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The London Fever Hospital (LFH) was founded in 1802 at 2 Constitution Row, Gray's Inn Lane, just north of Guilford Street, under the official title of The Institution for the Cure and Prevention of Contagious Fevers. It had 15 beds, and was staffed by three nurses, a medical officer, an apothecary and a porter. Typhus was the main disease treated, but smallpox and scarlet fever were also prominent. The Hospital admitted 550 patients in its first two years, and also cleaned and fumigated their homes. In 1815 the Hospital moved to take over a parochial smallpox hospital on the site of what is now King's Cross station. At that time it had 60 beds, and 60 more were added later. By 1842 the hospital was admitting about 1500 patients a year with typhus and malignant scarlet fever. The fee for treatment was £2 2s, unless the patient had a subscriber's letter, in which case it was free. Admission was restricted to servants and the 'decent poor', paupers were sent to the workhouses and houses of recovery. The wealthier patients were nursed in their own homes. In 1849 the hospital moved once more, to its permanent site, a 200 bed building with over four acres of land in Liverpool Road, Islington. A succession of well known physicians were on the staff, including Sir William Jenner, who was assistant physician from 1855-1861 and the epidemiologist, Charles Murchison was successively assistant physician, physician and consulting physician from 1856-1879.

In the twentieth century, as many of the infectious diseases of the past began to pose less of a threat to public health, the LFH took on more of the work of a general hospital. By 1938 the isolation block was no longer required and was replaced by a private wing, raising the number of beds to 209. During World War Two beds at the LFH were allocated for casualties from hospitals that had been damaged in air raids. The Royal Free Hospital was allocated 100, and the City of London Maternity Hospital was given 30. In 1948 the LFH joined the Royal Free Group and became the Royal Free Hospital, Liverpool Road Branch. It contained 130 beds for general cases, though the wards were actually used for obstetric, gynaecological and pediatric cases, apart from 23 additional beds in the private wing. In order to perpetuate the name of the LFH, the remainder of the hospital's funds, about £10,000 was used to establish the London Fever Hospital Research Fund, used specifically for research into the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. The Liverpool Road site was closed in 1974, but the Royal Free still has a Liverpool Road Division, on the Pond Street site, specialising in women and childrens' services.

The year 1810 is regarded as that in which the Independent Order was established. It grew out of the Grand United Order or London order whose headquarters were at the Bohemia Tavern in Wych Street. The United Order itself was formed about 1779 by the partial amalgamation of two earlier Orders: the 'Ancient' and the 'Patriotic'. These earlier Orders were both convivial and political, and were also benevolent in that financial assistance was given to the poor. On the merger of these two Orders, the benevolence aspect became the principal aim of the brethren.

The most useful benefit was the 'travelling relief'. This was afforded to members travelling in search of employment and was calculated on the cost of providing bed and board on a daily basis. A member obtained a travelling card and a password and could use these to obtain a bed at any Lodge in any Town were he intended to spend the night, and was assisted by a monetary payment sufficient to provide bed and board for the next 24 hours.

The title Independent Order of Odd Fellows Manchester Unity Friendly Society was adopted from the Order set up in Manchester in 1810 by members of the Union Order who were 'Independent' because they had left the Union Order. The Order is also known as The Independent Order of Oddfellows (Manchester Unity) or The Manchester Unity Order of Odd Fellows.

The Odd Fellows are one of the largest friendly societies in Great Britain and their motto is 'Friendship, Love and Truth'. They are a non-profit making Friendly Society who offer benefits including health insurance, life assurance, annuities and endowments.

The society is 190 years old, and the North London Division is over 160 years old.

Many of the Lodges have now been amalgamated and this is in part reflected in the catalogue, most noticeably in the Trafalgar Lodge which, since 1992, is made up of Duke of Sussex Lodge, King Edward Lodge Union Lodge, Rose of York Lodge and Prince Albert Lodge; and also incorporating Pioneer Lodge, which consisted of Sir Thomas Dallas Lodge, Prince of Wales and Chandos Lodges, and Queen Victoria and Blenheim Lodges.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in 1888 by Dr William Wynn Westcott, Dr William Robert Woodman and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, who were all Freemasons and members of Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A).

The Order was based on the rituals and knowledge lectures found in the Cipher Documents. [A series of encrypted documents containing outlines for a series of initiation rituals, see GBR 1991 GD 1/1/1-8]. Although the history and authenticity of these documents is subject to considerable debate, in general it is now agreed that they were written by Kenneth Mackenzie as outline rituals for the Society of Eight [a Golden Dawn prototype body founded by Frederick Holland in 1883 but which never developed into a membership body] or the Sat B'hai [This order, founded around 1871 by Captain J H Lawrence-Archer, using some Hindu terminology within a framework derived from masonry, had little more than a paper existence until 1875, when Mackenzie joined]. Westcott acquired these papers after Mackenzie's death, and set about transferring them into full grade rituals.

An additional paper found within the cipher documents contained the address of a woman in Germany, referred to as Fraulein Sprengel. Described as being an Adept of an occult order known as the Die Goldene Dammerung, Westcott asserted that Sprengel had authorized him in a series of letters to sign documents under her name and had granted him permission to set up a Temple in England. Researchers now believe that Westcott created this story in order to give the Golden Dawn a legitimate provenance and to attract serious occultists and freemasons to his new Order. The Order grew steadily and by the end of 1888 three temples had been set up, namely Isis-Urania in London, Osiris in Weston-Super-Mare and Horus in Bradford.

From 1888 to 1891 the Golden Dawn functioned as a theoretical school, performing the initiation ceremonies of the Outer Order from the 0°=0° Neophyte grade to the 4°=7° Philosophus grade and teaching the basics of the Qabalah, astrology, alchemical symbolism, geomancy and tarot. No practical magic was performed until 1891, when Mathers completed the ritual for the 5°=6° grade, the first grade of the Secord or Inner Order of the Golden Dawn, known as the Order of the Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (the Ruby Rose and Cross of Gold). By this time Woodman had died and as a replacement was not appointed, Mathers managed to reconstruct the Order, becoming its primary Chief.

The new 5=6 ritual was based on the legend of Christian Rosenkreuz, a great spiritual teacher who was secretly buried and later found perfectly preserved within a seven sided tomb. Mathers and his wife, Moina (nee Mina Bergson), created an elaborate full-size replica of his tomb, referred to as the Vault of the Adepts, which members of the Inner Order used when performing the rituals. The Inner Order transferred theory into practice, with members making and consecrating their own magical implements. Mathers also created a formal curriculum, which included guidance on scrying, astral travel, and alchemy and a series of eight graded examinations which lead to members achieving the sub-grade of Theoricus Adeptus Minor.

In 1895 the stability of the Order was threatened by the breakdown of the relationship between Mathers and Annie Horniman. This lead to her expulsion and increasing unrest among the Second Order Adepts in London. In 1897 further problems arose when civil authorities became aware of Westcott's link with the group, forcing him to resign in order to keep his position as Coroner for North East London. Florence Farr assumed Westcott's role but without his administrative supervision of the paperwork, the decline in grade work and examination system undertaken by members led the Order to decline in London.

By 1900 Mathers' domineering behaviour led to Farr suggesting that the Order should be dissolved. Fearing this was an attempt to replace him with Westcott, Mathers wrote to Farr stating that the Sprengel letters had been forged by Westcott. As Westcott declined to defend himself this shook the trust of London members in particular, leading to open rebellion after Mathers initiated Aleister Crowley, who had been refused admission as a member in the London Temple. A committee was set up to investigate Mathers' claims which led to the expulsion of Mathers, Moina Mathers, Crowley and other supporters in May 1900, despite Mathers sending Crowley as his envoy to London in an attempt to take possession of the Inner Order headquarters at 36 Blythe Road, London (subsequently referred to as the Battle of Blythe Road).

Those remaining loyal to Mathers formed a rival Isis Temple, headed by Mathers and run by Dr E. Berridge. This was later known as Alpha and Omega 1. The Paris Temple and later Amen-Ra in Edinburgh, under John W. Brodie-Innes also became part of Mathers' Alpha and Omega Order.

After Mathers' displacement, William Butler Yeats resumed responsibility for the Temple in London. Further trouble was caused by the newly reinstated Annie Horniman, who led disputes over the forgotten examination system and Farr's splinter organisation, known as the Sphere Group. A further blow came in 1901 following unwanted publicity as a result of the Horos case. An American couple, Frank and Editha Jackson, also known as Theo and Laura Horos, used the rituals, which they had duped Mathers into handing over to them in Paris, to set up their own order in London, known as the Order of Theocratic Unity. They defrauded and raped several young women persuaded to join this Order and the subsequent court case lead to the exposure of many Golden Dawn secrets in the press. Editha Jackson was also known as the Swami Vive Ananda and assumed various other names, including Anne O'Delia Diss De Bar but was born into a respectable Kentucky family, the Salomons, during a criminal career as a spiritualist and extortionist in New York and New Orleans, America. As a result of this Case, leading to the imprisonment of the American couple in London, many members left in order to distance themselves from the Golden Dawn. Remaining members changed the Order's name to the Hermetic Society of the Morgenröthe.

In 1903 a further schism occurred within the Order. Arthur Edward Waite took over the remnant of the original Isis-Urania Temple, which became known as the Independent and Rectified Rite. Waite's new Order moved away from the ritual magic present in the old Order, replacing it with a more mystical path. This Order existed until 1914 when internal disputes led to Waite closing the Temple and forming the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross the following year. This continued to exist until Waite's death in 1942.

Those members who preferred the rituals and magic developed by Mathers joined Dr Robert Felkin in his new organisation known as the Stella Matutina. Their temple, based in London was named Amoun. After lengthy negotiations, Felkin signed a concordat with Waite in 1907 to govern the relationship between the two Temples, but this agreement only lasted until 1910.

Once he became Chief, Dr Felkin communicated with several mystical individuals including the discarnate Arab teacher, Ara Ben Shemesh and the Sun Masters. Increasingly, Felkin became interested in establishing new links with the 'Secret Chiefs' and the original Rosicrucian societies in Germany, with which Westcott had claimed to have had links. Felkin's quest led him on several continental trips where he met Ruldolf Steiner (1861-1925), the Austrian philosopher and esotericist, and claimed to have been given higher grades, the equivalent to 8=3 and 7=4 grades. Felkin also corresponded with Anne Sprengel, a patient of his, whom he claimed was the niece of Fraülein Sprengel.

While travelling in New Zealand with his family in 1912, Felkin founded a new Temple, Smaragdum Thalasses, at Havelock North, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Before his relocation to New Zealand in 1916, Felkin issued a new constitution for Stella Matutina, which included details for three daughter temples for Amoun, namely Hermes Temple, Bristol (which became independent in the early 1920's and survived until c. 1972); The Secret College, London, which was to be 'confined to members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, who have taken at least Grade 4' (this college was active in 1921 but may not have survived long beyond this date0; and finally Merlin Temple, perhaps located in London but not established successfully, which was to consist of former members of Waite's group or the Anthroposophical Society.

After Felkin's departure, the Order in London came under the control of Christina Stoddart. She became increasingly paranoid and obsessed with details about the Order's origins. After working on her paper 'Investigations into the Foundations of the Order G.D. and R.R. et A.C. and the Source of its Teachings' for four years, she concluded that the whole Order was evil. Stoddart's attitude, further internal disputes and bad publicity in the press led to the closure of the Amoun Temple, London, in the early 1920's. By 1923 a significant quantity of the Order's papers had been given by Stoddart to a colleague for safekeeping.

Harry S Truman was born in Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, 8 May 1884. From 1906 to 1917 he operated the family farm near Grandview, Missouri. During World War One he served as 1st Lt, Battery F, and Capt, Battery D, 129 Field Artillery, 35 Div, US Army, and served in the Battles of St Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne, Aug- Nov 1918. He was discharged with the rank of Maj. In 1922, Truman sought the Democratic nomination as county judge, thus beginning a ten-year judicial career. In 1934, Truman became a candidate for the US Senate, won the election, and took office in Jan 1935. Re-elected in 1940, Truman headed the Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, a senate committee which investigated fraud in recent US military procurement policies. In 1944, leaders of the Democratic Party replaced Vice President Henry A Wallace with Truman as the party's vice presidential nominee on the 1944 election ticket alongside President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Upon Roosevelt's death on 12 Apr 1945, Truman became President of the United States. Unfamiliar with recent foreign policy developments, Truman initially retained all of his predecessor's cabinet appointees, including US Secretary of State Edward R Stettinius, Jr. Shortly thereafter, Truman's foreign policy developed as he announced preparations to continue for the detonation of an atomic test device in New Mexico on 16 Jul 1945, and attended the conference at Potsdam, Germany, with Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, and Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, which would shape post-war Europe. In Aug 1945 he ordered the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, and accepted the surrender of all Japanese forces in the Far East. In the post-war years and throughout the Korean War, Truman espoused a foreign policy designed to allay the Cold War. In 1947, he announced what became known as the 'Truman Doctrine', which stated that the United States would support any nation threatened by Soviet-sponsored communism, and signed the presidential order creating the US foreign intelligence organisation, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Also announced in 1947 was the European Recovery Plan, or 'Marshall Plan', named after Gen George Catlett Marshall, US Secretary of State, which would see appropriations of US funds to support the European economies until 1952. Under Truman, the US and its allies organised in Apr 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In 1950, Truman committed US armed forces to the Korean War. After an initial period of public support, however, criticism quickly grew over US involvement in the region. The intervention of the People's Republic of China and the recall of Gen Douglas MacArthur, brought to the Truman administration additional pressures to alter its foreign policy direction. In 1952, Truman refused to seek re-election for President of the United States and left Washington for Independence, Missouri, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He died on 26 Dec 1972. Starting in 1961, the Harry S Truman Library's Oral History programme began to conduct interviews with some of the men and women who had made contact with Harry S Truman during his professional career. Interview subjects ranged in their professional experience, and included US armed forces personnel, international leaders, and political advisers and associates. All of the interviews were transcribed and made available in transcript form, ranging in length from fewer than 10 to over 1,000 pages.

The Greene Sisters, stage names Judy, Gertie and Jeanette were a close harmony singing trio. The girls were three of five children born to Rebecca Lazarus and Jacob Greenbaum in the East End of London; Gillian (1912-2000), Marcus (1914-1983), Janetta (1921-2007), Juliet (1922-2008) and Sylvia (1928- 2009).

Their father Jack worked in the leather trade and encouraged his daughters singing career over the years.
Rebecca their mother was the daughter of Jacob Lazarus a founding members of the staunchly orthodox Machzikei Hadath Synagogue in Spitalfields.

The trio were discovered by Sidney Phillips, bandleader and arranger in the late 1930's. They spent their early years touring Britain appearing on stage in Bradford, Liverpool, Aberdeen, Dundee to name but a few, and on the London Stage including Empire, Finsbury Park and the London Coliseum. They also performed in fundraising concerts in 1941 in aid of General Jewish Hospital (Shaare Zedek) Jerusalem and in aid of 10th London and 33rd Middlesex Battalions, Home-guard Welfare Fund.

They were a hard working trio moving from live stage performances to radio and latterly Television broadcasts, but they were probably most well known as performers on the popular radio series 'Hi Gang!' 'Hi Gang!' featured Ben Lyon and his wife, Bebe Daniels the Jewish Hollywood couple. Along with Vic Oliver, the well-known entertainer, they broadcast 'from the heart of London”'each week between May 1940 until 1949 to a home and forces audience.

Sadly the trio never made it in America as their father prevented them crossing the Atlantic to perform on Bing Crosby's wartime show. However the Sisters continued performing and in 1954 appeared on 'Showcase' where Benny Hill introduced artists and acts new to Television.

Sylvia was a gifted composer and wrote and arranged music for her sisters as well as occasionally performing with them or on her own. She also wrote a musical play 'A Great Guy' which was never performed but was published and copies of the play and the music also written by Sylvia survive in the collection.

The family moved to North West London in the 1940's to a home named 'The Harmonies' and although none of the children married they remained close.

In 1943 the occupation authorities in Salonika, Greece set up the Office for the Distribution of Jewish Property.

There is evidence of a guild of Goldsmiths in London as early as 1179. In 1300 King Edward I passed a statute defining metallic standards and regulating assaying of silver vessels. However it was not until 1327 that the Goldsmiths' Company received its first Royal Charter in 1327, which granted it the right to elect Wardens to enforce good authority and the standards within the trade, and emphasised its standing over provincial goldsmiths. In 1339, nineteen goldsmiths purchased land at the north end of Foster Lane for the use of the Goldsmiths' Company. In 1341 the Goldsmiths sought to extend its privileges in order to help those injured at work as well as the poor and for this purpose obtained a licence to purchase and hold tenements and rents.

In 1364, a new statute of King Edward III ruled that every goldsmith must have his own mark, which was to be known by the Company, and that objects must not be marked until they had been assayed and found good.

King Richard II granted the Goldsmiths a new charter in 1392-1393, and from this time the Company was to be a perpetual community, to elect annually four Wardens to 'oversee, rule and duly govern the said craft and community'. Under this charter the company was also able to purchase estates and rent tenements, to accept charitable donations and to retain a chaplain. The Company's rights were further increased by Letters Patent from Edward IV in 1462, which confirmed its previous charters, as well as granting the Wardens to be a body corporate, to make bye-laws and ordinances to regulate the Company, the retain its right of search and powers of punishing offenders in London and elsewhere.

At this time, the whole Company met three times a year to hear the ordinances read aloud and ratify the decisions of the Wardens. The Company also appointed two Renters each year to collect the rents and monitor the condition of the properties, four Auditors, and Clerk and a Beadle. The Company year began on 19 May, St Dunstan's day, with a solemn procession to church followed by a feast.

In 1478, King Edward IV issued a statute making the Goldsmiths' Company specifically responsible for wares found below standard, with due penalties. It set the gold standard at 18 carats in order to differentiate between the old wares, condemned in the statute and future wares. The King's mark - the leopard's head, was to be shown crowned on the new wares. The Wardens undertook a major reorganisation to establish a system of control, which involved the appointment of a Common Assayer, a full time post with a salary of £20 per annum, and a quarterly levy to be paid by Company members. The Assayer was also given his own mark (now known as the date letter), which was changed annually on St Dunstan's day.

The Goldsmiths first property, purchased in 1339, was located much where today's present Hall stands in Foster Lane, and was a merchant's house. Various sections of this structure appear to have been rebuilt over time. A new Hall was erected from 1634-1636, on an enlarged site, in the Palladian style of red brick ornamented with Portland Stone. This building was gutted in the Great Fire of London, 1666, though the plate and records were saved, and rebuilding was not completed until 1669. In 1681, the Assay Office and apartments of the Assayer and Clerk in the south west wing of the building were burned down, and along with it the records of makers marks, and had to be rebuilt. By the early nineteenth century, this building was in a dilapidated state and in 1829 was demolished. Philip Hardwick was commissioned to produce plans, and the new building opened in 1835.

The Girls' Friendly Society (GFS) (1875-fl 2008) was founded in 1875 by Mrs Mary Townsend (1841-1918). Mrs Townsend lived in the countryside and was a committed Christian, two aspects that influenced her work as a reformer. Townsend was concerned about unmarried girls who went from the countryside to work in large towns, often as servants or as factory workers. These girls were cut off from their families and friends and Townsend thought there should be a way to help these girls experience friendship and recreation in a fellowship of Christian love and service. Mrs Townsend initially worked with a rescue organisation in the Anglican Diocese of Winchester. She then put forward her ideas to other Anglicans who were interested in girls' welfare and in May 1874 a meeting was held at Lambeth Palace to discuss her ideas. This meeting was attended by five figures who helped to establish the Society: Mrs Tait, Mrs Harold Browne, Mrs Nassau Senior, the Reverend TV Fosbery and Mrs Townsend. During 1874 some small groups of girls with an 'Associate' leader began to meet and the Society was officially established on 1 Jan 1875. During 1874 the first lodge opened, St. Jude's Servant Home Brixton, and a list of seventy-one Associate members had been compiled. By 1 Jan 1875 work had started in four dioceses. One of the four dioceses was Winchester where Mrs Harold Browne, the wife of the Bishop, was a key supporter and three branches were speedily formed. Two associate members from Winchester Diocese were to become very important to the GFS: Mrs Joyce, who became a pioneer of protected Emigration for girls and women; and Charlotte Yonge, Winchester Diocesan Head of Literature, and a member of Winchester Diocesan Council. From 1875 the Mothers' Union of the Anglican Church became an Associate of the GFS - this began a long-term relationship between the two organisations. By the end of 1875 twenty-five branches had started work in fifteen Dioceses; the Associates numbered one thousand, while there were between two and three thousand Members. By 1878 the Society had branches throughout Britain. Branches were formed in manufacturing cities like Leeds and Manchester, whilst the Archbishop of York consented to become a Patron of the 'Northern Province'. There were also branches in Scotland and Ireland. The Society also spread to America, where it was first started in Nov 1877, by Elizabeth Mason, a rector's daughter in Lowell Massachusetts.

AIMS: The name of the Society was chosen to reflect ideals of Christian fellowship. 'Friendship' was seen as a gift and should be open to every girl or young woman willing to join, whilst as a 'Society', they could resolve that 'the world' should be 'bettered by banded womanhood', through the strong force of united prayer and activity. The objective of the Society was " … to bind together in one society Ladies as Associates and working girls and young men as members for mutual help (religious and secular) for sympathy and for prayer…to encourage purity of life, dutifullness to parents, faithfulness to employers and thrift'". In reality the society solely consisted of women, most of whom were unmarried and relatively young. The 'virtuousness' of character of the members was stressed as of key importance.

STRUCTURE: The structure of the Society began with the 'Branch' the informal groups of members that were led by an 'Associate'. From 1897 younger girls from ages seven to fourteen joined as 'Candidates'. Branches spread rapidly with membership being strongest in the countryside. As membership grew and the functions of the Society became more varied the initial simple, centralised organisation also needed to develop. Initially there were four Departments established at the first Central Meeting in 1877. By 1879 there were six Departments, and a Finance Committee had been appointed. Also in 1879 a conference of branch secretaries considered the necessity of appointing a Secretary of Council to relieve Townsend's workload. The titles of the early 'Departments', reflect the scope of the work: Girls in Factories, Girls in Business, Workhouse Girls, Registries, Industrial Training, Sick Members, Needlework, Literature (including libraries), Lodges and Homes of Rest. These 'Departments' did much work in improving the conditions in which girls worked, in finding jobs, in providing training, living accommodation, books, magazines, in catering for holidays and for girls whose health had broken down. The regional structure of the society reflected that of the Church of England: i.e. the parish and the diocese. A Central Council with London Headquarters led the Society, the offices were originally at Brixton, then Vauxhall Bridge Road, and after two more moves spent forty-eight years in Victoria. As more overseas groups were established, 'Treaties' were made with the various Societies so that in each country the GFS was independent. Also, in England and Wales, though Central Council decided matters of policy and constitution each Diocese had an amount of freedom (and by meeting local needs retained local characteristics).

DEVELOPMENT: As the Society became established resources the Departments and their resources were developed. Equally, as social conditions improved some services ceased to be required. Hence, the Barbazon Home for incurably sick members and the Meath Home for epileptics ceased to be needed when the hospital services improved. The need for books, training courses and employment bureaux came to be provided by the local authority. However, residential hostels and holiday houses continued to be needed, and girls continued to want the opportunity offered by the branch meeting of worshipping, relaxing and giving service together.

CONSTITUTION: The approval of the Constitution followed a lengthy consultation period. The draft constitution was prepared for the Meeting of the Central Council on 4 Jun 1878. It was further considered at meetings and was trialled throughout 1879 with practical feedback from all levels of the Society. The Constitution was then discussed by the Anglican Church, on 1 Feb 1880 it was discussed at a Bishops' meeting held at Lambeth, with special attention to the sections dealing with the relation of the Society to the Church, and the standard of Purity, as essential to membership. During May 1880, the final meetings with regards to the Constitution and amendments were held in the National Society's room in Westminster, the President met with representatives from the twenty-six Dioceses in which the GFS was working at this time. The close link between the Church and the Society was testified to in the opening clauses, which stated that the Archbishops of Canterbury and York should be ex-officio Presidents, and the Bishops of the two Provinces ex-officio Vice-Presidents of the Society. The importance of the Central Rules was indicated and their permanence guaranteed by the last chapter, which contained the clause that they should not be altered without the consent of a majority of Associates and Members of the Society. Over the passing of time this clause was put into operation for various reasons and the Rules, though not altered, were re-affirmed and re-worded. 1880, the year which witnessed the completion of the Constitution was marked also by the consent of Queen Victoria becoming its Patron.

CENTRAL OFFICE: Although the branches were decentralised (in a similar way to the Women's Institute structure) the Central Office carried out key responsibilities. The Central Office started under the charge of Miss Hawkesley in St Jude's Home, Brixton, it was moved in 1877 to 245, Vauxhall Bridge Road, at the close of 1881 it was transferred to 5 Victoria Mansions and again in 1892 to 39 Victoria Street, in 1925 the GFS established in its final home in Townsend House. The increasing amount and variety of the work done within its walls marked each move. In 1911 the Central Council took the step that the Society be registered as a company under the Companies Act. A separate committee was appointed to deal with the subject, and the constitution was revised appropriately. The first meeting of the 'Incorporated Central Council' as its full title became, was held on Nov 1913. The Central Council then met three times a year. The President, Vice-Presidents, Heads of Departments, Correspondents and Elected Members were elected annually by the whole Council. Among the functions of the Central Council was that of key appointments, such as the Society Solicitors, Secretary, the Executive members, and members of the GFS committees.

WARTIME AND INTERWAR: During both World Wars, the GFS hostels housed many girls on war work and in 1914 the hostels in the South took in many women who had returned destitute from jobs on the Continent. There was the 'White Horse' project when an East End London pub was taken over as a social centre. Notices were also posted in railway station ladies-waiting- rooms, giving an address where girls temporarily stranded could apply for help. From the 1920s GFS Summer Camps were the only holiday possible for many girls. In 1922, the Reading Union held a week at Winchester House, Shanklin that foreshadowed the Summer schools held much later in the 1990s - proving the popularity and need for this service. The Princess Mary Caravan, was the first mobile training and publicity unit, established in 1922. A second caravan was bought in 1964 when money became available through the King George V Jubilee Trust. In some areas close links with the Guide movement were made and branches were of GFS Guides and Brownies. The first mixed branch, locally known as the 'G and B', was started during the war of 1939-1945. Yet, apart from that 'White Crusade' the driving sense of purpose seemed lacking during these years and membership numbers reduced.

THE TOWNSEND MEMBER'S FELLOWSHIP: One important decision was made during the period: the creation of the Townsend Member's Fellowship. In England and Wales, members had continued to belong to the Society long after they had ceased to be 'Girls'. In the USA it was agreed that except for leaders and officials there should be no adult members of the Society, but in England and Wales the Townsend Member's Fellowship, later to become the The Townsend Fellowship, was started in 1947. The Townsend Fellowship came to have its own officers, meetings and programme material, but maintained its close link with the GFS.

ACTIVITIES: Holidays for deprived children, story time, hospital visiting - these three services reflect the pattern that developed in the GFS. In the early days of the organisation, members operated for being 'Good', this changed over the years to 'Useful'. An emphasis on leadership training developed: both the training for working as a leader which was needed in a professional society, but also a perceived need for Christian leaders in an increasingly secular world. This was one of the reasons for the development of training course for girls in industry, which was tried experimentally in 1996, and became an important part of the Society's work.

HOSTELS: Winchester House, Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight, was given to the Society in 1893 was particularly important to the Society. For a period it was used as a war convalescent home. Later in the 20th century it was used for Summer schools, as a parish holiday centre and for conferences. In 1955, an International Conference was held there, which led, the following year, to the formation of the Girls' Friendly Society World Council.

WORLD COUNCIL: The first World Council, in 1956, was held in Switzerland: with subsequent meetings in Australia, Ireland, Japan and the USA. These meetings made it possible for officials and members to meet their counterparts from across the world. The Council discussed matters of common interest such as programme material and leadership training, as well as sponsorship of particular projects such as those in Korea, Guyana and the Philippines. The launch of World Day of Prayer, taking place on the 29 September, indicated the importance to members of the GFS as a global Society.

As at 2008 the work done by the GFS was still in great demand. The Society continued to exist under the name 'GFS Platform'. As one of the first charities set up to work with young women in England and Wales, GFS had a valuable history and extensive experience of providing care and support for girls and young women.

Mary Elizabeth Townsend (1841-1918) was the founder of The Girls Friendly Society (GFS). This was the first organised society for women and girls in connection with the Church of England. Mrs Townsend began to think of the Girls Friendly Society during the winter of 1871-1872 but did not approach the leaders of the Church of England until 1874 that definite steps were taken to shape the organisation. The meeting 'of five' took place in May 1874 at Lambeth Palace and included: Mrs Tair, Mrs Harold Browne, Mars Nassau Senior, Mrs Townsend and the Rev TV Fosbery Vicar of St Giles, Reading. They decided that the society should be called the 'The Girl's Friendly Society'. The Girls Friendly Society officially started on 1 Jan 1875, with Mrs Townsend elected President. Mary Townsend edited the journal, Friendly Leaves, first issued quarterly in 1876, but increased to monthly in 1877. Due to overwork Mrs Townsend had a breakdown in health; in Jun 1879 it was proposed that all branch secretaries and council members would subscribe towards the cost of a Travelling Secretary to assist Mrs Townsend. Mrs Townsend was President of the Central Council until 1882 when she gave up the office and the Hon Lady Grey was elected in her place. Mrs Townsend undertook the Department for Members and also the editorship of the Society's magazines for the next five years. Then in 1890, on Lady Grey's resignation she again took up the post of President until 1901 when Mrs Chaloner Chute took over. After her husband, Frederick Townsend, died on 16 Dec 1905 Mrs Townsend excused herself from GFS work for a year, but thereafter returned to assist the organisation. In particular she developed links with Mrs Temple, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Missionary Society . Mrs Townsend also formed a Church Needlework Guild, which was subsequently named "The Guild of Church Needlecrafts". In 1914 Mrs Townsend had an operation which, although successful, took her a long time to recover from. Her health deteriorated (influenza and neuralgia). Mary Elizabeth Townsend died on 14 Jun 1918.

Originally founded 'for the reception of all poor Germans and others speaking the German language', the German Hospital also cared for the local English-speaking population in the case of emergencies. It was supported by subscriptions and donations, many from Germany or the German community in England, and was run by German nursing sisters and doctors.

It is estimated that in the 1840s some 30,000 Germans were living in England, making up by far the largest immigrant community. Many of them lived and worked in poor conditions in the East End of London, where poverty and the language barrier left them little chance to make use of the limited medical resources available at that time. The work of a German pastor and a doctor to establish a hospital for 'poor German sick' was taken up by the Prussian Ambassador, the Chevalier Bunsen. He succeeded in enlisting the support of the rich and influential in Germany and England, including both royal houses, so ensuring that the hospital was built. On 15 October 1845, the German Hospital opened with just twelve beds.

An early outstanding feature of the Hospital was the nursing care provided by the Protestant Deaconesses from the Kaiserswerth Institute near Wessendorf. It was their example at the German which prompted Florence Nightingale to visit the Hospital on two occasions and then to enrol for training at the Institute in Germany in 1851. New hospital buildings, constructed according to the highest standards in hospital design, were opened in 1864, and proved to be invaluable in the epidemics which swept London in the 1860s and 1870s. The German royal family took a keen interest in the Hospital, as did the von Schroder family who were often to provide funds for the Hospital over the years.

During the First World War, the German staff remained at the Hospital despite strong anti-German feelings in the country and a shortage of nurses and doctors in Germany. The period between the wars was one of great improvements and extensions to the buildings, the most important of which was the opening of a new wing in 1936. This housed maternity and children's wards, and the well-known and innovatory roof garden for convalescents, which provided a panoramic view of the entire city as far south as Crystal Palace. In May 1940, the staff of the German Hospital were interned on the Isle of Man. English staff assumed the running of the Hospital, which now became German in name only.

Before 1948, nursing matters at the German Hospital were dealt with by the Board of Household Management, later the Household Committee. When the Hospital was taken into the National Health Service in 1948, the newly formed House Committee took over from the Hospital Committee, the Household Committee and the Nursing Committee. The League of Friends of the Hospital was founded in 1956.

In 1974, the German became part of the newly-formed City and Hackney Health District. For its last thirteen years, the German Hospital cared for psychiatric and psychogeriatric patients. During this time it continued to develop its work, such as its provision of emergency night-shelter facilities for psychogeriatric patients from the community. However, it closed in 1987, as the services it offered were transferred to the new Homerton Hospital.

The Foundation Monumentum Judaicum Lodzense was established in Lodz on 6 November 1995 and registered in 1997. Its founders were the then Municipality of Lodz, Organisation of Former Residents of Lodz in Israel and the World Jews Restitution Organisation. Its main goal is to save the Jewish cemetery at Bracka Street, restoring and preserving the memory of Lodz, the Jewish society and its significant contribution to the city's life and its development. It also encourages the spreading of knowledge about the Holocaust and remembering the fate of its inhabitants.

No further information at present.

The Cusichaca Trust (1977-2018) was established by Ann Kendall, as a non-profit organisation whose initial aim was to excavate and analyse Peruvian Inca materials. When the Trust's full-scale programme of fieldwork began in 1978 it did so as the Cusichaca Archaeological Project.

The first phase of work, as carried out by the Cusichaca Archaeological Project (CAP) under the auspices of the Cusichaca Trust, took place between 1978 and 1987. The CAP worked in various sites in and around the valley of the Cusichaca River, including Huillca Raccay [sometimes referred to as Huillca Racay], Patallacta, Pulpituyoc, Olleriayoc Trancapata, Quishuarpata, Huayna Quente and the Huillca Raccay Tableland. The work involved excavation, processing finds, archaeological reconnaissance, and analysis. There was an abundance of finds relating to pottery and ceramics, which led to a number of articles and publications.

Archaeological excavation at the Inca site of Huillca Raccay and at other sites around and above the junction of the Cusichaca and Urubamba rivers, revealed a sequence of distinct occupations from c.700 BC to the time of the Spanish conquest in the 1530s. Excavation work indicated that before the appearance of the Inca the area was already well cultivated and populated, and that they extensively remodelled the landscape, constructing formidable systems of agricultural terraces, extending earlier irrigation canals and building new ones. Local populations were relocated to exploit the land more intensively, and one of the area's main functions would almost certainly have been to provide Machu Picchu, 25 kms down the Urubamba river, with maize and other crops.

As a part of the initial archaeological survey, the CAP discovered that most of the ancient irrigation canals in the Cusichaca area, were in relatively good condition. They included the 4 km- long Quishuarpata canal that had once watered extensive pre-Inca and Inca terraced lands. The CAP proposed that they and the local community should collaborate to restore the canal and return neglected agricultural land to productive use. This led to an arrangement with the Peruvian National Institute of Culture (INC), who allowed the CAP to undertake the rehabilitation of the canal. Work began in 1981 and, within two seasons, restoration work on the canal had extended back to its original intake off the Huallancay River. By then the local beneficiaries had taken over and ran the implementation of the project. In October 1983, the canal became operational in its entirety. Newly irrigated, the terraced uplands produced many varieties of Andean cultivars including potatoes, tarwi (Lupinus mutabilis), quinoa, and varieties of kiwicha, which complemented local maize in a crop rotation. Rehabilitating the remains of the past to help improve the economic conditions of poor farmers in the present made the work of the Cusichaca Trust an innovative and significant example of 'applied archaeology', demonstrating a valuable, practical relationship between archaeology and rural development.

The second major phase of CAP work took place in the Patacancha Valley, between 1987 and 1997. In 1987, communities from along the valley approached the CAP for assistance, having been impressed by the rehabilitation work achieved at Cusichaca. The Patacancha work received funding from a number of aid agencies in the United Kingdom and Europe, reflecting the increased focus on rural development. The main achievement was the rehabilitation of the 6 km-long Pumamarca canal, an original pre-Inca structure extended during the Inca period, along with the restoration of agricultural terracing in the surrounding valley. Around this canal and terrace restoration centrepiece, other components of a wider rural development project were designed, which addressed the many other needs of farming communities in the valley. For a long time, pressure on the land, without adequate management, had created a vicious circle of damage to the environment. Overworked soils were thin and eroded, while native tree and forest cover had largely gone, to be replaced by extensive stands of eucalyptus. CAP agronomists and field workers ran courses for local farmers in soil conservation and embarked on an extensive reforestation programme with native species of trees. Health was another concern in the region. In particular, local people were used to taking water from streams running close to their villages. These were often contaminated and infections were commonplace, prompting the trust to support low-cost potable water schemes, piping water from springs and high altitude streams. Encouragement was also given to the introduction of kitchen gardens to grow vegetable crops not previously cultivated such as cabbage, lettuce, carrots, and onions. The gardens were irrigated by the newly-piped water systems. Extended family greenhouses were also installed to augment the high-altitude diet and provide extra opportunities for the marketing of produce. When the CAP work ended in 1997, local staff formed their own independent NGO, which acquired funding for further work in the area. There was a significant archaeological component to the work in the Patacancha valley, especially at the pre-Inca and Inca sites at Pumamarca and around the impressive promontory site of Hatun Aya Orqo. CAP work in the valley culminated in the establishment of a cultural centre and museum in Ollantaytambo, designed to act as a local resource, training centre, and store of indigenous knowledge.

The third major phase of work carried out under the auspices of the Cusichaca Trust, between 1997 and 2013, focused on the remote Apurimac and Ayacucho areas to the north-west of Cuzco, some of the poorest parts of Peru and badly affected by the activities of the 'Shining Path' in the 1980s and early 90s . Many of the strategies developed in the Patacancha valley were adopted here too, and, after a period of research and feasibility studies, a series of integrated projects was put together with local communities. These focussed on health and nutrition, conservation of the environment, agricultural extension and the establishment of a series of skills centres, including carpentry and blacksmith's workshops and horticultural centres. Increasing agricultural production required major works to restore pre-Hispanic irrigation canals and terrace systems. This work was bolstered by awareness-raising programmes for local communities, as well as local and national government, and a series of seminars, courses, and major conferences were designed to promote traditional Andean technology more widely. The programmes included a National Seminar, organized by the Cusichaca Trust and other agencies in Lima in 2006, where it was agreed that a coordinated national plan to rehabilitate irrigated terrace systems would make a significant contribution to rural development and to water conservation in the Peruvian highlands. In June 2014, the second International Terraces Conference was held in Cuzco, the first having taken place in China in 2012.

In 2003, the Asociación Andina Cusichaca was founded, as a successor body to the Cusichaca Trust. The AAC became an independent Peruvian NGO, its purpose being to act as an advisor to the Peruvian government agency Agro Rural in its involvement in a programme of terrace rehabilitation funded by the Inter-American Development Bank. The Cusichaca Trust was active for some 40 years. The Trust's legacy includes the quality and extent of its archaeological work, which has contributed significantly to the understanding of the pre-Inca and Inca periods in the Inca heartlands. As important is the Trust's collaboration with local communities and active demonstration of "applied archaeology". The work undertaken to cultivate the land and to utilise the environment as effectively as possible was highly unusual for an archaeological project. The Inca were extremely effective at managing their terrain to feed and nourish their population in a pre-industrial society, and the Cusichaca Trust found a way to make ancient knowledge and practices relevant in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Cusichaca Trust was notable for its large scale and the multiplicity of its projects and activities. The Cusichaca and the Patacancha became magnets for archaeologists, ethnographers, social historians, geographers, environmentalists and rural development workers. Many CAP staff and volunteers went on to specialise in their fields, using the data and experience gained during work in Cusichaca and the Patacancha in academic papers and dissertations.

El Cusichaca Trust (1977-2018) fue establecido por Ann Kendall, como una organización sin fines de lucro cuyo objetivo inicial era excavar y analizar materiales incas peruanos. Cuando el programa de trabajo de campo a gran escala del Trust comenzó en 1978, lo hizo como el Proyecto Arqueológico de Cusichaca.

La primera fase del trabajo, realizada por el Proyecto Arqueológico de Cusichaca (PAC) bajo los auspicios del Cusichaca Trust, tuvo lugar entre 1978 y 1987. El PAC trabajó en varios sitios dentro y alrededor del valle del río Cusichaca, incluidas las zonasde Huillca Raccay [a veces llamado Huillca Racay], Patallacta, Pulpituyoc, Olleriayoc Trancapata, Quishuarpata, Huayna Quente y la meseta Huillca Raccay. El trabajo incluyó excavación, procesamiento de hallazgos, reconocimiento arqueológico y análisis. Hubo una gran cantidad de hallazgos relacionados con la cerámica, lo que condujo a una serie de artículos y publicaciones.

La excavación arqueológica en el sitio inca de Huillca Raccay y en otros sitios alrededor y por encima de la unión de los ríos Cusichaca y Urubamba, reveló una secuencia de ocupaciones distintas desde el año 700 a. C. hasta la época de la conquista española en la década de 1530. El trabajo de excavación indicó que antes de la aparición del Inca el área ya estaba bien cultivada y poblada, y que remodelaron ampliamente el paisaje, construyeron sistemas formidables de terrazas agrícolas, extendieron canales de riego anteriores y construyeron otros nuevos. Las poblaciones locales fueron reubicadas para explotar la tierra de manera más intensiva, y una de las principales funciones del área habría sido proporcionar a Machu Picchu, a 25 kilómetros río abajo del río Urubamba, maíz y otros cultivos.

Como parte del estudio arqueológico inicial, el PAC descubrió que la mayoría de los antiguos canales de riego en el área de Cusichaca, estaban relativamente en buenas condiciones. Incluían el canal Quishuarpata de 4 km de largo que una vez había regado extensas tierras en terrazas pre-incas e incas. El PAC propuso que ellos y la comunidad local colaborasen para restaurar el canal y devolver las tierras agrícolas abandonadas a un uso productivo. Esto llevó a un acuerdo con el Instituto Nacional de Cultura del Perú (INC), que permitió que el PAC emprendiera la rehabilitación del canal. El trabajo comenzó en 1981 y, en dos temporadas, los trabajos de restauración en el canal se habían extendido a su toma original del río Huallancay. Para entonces, los beneficiarios locales se habían hecho cargo y llevaron a cabo la implementación del proyecto. En octubre de 1983, el canal comenzó a funcionar en su totalidad. Recién regadas, las tierras altas en terrazas produjeron muchas variedades de cultivos andinos, incluyendo papas, tarwi (Lupinus mutabilis), quinua y variedades de kiwicha, que complementaron el maíz local a través de rotación de cultivos. La rehabilitación de los restos del pasado para ayudar a mejorar las condiciones económicas de los agricultores pobres en el presente hizo que el trabajo del Cusichaca Trust sea un ejemplo innovador y significativo de "arqueología aplicada", demostrando una relación práctica y valiosa entre la arqueología y el desarrollo rural.

La segunda fase principal del trabajo delPAC tuvo lugar en el valle de Patacancha, entre 1987 y 1997. En 1987, las comunidades de todo el valle se acercaron al PAC en busca de ayuda, impresionados por el trabajo de rehabilitación realizado en Cusichaca. El trabajo de Patacancha recibió fondos de varias agencias de ayuda en el Reino Unido y Europa, lo que refleja el mayor enfoque en el desarrollo rural de la zona. El logro principal fue la rehabilitación del canal de Pumamarca de 6 km de largo, una estructura original preincaica extendida durante el período inca, junto con la restauración de las terrazas agrícolas en el valle circundante. Alrededor de esta pieza central de restauración de canales y terrazas, se diseñaron otros componentes de un proyecto de desarrollo rural más amplio, que atendió las muchas otras necesidades de las comunidades agrícolas en el valle. Durante mucho tiempo, la presión sobre la tierra, sin una gestión adecuada, había creado un círculo vicioso de daños al medio ambiente. Los suelos excesivamente trabajados eran delgados y erosionados, mientras que la cobertura de árboles y bosques nativos había desaparecido en gran medida, para ser reemplazados por extensos rodales de eucaliptos. Los agrónomos y los trabajadores de campo de PAC impartieron cursos para agricultores locales sobre conservación del suelo y se embarcaron en un extenso programa de reforestación con especies nativas de árboles. La salud era otra preocupación en la región. En particular, la gente local estaba acostumbrada a tomar agua de los arroyos que corren cerca de sus aldeas. Estos a menudo estaban contaminados y las infecciones eran comunes, lo que provocó la necesidad de apoyar sistemas de agua potable de bajo costo, tuberías de agua de manantiales y arroyos de gran altitud. También se alentó la introducción de huertos familiares para introducir cultivos de hortalizas no cultivados previamente, como repollo, lechuga, zanahorias y cebollas. Los jardines fueron regados por los sistemas de agua recién conectados. También se instalaron invernaderos familiares para mejorar la dieta a gran altitud y generar oportunidades adicionales para la comercialización de productos. Cuando el trabajo de PAC terminó en 1997, el personal local formó su propia ONG independiente, que adquirió fondos para seguir trabajando en el área.

Hubo un componente arqueológico significativo en el trabajo en el valle de Patacancha, especialmente en los sitios preincaicos e incas en Pumamarca y alrededor del impresionante promontorio de Hatun Aya Orqo. El trabajo deL PAC en el valle culminó con el establecimiento de un centro cultural y museo en Ollantaytambo, diseñado para actuar como un recurso local, centro de capacitación y lugar depositario del conocimiento indígena.

La tercera fase principal de trabajo realizada bajo los auspicios del Cusichaca Trust, entre 1997 y 2013, se centró en las áreas remotas de Apurímac y Ayacucho al noroeste de Cuzco, algunas de las partes más pobres del Perú y gravemente afectadas por las actividades de 'Sendero Luminoso' en la década de 1980 y principios de los 90. Aquí también se adoptaron muchas de las estrategias desarrolladas en el valle de Patacancha y, después de un período de investigación y estudio de viabilidad, se reunió una serie de proyectos integrados con las comunidades locales. Estos se centraron en la salud y la nutrición, la conservación del medio ambiente, la extensión agrícola y el establecimiento de una serie de centros de formación y capacitación, incluidos talleres de carpintería y herrería y centros hortícolas. El aumento de la producción agrícola requirió grandes obras para restaurar los canales de riego prehispánicos y los sistemas de terrazas. Este trabajo se vio reforzado por programas de sensibilización para las comunidades locales, así como por el gobierno local y nacional, y se diseñó una serie de seminarios, cursos y conferencias para promover más ampliamente la tecnología tradicional andina. Los programas incluyeron un Seminario Nacional, organizado por el Cusichaca Trust y otras agencias en Lima en 2006, donde se acordó que un plan nacional coordinado para rehabilitar los sistemas de terrazas irrigadas contribuiría significativamente al desarrollo rural y a la conservación del agua en las tierras altas peruanas. En junio de 2014, se celebró la segunda Conferencia Internacional de Terrazas en Cuzco, la primera tuvo lugar en China en 2012.

En 2003, se fundó la Asociación Andina Cusichaca (AAC), como organismo sucesor del Cusichaca Trust. La AAC se convirtió en una ONG peruana independiente, con el propósito de actuar como asesor de la agencia gubernamental peruana Agro Rural en su participación en un programa de rehabilitación de terrazas financiado por el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.

El Cusichaca Trust estuvo activo durante unos 40 años. El legado del Trust da cuenta de la calidad y el alcance de su trabajo arqueológico, que ha contribuido significativamente a la comprensión de los períodos preincaico e inca en el corazón de las regiones dominadas por los incas. De especial importancia fue fue la colaboración de Trust con las comunidades locales y la demostración activa de "arqueología aplicada". El trabajo realizado para cultivar la tierra y utilizar el medio ambiente de la manera más efectiva posible fue muy algo poco usual en un proyecto arqueológico. Los incas fueron extremadamente efectivos en la gestión de su terreno para alimentar y nutrir a su población en una sociedad preindustrial, y el Cusichaca Trust encontró una manera de hacer que los conocimientos y prácticas ancestrales fueran de nuevo relevantes en los siglos XX y XXI.

El Trust Cusichaca se destacó por la gran escala y la multiplicidad de sus proyectos y actividades. Los proyectos Cusichaca y Patacancha se convirtieron en imanes para arqueólogos, etnógrafos, historiadores sociales, geógrafos, medioambientalistas y trabajadores de desarrollo rural. Muchos empleados y voluntarios de PAC se especializaron en sus campos, utilizando los datos y la experiencia adquiridos durante el trabajo en Cusichaca y Patacancha en diversos trabajos académicos y disertaciones.

The Galen or Gold Medal, known as The Society of Apothecaries' Medal, was instituted in 1925 for valuable services or contributions rendered to the science of therapeutics. The 'Therapeutic Revolution' which led to the development of the modern pharmaceutical industry is usually dated to the period 1935-1945, when commercial production of the first sulphonamides and the first antibiotic, penicillin, became possible. The Society's Medal is awarded on a broad basis, therapeutics being understood to encompass the whole spectrum of the art of healing, from preventative medicine to surgical intervention.

The design of the Galen Medal was based on two medals awarded by the Society during the 19th century; the 'Linnaeus' for Botany and the 'Galen' for Materia Medica and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Both were engraved by William Wyon RA, Chief Engraver to the Royal Mint, 1828-1851. The Society commissioned Wyon to design a medal based on the bust of Galen at the Royal College of Physicians of London. The original dyes used in casting the Medal eventually became unusable. Cast in silver gilt since the Second World War and re-designed by craftsmen at the Royal Mint, the medal incorporates many of the original features from Wyon's design. On the obverse, a bust of Galen looking left with the word Galen to its left, by T H Paget after Wyon, on the reverse a seated female figure, representing Science, instructing a seated youth in the properties of plants, with a vase containing herbs and flowers to the right and an apothecary's furnace to the left and, in the exergue, the emblems of Aesculapius, after Wyon (and more recently the Society's Coat of Arms and 'W Wyon RA').

According to the Regulations of June 1925, the Court was to make the award annually following the recommendation of the Medal Committee. The Committee was to consider original investigations into the Science of Therapeutics published during the preceding three years. The award was not to be 'restricted by any question of age, nationality or sex' and was to be presented at a Livery Dinner. Later, the presentation of the award took place at the Society's July Soirée but in recent years an eponymous dinner has marked the occasion. Professor Walter Ernest Dixon was the first recipient in 1926 for his advances in pharmacology. The roll of distinguished medallists includes Alexander Fleming for his discovery of, and Howard Florey and Ernst Chain for their work on, penicillin.

The Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies was created by an Act of the Scottish Parliament in Jun 1695. Under this act the Company was granted exclusive privilege of trade between Scotland and America, and perpetual monopoly of trade with Asia and Africa. It was authorised to arm and equip its ships as it saw fit, and was allowed to plant colonies in localities in Asia, Africa and America with no prior European settlement. In addition, the Company was exempt from all customs and duties for 21 years, with any damages incurred to be made good at public expense. By Jan 1696, the English side of the venture had collapsed, and the Company became a purely Scottish concern. Attempts to open a subscription book in Hamburg were defeated by Sir Paul Rycaut, the English Resident.

One of the leading figures in the creation of the Company of Scotland was William Paterson, a prosperous merchant with dreams of establishing a trading centre on the Isthmus of Darien, Panama. A secret plan evolved to establish a colony at Darien, despite the fact that it was a province of Spain, and the English crown would be sure to object to a move which could lead to war. The Company undertook two expeditions to Darien, shipping a total of 2,800 people and eleven ships there between Jul 1698 and Aug 1699. Due to a combination of factors, namely internal rivalries due to an unworkable system of government, land unsuitable for cultivation, insufficient supplies, English proclamations against the colony which prevented it trading, and Spanish military attacks, the colony was twice deserted by the Scots, for the second and final time on 12 Apr 1700. Most of the colonists died at Darien or on the return journey, with only the Caledonia returning to Scotland with a crew of fewer than 300.

The Company of Scotland limped on for a time, attempting to rebuild itself through trade with Africa, but several voyages ended in failure and the loss of ships. It was finally dissolved in May 1707 by Article Fifteen of the Treaty of Union of the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England.

Cape Coast Castle, a fortification in Ghana, was built to secure the trade in timber and gold and later used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It was first built in 1653 in timber for the Swedish Africa Company; later rebuilt in stone and seized by the Danes before being conquered by the British in 1654. It was extensively rebuilt by the 'Committee of Merchants' and in 1844 became the seat of the colonial Government of the British Gold Coast.

The Royal African Company was established by the Stuarts and London Merchants for slaving following the Restoration in 1660. The Company was led by James, Duke of York and brother to King Charles II, and was originally known as the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa. The company abandoned slaving in 1731 and began trafficking ivory and gold dust. Charles Hayes was the sub-governor of the Company until 1752 when it was dissolved and succeeded by the Africa Company. The Company's logo was of an elephant and a castle; the Royal Africa Company provided gold to the English mint, 1668-1772 and coins made from this gold bore a depiction of an elephant below the bust of the monarch and were named the 'guinea'.

During this period Hamburg was one of the most economically important towns in Germany. A stock exchange was founded in 1558 and the Bank of Hamburg in 1619; a convoy system for shipping was inaugurated in 1662, Hamburg's merchantmen being the first to be escorted on the high seas by men-of-war.

Roy William Waters (1928-2010), M.A. Cambridge, spent the majority of professional life in education, working as an English teacher and then a school inspector. He began his career at Wandsworth School, south-west London (1954-63), before working as deputy head of Spencer Park School (1963-66). His final teaching post was as head of William Penn School in Dulwich (1966-68); feeling he lacked the necessary skills to excel as a head teacher Waters moved on to work for the Inner London Education Authority schools inspectorate, a post that he held for twenty years until his retirement in 1988.

During his career Roy Waters also undertook the arrangement of school plays and personally took on a number of performance and broadcast responsibilities, from planning a Son et Lumiere production at Spencer Park School to broadcasting both "Did You Write Poetry at School" in 1963 and a series of 60 broadcasts in Schools series "Over to You" for less able Secondary school pupils on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Home Service (Schools) from 1963 to 1966.

These achievements reflect the pastimes which occupied his personal life; Roy had an avid interest in theatre and the performing arts. He spent the last 40 years of his life building an extensive and diverse collection of ephemera, artefacts and printed books relating to his theatrical interests. The emphasis was initially on theatrical ephemera concerned with actors; however, it was when Roy developed an interest in material relating to Oscar Wilde that the scope of the collection expanded to include dramatists. The collection was acquired on various rationales from the narrow and specific, e.g. London theatre programmes, to the general, with material of various kinds linked by their relationship to a particular event or individual, either directly or by association.

The collection was acquired from the variety of avenues available to the private collector of theatrical material, namely ephemera fairs such as those hosted by the National Theatre, print and rare book sellers, auctions and websites such as EBay and AbeBooks.

The Coefficients dining club was founded at a dinner given by Beatrice and Sidney Webb in September 1902.

The Corporation of London had exercised the right to charge duties on coal entering the City since medieval times. Coal duties were charged to raise money for particular projects, such as the rebuilding of the City after the Great Fire in 1666. A new Coal Exchange and Market was constructed on Lower Thames Street, close to Billingsgate Market. The building was opened by Prince Albert in 1849. A Roman hypocaust was found during construction and preserved in the basement of the building. The market was designed by James Bunning, City Architect, in the form of a rotunda, with interior galleries and an iron framework. The decoration of the market was well-known, including murals showing some of the flowers and fossils found in coal formations.

The building included offices for coal factors and others connected with the trade including the Corporation of London officers, who entered all ships bringing coal into the port of London, and collected the City dues on all coal brought within certain limits. The money collected by this tax was usually employed for metropolitan improvements. The Exchange was the property of the Corporation of London, and an open market was held there three days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

The Children's Society maintained a case file for each child who was admitted to its care between 1882 and the 1970s.

The poem was written by the Chandos Herald, the domestic Herald of Sir John Chandos, who was a devoted friend and follower of Edward the Black Prince. Little is known of the life of the author, except that he accompanied Sir John Chandos in some of his later military campaigns, and was therefore in the position of eyewitness to the events he describes. The poem was composed about 1385, nine years after the death of Edward.

The Caledonian Society of London was established in about 1837 with the objective:

.... 'to promote good fellowship and brotherhood, and to combine efforts for benevolent and national objects connected with Scotland, also to preserve the picturesque garb of Old Gaul'...

from 'The Chronicles of the Caledonian Society of London 1837-1905' page 2

The Society has supported Scottish charities in London since its establishment and assisted with the foundation of The London Scottish Regiment in 1859.

As well as financial support, between 1890 and 1967 the Society published 'The Chronicles of the Caledonian Society' essentially an historical account of the Society detailing proceedings and including biographies of former Presidents and senior members of the committee.

Membership is limited to 100 and members must be Scotsmen of men with close connections to Scotland or Scottish Institutions.

The Society still continues to honour its original aims of goodfellowship and philanthropic interests by holding six dinners per session usually at The Caledonian Club near Hyde Park. The Dinners are a grand affair which include sentiments given by the principal guest and speakers and entertainments from singers and other musicians complementing the traditional piping. The Dinners help raise funds for the London-Scottish Charities Scotscare and The Royal Caledonian Education Trust.

The British Lying-In Hospital was founded in November 1749 by a group of governors of the Middlesex Hospital who were dissatisfied with the resources allocated by that hospital to lying-in women. In 1756 the name of the hospital was changed from "The Lying-In Hospital for Married Women" to "The British Lying-In Hospital for Married Women". This was in order to avoid confusion with the City of London Lying-In Hospital founded in 1750 and the General Lying-In Hospital, later Queen Charlotte's Hospital, founded in 1751. In 1828 the hospital decided to start sending midwives to deliver out-patients in their own homes. In 1849 it moved to a new building in Endell Street, Holborn.

By the beginning of the 20th century the hospital was facing serious problems. Its buildings were unsatisfactory and old fashioned. It was in financial difficulties. The population of the area was decreasing and the teaching hospitals in the neighbourhood had opened maternity wards. Rather than rebuilding in the same area, King Edward's Hospital Fund advised amalgamation with another maternity hospital, preferably the Home for Mothers and Babies in Woolwich. Agreement between the two institutions was soon reached, though legal difficulties delayed the signing of the Charity Commission Scheme approving the amalgamation until 29 January 1915. The British Lying-In Hospital closed on 31 May 1913.

The Council for the Promotion of the Higher Training of Midwives was formed in February 1904 after a series of preliminary meetings in 1903. Its object was to found a national training school for district midwives. Rather than amalgamating with an existing hospital, it was decided to open a new maternity hospital in Woolwich. The Home for Mothers and Babies was opened in Wood Street, Woolwich on 11 May 1905. Its objects were, "(1) to enable women to be attended in their confinements, either in the Hospital or at their own homes, by Gentlewomen, all of whom have received previous training in General Nursing", "(2) to promote the training of Gentlewomen as District Midwives", "(3) to lengthen the customary period of training for District Midwives". When the Home was amalgamated with the British Lying-In Hospital, Holborn, it was renamed the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies and was placed under the control of a newly constituted Managing Committee with representatives of both institutions.A site in Samuel Street, Woolwich was purchased in 1914. The first stone of the new building was laid in 1920 and the first stage of the new hospital was opened in March 1922. The second stage of the building was completed in 1929. The hospital was badly damaged by bombing in 1940. An evacuation hospital was set up in Pednor House, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, which was loaned by the Ministry of Health. In 1948 the hospital was taken over by the National Health Service and became the responsibility of Woolwich Group Hospital Management Committee. The hospital was transferred to Greenwich and Bexley Area Health Authority in 1974 and to Greenwich Health Authority in 1982. It closed in 1984.

The British Lying-In Hospital was founded in November 1749 by a group of governors of the Middlesex Hospital who were dissatisfied with the resources allocated by that hospital to lying-in women. They purchased a house in Brownlow Street, Long Acre, and ordered it to be furnished with twenty beds. They decided that it should be staffed with "2 physicians who practise midwifery, 2 Surgeons who practise midwifery, a Chaplain, an Apothecary, a Secretary, a Matron well skilled in midwifery, and nurses and other inferior servants as shall be found necessary." Women were to be received in the last month of their pregnancy on production of a letter of recommendation from a subscriber, an affidavit of their marriage and their husband's settlement. No money was to be received from them. On the approach of any labour, the Matron was to send to the Physician or Surgeon whose week of attendance it was so that he might judge whether the case required his assistance or might be left to the Matron. The Matron was to deliver women in easy natural labour. From 1752 female pupils were admitted to the hospital for periods of six months in order to learn midwifery.

A General Meeting or Court of the Governors was held every quarter to make the laws and rules of the hospital. A committee of fifteen governors was chosen at each Quarterly General Court to meet at the hospital once a week to receive patients and to direct the ordinary affairs of the hospital. From 1806, except for the years 1811-1820, the General Court met half-yearly instead of quarterly. A new constitution was approved on 9 July 1869. This provided for an annual general meeting of governors who were to elect fifteen of their number to form a Board of Management that was to meet once a month. The Board was to appoint such standing committees as might be advisable including a ladies committee.

In 1756 the name of the hospital was changed from "The Lying-In Hospital for Married Women" to "The British Lying-In Hospital for Married Women". This was in order to avoid confusion with the City of London Lying-In Hospital founded in 1750 and the General Lying-In Hospital, later Queen Charlotte's Hospital, founded in 1751. In 1828 the hospital decided to start sending midwives to deliver outpatients in their own homes. In 1849 it moved to a new building in Endell Street, Holborn.

By the beginning of the 20th century the hospital was facing serious problems. Its buildings were unsatisfactory and old fashioned. It was in financial difficulties. The population of the area was decreasing and the teaching hospitals in the neighbourhood had opened maternity wards. Rather than rebuilding in the same area, King Edward's Hospital Fund advised amalgamation with another maternity hospital, preferably the Home for Mothers and Babies in Woolwich. Agreement between the two institutions was soon reached, though legal difficulties delayed the signing of the Charity Commission Scheme approving the amalgamation until 29 January 1915. The British Lying-In Hospital closed on 31 May 1913 and the Matron, nurses and other staff received gratuities in recognition of their service. The Home for Mothers and Babies was renamed the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies but otherwise continued as before under the guidance of its three founders, Miss Gregory, the honorary secretary, Mrs Parnell, the Matron and Miss Cashmore, the senior sister. The Charity Commission Scheme established a new constitution for the hospital, which was to be controlled by a Managing Committee. Six out of the first fourteen members of the Committee were nominated by the British Lying-In Hospital. The hospital buildings in Endell Street were sold. The money raised by the sale and other endowments assisted the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies to build specially designed and much larger premises in Samuel Street, Woolwich, opened in 1922.

The British Council was founded in 1934 as the 'British Committee for Relations with Other Countries' and in 1936 it was re-named' The British Council'. The aims of the Council were:

"to promote abroad a wider appreciation of British culture and civilization, by encouraging the study and use of the English language, and thereby, to extend a knowledge of British literature and of the British contribution to music and the fine arts, the sciences, philosophic thought and political practice."

Funded by the British Government the Council's work was developed during World War Two and was particularly important during the 'Cold War' period and this is reflected in the papers in this collection. The Fine Arts Department role was to organize exhibitions of the work of British artists and send them overseas. In this work they established international relationships with overseas arts organisations and brought British art to wide and varied audiences.

The first Director of the Fine Arts Department was Major Alfred A. Longden. He was succeeded in 1947 by Lilian Somerville, who had joined the Council during the war; she was appointed as Director of the Fine Arts Section of the Visual Arts Department). In 1949 she was appointed Director of the retitled Fine Arts Department, and remained in this position until her retirement in 1970. She was succeeded by John Hulton (1971-1975) who had been her deputy. Other heads of the Department include Henry Meyric Hughes (1984-1992). The current Director is Andrea Rose.

The papers in this collection run from 1945-2003. Other documents relating to the British Council Fine Arts Department for this period have been deposited at The National Archives.

The British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA) was founded in York on 27 September 1831. The organisation's initial purpose as expressed through its annual meetings held in different towns and cities throughout the UK was: 'to give a stronger impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry; to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate Science in different parts of the British Empire with one another and with foreign philosophers; to obtain more general attention for the objects of Science and the removal of any disadvantages of a public kind that may impede its progress.'

Notable events at early meetings include the coining of terms such as 'scientist' and 'dinosaur, 1841, also the debate on Darwinism between Huxley and Wilberforce, 1860, Joule's experiments, 1840s and the first demonstration of wireless transmission, 1894.

The BA organises major initiatives across the UK, including the annual BA Festival of Science, National Science and Engineering Week, programmes of regional and local events, and an extensive programme for young people in schools and colleges. The BA is a charity established under Royal Charter and governed by a Council which forms the Board of Trustees.

A demise is a legal document allowing the transfer of an estate by will or lease. Harpur Street is off Theobald's Road, near Red Lion Square in Holborn.

The Bedford Charities were founded by Lord Mayor Sir William Harpur and his wife Alice. In 1566 the couple endowed a school in Bedford, as well as leaving funds for general poor relief within the town. The endowment included property in Bedford and some land in Holborn. The charity still exisits and promotes education, relieves the sick and those in hardship, and provides recreational facilities with a social welfare purpose.

See http://www.bedfordcharity.org.uk/about/history.html for more information (accessed Aug 2010).

Unknown at the time of compilation.

The Athenaeum was founded in 1824 at the instigation of John Wilson Croker, Secretary of the Admiralty, as "a Club for literary and scientific men and followers of the fine arts..." "...In order to keep our Club what it is intended to be, ... we must lay down, clearly and positively, as our first rule, that no one shall be eligible into it, except Gentlemen who have either published some literary or professional work, or a paper in the Philosophical transactions... Bishops [and] Judges, who are, par état, literary men, altho' they may not have published any literary work [will be included]." [John Wilson Croker letters to Sir Humphry Davy, 1823] The first secretary was Michael Faraday and the first Chairman Sir Humphry Davy. John Wilson Croker continued to be influential in the development of the Club.

The first Committee meeting took place on 16 February 1824 in the rooms of the Royal Society. The next nine meetings were held in the home of Joseph Jekyll at 22 New Street, Spring Gardens. In May 1824 the Club moved into rented premises at 12 Waterloo Place. On the recommendation of John Nash, it commissioned the 24 year old Decimus Burton to design a clubhouse, originally intended for a site nearer the present Trafalgar Square. By 1827, the designs and plans for a house in the Grecian style were approved and the tender of the builders accepted. The house was built on a portion of the courtyard of the demolished Carlton House on lease from the Crown and opened in 1830. It was one of the earliest buildings to be lit by gas and, in 1886, the clubhouse became one of the first buildings to be lit by electricity. The premises were extended by the addition of a top storey designed by T E Collcut in 1899 and completed in 1901. This was remodelled to provide accommodation for Members in 1928. The magnificent premises have been carefully maintained and some of the mahogany furniture designed for the Club by Decimus Burton is still in use today.

Number 6 Carlton Gardens, which had been built by John Nash, was leased from the Crown Estate Commissioners in 1936 to provide Members with somewhere to take lady guests. It was known as the Ladies' Annexe. By the 1950s its use was declining. The lease expired in 1961 and the Crown Estate Commissioners refused to renew it. The building was demolished soon after. A new Ladies' Annexe was created in the basement of the Athenaeum with a separate entrance from the street and opened in 1962. From 1972 lady guests had access to the same areas of the Club as male guests. Ladies were invited to become Members of the Club from 2001.

At the first meeting of the Club held on 16 February 1824, the membership limit was set at four hundred. This was steadily increased and by December 1824 was set at one thousand. The cost of the magnificent premises had resulted in a deficit of some £20,000 and two hundred Supernumerary Members were elected in 1830 to restore the finances. By 1838 the Club was again in straitened circumstances after undertaking expensive remedial action because of the damage caused by the gas lighting. To alleviate the situation, one hundred and sixty Supernumerary Members were admitted to ordinary membership. An additional forty candidates were brought forward from the waiting list for election by Committee. These "forty thieves", as they became known, were selected from "Individuals known for their Scientific or Literary attainments, Artists of eminence in any class of the fine Arts, and Noblemen and Gentlemen distinguished as liberal Patrons of Science, Literature, or the Arts." They included Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the time candidates waited to come up for election was increasing until some candidates had been waiting as long as thirty years. By the time of the First World War, the numbers waiting had significantly reduced. The present complement is two thousand members.

Over the nearly two hundred years since its foundation the Athenaeum has maintained its standard of high attainment and distinction in the membership. More than fifty members have been awarded the Nobel Prize, including at least one in each category. Amongst the professions well represented in the Club are: academia of all disciplines; art; the church; the civil service; engineering; law; medicine; music; science; and literature; with a small number of professionals from business and politics. The wide interests of the Club's membership are reflected in the Athenaeum Library, the finest club library in London. From the outset Members were encouraged to donate works to the Library and many of the Library's 70,000 volumes are donations. The Archive is substantially intact from the foundation of the Club in 1824. The Library and Archive are managed by the Library Committee.

The Club is governed by the Trustees and a General Committee of Members. The day to day running is managed by an Executive Committee which was established in 1889. There are also standing sub-committees for: Audit; the Library; Investment; Music; Talk Dinners; Wine; and Works of Art.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has been in existence since 1841. Initially as the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals of the Insane, then as the Medico-Psychological Association (1841-1865). In 1926 after receiving the Royal Charter it became the Royal Medico-Psychological Association, and in 1971, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, when it received the Supplemental Charter.

The Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals of the Insane was the brainchild of Dr Samuel Hitch, who was resident superintendent of the Gloucestershire General Lunatic Asylum. In a circular letter dated 19 June 1841 which was addressed to eighty three visiting physicians and resident superintendents of twenty asylums and hospitals in England, seven in Scotland and eleven in Ireland he suggested the formation of the association. The respondents to the letter held a preliminary meeting at his hospital on 27July 1841, where they agreed to form the association. At this meeting there were present Dr Shute, Visiting Physician of the Gloucester Asylum (in the chair); Mr Gaskell, Medical Superintendent of Lancaster Asylum; Dr Hitch , Resident Medical Superintendent of Gloucester Asylum; Mr Powell, Resident Medical Superintendent of Nottingham Asylum; Dr Thurnam, Resident Medical Superintendent of York Retreat; and Mr Wintle, Resident Medical Superintendent of Oxford Asylum (Warneford). The stated objective of the association was that medical men connected with asylums should communicate more freely the results of their experience and assist each other in improving the treatment of the insane.

During the early years attendance at the irregular meetings was very poor. However, it is important to note that despite these difficulties there were a few who managed to overcome them, and came to be regarded as heroes of British psychiatry. These were: John Conolly (Hanwell), Samuel Hitch (Gloucester), Samuel Gaskell (Lancaster), John Thurnam (The Retreat, York) and John Bucknill (Exeter). The first annual meeting was held at Nottingham Asylum on 4 November 1841. In 1843 the Association met for the first time in London at Morleys Hotel in Trafalgar Square and on subsequent days at Hanwell, the Surrey Asylum (Springfield Hospital) and St Lukes Hospital. It was only in 1851, under the great leadership of John Conolly that the Association had a very successful meeting which was held at the Freemason`s Tavern in London and drew an attendance of twenty six. In 1852 an even more successful meeting was held at Oxford.

In 1847 members of the Association met in Oxford at the Warneford and Littlemore Asylums. It is at this meeting that the idea of publishing a journal was first mooted. The Asylum Journal of Mental Science as it was originally called was only published in November 1853 under the editorship of Dr John Bucknill. This journal became the forerunner of todays British Journal of Psychiatry. At the 1851 meeting a committee including John Conolly, Forbes Winslow, John Bucknill, and Corsellis was appointed to examine the lunacy acts and to report thereon. A request from Dr Wiliams of Gloucester for the establishment of a central criminal asylum was generally supported and a petition in favour of it was ordered to be drawn up and forwarded to the Secretary of State. At the London Meeting of 1854 a decision was taken to form a permanent Parliamentary Committee, the first positive step designed to influence legislation affecting the control of asylums and the welfare of patients committed to them. During the same year it was also decided to institute the office of President, and during that year Dr A. J Sutherland of St Lukes Hospital, London was elected the first President of the Association.

In the late 1860s it was decided that Quarterly Meetings be held in addition to Annual Meetings. The suggestion was approved and implemented in 1883 when Quarterly Meetings were introduced in Scotland and Ireland. The meetings were the forerunners of the Divisional Meetings of today.

In 1865 the name of the Association changed to The Medico-Psychological Association. The change of the title reflected a growing confidence of its membership, and recognition that the role of the Association needed to be strengthened and its influence extended outside the confines of asylums. Membership of the Association was no longer limited to medical officers of public and private asylums and hospitals for the insane, but was extended to all legally qualified medical practitioners interested in the treatment of insanity. The affairs of the Association were now being run by the Council, which comprised of the president, treasurer, general secretary, the secretary for Scotland, the secretary for Ireland, the editor of the journal, two auditors, and eight ordinary members. These officers of the Association were to be elected by ballot at each annual meeting.

In 1855 the membership of the Association was a mere 121, but as new county asylums were opened under the provisions of the 1845 and 1853 Acts, membership rose to 250 in 1864, and by 1894 to 523.

The Parliamentary Committee which was formed in 1854 lay dormant until 1882 when it became involved in active lobbying in an attempt to get some of the objectionable clauses removed from the Lunacy Act Amendment Bill, which was going through Parliament, and was eventually enacted as the Lunacy Act of 1890.

From 1865 the Association was also involved in discussions aimed at improving the education of doctors and nurses concerned with mentally ill patients. For example Henry Maudsley in 1865 was instrumental in persuading the convocation of the University of London to resolve that instruction in mental diseases should be required in the curriculum for the final MB. And in 1885 as a result of pressure by the Association, the General Medical Council added mental diseases as a separate item to the curriculum and, furthermore, ruled that it should be tested. During the same year the Association founded the Certificate of Proficiency in Psychological Medicine. This was replaced by a Diploma in Psychological Medicine in 1948. From 1891 the Association started to organise examinations for nurses employed in hospitals for the mentally ill. The qualification was known as the Medico-Psychological Association Certificate of Proficiency in Nursing. The certificate was the first to be awarded to nurses nationally as opposed to those awarded by individual hospitals.

In 1894 a number of developments took place concerning the administration of the Association. The constitution of the Association was re-drafted and new activities defined including the establishment of Divisions delineated on territorial lines, each with its own chairman and secretary. The Divisions were empowered to arrange for meetings to be held in their own areas. Educational and Parliamentary Committees were made Standing Committees of Council. The rules also established that women doctors were eligible for membership. The first woman to be elected a member was Dr Eleanor Fleury of Richmond Lunatic Asylum in Dublin. A Library Committee was established, and in 1895 after the death of Dr Daniel Hack Tuke, the great grandson of the founder of the York Retreat and the Associations first Honorary Member, his widow presented to the Association his invaluable library. These books form the core of the Colleges antiquarian book collection.

The early years of the twentieth century were a period of consolidation. The Association campaigned through its Parliamentary Committees for reforms in legislation relating to the care of the mentally ill, particularly for powers to admit voluntary patients to mental hospitals; for facilities for early treatment and for the establishment of out-patient clinics. The impact of the First World War had an effect on the direction of the Association. The high incidence of "shell-shocked" soldiers, and others with hysterical conversion symptoms, together with other varieties of neurotic breakdown, attracted medical practitioners whose roots were in neurology, internal medicine and general practice. This development together with the upsurge of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy resulted in the emergence of a new breed of psychiatrists.

In 1926 the prestige and dignity of the Association were enhanced when it received a Royal Charter which entitled it to change its name to the Royal Medico-Psychological Association. As a result of the Royal Charter the Association was able to exercise more political clout. For instance it played an important part in the formulation of Mental Treatment Act, 1930 and the Mental Health Act of 1959. The Association also played an important role by giving evidence before various Royal Commissions concerning issues relating to divorce, suicide, homosexuality and abortion.

On 16 June 1971 the Royal Medico-Psychological Association became the Royal College of Psychiatrists after being granted a Supplemental Charter.

For further information on the history of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, see Thomas Bewley, Madness to Mental Illness: A history of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (London, 2008), and:

its online archive

According to an entry in "Dickens's Dictionary of London", by Charles Dickens, Junior, (1879): "So many of the poorer among the working classes of London are absolutely compelled to live within easy distance of their work, that a serious problem is added to the many difficulties which arise when great metropolitan improvements are in contemplation. The destruction of whole quarters of the town, which house, however inadequately, many families, is not an enterprise to be undertaken without due regard being had to the requirements of those whose little homes are taken from them, and who, if matters are left to take their own course, have no choice but to seek refuge in the already over-crowded streets and alleys which remain untouched. Fortunately this is a question that early attracted the attention of practical philanthropists, and several associations now exist which have its solution for their object ... THE ARTIZANS, LABOURERS, AND GENERAL DWELLINGS COMPANY-In the words of its prospectus, "this company was established for the erection of improved dwellings near to the great centres of industry, but free from the annoyances arising from the proximity of manufactures." Large estates have been secured near Clapham Junction and the Harrow-road the former, called Shaftesbury-park, is now covered with about 1,150 houses whilst the partially developed Queen's-park Estate, Harrow-road, contains nearly 800 houses. The estates have been laid out with every regard to the latest sanitary improvements. The Shaftesbury-park Estate is readily accessible from Kensington, Victoria, Waterloo, Ludgate-hill, and London-bridge, at low fares; while the Westbourne-park Station on the Metropolitan District and Great Western Railways, and the Kensal-green Station on the Hampstead Junction and North London Railway, and the new station on the London and North-Western main line, with a good service of omnibuses, make the Queen's-park Estate at Harrow-road almost equally accessible. The sale of intoxicating liquor is altogether excluded. The company reserves the right to prohibit sub-letting, or to limit the number of lodgers. There is a co-operative store on the Shaftesbury-park Estate as well as a handsome hall for public gatherings and society meetings; and on both estates the School Board for London has provided ample school accommodation. The houses are divided into four classes, according to accommodation and position. The smallest - the fourth-class - contains five rooms on two floors. A third-class house has an additional bed-room. In the second-class house there is an extra parlour, making in all seven rooms; while a house of the first-class has eight rooms - a bath-room being the additional accommodation. The present weekly rental, which includes rates and taxes, except in the case of the first-class houses, is as follows:
an ordinary fourth-class house, 7s. 6d.
third-class, 8s. 6d.
second-class, 10s.
first-class, 10s. and 11s.
The shops, corner houses, those with larger gardens than ordinary, and some other exceptional houses, are subject to special arrangements both as to rental and purchase. The company is also prepared to sell the houses on lease for 99 years, and on easy terms, subject to a moderate ground-rent; the object being to encourage the personal acquisition of the house by payment of a slightly increased rental. All applications to rent or purchase houses must be made in the first instance to the sub-managers on the estates, and all letters must contain a stamped envelope for reply."

Source: http://www.victorianlondon.org/dickens/dickens-mus.htm (accessed July 2009).

The Artist Placement Group (APG) emerged in London in the 1960s. The idea of artist placements took its focus from the group of UK artists, including John Latham and Barbara Steveni, who were experimenting with new art forms. Initiated and directed by Steveni, the APG pioneered the concept of art in the social context; from the outset her concept of 'placement' directly acknowledged the isolated and marginal position that artists held within society and was an effort to overcome this situation. The APG acting outside the conventional art gallery system, attempted to place artists, through negotiation and agreement, within industry and in government departments. Artists such as Keith Arnatt, Ian Breakwell, Stuart Brisley, and Barry Flanagan, had important placements or early associations with the APG.

Today the organisation exists as Organisation and Imagination (O + I), and describes itself as 'an independent, radical international artist initiative, a network consultancy and research organisation'. Its board of directors, members and specialist advisors include leading artists, senior civil servants, politicians, scientists, and academics from various disciplines. The name was changed in 1989 in order to distinguish the initiative from arts administrative placement schemes set up following the APG example.

The Ananse Society was created from two 'Bookeater panel discussions' at Centerprise in East London, organised by the Black Literature Project in October 1995 and April 1996. A working committee was set up in 1996 and those individuals articulated the aims and objectives of the society. The founding members and steering committee of the organisation were: Jan Blake, Jean Buffong, Kadija George, Bonnie Greer, Ahmed Sheikh Gueye, Eric Huntley, Jessica Huntley, Earl Lovelace, Sonia McIntosh, Alex Pascall OBE, Paa 'C' Quaye and Jacob Ross.

The Patrons of the society were Baroness Amos, Dr Petronella Breinburg, Professor Merle Collins, Dr Walter Fluker, Professor Rex Nettleford, Dr Ato Quayson and Mavis Stewart. They were based at Centerprise, 136-138 Kingsland High Street, Hackney LB, where Kadija George was the literature officer. They used the Bogle-L'Ouverture Press post office box address.

The spelling of 'Ananse' was taken from the language of the Akan people of Ghana, Africa. It means 'a male born on a Wednesday'. The character is also known as Anansy, Anancy and Bro Anansi di Spiderman. It derives from West African countries; Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Mali, and travelled with enslaved Africans to become part of the oral tradition in the Caribbean and the Americas.

The Ananase Society Committee stated aims and objectives were to:-

• 'explore and collate the Ananse legend
• raise the self-esteem of our children through the ethics of storytelling and writing
• create a positive public focus on the creative; to enhance the impact that Ananse had had on lives and society, by using readings, seminars and discussions
• actively pursue raising and sharing literary skills, particularly storytelling, between Africans on the continent and the Diaspora
• produce information packs for use in research, education and other institutions as well as for general interest
• take Ananse from survival to action for the positive development of our mental, physical and spiritual selves
• provide an information and archival resource on Ananse stories and stories/folk tales form Africa and the Diaspora

• liase and consult with outer organisations and institutions on how to effectively use Ananse resources and information to achieve these aims and objectives.'

  The Ananse Society was launched between 25 -30 April, 1998. Key note speakers were Merle Collins and Dr Ato Quayson. Keith Waithe and the Macusi players performed an original commissioned composition for the occasion. Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications organised a symposium, 'Ananse in the Diaspora' held at Hackney Town Hall. Participants were Dimela Yekwai, storyteller and poet, Kofi Nyaako, lecturer, Charles da Costa, a graduate in film, Jean Buffong, novelist and Marc Matthews, storyteller.

  In 1999 the first edition of the Society's newsletter, 'Krick Krack', was produced and a fund raising event was organised to mark the first anniversary.

  In December 2001 Jean Buffong proposed the idea that the Ananse Society should be incorporated into African Writers Abroad. The Society would continue to set its own programmes, retain a Chair and a Secretary but share office space and fundraising efforts with this bigger group which was a member of International PEN. This merger was agreed and the Ananse Society was incorporated into African Writers Abroad in 2002

The Industrial Orthopaedic Society was founded and first registered as The Allies Hospital Benevolent Society in 1915 (Friendly Society number 1483) to treat wounded French soldiers in Normandy during the First World War. In 1919 the society was renamed The Industrial Orthopaedic Society and the head office moved from 10 Duke Street, Adelphi, Westminster to the Manor House, Hampstead Heath near Golders Green where a new hospital was built.

The Society governed the Manor House Hospital as well as additional sites which included Ivy House Recovery Hospital, Inverforth House Women's Hospital, Industrial Diseases Medical Institute and rehabilitation centres including at Clapham Park, Bedford, Bedfordshire and Elton Hall, Stockton-on-Tees. The Society's hospitals continued to be run privately and independently after the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948.

As a benevolent society, the organisation was supported by subscriptions from members working in the heavy industries, where risks of industrial accidents in the workplace were high. Subscriptions also came from their contributing firms and trades unions across the United Kingdom. By paying a weekly subscription, members were eligible for specialised treatment in the Society's hospitals for conditions caused by industrial accidents involving the musculoskeletal system. In addition to orthopaedic treatment, general surgical treatment for the membership and dental and optical treatment was provided for members and their families. Individuals who were treated worked in mines, quarries, railways, factories, harbours and docks as well as construction and shipping. A network of Area Councils and District Committees in industrial regions was established to promote the Society's work and receive subscriptions.

The society later became a registered company, the Industrial Orthopaedic Friendly Society Limited and traded in 1990s as 'Manor House Healthcare'. In 1996 the company was incorporated under the Friendly Societies Act 1992 as Manor House Friendly Society Limited (registration number 457F). In that year the company's registered office remained at Manor House Hospital, North End Road with its head administrative office at Hillside, 151 North End Road and branch offices in Derby, Derbyshire; Hove, Sussex; Leeds, Yorkshire; London; Luton, Bedfordshire; Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales; and Sunderland.

Manor House Hospital closed in 1999 and the offices moved to Stag House, Old London Road, Hertford, Hertfordshire where they remained until 2004. The hospital site was demolished and redeveloped by Octagon Homes as 'Manor Heights', a luxury gated estate with 16 large town houses and 33 apartments.

In 2000 the company's trading name became Simplyhealth and in 2002 Simplyhealth merged with the Hospital Saving Association Limited (HSA) based in Hambledon House, Waterloo Court, Andover, Hampshire with the aim to provide businesses healthcare products in their provision of employee healthcare. The merger added private medical insurance business to HSA's portfolio. In 2004 it was announced that Simplyhealth would change its brand to HSA.

The African Association (whose full title was the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa) was founded in London in 1788. It offered patronage to many explorers of Africa, among them Mungo Park, John Lewis Burkhardt and Frederick Hornemann. In 1831 the Association merged with the newly formed Royal Geographical Society of London.

British and American Intelligence Officers captured a collection of documents, known as the "Fuehrer Conferences", at Tambach, Germany during World War Two. These comprise minutes of staff meetings between Adolf Hitler and various commanders of the German Forces.

At an informal dinner held in January 1942 a group of eminent professors decided to form a small club composed of those holding university chairs in medicine, surgery or obstetrics and who were interested in the future of clinical teaching and academic medicine, particularly in light of the inception of the NHS. The limited membership club thus founded began as a small group of 14, but membership steadily increased, reaching 184 in 1992. Originally membership was limited to heads of strictly clinical departments but has since been extended to professors of paraclinical disciplines. Each meeting of the Club is devoted, after general business has been dealt with, to the discussion of a particular topic of current medico-political or medico-academic importance, ranging from the foundation and operation of the National Health Service and the Royal Commission on Medical Education to issues in the funding of research, the undergraduate curriculum, examination procedures, postgraduate training, medicine and the media, etc. The Club has periodically made reports and recommendations, eg. to Royal Commissions, but has consistently avoided becoming involved in salary negotiations. Further details of the history of the Club can be found in Section A. of the collection.

Thavie's Inn was an extra-parochial place (in Farringdon Without Ward), which was constituted a civil parish in 1858. It was co-terminous with the legal Inn of Chancery of the same name.

This deposit concerns the Thatcher family of Frome, Somerset, Hammersmith and Harrow.

The family originated in Frome and owned property there as well as in Kensington and Hammersmith. It is difficult to ascertain a precise date for Silas' move to Kensington, although the account book (ACC/1352/003) implies that he carried on a business of carpenter and builder there from at least 1879. In 1881 he purchased a house in Cobbold Road, Hammersmith (ACC/1382/007). He retired, and eventually died in Frome (ACC/1382/015 and 016).

Albert, Silas's son, seems to have been brought up and educated in London. As a boy of fourteen he went into business with his father; (ACC/1382/003) contains references to paying a weekly wage of 4s. to 'Bertie'. He started teaching with the School Board for London on 8 January 1894 (ACC/1382/036) and continued with the London County Council until his retirement in 1925 at the age of sixty (ACC/1382/029).

The family continued to live at 22 Lime Grove, Hammersmith, purchased in 1899 (ACC/1382/034), until Albert's death in 1934. At this date his son Alfred, with his wife Lily whom he married in 1927 (ACC/1382/046) moved to 6 Oxleay Road, Harrow. Albert's widow Elizabeth seems to have then moved to Acton (ACC/1382/047).

Born, 1885; eldest daughter of Sir George Dancer Thane (Professor of Anatomy at University College London, 1877-1919) and Jenny, daughter of August Klingberg of Stockholm and god-daughter of the famous Swedith soprano Jenny Lind; sister of Alice Ebba Thane and of George Augustus (who died young); attended South Hampstead High School; studied mathematics at Newnham College Cambridge; taught at Hulme Grammer School for Girls, Oldham, the Perse School for Girls, Cambridge, and at Wimbledon High School for more than 20 years; died, 1976.

Born in Great Berkhamsted, 1850; entered University College London, 1867; Demonstrator at University College London; Professor of Anatomy, University College London, 1877-1919; married Jenny Klingberg of Stockholm, god-daughter of the famous soprano Jenny Lind, 1884; three children, but his only son died young; examiner in anatomy at many universities, and to the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons; a founder member of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and President, 1896-1897; knighted for his services to medical education in London and as inspector under the Vivi-Section Act (1876), 1919; Emeritus Professor of Anatomy, University College London; Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England; LLD, Edinburgh; ScD, Dublin; Fellow of the Zoological Society; a member of various scientific societies overseas; died, 1930. Publications: with others, edited and contributed to Quain's Anatomy (9th and 10th editions) and Ellis's Demonstrations of Anatomy (10th and 11th editions).

Born in Great Berkhamsted, 1850; entered University College London, 1867; Demonstrator at University College London; Professor of Anatomy, University College London, 1877-1919; married Jenny Klingberg of Stockholm, god-daughter of the famous soprano Jenny Lind, 1884; three children, but his only son died young; examiner in anatomy at many universities, and to the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons; a founder member of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and President, 1896-1897; knighted for his services to medical education in London and as inspector under the Vivi-Section Act (1876), 1919; Emeritus Professor of Anatomy, University College London; Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England; LLD, Edinburgh; ScD, Dublin; Fellow of the Zoological Society; a member of various scientific societies overseas; died, 1930. Publications: with others, edited and contributed to Quain's Anatomy (9th and 10th editions) and Ellis's Demonstrations of Anatomy (10th and 11th editions).

This company, operating in Assam, India, 1909-79, was part of the Inchcape Group of companies.

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society from 1964.

In 1974 the Thames Water Authority was given full control of the river's waters, with authority over three other bodies: the Metropolitan Water Board, the Thames Conservancy and the Port of London Authority. Responsiblities included land drainage, flood defence, regulation of water resources, care for river and groundwater quality, supervision of fisheries, navigation, conservation and recreation.

The London County Council (1888-1965) appointed a Chief Engineer and County Surveyor who was responsible for overseeing construction and maintenance of LCC buildings, bridges, roads and tunnels. He was also responsible for flood prevention measures, drainage and sewerage and other matters of public health.

The Greater London Council (1965-1986) had overall responsibility at a strategic level for local government in the Greater London area. The Council was responsible for a number of services which were considered best dealt with on a London-wide basis, rather than managed individually by each borough. These included refuse disposal, Thames flood prevention, land drainage, the fire service, supply service for local authorities, and research, intelligence and scientific services.

Kurt Josef Waldheim was born 1918; served in the Wehrmacht, 1941-1945; squad leader, Eastern Front, 1941; interpreter and liaison officer with the Italian 5th division (Pusteria), Apr-May 1942; O2 officer (communications) with the Kampfgruppe West Bosnia, Jun-Aug 1942; interpreter with the liaison staff attached to the 9th Italian Army in Tirana, early summer 1942; O1 officer in the German liaison staff with the 11th Italian Army and in the staff of the Army Group South Greece in Jul-Oct 1943; O3 officer on the staff of Army Group E in Arksali, Mitrovica and Sarajevo, Oct 1943-Feb 1945; Austrian diplomatic service, 1945-1972; Secretary-General of the United Nations, 1972-1981; President of Austria, 1986-1992; died 2007.

In early 1986 when Waldheim's candidacy for the office of Federal President of Austria was made known his service as a Wehrmacht intelligence officer during World War Two caused an international controversy. A Thames Television documentary was made on Kurt Waldheim's role during the War. The programme takes the form of a commission of enquiry presided over by 5 distinguished European judges in which evidence of Waldheim's wartime duties and activities is subjected to scrutiny by lawyers. The object of the exercise is to ascertain whether or not Waldheim should be answerable to charges of certain war crimes. Testimony is taken from a number of historians and lawyers and eyewitnesses. The unanimous conclusion of the commission is that Waldheim should not have to answer charges for war crimes.

Thames Rights Defence Association was founded by Francis Francis to defend the rights of anglers on the Thames. Throughout his life, Francis advocated the cause of fish culture, and suggested the formation of the National Fish-Culture Association. William A Crump was treasurer of the association.

Thames Polytechnic was designated on 1 May 1970 as a result of the government's White Paper A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges, published in 1966. This outlined the arrangements for implementing the government's policy for a dual system of higher education, divided by the binary line, first outlined by Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for Education, in a speech at Woolwich Polytechnic in 1965. The polytechnics in the public sector would provide vocational, professional and industrially-based courses, some for degrees awarded by the Council of National Academic Awards (CNAA), some at sub-degree level, and some to provide a second chance for those who had missed the opportunity for further education on leaving school.

In 1968 three departments of Hammersmith College of Art and Building, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Surveying had amalgamated with Woolwich Polytechnic, and the institution became Thames Polytechnic in 1970. During the 1970s Thames concentrated on the teaching of a wide range of subjects at an advanced level, although unlike universities was unable to grant its own degrees. These were awarded by the CNAA for courses which required CNAA approval, and were reviewed by a peer group drawn from industry and other polytechnics and universities. Many students took sandwich courses, and several CNAA courses were vocational in nature.

Dartford College, a teacher training college which had been founded in and specialised in training women sport and gymnastics teachers, amalgamated with Thames Polytechnic on 1 August 1976. The amalgamation was the result of government policy for reorganising teacher training colleges, set out in a White Paper in 1972 Education: A Framework for Expansion, which aimed to reduce the numbers of students training as teachers and required smaller training colleges to form closer associations with other institutions or expand their course range. Teacher training at Dartford was restructured to form the Faculty of Education and Movement Studies, but by 1979 the PE course for women teachers of sports and gymnastics was closed and by 1986 teacher training at Dartford had ceased. The Department of Landscape Architecture, previously part of Hammersmith Polytechnic, was moved to the Dartford campus in 1979, and was followed two years later by Architecture, Civil Engineering and in 1985 by the School of Surveying, creating a Faculty of the Built Environment.

During 1980-1 there was a gradual introduction of a modular scheme at Thames Polytechnic, offering a limited number of study units to be selected by students relating to their core subject, eventually becoming known as credit accumulation. The separation of full-time, part-time and sandwich students was abandoned, and by 1983-4 nearly every course admitted part-time students. Thames also aimed to increase the number of students, and in 1979-80 over 1000 first year students were recruited, the highest ever number, and recruitment for engineering, mathematics and science courses was high, against national trends.

Avery Hill College of Education, a teacher training college for women established in 1906, merged with Thames Polytechnic in 1985. Avery Hill had resisted plans for mergers and retained its independence for several years, but in line with the Inner London Education Authority's proposals and a general review of Advanced Further Education the idea of amalgamation was again raised in 1983. Thames was keen on the merger as an opportunity to improve the polytechnic's chances of becoming a university. On the merger Avery Hill became Thames Polytechnic's Faculty of Education and Community Studies.

Thames Polytechnic continued its programme of expansion by merging with Garnett College, a training college for technical teachers at Roehampton established in 1946, in 1986. With a student-staff ratio of 8 to 1 the college was considered expensive to maintain, and by 1985 the Inner London Education Authority was encouraging Garnett to merge. Thames Polytechnic was among the many institutions who had approached Garnett College with a view to merging, including South Bank Polytechnic and Roehampton Institute. With the support of the Inner London Education Authority, a merger with Thames Polytechnic was negotiated in 1986. Garnett became a new faculty of the polytechnic and then the School of Post-Compulsory Education and Training. By 1990 all the students from Garnett College had been moved to Thames Polytechnic's Avery Hill site and a new site at Wapping, and the two education faculties of the polytechnic were integrated to become one Faculty of Education.

In 1989 the science departments of the City of London Polytechnic and Goldsmiths' College were also transferred to Thames Polytechnic. Goldsmiths' had become a School of the University of London in 1988, and this was partly dependent on Goldsmiths' disposing of its science work. The City of London Polytechnic had found the numbers of students recruited to its science courses dropping and the courses became an economic liability. Thames acquired Goldsmiths' Deptford campus and City's Shadwell campus through the merger, as well as a new School of Earth Sciences from the geology departments of City and Goldsmiths'. Goldsmiths' former campus in Deptford, the Rachel McMillan buildings, was taken over by the School of Environmental Sciences in 1988-9.

In 1990 West Kent College at Tonbridge became an Associated College to Thames Polytechnic, as Thames aimed to increase higher and further education opportunities for the local community. Successful students at West Kent were to be guaranteed places at Thames and programmes of a Higher National Diploma Course in Business Studies and Finance at West Kent were validated by Thames. In 1991 parts of South West London College were transferred to Thames Polytechnic when the College was dissolved after initially seeking a merger with Thames. The transfer of staff and students enabled Thames to set up a law school within the Faculty of Business, with law degree courses at Avery Hill and business administration courses at Roehampton.

The Education Reform Act of 1988 had removed polytechnics from the control of local authorities and transferred their funding to a new body, the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC). PCFC was replaced in 1992 when the Higher and Further Education Act created a single Higher Education Funding Council, removing any remaining distinctions between polytechnics and universities. Subsequently Thames Polytechnic became the University of Greenwich in 1992. Plans for the merger of Thames Polytechnic with Thames College of Health Care Studies, itself a merger of three local nursing and midwifery training schools, began in the late 1980s as a result of the Department of Health's objective to overhaul the training of nurses, midwives and health visitors by increasing the academic content of training. The College officially merged with the newly designated University of Greenwich on 1 January 1993, becoming a full faculty of the University.

Thames Magistrates Court:
Thames Police Court was in origin the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office opened at the instigation of merchants and dock owners and Patrick Colquhoun in 1798, and regularised by Act of Parliament in 1800. It was probably amalgamated with the Police Office in High Street Shadwell in 1839/40 and with the Lambeth Street, Whitechapel, Police District in 1845. In 1841 it was situated at 255 Wapping High Street. In 1844 it moved to Arbour Street, Stepney, where it remained, undergoing changes of address because of street-name changes: 1922-1939 Charles Street and 1939 onwards Aylward Street, Stepney.

History of magistrates courts:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.

Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.

In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.

Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.

The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.

In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.

The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.

Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.

Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.

The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.