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Bishopshalt Grammar School developed from the Uxbridge County School which occupied premises in the Greenway from 1907. This building was vacated in 1928 when the school was transferred to the house in Royal Lane which had been built on the site of the old rectory house owned by the bishops of Worcester. The school then adopted the name Bishopshalt and was constituted a grammar school. The Greenway premises were subsequently occupied by the Greenway County Secondary School.

From: 'Hillingdon, including Uxbridge: Education', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 95-98.

Unknown

Bisset, Charles (1717-1791), physician and military engineer. Lived in the area of Skelton, Cleveland, North Riding of Yorkshire, 1753-1781.

Jethro Bithelll was born at Hindley near Wigan in 1878. He was educated at Wigan Technical School and Owens College, in the Victoria University of Manchester, where he graduated with a first class degree in modern languages in 1900. He then studied German and Scandinavian literature at the Universities of Munich and Copenhagen.

From 1902-1904 he lectured in modern languages at Salford Technical College, and from 1904-1910 he was a lecturer in German at Manchester University. In 1910 he married his first wife, Ethel Rose Fisher (d 1946) and was appointed head of the Department of German at Birkbeck College London. In 1921 he was elected Reader in the University of London, but never became a full professor. He remained at Birkbeck until his retirement in 1938.

During World War One he served as a Private in the Royal Sussex Regiment, Oct 1916-Jan 1919. In 1947 Bithell married again to Dr Alice Emily Eastlake, a long standing friend of himself and his first wife.

Bithell belonged to the group of British born Germanisten who sought to turn German Studies in a new direction, breaking away from the positevistic and philological approach perpetrated by their German-born teachers. He believed, in common with other Germanisten such as William Rose, that literature was a social phenomenon and this attitude is best exemplified by his book Germany, 1932, a collection of essays on all aspects of the artstic and intellectual life of Germany set against its climate and geography. He was aware of a wider need for text book support in language studies and compiled dictionaries, readers and grammars in German and French.

His studies embraced medieval and modern language and literature from not only Germany, but also France, Belgium (including Flemish) and Norway. In retirement he continued to act as an examiner for schools and universities in German. Marking for the Higher School Certificate prompted him to compile his Anthology of German Poetry, 1880-1940, (1941) and two other anthologies followed. He had an abiding love of poetry in several languages. His superlative translation of the Minnesingers in 1909 earned him an entry in Who's Who and his translations from the work of Henrik Wergeland were considered by many to be a "tour de force".

He worked with Professor Andrew Gillies, who was editor of the Germanic Section of the Modern Language Review. During World War Two, the numbers of Germanisten available for review work were greatly reduced, and Gillies asked Bithell to oblige, which he did. At this time he popularised the work of Carossa, and demonstrated that not all Germans were Nazis or Nazi sympathisers. Bithell was also a keen supporter and contributor to German Life and Letters, which honoured his 80th birthday (1958) with a Festschrift volume.

Publications: The Minnesingers: vol I translations, (London, Longmans Green & Co., 1909); Contemporary German Poetry: translations (London: Scott, 1909); Contemporary Belgian Poetry: translations (London: Scott, 1911); Contemporary French Poetry: translations (London: Scott, 1912); Pitman's commercial German grammar (London: Pitman, 1912); Life and Writings of Maurice Maeterlinck (London: Scott, 1913); Gustav Vollmoeller, Turandot Princess of China: translation (Produced at the St James's Theatre by Sir George Alexander) (London: Fisher Unwin, 1913); Verhaeren/Stefan Zweig: translation (London: Constable,1914); Contemporary Belgian literature (London: Fisher Unwin, 1915); 'Emile Verhaeren: Helen of Sparta' translation in The Plays of Emile Verhaeren (London, Constable, 1916); Contemporary Flemish Poetry: translations (London: Scott, 1917); Byron i Vadmel - Byron in Homespun / H.M. Drachmann: translation (London: Harrap, 1920); (with A. Watson Bain) A German poetry book (London: Methuen, 1924); (with A.C. Dunstan) A German course for Science students (London: Methuen, 1925); A French reader for Science students (London: Methuen, 1926); (with J.H. Helweg) English-Danish commercial correspondence (London: Marlboroughs, 1927); (with A.C. Dunstan) A modern German course for students of History (London: Methuen, 1928); Norwegian-English commercial correspondence (London: Marlboroughs, 1928); (with G.M Gathorne-Hardy and I. Grøndal) Henrik Wergeland: poems: translation (London and Oslo, 1929); Advanced German composition (London: Methuen, 1929); (with W. Theilkuhl) Key to advanced German composition , (London: Methuen, 1929); Dutch-English commercial correspondence (London: Marlboroughs, 1929); Germany: a commpanion to German studies (London: Methuen, 1932); (with A.E Eastlake) A commercial German reader (London: Methuen, 1933); Modern German literature (London: Methuen, 1939); An anthology of German poetry, 1880-1940 (London: Methuen, 1941); Hans Carossa: eine Kindheit (Oxford: Blackwell, 1942); (with A Watson Bain) A French poetry book (London: Methuen, 1946); An anthology of German poetry, 1830-1880 (London: Methuen, 1947); Hans Carossa: Verwandlungen einer Jugend (Oxford: Blackwell, 1949); German pronunciation and phonology (London: Methuen, 1952); An anthology of German poetry, 1730-1830 (London: Methuen, 1957); German-English and English-German dictionary (London: Pitman, 1958). Numerous reviews ad articles for English, French, Belgian and other journals including German Life and Letters, Les Marges and the Modern Language Review.

John Joseph Bithell was Chief Engineer for the Ferro Carril de Chumbicha a Tinogasta y Andalgala Catamarca, Argentina.

Arthur Black was born in Brighton, the eldest of 8 children. His sister Constance, later Constance Garnett, was to become famous for her translations of the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Arthur Black studied mathematics under William Kingdon Clifford, Professor of Applied Mathematics at University College London. He was a favourite pupil of Clifford, who was impressed by Black's brilliance. He took his degree by private study and achieved his BSc in 1877. After this he worked as an army coach and tutor in Brighton, while pursuing his mathematical and philosophical interests. His marriage was allegedly unhappy. He took his own life in January 1893, having not published any of his mathematical work. The main focus of Black's work seems to have been an attempt to use his mathematical skills to develop a quantitative theory of evolution.

Sir Douglas was Professor of Medicine at Manchester University and Physician at Manchester Royal Infirmary, 1959-1977, and Chief Scientist at the Department of Health and Social Security, 1973-1977. His publications include Sodium metabolism in health and disease (1952), Essentials of fluid balance (4th ed., 1967), The logic of medicine (1968), and Renal disease (1979). The Library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine has a copy of the Black Report (1982) on Inequalities in Health, of which Liverpool University Archives holds a typescript with appendices which were not published.

Edward Jenner was born, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, 1749; educated at private schools at Wootton-under-Edge and Cirencester; apprenticed to Daniel Ludlow of Sodbury, a surgeon; pupil-resident in the house of John Hunter, 1770-1772; employed by Sir Joseph Banks to prepare specimens from Captain Cook's voyage; studied at St George's Hospital; practiced at Berkeley, 1773; continued to correspond with John Hunter on many subjects; member of medical societies at Rodborough and Alveston, reading papers on medical subjects and natural history; Fellow, Royal Society, 1788; MD, University of St Andrew's, 1792; continued his investigations into cow pox and small pox; vaccinated a boy James Phipps with cow pox and then small pox, who contracted cow pox but not small pox, 1796; published An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolæ vaccinæ, a disease discovered in some of the Western Counties of England ... known by the name of the cow pox, 1798; sent cow pox material throughout England and abroad for vaccinations; vaccinated nearly 200 people at Petworth, Sussex, 1800; granted £10,000 by Parliament in recognition of his work, 1802; Royal Jennerian Society established to promote spread of vaccination in London, 1802; replaced by the National Vaccine Establishment, 1808; continued to work and publish on vaccination; died, 1823, Berkeley, Gloucestershire.
Publications include: Cursory observations on Emetic Tartar [1780?]; An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolæ vaccinæ, a disease discovered in some of the Western Counties of England ... known by the name of the cow pox (Printed for the author: London, 1798); Further observations on the Variolæ Vaccinæ or Cow Pox (London, 1799); A comparative Statement of facts and observations relative to the cow-pox with Dr Woodville (London, 1800); The origin of the Vaccine Inoculation (London, 1801); On the varieties and modifications of the vaccine pustule, occasioned by an herpetic state of the skin (Cheltenham, 1806; Gloucester reprinted, 1819); Facts for the most part unobserved, or not duly noticed, respecting variolous contagion (London, 1808); Letter from E. J. to W. Dillwyn on the effects of vaccination, in preserving from the small-pox. To which are added sundry documents relating to vaccination, etc (Philadelphia, 1818); A letter to C. H. Parry, M.D., ... on the influence of Artificial Eruptions in certain diseases. ... With an inquiry respecting the probable advantages to be derived from further experiments (London, 1822); The Note-Book of Edward Jenner in the possession of the Royal College of Physicians of London (Oxford University Press, London, 1931).

The old Black Jack Public House in Portugal Street was located near to the old King's College Hospital. Some surgeons signed their names in a signature book at the Black Jack when they became members of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. The signatures in the volumes range from being neat and clear, to almost illegible. This is perhaps a consequence of their location in a public house.

The Black Jack was demolished in c 1902. A watercolour painting showing the interior and exterior of the Black Jack, by J P Emslie and J I Wilson, was sold in the early 1920s in the sale of the Gardener Collection. (see Tract 1881, 14 for Sale Catalogue).

Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy until 1933; joined the Marine Department of the Chinese Maritime Customs, 1934; initially stationed at Shanghai, visiting different Chinese ports while supplying stores to lighthouses along the coast; transferred to the Yangtze River staff, where he was responsible for keeping the river clear for shipping, 1935; transferred to Hankow, 1936; left the Chinese Maritime Customs, 1937; rejoined the navy; Commander of the gunboat HMS LADYBIRD, which bombarded the port of Bardia (Libya), 1941.

William Blackburn was a barrister at Lincoln's Inn.

Unknown

Carlos Paton Blacker (1895-1975), MC, GM, MA, MD, FRCP, was a psychiatrist, and served as Secretary of the Eugenics Society 1931-1961. Born, 1895; Educated at Eton; Officer in Coldstream Guards, decorated with MC, twice wounded, 1915-1919; Balliol College Oxford, 1919-1922; Medical training, Guy's Hospital, 1923; MA, BM, BCh, MRCP, 1927; Registrar, Department of Psychological Medicine, Guy's Hospital, 1927-1936; DM, 1931; General Secretary, Eugenics Society, 1931-1952; Joins staff of Maudsley Hospital, 1936-1960; Regimental Medical Officer to 2nd Battalion, 1940-1942; Seconded to Ministry of Health as Adviser on Population and Medico-Social Problems, 1944; Honorary Secretary, Eugenics Society, 1952-1961; Consultant to Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society, 1962-1972; died, 1975.

Blackett was born in Kensington, London. He was educated at the Osborne Naval College and Dartmouth College for a career in the Royal Navy and saw action during the First World War at the Battle of Jutland. He resigned from the navy at the end of the war and entered Magdalene College, Cambridge, to read for the Natural Sciences Tripos, 1919-1921. He became a research student under Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory in 1921, working with cloud chambers. In 1924 he succeeded in obtaining the first photographs of an atomic transmutation, which was of nitrogen into an oxygen isotope. He continued to develop the cloud chamber and in 1932, with the assistance of G. Occhialini, he designed a cloud chamber in which photographs of cosmic rays were taken automatically. Early in 1933 the device confirmed the existence of the positron. In the same year he became Professor of Physics at Birkbeck College, London, where he continued his cosmic ray studies, demonstrating in 1935 the formation of showers of positive and negative electrons from gamma rays in approximately equal numbers. In 1937 he succeeded W.L. Bragg as Langworthy Professor of Physics at Manchester University, continuing his cosmic ray work. He was brought into the Air Defence Committee in 1936 by H.T. Tizard and during the Second World War he contributed to or directed several research projects such as proximity fuses and bombsights and greatly developed the technique of operational research, notably as applied to controversies over bombing policy and the U-boat campaign. He returned to academic life at the end of the war and, as a consequence of his research into cosmic rays, became interested in the history of the Earth's magnetic field and turned to the study of rock magnetism. In 1953 he was appointed Head of the Physics Department at Imperial College, London, where he built up a team specialising in rock magnetism. He was Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Fellow, 1965-1974. Blackett was always politically committed to the left, and in later years to developing countries and especially to India. At certain periods he exerted influence, particularly after the Labour Party's General Election victory in 1964 when he became Deputy Chairman and Scientific Adviser, Advisory Council on Technology, Ministry of Technology.

Blackett received many honours and awards both in Britain and internationally. He was elected FRS in 1933 (Bakerian Lecture 1939, Royal Medal 1940, Copley Medal 1956, PRS 1965-1970), and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1948 for his work on particle disintegration and cosmic rays. He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1967 and received a Life Peerage in 1969.

William Cuthbert Blackett was a medical student at St Thomas's Hospital from 1850 to 1853. He qualified in 1853 and was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.

In the early part of the 1880's, poverty in London had risen to endemic proportions and public concern had become widespread. In 1883 the University 'Settlement' movement began, prompted by the Rev Samuel Barnett's call for the university-educated young to 'settle' in area of the worst poverty. Barnett insisted they follow in the line of 'visiting' societies run by middle class women in the previous decades which had done much to raise the issue of the practices in workhouses in order to become familiar with the conditions of the working classed since only then could they gain a better appreciation of their needs. Alice Gruner began lecturing to the female students of the new women's colleges at Oxford and Cambridge on these issues along with Henrietta Barnett and the student bodies of Newnham and Girton established a joint committee. The organisation's aim was to 'promote the welfare of the people of the poorer districts of London and especially of the Women and Children, devise and promote schemes which tend to elevate them physically, intellectually and morally, and give them additional opportunities for education and recreation'. Other women's colleges at Oxford rapidly became involved with this and, in 1887, the first branch of the Women's University Settlement was opened in Nelson Square in Southwark.

The Executive Committee of the Settlement consisted of six members from Girton, Newnham, Lady Margaret Hall and Dr Octavia Hill, the housing and health reformer. They initially organised a Saturday Morning Schools for local children where they were taught simple games then organised a series of evening clubs for the young in the 1890s to extend general access to education. In 1891, a Junior Girls' Club was set up under the group's auspices and a Junior Club for school leavers followed soon after. In 1893, this was expanded into a series of evening classes known as the Acland Mixed Club for male and female school leavers. The educational focus also encompassed taking on the first students of its own. In 1896 a Joint Committee for Lectures was set up with the National Union of Women Workers and the Charity Organisation Society to give lectures on charity and social work influenced by the experiences of their workforce. This led in 1890 to an organised 1-year program of courses and practical work that evolved, under the direction of the COS, into the London School of Sociology at the London School of Economics in 1903. Female students training in social work took up residence to gather practical experience while the Pfeiffer Scholar was established to help students to study in this area of work.

In the 1890s, the Settlement was also concerned with health in the area. In collaboration with several nursing associations, the WUS established a home for district nurses in the area and took over responsibility for the Invalid Children's Aid Association. This increased activity made it necessary to expand their premises to the next house at 46 Nelson Square as the first classes and employment register for disabled children were opened. Activity in this area also expanded when the St Crispin's Workshop opened, specialising in boot-making by disabled children in 1897. Employment services became an increasingly important issue as time went on: in 1900 a Registry and Apprenticeship Scheme was established which was broadened three years later when this became a registry for work for all school leavers. What they had achieved was showcased in an exhibition by what had become the Apprenticeship and Skilled Employment Association in 1910. However, health remained a major area of work for them and in 1907 and Infant Welfare unit was set up in conjunction with the Borough Council and Health Society. During the First World War, child health remained an important focus despite staffing problems as war work took up personnel and in 1918 the Settlement opened a Baby Clinic to help mothers. They also began their association with the children's Country Holidays Foundation soon after. However, at the end of the war, the university settlement suffered financial difficulties. St Crispins closed and 20,21 and 22 Nelson Square were sold off soon after being bought. Nonetheless, they were still able to start socially focused projects such as a Girl Guides Company. In 1924 a Workers Sub-committee was established followed by a nursery school and a Mother's Club section in the Acland Club in 1927; a Women's Section was also created the following year. 1928 also saw the beginning of the Poor Man's Lawyer that later became the Legal Aid Association. The work with children also continued as a nursery school council was set up in 1929.

After 1929, the Depression began to affect the work and direction of the Settlement. The following year, the Acland and the St Mary Clubs merged. Two years later a club was opened for unemployed men followed by one for unemployed women the following year. In 1933 an Infant Welfare Project was established. In 1935 the hospital Saving scheme was set up. The Settlement were able to buy and equip a new club house at 27 Nelson Square in 1936 but by 1938 it was necessary for Dr Maude Royden to launch an appeal through the BBC. This allowed the group to run a Youth Welfare Centre and a Citizen's Advice Bureau that ran for six years. War interrupted their work once more that year and affected the Settlement profoundly. In 1941 they were one of the organisations that administered the evacuation of their area and they also established canteens for local workers during the Blitz. The nursery was evacuated to Surrey although the Baby Centre continued. However, on the 9th September, large amounts of damage were suffered when Nelson Square was bombed. Major restructuring of the organisation took place after the Second World War. In 1947 the Executive Committee became a Council of twenty-two that was elected at the AGM and contained representatives of local organisations. The Clubs that continued from the pre-war period were given their own boards of management in 1952. With the beginning of the Welfare state, the Settlement's role became increasingly social with a Young Mother's Club, a Young Dad's Group and Youth Clubs all being opened between 1950 and 1956. In 1958 the settlement undertook two major surveys: one on the aftercare of ex-prisoners and another on the social conditions in Southwark. The following year another major initiative working with the mentally handicapped began with the opening of the West and the Lucky Black Cat Clubs. However, in the new post-war world, many of the older activities were either curtailed or brought to an end: for instance the Acland and St Mary's Clubs finally closed their doors.

In 1961, the Women's University Settlement was renamed the Blackfriars Settlement and another new constitution was put in place to reflect the increasing number of male staff and strengthened links to the local community. Its new aims were, 'to promote the welfare of individual persons, families and communities in London and elsewhere by all practical means, an in particular by the provision and maintenance of a residential or other centre or centres in Southwark or elsewhere and the fostering of community activities'. Links remained with universities through resident students undertaking practical training there during their courses. The focus of the organisation emerged in the new sub-groups: in 1962 the Crusoe Club for the blind was opened, followed by the Blackfriars Family Councillors Project (BFCP) in 1965. Also in 1965, another major re-organisation of the group took place. The projects, which by this time had been organised as two units grouped around preventative and caring work, were each given their own unit committees to bring together Council members, senior staff and representative for volunteers to take policy decisions which were then put to the Council. In 1968 these unit committees were once more replaced by six project committees and the overall structure of the Blackfriars Settlement was changed to include a co-ordination committee of officers, project committees chairpersons and senior staff to carry out policy. From 1965 to 1968 also took part in the Experimental Federation of South London Settlements. However, their financial problems continued and it was necessary to curtail their work in 1967. Despite this, by 1969 they were able to open the Blackfriars Youth Centre at the St Alphege's hall in Rushworth St. The work of the Blackfriars Settlement continues to date in the area of North Southwark and Waterloo.

The National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies organises volunteers to act as church recorders, who inventory the contents of churches and write up their findings, including detailed descriptions and histories. The Blackheath Decorative and Fine Arts Societies set up a special interest group called the Blackheath Group of Church Recorders, who were responsible for producing this report.

The Blackheath Methodist Church was built as the Blackheath Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in 1864 on The Avenue. The Avenue street name was changed to The Grove (also known as Blackheath Grove) in 1942. The church was destroyed by a V2 rocket in 1944 and not rebuilt.

Dr Francis Blacklay MA, MB, BChir, FRCGP (b 1919) was a general practitioner in Nantwich, Cheshire.

Born in Cavan, Ireland in 1899; educated at Charterhouse School, 1912-1917 and Worcester College, Oxford University, 1919-1922. Served during World War One in the Royal Artillery, and joined the Sudan Political Service as Assistant District Commissioner in 1922; promoted to District Commissioner in 1932 and Deputy Governor in 1940; Lt Col, 1940-1914; active service with the Sudan Defence Force in 1940 and in invasion of Eritrea, Jan 1941; appointed Secretary to the Occupied Territory Administration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1941 and promoted Deputy Chief Political Officer, Ethiopia, 1942; Col, 1942; Brig, 1943; accompanied 8 Army, 51 Division during the invasion of Tripolitania and was appointed Senior Civil Affairs Officer, Central Province, Tripolitania; Chief Administrator in Tripolitania, 1943-1951, and appointed British Resident, 1951; died in 1982.

Blacklock, Donald Breadalbane, MD, CMG, DPH, DTM (1879-1955) Professor of Tropical Hygiene, University of Liverpool and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and was the Director of the Sir Alfred Lewis Jones Research Laboratory, Sierra Leone, 1921-1929.

West Africa was an important staging-post for ships during 1940-1941, when the Mediterranean was under Axis control, and Donald Blacklock, Professor of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, was invited by the Colonial Office to investigate the reasons for outbreaks of malaria among personnel on board ship who had not been ashore. He began his investigations in September 1940, and after his return to Britain in October 1941 kept in touch with those continuing the work in Africa. He was asken in 1947 to produce an account of the attempts at prevention for the 'Medical History of the War'. The published history touches only briefly on his report, concentrating on protection of personnel, whereas this account deals mainly with mosquito eradication.

Possibly John Blackman, surgeon at Goudhurst, who obtained the MRCS in 1824. His last entry in the College membership lists is 1842. No further biographical information is known about John Blackman.

Richard Doddridge Blackmore was born in Berkshire in 1825. He was educated at schools in Devon and Somerset and at Exeter College, Oxford. After graduating, he studied law and was called to the bar in 1852; he practised law for some years but also worked as a teacher and journalist during that time. After inheriting money in 1857, he became a fruit farmer in Teddington, Middlesex, where he lived for the rest of his life. He served on the fruit and vegetable committee of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1883 until 1892. Blackmore also wrote poetry and several novels, including the bestselling Lorna Doone.

Richard Doddridge Blackmore was born in Berkshire in 1825. He was educated at schools in Devon and Somerset and at Exeter College, Oxford. After graduating, he studied law and was called to the bar in 1852; he practised law for some years but also worked as a teacher and journalist during that time. After inheriting money in 1857, he became a fruit farmer in Teddington, Middlesex, where he lived for the rest of his life. He served on the fruit and vegetable committee of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1883 until 1892. Blackmore also wrote poetry and several novels, including the bestselling Lorna Doone.

Sir Charles Blackmore was born in 1880. He entered the Imperial Civil Service and was posted to Northern Ireland, becoming the Secretary to the Northern Ireland Cabinet between 1924 and 1939. He was knighted in 1932. In 1967 he died, unmarried, at his home in County Down. Blackmore was a noted collector of antiques, many of which were destroyed when his home was gutted by fire in the 1930s.

Constance Winifred Honey was born in England in 1892. She moved to Australia as a child and trained as a painter at the National Gallery School, Melbourne. In 1911 she returned to London and lived there until her death in 1944.

Obituary of Sir Charles Blackmore: The Times Monday, May 15, 1967; pg. 12; Issue 56941; col E.

Information about C W Honey from http://www.daao.org.au/bio/constance-winifred-honey/ [accessed Sept 2011].

Blackmore was a bolting cloth manufacturing business situated in Wandsworth, Surrey. No further information was discovered at the time of compilation.

Born 1909; service with No 1 Armoured Car Company, Iraq, 1936; died 1990.

Born 1889; educated Southport High School for Girls and University of Liverpool, gaining a BSc, 1910, BSc with Honours, 1911, and an MSc, 1912; Demonstrator and Assistant Lecturer in Botany, University of Liverpool, 1911-1922; Head of Botany Department, Royal Holloway College, University of London, 1922-1949; President of the British Mycological Society, 1942-1961; retired 1949; died 1973.

Publications: Terminology in Phytophthora (Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew, 1949); Key to the species of Phytophthora recorded in the British Isles (Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew, 1954).

Sir George Rowland Blades was born in 1868. He was chairman of Blades, East and Blades, stationers and printers of 17 Abchurch Lane; and also served as alderman for Bassishaw ward; Member of Parliament for Epsom, 1918-1928; secretary, later president, of the Lords and Commons cricket team; Sheriff of London, 1917-1918; and Lord Mayor, 1926-1927. He was created 1st Lord Ebbisham in 1927 and died in 1953.

Blades, East and Blades were stationers and printers of 17 Abchurch Lane.

Sir George Rowland Blades was Alderman of Bassishaw Ward, 1920-1948; Sheriff 1917-1918 and Lord Mayor of London 1926-1927.

Thomas Young was born, 1730; MD, University of Edinburgh, 1761; apprenticed as an apothecary and surgeon in Edinburgh, becoming a master surgeon in 1755; joined the Incorporation of Surgeons, 1751; Deacon of the Incorporation of Surgeons, 1756-1762; Professor of Midwifery at the University of Edinburgh, 1756-1783; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, 1762; created a Lying-In Ward at the Royal Infirmary to give clinical lectures which eventually became the Edinburgh Maternity Hospital; died, 1783.

Blagden was born at Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and received his MD in 1768. He was elected FRS in 1772 and served as a medical officer in the British Army from about 1776 to 1780. He was Henry Cavendish's assistant from 1782 to 1789, from whom he received an annuity and a considerable legacy. Blagden succeeded Paul Henry Maty as Secretary of the Royal Society in 1784 (while the Society was divided over the efficacy of its President, Sir Joseph Banks, a close friend of Blagden's), serving until 1797. Both in this capacity and as Cavendish's assistant he became involved in the prolonged 'water controversy' - who had priority in discovering the composition of water, claimed by both Cavendish and James Watt in England and A L Lavoisier in France. Blagden admitted responsibility for conveying, quite well-meaningly, word of the experiments and conclusions of both Cavendish and Watt to Lavoisier; and he overlooked errors of date in the printing of Cavendish's and Watt's papers. His experiments on the effects of dissolved substances on the freezing point of water led to what became known as 'Blagden's Law', where he concluded that salt lowers the freezing point of water in the simple inverse ratio of the proportion the water bears to it in the solution. In fact Richard Watson had first discovered the relationship in 1771. Blagden spent much of his time in Europe, particularly in France, where he had many friends among French scientists such as C L Berthollet. He died in Arcueil in 1820. He was knighted in 1792.

Blagden was born at Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and received his M.D. in 1768. He was elected FRS in 1772 and served as a medical officer in the British Army from about 1776 to 1780. He was Henry Cavendish's assistant from 1782 to 1789, from whom he received an annuity and a considerable legacy. Blagden succeeded Paul Henry Maty as Secretary of the Royal Society in 1784 (while the Society was divided over the efficacy of its President, Sir Joseph Banks, a close friend of Blagden's), serving until 1797. Both in this capacity and as Cavendish's assistant he became involved in the prolonged 'water controversy' - who had priority in discovering the composition of water, claimed by both Cavendish and James Watt in England and A L Lavoisier in France. Blagden admitted responsibility for conveying, quite well-meaningly, word of the experiments and conclusions of both Cavendish and Watt to Lavoisier; and he overlooked errors of date in the printing of Cavendish's and Watt's papers. His experiments on the effects of dissolved substances on the freezing point of water led to what became known as 'Blagden's Law', where he concluded that salt lowers the freezing point of water in the simple inverse ratio of the proportion the water bears to it in the solution. In fact Richard Watson had first discovered the relationship in 1771. Blagden spent much of his time in Europe, particularly in France, where he had many friends among French scientists such as C L Berthollet. He died in Arcueil in 1820. He was knighted in 1792.

Black succeeded William Cullen as Professor of Medicine and Chemistry at Edinburgh University in 1776. His last lecture was given in 1797.

Born in 1895; served World War Two as Superintendent in the WRNS; in charge of HMS PEMBROKE V at Bletchley Park decoding centre and outstations, 1944-1945; died in 1979.

Born in 1854; educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford; entered 13 Hussars, 1875; served in East Indies, 1875-1878, 1879-1880, 1881-1882 and in Afghanistan, 1880-1881; attached to 19 Hussars and served as orderly officer in 1 Cavalry Brigade during Egyptian Expedition, 1882; engaged in action at Kassassin and Battle of Tel-el-Kebir and took part in march to, and occupation of Cairo; Capt, 1883; Maj, 1890; Lt Col, 1896; commanded 13 Hussars, 1896-1901; served in South Africa, 1899-1901; present at the Relief of Ladysmith, including actions at Colenso, Spion Kop, Vaal Kranz, and Pieters Hill, 1900, and served during operations in the Transvaal, 1900-1901, and Orange River Colony, 1901; Brevet Col, 1900; Commandant, POW camp, Leigh, 1915-1917; died in 1925.

Born in 1889; served in Royal Field Artillery Special Reserve, 1916-1920; 2nd Lt, 1916; served with Royal Field Artillery, 12 Div and X/12 Trench Mortar Battery in France, 1916-1918; Lt, 1917; died in 1969.

No information was available at the time of compilation.

Born in Motihari, Bengal, India, 25 June 1903; educated at Eton, 1917-1921; served in Burma in the Indian Imperial Police, 1922-1928; lived for several years in poverty, as a dish-washer in Paris, France, and as a tramp in England, 1928-1931; school teacher at the Hawthorns, Middlesex, 1932-1933; part-time assistant in a Hampstead bookshop, London, 1934-1935; wrote books and novels, 1933-1949; married Eileen Maud O'Shaughnessy (died 1945), 1936; reviewer of novels for the New English Weekly, until 1940; visited areas of mass unemployment in Lancashire and Yorkshire, 1936; wounded in Spain fighting for the Republicans, 1937; member of the Home Guard during World War Two; worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation Eastern Service, 1940-1943; Literary Editor of Tribune, 1943-1945; war correspondent for the Observer, 1945; regular contributor to the Manchester Evening News, 1943-1946; suffered from tuberculosis, often in hospital, 1947-1950; married Sonia Mary Brownell, 1949; died, 21 January 1950. Publications: Down and out in Paris and London (Victor Gollancz, London, 1933); Burmese days (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1934); The road to Wigan pier (Victor Gollancz, London, 1937); Homage to Catalonia (Secker & Warburg, London, 1938); Coming up for air (Victor Gollancz, London, 1939); The lion and the unicorn (Secker & Warburg, London, 1941); Animal farm (Secker & Warburg, London, 1945); Critical essays (Secker & Warburg, London, 1946); The English people (Collins, London, 1947); Nineteen eighty-four (Secker & Warburg, London, 1949); Shooting an elephant, and other essays (Secker & Warburg, London, 1950).

Entered the London Medical School for Women 1887, MB 1892, BS and gold medal for surgery 1893, MD 1894, MS (first woman to attain) 1895. Practised as a surgeon in London, and from 1910-1925 was surgeon to the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital. She was also surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital. 1914-1925 Dean, London Medical School for Women. Served with Women's Unit under the Anglo-French Red Cross in France during the First World War. Created Dame of the British Empire, 1925.

The National Land Bank was founded by John Briscoe in 1695. The Bank went on to be known as the National Land Bank of England after a merger in 1696 with the Land Bank founded by John Asgill and Dr. Nicholas Barbon.

Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake was born in 1865, the daughter of the rector of Chingford. From an early age, she showed a natural gift for healing; when eight years old she organised an animal hospital and friends brought their sick and wounded pets for Louisa's attention. Her family was well-connected and she need not have worked for a living, but she decided to enter the demanding world of medicine. Graduating from the London School of Medicine for Women in 1893, she went on to take the University of London's higher degrees in Medicine and Surgery, becoming the first woman to obtain the degree of Master of Surgery. Throughout her career, Louisa Aldrich-Blake was associated with the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, becoming surgeon in 1910. At the Royal Free Hospital, she was the first woman to hold the post of surgical registrar and also acted as an anaesthetist. During the years of the First World War, many of the male surgical staff of the Royal Free went on foreign active service and Louisa took increased responsibility for the surgery, becoming consulting surgeon to the hospital. Louisa was a bold, meticulous and very successful surgeon, with great management and diagnostic skill. She was the first in Britain to perform operations for cancer of the cervix and rectum. Louisa Aldrich-Blake became Dean of the London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine for Women in 1914, and exercised an important influence on generations of women medical students. The climax of her career came in 1924 when, in the jubilee year of the medical school, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She died in 1925 and is remembered as a brilliant surgeon and wise administrator.

Blake entered the Navy in 1897, was made a lieutenant in 1904, specialising in gunnery and was promoted to commander in 1914. Between 1914 and 1918 he served in the Grand Fleet flagships IRON DUKE and QUEEN ELIZABETH as Fleet Gunnery Commander and Executive Officer respectively. In 1918 he was promoted to captain and served as Naval Attache in Washington between 1919 and 1921. From 1921 to 1923 he commanded QUEEN ELIZABETH and from 1923 he served on the staff of the War College for two years. Between 1925 and 1929 he was Deputy Director and then Director of the Royal Naval Staff College, after which, for three years, he was Commodore in command of the New Zealand Station and First Naval Member of the New Zealand Naval Board. In 1931 he was made rear-admiral. He became Fourth Sea Lord in 1932 and was promoted to vice-admiral in 1935. His last active command was that of the Battle Cruiser Squadron. He retired because of ill-health in 1938, was recalled in 1940 and served on the Board of Admiralty as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff. From 1942 to 1945 he was Flag Officer, Liaison, with the United States Navy in Europe.

Sophia Jex-Blake was born in Hastings in 1840, and educated at Queen's College in London. After meeting Dr Lucy Sewell at the New England Hospital for Women, Sophia decided to become a doctor, and enrolled at Edinburgh University in 1868. She was soon joined by Isabel Thorne, Edith Pechey and four others. The women matriculated successfully, but were prevented from sharing formal university teaching with male medical students. They arranged a course of private tuition, identical to that run by the university, but were refused entry to the final examinations as a result of pressure from those who wanted to prevent women from entering the medical profession. As a result of the difficulties at Edinburgh, Sophia Jex-Blake founded the London School of Medicine for Women, which opened in 1874. Originally, she was one of four Trustees who were appointed to administer funds for the School. When it became necessary to appoint a secretary to the medical school, Sophia considered herself to be the automatic choice, as she had founded the school. However, she was not elected, as her 'stormy, passionate nature' had already caused several rifts between herself and the School's Council. Instead, she went to Edinburgh where she founded a hospital for women and children, and the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women. The Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children acquired the home of Sophia Jex-Blake after her retirement, which became known as the Bruntsfield Hospital. The hospital closed in 1989, and the building is currently a hotel. Sophia retired to Tunbridge Wells in 1899, and continued to campaign for women's suffrage until her death in 1912.

Blake entered the Navy as a cadet in 1846, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1854 and to Commander in 1860 After two years in the ALECTO in South America, 1863 to 1865, he was on the Pacific Station in the MUTINE in 1865, when Chile was at war with Spain. He then commanded the FALCON, 1866 to 1867, on the Australian Station. Blake was promoted to Captain in 1867 and, as Captain of the DRUID, was in command of the Naval Brigade during the Second Ashanti War, 1873 to 1874, when he died.

Blake's (Confectionary) Limited first appear in Post Office Directories for London in 1928, with their address given as Queen Victoria Street, E.C.4. There is another company similarly listed as confectionary retailers, called 'Blakes', but it is highly unlikely that the two businesses were one and the same. Further confusion may arise from the fact that the 'other' Blakes had premises for a time in Victoria Street, S.W.1.

Born 1795 of humble parentage; received private tuition; contributed to Newcastle Magazine and other periodicals; published philosophical works (1831 and 1833); produced Newcastle Liberator, 1838, Northern Liberator and Champion newspapers, 1840; studied philosophy in France and Belgium; Professor of Logic and Metaphysics, Queen's College, Belfast, 1849; died 1878. Publications: History of moral science (James Duncan, London, 1833); Angling: or, how to angle, and where to go (G. Routledge & Co, London, 1854); Christian Hermits: or, the lives of several distinguished solitaries, from the earliest ages of the Christian Church, until the eighth century (London, 1845); Cottage Politics; or letters on the new Poor-law Bill (A. Cobbett, London, 1837); Historical sketch of Logic, from the earliest times to the present day (James Nichol, Edinburgh, 1851); History of the Philosophy of Mind (T. W. Saunders, London, 1848); The history of political literature from the earliest times (Richard Bentley, London, 1855).

Jean Joseph Louis Blanc was born in Spain in 1811. He was brought up and educated in Corsica. He moved to Paris shortly before the July Revolution of 1830 and became a journalist, historian and leading socialist thinker. Exiled from France, he lived in England from 1848 to 1870, where he became popular in Chartist and in labour circles and was in close contact with other left-wing emigres. He returned to France in 1870 and served in the French National Assembly during 1871-1876.

Professor Raphaël Blanchard obtained his MD in Paris in 1880, and was elected Member of the Académie de Médecine in 1894. He was the pioneer in the study of Parasitology in France, and 1885-1889 published his Traité de Zoologie médicale which became a standard work. He was the founder of the Société zoologique de France (1876) and of the Société d'Histoire de la Médecine in 1902.

Blane, a grandson of Sir Gilbert Blane (q.v.), entered the Navy in 1848. In the NIGER he served in the Second Chinese War, 1857 to 1859, and on receiving his commission as lieutenant in 1858, transferred to the DRAKE as her commander. He retired from active service in 1866 and was promoted to captain on the retired list in 1881.