horton in the reign of George I (1714-1727). He was succeeded by Lucas Birch (d.1800) was a pastry-cook, confectioner and caterer, of 15 Cornhill, City of London. He was later joined by his son Samuel Birch and the business was known as Birch and Son in 1786. Samuel Birch (1757-1840) (also known as 'Mr Pattypan') served as Lord Mayor 1814-1815. He also sat on the Court of Common Council of the Corporation of London and was Alderman of the Ward of Candlewick.

The firm was later known as Birch and Birch, and as Birch, Birch and Company. The business was responsible for catering at Lord Mayor's banquets and other ceremonial and civic events as well as services for livery companies, hospitals and other organisations in and around the City of London. Turtle soup was a particular speciality prepared and promoted by the company.

In circa 1836 the business was acquired by Ring and Brymer who later moved to 39A Old Broad Street. The company was later incorporated as Ring and Brymer (Birchs) Limited.

Ring and Brymer (Birchs) Limited had premises at 46 Sun Street in 1938, registered offices at 4 Angel Court in 1952-1955, and 17 Finsbury Avenue in 1964. The business was retained by Lord Forte when he acquired the company in 1962, and based at 30-32 Sun Street in 1974. Trusthouse Forte Group acquired Gardner Merchant and Gardner Merchant Leisure later sold City interests in the Ring and Brymer Division to events caterer Chester Boyd in 1999.

This firm of watch, clock and chronometer manufacturers, silversmiths and jewellers was founded by William Birch, becoming Birch and Gaydon Limited in 1877. It had premises at 173 Fenchurch Street (1841-73 - premises occupied 1825-40 by William Turner, watch and chronometer maker); 172 Fenchurch Street (1874-1905); and 153 Fenchurch Street (1905-).

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

A covenant or deed of covenant was an agreement entered into by one of the parties to a deed to another. A covenant for production of title deeds was an agreement to produce deeds not being handed over to a purchaser, while a covenant to surrender was an agreement to surrender copyhold land.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

Born in 1908; 2nd Lt, North Staffordshire Regt, 1929; regimental duties, 1929-1940; Lt, 1932; Capt, 1938; held various staff appointments and attended Staff College, 1940-1942; held various staff appointments and commanded 7 North Staffordshire Regt, 1942-1947; seconded to Foreign Office, 1948-1950; commanded 1 North Staffordshire Regt in Trieste, 1951-1953, and Korea General Staff Officer Grade 1 (Training), SHAPE, 1954; retired, 1956; died in 1972.

Golding Bird was born at Downham, Norfolk in 1814. He was educated at private school and apprenticed to William Pretty, an apothecary in London from 1829-1833. He was a medical student at Guy's Hospital from 1832, where he excelled, achieving the Apothecaries' Company medal for botany and attracting the attention of Addison and Sir Astley Cooper. He assisted Sir Astley Cooper with his work on diseases of the breast. He was licensed to practise by Apothecaries' Hall in 1836. Bird obtained his MD from St Andrews University in 1838, and his MA in 1840. Bird was a lecturer on natural philosophy at Guy's Hospital from 1836-1853, and also a lecturer on medical botany and on urinary pathology. He was physician to the Finsbury Dispensary in 1836. He became a licentiate of the College of Physicians of London in 1840, and a Fellow of the College of Physicians in 1845. He was an assistant physician at Guy's Hospital, and a joint lecturer on materia medica at Guy's Hospital Medical School from 1843-1853. He lectured on materia medica at the College of Physicians in 1847 to 1849. He was a member of the Linnaean and Geological Societies, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He died in 1854.

Cuthbert Hilton Golding-Bird was born in Myddleton Square, Pentonville, London in 1848, the second son of Golding Bird, MD, FRS. Golding-Bird was educated at Tonbridge School from 1856-1862, and afterwards at King's College School in the Strand and at King's College. He graduated BA at the University of London in 1867, and Won the gold medal in forensic medicine at the MB examination in 1873. Entering the medical school of Guy's Hospital in 1868 he received the first prize for first year students in 1869, the first prize for third year students and the Treasurer's medals for surgery and for medicine in 1873. For a short time he acted as demonstrator of anatomy at Guy's, but on his return from a visit to Paris he was elected assistant surgeon in 1875 and demonstrator of physiology. He held the office of surgeon until 1908, until he resigned at the age of 60, and was made consulting surgeon. At the Royal College of Surgeons Golding-Bird was an examiner in elementary physiology 1884-1886, in physiology 1886-1891, in anatomy and physiology for the Fellowship 1884-1890 and 1892-1895. He was on the Dental Board as Examiner in surgery in 1902, a member of the Court of Examiners 1897-1907, and a member of the Council 1905-1913. He died in 1939.

Born 17 December 1887, London; educated at Farnborough Park School, Hampshire, 1898-1902, and Cheltenham College, 1902; studied engineering at King's College London, 1904-1908; attended evening art classes at the Regent Street Polytechnic and the School of Photo-Engraving and Lithography in Bolt Court, while at King's College London; graduated BSc in Civil Engineering, 1908, and qualified as AMICE (Associate Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers); worked at the naval dockyard at Rosyth, 1909; played rugby in the final international trials, 1913; applied for release from the dockyard to join the army (Royal Engineers), 1914; married Mary ('Mollie') Holden, an artist, 1914; blown up by a shell at Gallipoli, 1915, suffered a shattered back and could not walk for three years; his first drawing was accepted by the editor of Punch magazine in 1916, entitled 'War's Brutalising Influence' and was signed 'Fougasse' (a French mine which might or might not go off); contributed regularly to Punch, and started to publish his drawings in book form, as well as running a series of exhibitions and doing commercial work; Fellow of King's College London, 1936; Art Editor of Punch, 1937-1949, and Editor 1949-1953; Air-raid Warden in Kensington, from 1939; visited France at the request of the War Office, 1940, on his return he did over a thousand drawings and posters for various Ministries, on issues such as war propaganda and security (as an entirely unpaid honorary war job), creating illustrations and posters for the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force; member of the BBC Brains Trust; appointed CBE in 1946; died in London, 11 June 1965.

Born, Downham, Norfolk, 1814; educated, private school; apprenticed to William Pretty, an apothecary, London, 1829-1833; student at Guy's Hospital, 1832, and assisted Sir Astley Cooper with his work on diseases of the breast; licensed to practise by Apothecaries' Hall, 1836; MD, St Andrews University, 1838, MA, 1840; lecturer on natural philosophy at Guy's Hospital, 1836-1853; lecturer on medical botany and on urinary pathology; physician to the Finsbury Dispensary, [1836]; licentiate of the College of Physicians of London, 1840; Fellow of the College of Physicians, 1845; assistant physician, Guy's Hospital, and joint lecturer on materia medica, Guy's Hospital Medical School, 1843-1853; lecturer on materia medica at the College of Physicians, 1847; member, Linnean and Geological Societies; Fellow of the Royal Society; became ill, 1851; retired to Tunbridge Wells, 1854; died, 1854.

Publications include: Elements of Natural Philosophy; being an experimental introduction to the study of the physical sciences (John Churchill, London, 1839); Lectures on Electricity and Galvanism, in their physiological and therapeutical relations, delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, in March, 1847 (Wilson & Ogilvy, London, 1847); Lectures on the Influence of Researches in Organic Chemistry on Therapeutics, especially in relation to the depuration of the blood, delivered at the Royal College of Physicians (Wilson & Ogilvy, London, 1848); Urinary Deposits, their diagnosis, pathology and therapeutical indications (John Churchill, London, 1844); Case of Internal Strangulation of Intestine relieved by operation (From Transactions of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society), with John Hilton (Richard Kinder, London, [1847]).

Henry Bird was educated at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He practised at Cinderford, East Dean, Gloucestershire; the Vicarage, Christow, Exeter; and at Wattisfield, Suffolk. He retired at Wattisfield, but later moved to Oldham. He died in 1892.

Robert Birley began his career as a history teacher at Eton in 1926 and was then appointed headmaster of Charterhouse in 1935. During this time, he authored the Fleming Report, 1944, on the relationship between public schools and mainstream education. After World War Two, he became, in 1947, Educational Advisor for the Control Commission in the British Zone in Germany responsible for educational reconstruction. On his return to the UK in 1949 he was appointed headmaster of Eton, where he remained until 1963. He subsequently became a visiting Professor at Witwatersrand University, South Africa from 1964-1967, and was Professor and Head of Department of Social Science and Humanities at City University from 1967-1971. He wrote and lectured extensively on education, apartheid and human rights issues.

Walter Barr Birmingham was Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Ghana at Legon-Achimota from 1952-1960. In 1954 he conducted possibly the first public opinion survey in tropical Africa prior to the Gold Coast General Election. In 1955 he served on the Royal Commission of Enquiry into the mining industry and advised on the Five-Year Development Plan of 1963. From 1972-1975 he was Professor of Economics at the University of Cape Coast. His main publications were Introduction to Economics (1955) and in Social and Economic Survey of Ghana edited by Omaboe and Neustadt.

Turnpike Trusts were local organisations in England and Wales, each established by an Act of Parliament. They usually comprised local gentry, manufacturers, and other substantial persons. Trusts were often charged with repairing certain roads which were listed in the Act. They were frequently authorised to divert roads, and occasionally to build completely new ones. The Birmingham and Bromsgove road was turnpiked in 1726.

The Birth Control Campaign was the pressure group of the Birth Control Trust (a registered charity), although it was set up before the Trust in 1971. It took political action in the form of lobbying for National Health Services in this field, and defended and promoted existing legislation, such as the 1967 Abortion Act. The Trust, however, published pamphlets on aspects of birth control, abortion and population and acted as an information resource centre: being a charity it could defend existing law but not campaign for changes.

From 1971 to 1974 the Birth Control Campaign campaigned for the wider provision of male sterilisation (vasectomy) and for completely free provision of contraception under the NHS. After 1974, when legislation was passed on these matters, the BCC turned its attention to campaigning for improved NHS facilities for contraception, abortion and sterilisation and for these services to be advertised and promoted. The Campaign was also been actively involved in opposing attempts to restrict the terms of the 1967 Abortion Act.

The British International Studies Association is a charitable trust which was founded in 1975 at a meeting of the British Coordinating Committee on International Studies 'to promote the study of International Studies and related subjects through teaching, research and facilitating contact between scholars'. It is the world's leading such organisation outside the USA, with a membership of around 750, and aims to represent all of those professionally engaged in International Studies in Britain. It produces a journal entitled the Review of International Studies, and organises conferences, meetings, research and study groups.

Born in 1897; educated at Plymouth College and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; served with Dorset Regt in Mesopotamia and Palestine, 1915-1918; served in India, 1919-1925, War Office, 1933-1935, and Colonial Office, 1937-1939; served in East Africa, North Africa, and West Africa, 1939-1944; Col, 1941; Brig, 1941; Maj Gen, 1944; Director of Quartering, War Office, 1944-1945; Deputy Director-General, Political Warfare Executive, Ministry of Information, 1945; Chief of Information Services and Public Relations, Control Commission, Germany, 1945-1946; Deputy Chief of Staff, Control Commission, Germany, 1946-1948; Regional Commissioner, Land North Rhine/Westphalia, 1948-1950; Assistant Secretary, Commonwealth Relations Office, 1951; Principal Staff Officer to Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, 1953-1957; British Deputy High Commissioner in Calcutta, 1957-1962; Director of Information Services and Cultural Relations, Commonwealth Relations Office, 1962-1964; British High Commissioner, Cyprus, 1964-1965; retired, 1965; died in 1984.

Bishopsgate Institute

The Bishopsgate Institute is an independent centre providing educational and cultural activities for adults. It was founded in the late 19th century by the Reverend William Rogers, Rector of St Botolph's Church in the City of London. Rogers was a noted educational reformer and the Institute was established to provide free libraries, a large concert and lecture hall and meeting rooms for the benefit of the public. The Institute was financed by the parish's charitable endowments and its building was designed in the Art Nouveau style by Charles Harrison Townsend, architect of the Whitechapel Art Gallery. Bishopsgate Institute opened its doors to the public on New Year's Day 1895; the Grade II* listed building is one of the few in the area to survive intact from the 19th century.

The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council.

One of the twenty-six wards of the City of London, divided into two portions Within and Without of the City wall, the gate through which gives the ward its name. Bishopsgate Ward Within contained three City parish churches: St Helen Bishopsgate, St Ethelburga, and St Botolph Bishopsgate, while the whole of Bishopsgate Without Ward is co-extensive with St Botolph Bishopsgate.

Bishopsgate Ward Club

Founded in 1790, the Bishopsgate Ward Club was initially a forum for the merchants, tailors and other interested parties of the Ward to express their views to the Alderman and the Common Councilmen, linking them to the governance of the City of London. In modern times, the Ward Club has become a charitable and social organisation, promoting community service, good fellowship, and an interest in the traditions and institutions of the City of London. One of the City's 22 Ward Clubs, the Bishopsgate Ward Club arranges a varied programme each year including receptions, luncheons and insider tours.

Bishopsgate Ward Club

Bishopsgate Ward Club was instituted in 1790. The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council. The Bishopsgate ward is divided into two portions Within and Without of the City wall, the gate through which gives the ward its name. Bishopsgate Ward Within contained three City parish churches: St Helen Bishopsgate, St Ethelburga, and St Botolph Bishopsgate, while the whole of Bishopsgate Without Ward is co-extensive with St Botolph Bishopsgate.

Founded in 1857 as the St Botolph Bishopsgate Ratepayers' Association; the name changed in 1860-2. The objects of the association were "To correct abuses ... in the local government of the ward ... to watch over the expenditure and proceedings of the same ... to diffuse ward and parochial information ... and to carry out the principles of a mutual improvement society".

The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council.