See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
J S Rainier served under his uncle, Admiral Peter Rainier, in the East Indies, became a lieutenant in 1794 and a captain in 1796. He commanded the SWIFT, 1795 to 1797, and the CENTURION, 1797 to 1805, in the East Indies. In 1799 he was in the Red Sea, following the French invasion of Egypt. After a gap in his service between 1805 and 1808, he commanded the NORGE in the Mediterranean from 1808 to 1812 and then in the North Sea until 1814. He was a Member of Parliament for Sandwich, 1808 to 1812. In 1819 he was promoted to rear-admiral.
The Royal Indian Navy's foundation dates from a squadron of ships that was sent out by the East Indies Company to the Swally, Surat on 5 September 1612, under the command of Captain Thomas Bast, to protect British trading interests from the Portuguese. Until 1686, this force was known as the Honourable East Indies Company's Marine, with headquarters initially in Surat, and then Bombay, to where the Company formally transferring its interests in 1685. From 1686 the force became known as the Bombay Marine.
On 1 May 1830, the Bombay Marine became the Indian Navy by Government Order. The Indian Navy was abolished in 1863 and the naval protection of Indian Waters was taken over by the Admiralty. From 1863-1877 the Service was again known as the Bombay Marine, and acted in a non-combatant role, trooping and laying submarine telegraph cables from Bombay to Suez, and Karachi to Basra.
In 1877 the Service was reorganised by Admiral Bythesea, NC, and became Her Majesty's Indian Marine, divided into Eastern and Western Divisions, with dockyards at Calcutta and Bombay. Its duties included: the transportation of troops and stores; maintenance of Station ships and gunboats; building, repair and maintenance of all Indian Government vessels; and marine survey. The HMIM took part in the Abyssinian War of 1871, the Egyptian campaigns 1882 and 1885, the 3rd Burmese War 1885, and the Chin-hushai Expedition in Burma 1889.
These years as a trooping/ surveying organisation earned the Service Royal recognition and in 1892 Queen Victoria authorised the name to be changed to the Royal Indian Marine. The RIM participated in the Suakin Expedition 1896, an Expedition to Mkwelo in East Africa 1897, the Boer War, the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and a Somaliland Expedition 1902-4. From 1909-14, the RIM was engaged in the suppression of gun-running in the Persian Gulf. After extensive service in World War I, the RIM returned to trooping/ surveying duties and the Service reached its lowest ebb in 1925 as a result of the Inchcape Report. A committee, formed under the Chair of Lord Rawlinson, C-in-C, India (Rawlinson Committee), put foward proposals for reconstituting the Service on a combatant footing, and in 1928 the White Ensign was hoisted onboard all RIM ships.
On 8 September 1934, the Indian Navy (Discipline) Bill received Governor-General's assent and HM King George V conferred the title of Royal Indian Navy on the Service. In February 1939, the Chatfield Committee made recommendations for the RIN taking over increased responsibility for the naval defence of India. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the RIN began to establish reserves - the Royal Indian Naval Reserve, recruited from serving officers in the Mercantile Marine; and the Royal Indian Naval Volunteer Reserve, recruited from the general public and given intensive training, mainly in Bombay. In addition to the ordinary Continuous Service Ratings, the RIN recruited Special Service Ratings who served for 5 years and then transferred to the Fleet Reserve for 10 years.
On 15 August 1947, the subdivision of India and Pakistan brought about division of the Navy into the Royal Pakistan and Royal Indian Navies. When India abrogated her Dominion status to become a Republic within the Commonwealth on 26 January 1950, the Navy became the Indian Navy.
In 1837 James MacQueen (1778-1870) put a plan to the Government for a steam packet service between England and the Caribbean; this was quickly followed by more ambitious proposals embodied in a 'General Plan for a Mail Communication between Great Britain and the Eastern and Western parts of the World; also to Canton and Sydney westward by the Pacific'. On MacQueen's initiative the West India Committee, an association in London of merchants and planters, gave its support to the formation of a company. Under the chairmanship of John Irving (d.1845), a merchant banker, the first meeting of the Directors of the Company was held in 1839. James MacQueen was appointed 'General Superintendent of Affairs'. In the autumn of 1839 the new company was granted a royal charter and the first mail contract was signed with the Admiralty in 1840. It provided for a service of steamships, twice in each calendar month, from a Channel port (eventually fixed as Southampton) to islands and ports in the West Indies. Connecting with this main line of steamers at the various points there was to be a feeder service of seven steamers and three sailing vessels, serving all the principal islands and countries of the Spanish Main, with an extension northwards to New York, Halifax and Nova Scotia. An annual subsidy of ?24,000 was written into the agreement. Because the contract was with the Admiralty (the first contract with the Postmaster-General was made in 1864) the Royal Navy exercised a great deal of influence over the running of the ships. In an unprecedented building operation, fourteen large steam vessels and three small sailing ships were commissioned in time to start the service in December 1841. In 1846 the service was extended to link up with the west coast of South America (served by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company) over the Isthmus of Panama. A further extension followed in 1850, when a monthly service to Brazil and the River Plate was added to the extended West Indies contract. This new service was of great importance to the subsequent development of the Company. Royal Mail tried three times between 1852 and 1869 to get a foothold in the Australasian trade via Panama, but without any long-term success. A fourth attempt was made in 1906, in conjunction with the Orient Line (q.v.), but the partnership lasted only a year, after which the latter company obtained the mail contract for itself alone. There was a short-lived attempt to acquire berthing rights to Morocco, the Canaries and Madeira. This route was abandoned in 1919. The last five-year mail contract for the West Indies, signed in 1911, was not renewed owing to the advent of the First World War. However, the Canadian mail contract, for a fortnightly service between Canada, the West Indies and British Guiana remained in force from 1913 throughout the war; thereafter it was renewed by short-term extensions, until the increasing use of Canadian Government ships on the route brought it to an end in 1927. In addition, the company known as 'R.M.S.P. Meat Transports Limited' was formed in 1914 in order to put additional refrigerated tonnage on the Plate route. At the end of the First World War, the Company was allocated fourteen standard 'War' type freighters, as well as eleven ships of the Russian Volunteer fleet. From the beginning of the twentieth century the Royal Mail offered cruises on its vessels of which the most notable were Arcadian, Atlantis and Andes. From 1903 the policy of the Company under its Chairman, Owen Cosby Philipps (1863-1937), created Lord Kylsant in 1923, was to broaden the base of its operations by acquiring a controlling interest in a great number of shipping companies in diverse trades. Before the First World War, besides other less important enterprises, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company (1910), Lamport and Bolt and Elder Dempster (1911), the Union Castle Line (1912) and the Nelson Line (1913) became members of the group, with MacIver joining in
The first South Africa Conference was formed in 1883 following increased steamship trading rivalry between European shipping lines operating in the area. Its main objective quickly became the regulation of member companies and the establishment of common freight tariffs. From 1886, the Conference granted a bonus ("deferred rebate") to member companies, thus providing a trading advantage for membership, and a common interest in improving standards. The major shipping lines that made up the conferences were: The Union Castle Mail Steamship Company Limited, The Clan Line Steamers Limited, Ellerman and Bucknall Steamships Company Limited, Ellerman and Hall Line, Bullard King and Company, Harrison Line, Huston Line, British India Line and the D.O.A. Line.
Scott entered the Navy in 1803, was made a lieutenant in 1809 and after service in the Channel, off the African coast and in North America, was promoted to captain in 1828. He commanded the PRESIDENT, flagship, West Indies, 1834 to 1836, and when she was flagship, Pacific, 1836 to 1839. Scott saw no further service after 1841 and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1854, vice-admiral in 1861 and admiral in 1865. He published Recollections of a naval life (London, 1834).
Spratt entered the Navy in 1827, was made a lieutenant in 1841 and a commander in 1849, his ship then being the SPITFIRE, a survey vessel in the Mediterranean; he continued in command of her until the end of the Crimean War, becoming a captain in 1855. In 1856 he was appointed to the MEDINA and remained surveying in the Mediterranean until 1863. He was a Commissioner of Fisheries from 1866 to 1873 and was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1872. In 1878 he became a Vice-Admiral and from 1879 was Acting Conservator of the Mersey Conservancy Board. Spratt published books and articles on the Mediterranean, chiefly on the history and antiquities of Crete.
From their first venture in 1858, Shaw and Savill specialized in the New Zealand trade. When they gained a share of the New Zealand Government contract for a regular mail, passenger and cargo service between the United Kingdom and New Zealand, they began operating a joint service with the White Star Line. In 1899 the White Star Line began a steamship service from Liverpool to Australia via the Cape and in 1905 Shaw Savill and the White Star Line acquired a further interest in the Australian trade when they became the major shareholders in the Aberdeen Line. The Royal Mail Group purchased the White Star Line in 1926 and in 1928 the Australian Government's Commonwealth Line which was then amalgamated with the Aberdeen Line to provide a fortnightly service from London to Australia via Suez and Colombo. The group also acquired the major shareholding in Shaw Savill in 1928, but after the group's collapse and the reorganization which followed this, Shaw Savill became part of the Furness Withy Group (q.v.) in 1933. In 1939 a new fast passenger and cargo service to New Zealand via the Cape and Australia was inaugurated. In the postwar period many of the new vessels were designed without accommodation for passengers, but in 1955 the SOUTHERN CROSS was built solely for passengers and with one-class accommodation to operate on a new round-the-world route. When she was joined by her sister ship the NORTHERN STAR they maintained eight round-the-world sailings a year until the decline in the passenger trade in the early 1970s.
Stephenson entered the Navy in 1855. He served in the Crimea, India and Canada, being promoted to lieutenant in 1861 and to commander in 1868. He was in command of the RATTLER when she was lost in La Perouse Strait in 1868. He became a captain in 1875. From 1875 to 1876 Stephenson commanded the DISCOVERY in the British Arctic Expedition led by Captain C.S. Nares. He commanded the CARYSFORT, Mediterranean, 1880 to 1883, and took part in operations in Egypt in 1882. During the 1890s he was Commander-in-Chief both in the Pacific and the Channel, being appointed rear-admiral in 1890, vice-admiral in 1896 and admiral in 1901.
William Stokes Rees entered the Navy in 1866 and served on the Mediterranean Station in the ROYAL OAK from 1868 to 1870. In 1872 he was in home waters in the PEMBROKE and the BELLEROPHON and then went out to the Pacific in the REPULSE until 1873. He became a lieutenant in 1877 and specialized in gunnery. Promoted to Commander in 1891, he went, in 1894, to the ST GEORGE, flagship at the Cape of Good Hope, and took part in the Brass River (1895), M'Wele (1896), Ashanti (1896), Zanzibar (1896) and Benin (1897), expeditions. Having become a captain in 1897, Rees took command of the THETIS in the Mediterranean, 1898 to 1900, and then on the Cape Station until 1901. After some short commands followed by two years as senior officer in Australia (1904 to 1906), he retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1910 and rose to Admiral on the retired list.
Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltd began in the 1870s. In 1886 Trinder Anderson & Co. acquired the business of Messrs Oliver and Wilson of Fremantle and entered trade in Western Australia. In 1886, Trinder Anderson and Co Ltd set up a steamer service called the Western Australia Steam Navigation Co. In 1892, Trinder Anderson and Co reorganized with Charles Bethell and Co when Walter J Gwyn was taken into partnership becoming known as Bethell, Gwyn and Co. In the same year Trinder Anderson and Co. and Bethell, Gwyn and Co enters the emigrant trade. In 1904, Trinder Anderson and Co. and Bethell, Gwyn and Co founded the Australind Steam Navigation Co. The first steam vessel registered was the AUSTRALIND, a 5,568 ton cargo vessel built by Charles Connell and Co of Glasgow. In later years the Australind Steam Navigation Company became associated with the New Zealand Shipping Company which registered in 1872 and changed in 1966 to become asscociated with the Federal Steam Navigation Co Australind Steam Navigation Co together with its parent company forms part of the P and O organisation. In 1967, the Australind Steam Navigation Co ran services in association with Avenue Shipping. In this collection, Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltd. acted as agents to the Australind Steam Navigation Company Ltd from 1897 to 1964, New Zealand Shipping Company Ltd from 1937 to 1959 and Avenue Shipping Co Ltd. from 1954 to 1969. Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltds own company records in this collection cover the period 1914 to 1974.
Tennant joined the BRITANNIA in 1905, from 1906 to 1909 was in the Channel in the PRINCE OF WALES, VENERABLE, IMPLACABLE and QUEEN and was promoted to lieutenant in 1912. After specialising in navigation he served from 1914 to 1916 in the LIZARD and FERRET, Harwich Force, and in the Grand Fleet in the CHATHAM and NOTTINGHAM. Still in 1916, he returned to the Harwich Force in the CONCORD and remained in her as navigator until 1919. He was navigator during the two Royal tours around the world in the RENOWN, 1921 and the REPULSE, 1925, the year he was promoted to commander. He was made Captain in 1932. From 1935 to 1937 he was on the Mediterranean Station in the ARETHUSA followed by two years (1937 to 1939), as naval instructor at Imperial Defence College. At the beginning of the Second World War, Tennant organized the embarkation of the allied armies at Dunkirk. He next commanded the REPULSE and survived her sinking off Singapore by Japanese air attack at the end of 1941. In 1942 he was promoted to rear-admiral and commanded a cruiser squadron of the Eastern Fleet. He joined the staff for 'Overlord' , the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe, in 1943 and was responsible for the 'Mulberry' harbours. In 1945 he went as Flag-Officer, Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, was promoted to vice-admiral in that year and to admiral in 1949 at the end of his term as Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies, 1946 to 1949.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Hamilton entered the Navy in 1843 and served in the Virago on the Mediterranean Station. From 1850 to 1851 he served in the ASSISTANCE and from 1852 to 1854 in the RESOLUTE in the Arctic expeditions searching for Sir John Franklin (q.v.). He was made a lieutenant in 1851. During the Crimean War he served in the Baltic in the DESPERATE, 1855 to 1856. After this he took part in the Second Chinese War in command of the HAUGHTY, and was promoted to commander in 1857 for his services. In 1858 he commissioned the HYDRA for service off the African coast but was sent instead to Halifax, serving on the North American and West Indies Station until 1868. During this time he was promoted to captain, 1862, and commanded the VESUVIOUS until 1864 and the SPHINX from 1865 to 1868. Hamilton then served in home waters. In 1875 he was appointed Superintendent of Pembroke Dockyard, became a rear-admiral in 1877 and in 1878 was made Director of Naval Ordnance. From 1880 to 1883 he was in command off the Irish coast. He became vice-admiral in 1884 and was Commander-in-Chief, China Station, from 1885 to 1888. He became an admiral in 1887. Hamilton was appointed Second, later First, Sea Lord, 1889 to 1891. From 1891 to 1894 he was President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. He retired in 1895 and wrote works on naval administration and historical subjects.
A R Woodriff, son of Commander John Robert Woodriff and grandson of Captain Daniel Woodriff, served on the North America and West Indies Station from 1868 to 1871, when he became a lieutenant. After a period in China, 1873 to 1874, he returned to England and was drowned in 1876.
By the end of the nineteenth century, White was well-known as an upholder of anti-German policies and an advocate of a strong navy, exerting his influence through articles in the Daily Express and a column in the Referee under his pseudonym 'Vanoc'. He thus became involved in the naval policies of the day and was an active member of the British Navy League, For Herbrand Arthur, eleventh Duke of Bedford (1858-1940), he also acted as supplier of information and political agent.
Born Harold Munro Fuchs in 1889; educated at Brighton College and Caius College, Cambridge University; worked at the Plymouth [Marine Biology] Laboratory, 1911-1912; Lecturer in Zoology, Imperial College, University of London, 1913-1914; served World War One, 1914-1918, with the Army Service Corps in Egypt, Salonika, Greece, the Balkan Peninsula and Palestine; changed name to Fox, 1914; Lecturer in Biology, Government School of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt, 1919-1923; Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, 1920-1928; Balfour Student, Cambridge University, 1924-1927; leader of zoological expedition to study the fauna of the Suez Canal, Egypt, 1924; Editor of Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1926-[1967]; Professor of Zoology, Birmingham University, 1927-1941; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1937; Professor of Zoology, Bedford College, University of London, 1941-1954; Honorary President, London Natural History Society, 1950-; President, International Union of Biological Sciences, 1950-1953; Fullarian Professor of Physiology, Royal Institution, 1953-1956; Emeritus Professor, 1954; Fellow and Research Associate, Queen Mary College, University of London; retired 1954; Président d'Honneur, Zoological Society of France, 1955; Gold Medallist, Linnean Society of London, 1959; Darwin Medallist of the Royal Society, 1966; died 1967.
Publications: Biology: an introduction to the study of life (University Press, Cambridge, 1932); Blue blood in animals, and other essays in biology (Routledge and Sons, London, 1928); Selene, or sex and the moon (Kegan Paul, London, 1928); The personality of animals (Penguin Books, Harmonsworth, New York, 1940); The nature of animal colours (Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 1960); assisted with the biology sections of Elementary Science (University Press, Cambridge, 1935).
Born 1885; educated privately, Royal Holloway College, 1904, and University of London, graduating in 1907; Fellowship to Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, USA, 1908-1909; Assistant Mistress in History, Cheltenham Ladies College, Gloucestershire, 1909-1912; Assistant Lecturer, 1912-1919, and Staff Lecturer, 1919-1921, in History, Royal Holloway College, University of London; Pfeiffer Research Fellow, 1921-1926, and Lecturer in History, 1926-1929, Girton College, Cambridge University; Lecturer in History, Cambridge University, 1930-1948; Director of Studies in History and Law, and Vice-Mistress, Cambridge University, 1944-1948; elected to the British Academy, 1945; Zemurray Radcliffe Professor of History, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, 1948-1954; President, International Commission for the History of Assemblies of Estates, 1949-1960; CBE, 1947; retired 1954; Vice-President Selden Society, 1962-1965; Vice President, 1958, and Honorary Vice-President, 1963-1968, Royal Historical Society; Fellow of the Medieval Academy of Arts and Sciences; Honorary Fellow, Somerville College, Oxford University, 1964; active member of the Cambridge Labour Party and Trades Council; died 1968.
Publications: A guide for novel readers (Y.W.C.A., London, 1920); Album Helen Maud Cam (Publications universitaires de Louvain, Louvain, 1960); England before Elizabeth (Hutchinson's University Library, London, 1950); Historical novels (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1961); Law as it looks to a historian: Founders' Memorial Lecture, Girton College, 18 February, 1956 (W Heffer and Sons, Cambridge, 1956); Law-finders and law-makers in medieval England: collected studies in legal and constitutional history (Merlin Press, London, 1962); Liberties and communities in Medieval England: collected studies in local administration and topography (University Press, Cambridge, 1944); Local government in Francia and England: a comparison of the local administration and jurisdiction of the Carolingian Empire with that of the West Saxon Kingdom (University of London Press, London, 1912); Studies in the Hundred Rolls: some aspects of thirteenth century administration (Oxford, 1921); The Hundred and the Hundred Rolls: an outline of local government in Medieval England (Methuen and Co, London, 1930); The legislators of Medieval England (Geoffrey Cumberlege, London, [1946]); What of the Middle Ages is still alive in England today? (Athlone Press, London, [1961]); Zachary Nugent Brooke, 1883-1946 (Geoffrey Cumberlege, London, [1949]); Bibliography of English constitutional history (G. Bell and Sons, London, 1929); editor Crown, community and parliament in the later Middle Ages: studies in English constitutional history (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1951); editor Studies in manorial history (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1938); introduction to Selected historical essays of F. W. Maitland (University Press, Cambridge, 1957).
Born 1891; educated Armstrong College, Durham University, gaining his BSc in 1912; 1851 Exhibitioner, Kristiania University, Norway, 1914-1915; gained MSc at Armstrong College, 1916; served World War One, 1914-1918, as Capt, Royal Army Medical Corps, 1917-1919; Lecturer in Geology, Armstrong College, 1919-1921; Head of Geology Department, 1921-1956, and Professor of Geology, 1928-1956, Bedford College, University of London; awarded the Lyell Fund by the Geological Society of London, 1927; Secretary, 1934-1942, and President, 1954-1957, Geological Society of London; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1952; President, Mineralogical Society, 1954-1957; Murchison Medallist, 1946; Wollaston Medallist, 1962, Geological Society of London; Emeritus Professor, 1956; retired, [1956]; Fellow of Bedford College, 1971; died 1981.
Publications: Geology and time (University of Nottingham, Nottingham, 1953); Iceland (Geographical Handbook Series, London, 1942).
Professor of Chemistry, Bedford College, University of London, 1949-1970; Emeritus Professor, 1970; retired 1970; died 1985.
Educated at Oxford University and Trinity College, Dublin; taught English and Germanic Philosophy at Royal Holloway College, University of London, 1899-1915, being a Senior Staff Lecturer from 1905; Secretary of the Staff, Royal Holloway College; Director of Studies of English and Philology, Girton College, Cambridge, 1915; died 1951.
Publications: Henryson: selected fables (Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 1930); editor of The Middle English poem, Erthe upon Erthe, printed from twenty-four manuscripts (London, 1911).
Born London, 28 November 1926, but spent her earliest years in Russia where her father went to work; graduated in 1948 with an External London BSc in Zoology taken at University College, Leicester; studied marine worms in the Isle of Man and was awarded her PhD from the University of Liverpool; moved, in 1952, to Royal Holloway College as Assistant Lecturer in the newly opened Zoology Department; promoted to Lecturer in 1957 and retired in 1991 as Reader in Ecology, a University of London appointment which she had held since 1976; her research was concerned with plankton living in the reservoirs situated around Staines and she supervised investigations into the fauna of the slow sand filters through which London's drinking water is purified; her data has been incorporated into increasingly refined models of how reservoir ecosystems work; pioneer in the use of echo-sounding to measure fish populations, equipment now used routinely by the Environment Agency; with a botanical colleague, she started a BSc Ecology degree at a time when only three such degrees were taught in the UK. At the time of Dr Duncan's death, she was the initiator and principal coordinator of a complex project funded by the EU which embraced numerous colleagues from three European and three SE Asian countries; worked extensively in Europe, Africa and the USA; maintained a lifelong association with socialism and eastern Europe, maintaining communications across the Iron Curtain; after her formal retirement Duncan remained active in research as Emeritus Reader in Ecology and Leader of the Hydroacoustic Unit at the Royal Holloway Institute of Environmental Research; died 3 October 2000.
The Staff Meeting was established in 1889 in order to discuss matters relating to teaching in the College. It originally discussed and settled the work of each student individually but this became impossible as student numbers increased. It also considered examinations and scholarships but had no power in policy-making. Meetings were usually held at least once a term, although sometimes they met more than this and sometimes less. The meeting consisted of the Principal and between 8-12 members of the Academic staff. In 1912 the Governors constituted the Academic Board which took over the functions of the Staff Meeting. It was to be composed of the Principal and senior members of staff and was to meet at least once a term. The Academic Board had the power to make recommendations to the Governors on all academic matters but did not have any executive duties. The Royal Holloway College Act (1949) stated that the Board should contain the Principal (as Chairman), all Professors of the University of London who taught at the College, and Heads of Department. It was able to regulate its own procedures and the conduct of its business, and was (with the approval of the Council) able to make standing orders for that purpose.
The Trustees were three men who were given control of the College estate, property and picture collection. The first Trustees were appointed by Thomas Holloway in 1876 and were thereafter appointed by the Board of Governors as and when a new vacancy arose. The Trustees themselves also served as Governors.
In 1949, the Royal Holloway College Act altered the way in which the College was governed and as a result, responsibility for the estate and College property was transferred to the Council. The role of Trustee was thereafter terminated.
Various unofficial records collated by members of Royal Holloway College on an ad-hoc basis.
Egon Sharpe Pearson was born in Hampstead, London, in 1895, the middle child of Karl Pearson and his wife Maria Sharpe. He was educated at Winchester College and Cambridge University, graduating in 1920 and joined his father's Department of Applied Statistics at University College London in 1921 becoming assistant editor of Biometrika, the statistical journal co-founded by Karl Pearson, in 1924. In 1933 Pearson succeeded his father as Head of Department at UCL; three years later, when Karl Pearson died, he also became Managing Editor of Biometrika.
In 1930, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS). During a visit to the USA in 1931, Pearson met Walter Shewart of the Bell Telephone Laboratory with whom he discussed quality control in industry. The following year he presented a paper to the RSS on industrial applications of statistics which led directly to the formation of the Industrial and Agricultural Research Section (IARS) of the Society. He was on the Council of the RSS from 1934 to 1951, serving as Vice-President in 1945/6 and again in 1947/8 and was elected President for 1955-1957.
He married in 1934 and had two children; his wife died in 1949. Pearson died in 1980.
George Field: born, Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire in about 1777; educated at St Peter's School, Berkhampstead; experimented with the application of chemistry to pigments and dyes; successfully cultivated madder, (a plant cultivated for dye); invented a 'physeter' or percolator acting by air pressure to produce coloured lakes or pigments; awarded the Society of Arts' gold Isis medal for the percolator, 1816, (the apparatus is described by in Society of Arts Transactions, xxxiv pp 87-94); continued to work on preparing colours for use by artists; other inventions included a metrochrome and conical lenses; died, Isleworth, Middlesex, 1854.
Publications: Chromatics; or, an Essay on the analogy and harmony of colours (Newman, London, 1817); Chromatography, or, A treatise on colours and pigments, and of their powers in painting (London, 1835); Ethics; or, the analogy of the Moral Sciences indicated; Outlines of Analogical Philosophy, being a primary view of the principles, relations and purposes of Nature, Science, and Art 2 vols (London, 1839); Rudiments of the Painter's Art: or, a Grammar of Colouring (London, 1850); Tritogenea, or, A brief outline of the universal system; Dianoia. The third Organon attempted, or, Elements of Logic and subjective philosophy; Aesthetics, or, the analogy of the sensible sciences indicated: with an appendix on light and colors; The analogy of the physical sciences indicated; Society of Arts Transactions, xxxiv pp 87-94.
Dealer of the Independent Gallery; Samuel Courtauld's principal adviser, and central in the acquisition of many of his paintings; died c1950. Publications: Millet ... Illustrated with eight reproductions in colour ([1910]); Van Dyck ... Illustrated with eight reproductions in colour ([1908]); Stories of the French Artists from Clouet to Delacroix collected and arranged by P M Turner [chapters 1-17] and Charles Henry Collins Baker [chapters 18-30] (Chatto & Windus, London, 1909); The Appreciation of Painting ... With illustrations (Selwyn & Blount, London,1921).
Born in Birkenhead, 1860; moved to Whitchurch near Ross-on-Wye, 1864; educated at home by a governess; preparatory school at Whitchurch, 1871-1875; Hereford Cathedral School, 1875-1877; Gloucester School of Art; Académie Julian in Paris, 1882; École des Beaux-Arts, 1883; pictures hung at the Royal Academy, 1883-1885; returned to England and worked on a series of paintings beginning at Walberswick, Suffolk; supporter and constant exhibitor at the New English Art Club; taught at the Slade School of Fine Art [1895]-1930; began to work increasingly with water-colours from about 1900; honorary member of the Liverpool Academy of Arts, 1906; Order of Merit, 1931; died in Chelsea, 1931; his work is found, amongst others, in the British Museum, the Tate Gallery, the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin, the Welsh National Museum, Cardiff.
In 1942 the Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP) and the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSENG) met together and agreed to ask the RCOG to co-operate to form a Standing Joint Committee of the three Royal Colleges. The Committee initially met each month to discuss matters of mutual interest, particularly the training of consultants; the three College presidents alternated as chairman.
The first Memorandum and Articles of Association of the College were approved on 13 September 1929. The first royal charter was granted in 1947, with a supplemental charter in 1948. Further amendments were made to the charter, articles of association, ordinances and by-laws in 1963, 1971, 1979, 1984 and 1999.
A Clinical Effectiveness Support Unit (CESU) was set up as a new department of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in June 1999 to co-ordinate the College's many existing clinical governance and educational activities. It was renamed the National Collaborating Centre for Women's Health and Children's Health (NCC-WCH) in 2001. The NCC-WHC's main functions are as follows: production of at least two evidence-based guidelines per year, completion of two national audits in obstetrics and gynaecology per year, co-ordination and support of the clinical effectiveness programme within the College, liaison with relevant related activities, including the confidential enquiries into infant and maternal deaths (CESDI and CEMD), consideration of further developments, particularly accreditation of services and consumer issues. The NCC-WHC produces two types of Guidelines: National Evidence-based Guidelines, funded by the National Institute for Clinical Evidence (NICE) covering all aspects of a particular area of clinical practice e.g. infertility, electronic fetal monitoring, induction of labour, and Green-Top Guidelines, funded by the College and comprising brief evidence-based statements on topical and controversial issues to assist clinicians in their decision making about appropriate health care. The NCC-WHC services three College committees: Clinical Effectiveness Standards Board (CESB), Guideline and Audit Sub-committee (GASC), a sub-committee of CESB and Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC).
Special working groups or ad hoc committees and sub-committees were set up at various times, usually by Council or the Finance and Executive Committee, to investigate and report on particular issues of concern to the College. Servicing the working groups and committees is currently the responsibility of the College's Administration Department.
The working party was established by the College in July 1980 in order "To consider developments in further specialisation within the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, including training implications, and to make recommendations" (minutes 6 Nov 1980: ref M12/1). The working party first met in November 1980. It presented its report to Council in 1982. The report was published as a discussion document in November 1982.
The working party first met on 16 July 1993; the Chairman was Professor M J Whittle, Professor of Fetal Medicine at the University of Birmingham. Representatives from the General Practitioners and Midwifery Service were present, also other Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologists. The terms of reference were: a) To consider and develop suggestions made by the British Paediatric Association (BPA)/RCOG Joint Standing Committee regarding facilities required for childbirth in different settings. b) To define minimum standards of staffing, facilities and organisation in each setting for the guidance of managers, clinical directors and health professionals.
This committee was established in 1959 under the chairmanship of H J Malkin to define the general principles to be followed in the building of maternity units. It reported in May 1960.
This sub-committee was established by Council, under the chairmanship of J Malvern, in November 1980. Its terms of reference were "to enquire into all matters relating to manpower in training and career posts in obstetrics and gynaecology in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to advise the Council on policies with regard to numbers and distribution of training posts" (1983 report, p. 5 in M32/1). In 1982 the committee presented a preliminary report to Council defining the current state of manpower in the British Isles; a second, published report was produced in 1983. This committee may be seen as a precursor to the RCOG's Manpower (later Medical Workforce) Advisory Committee, which was established in 1988.
The working party met throughout 1984 and 1985 and their report was published in May 1987. The required information was collected through the use of questionnaires, letters and verbal evidence. The Chairman was Mrs W J A Francis FRCOG.
The working party was instituted by the Council of the RCOG in 1989 to review the education and services related to contraception in view of the continuing high rate of unplanned pregnancy. It reported in September 1991.
The RCOG undertook a survey of obstetric flying squads in 1980 in order to discover what care was provided for obstetric emergencies arising in the community where pre-admission examination or treatment has been considered advisable.
The working party was set up by Council on the recommendation of the RCOG's Examination Committee in 1991 under the chairmanship of Professor W Dunlop. Its terms of reference were "to consider the need for change in the current system of assessment leading to the award of MRCOG; to define the educational objectives upon which assessment should be based, and to suggest revision of the current system of assessment and to make recommendations on the implementation of this revision". It reported to Council in 1991.
The working party was established in 1995, following discussions with the Department of Health, with the following terms of reference: 1) 'To identify current trends in the routine use of ultrasound for screening in obstetrics; 2) to consider existing literature on routine ultrasound screening for fetal abnormalities with respect to its safety, accuracy, costs and psychological effects; 3) on the basis of the above, to reach recommendations concerning best practice, areas of continuing controversy, within the areas of controversy, those which might be amenable to research'. (Ref: Terms of reference in M55/1). The working party, under the chairmanship of Professor M J Whittle FRCOG, produced a consultation document in March 1997, which was widely circulated for comment. The final report of the working party was produced in October 1997. In 1998 the working party was reconvened as a supplementary working group to establish a minimum standard for screening; it produced its report in July 2000.
The Group was set up by Council in 1991 to monitor the development of posts in community gynaecology. Its terms of reference were: to determine the role of the consultant in reproductive health/community gynaecology and to advise Council on its development; to formulate guidelines for training; to recommend procedure for recognition of training programmes; to recommend procedure for the award of certificates of completion of training; to monitor existing training posts; to propose procedure for RCOG/Faculty of Family Planning involvement in consultant appointments; to liase between RCOG, BAFPD and the proposed Faculty of Family Planning on reproductive health/community gynaecology; to liase with the Department of Health regarding manpower and funding for posts. The group was considered to have completed its work by mid 1993 and held its last meeting in October of that year.
The working party was established by the RCOG in 1969 to study and report on unplanned pregnancy. The working party commenced its study under the chairmanship of Sir John Peel in 1970 and presented its report to Council in 1972.
The first 'Candidates' Newsletter' was produced in 1993; in December 1996 it was renamed the 'Trainees Newsletter'. Production of the Newsletter was suspended in 1999.
The senior manager for the College was traditionally the College Secretary, with further responsibility for College administration vested in the Deputy College Secretary. The College Secretary managed the College departments in liaison with the College Officers, Council and committee chairmen. In 2005 the post of College Secretary was renamed the Chief Executive Officer.
Traditionally senior management meetings occured between the College Secretary, the Deputy College Secretary and the primary Heads of Departments. This forum was responsible for approving any changes to the departmental structure of the College, revising the reporting structure and discussing the general management of the College. In 2003 the Senior Management Team (SMT) was disbanded as it was decided the Heads of Departments (HoDs) were the senior mangers of the College. However, by July 2005 the College had grown significantly in size, with over eighteen different departments, making it difficult to obtain quick management decisions. A new management structure was introduced dividing the College into four primary divisions or directorates: Services, Administration, Education and Standards. Each divisional director, together with the Chief Executive Officer and the Heads of Personnel and Finance formed the new Senior Management Team. The divisional Directors were to cascade management decisions down through regular meetings with the Heads of Department in their division: these meetings continue to the present day.
The Office of Honorary Secretary is elected to Council by Fellows and Members, the term of office is a maximum of seven years. The post has been in place since 1926, where William Fletcher Shaw was made Secretary. In 2008 the Honorary Secretary's main responsiblities were:
Supporting and assisting the President
The agenda for Council and Finance and Executive Committee
Chairing the Services Board and Services Group
Deputy Chair of the Consumers Forum
Representing the College Officers on the Staff Committee
RCOG Press Officer
RCOG awards, prizes & lectures
Attending meetings of Regional College Advisers, College Tutors and Overseas Chairmen
Fellows ad eundem selection process
Representation on European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Ex officio member of all Boards and Standing Committees
Department of Health Workforce matters
The Honorary Secretary works closely with Membership services in respect of:
a) Approving requests for the purchase of data about Fellows and Members
b) Corresponding with the family members of deceased Fellows and Members
c) Advice and approval of applications for Associates and Affiliates
d) The organisation of MRCOG and FRCOG Admission Ceremonies
He also works closely with the Communications and External Affairs department in respect of:
a) RCOG communications to Associates and Affiliates
b) Communications with Fellows and Members on contemporary issues
c) Membership benefits
d) Approving publicity material for national and international meetings
e) Medical Students' Evenings
The Honorary Secretary is a member of various Committees/Working Parties including: Management Audit Committee; Work life Balance; RCOG/APOG Working Group; Clinical Standards Working Party; Future Workforce in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.