St George in the East Hospital was erected in 1871 by the Board of Guardians, under the provisions of the Metropolitan Poor Act, 1867. A Nurse Training School was established in 1893. In 1930, when it passed to the London County Council, it had 406 beds.With the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948 the Hospital was transferred to the Stepney Group Hospital Management Committee. The Hospital was closed in September 1956.
The Royal London Hospital and Associated Community Services formed one of the first NHS Trusts. In 1991 the Health Service split health services management between 'purchasers' and 'providers'. The RLH Trust was the provider for Tower Hamlets District Health Authority, (later East London and The City District Health Authority from 1993), which purchased services to be carried out in NHS organisations such as hospitals and mental health services. The Royal London Hospital along with St Clement's and Mile End Hospitals formed the Trust as well as other community health services. The Trust was replaced by the Royal Hospitals NHS Trust which incorporated St Bartholomew's Hospital and The London Chest Hospital from 1994.
This hospital originated from the West Ham Board of Guardians Smallpox Hospital, which was established in Western Road , Plaistow in 1871, the Poplar Board of Works Infectious Diseases Hospital, which opened in Samson Street in 1878 and the Smallpox Hospital established in Pragel Street by West Ham Local Board in 1884. The Pragel Street premises closed in 1894 when the Samson Street premises were purchased by West Ham Borough Council and in the following year the Council likewise purchased the Smallpox Hospital at Western Road. Through the closure of part of Western Road, a large island site was made available for the development of a new Infectious Diseases Hospital, which opened in 1901 with accommodation for 210 patients as Plaistow Fever Hospital.
The new Hospital was considered to be one of the most modern of its kind and originated the barrier method of nursing infectious cases. Training of probationer nurses had commenced in 1898. In 1906 the Hospital was recognised by several universities and the royal college for the training of medical students in infectious diseases and over the next 37 years over 3000 students received fever training at Plaistow. The Hospital was damaged by bombing during World War II and in 1947 the older Samson Street buildings were made available for Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford, as a medical in-patient department. The name of the Hospital was changed to Plaistow Hospital in 1948 in recognition of the fact that it was available for acute medical cases as well as infectious cases. In 1982 chest medicine beds were transferred to St. Andrew's Hospital by Newham Health Authority and from 1983 the hospital began to specialise in elderly long stay patients with such patients from Newham transferring from Langthorne Hospital, Leyton to Plaistow. A dementia assessment unit was opened in 1987and in 1990 Plaistow day Hospital was upgraded and extended to provide 40 places for elderly people. Management of the hospital transferred from East London & The City Health Authority to Newham Community Health Services NHS Trust in 1995. It closed in 2006 when the patients from the Frail Elders Services were transferred to the newly opened, purpose-built East Ham Care Centre, behind the East Ham Memorial Hospital in Shrewsbury Road. The patients had occupied just half the site of the Plaistow Hospital and it was felt it was no longer economically viable to keep the remaining staff on site.
During the First World War Queen Mary's Needlework Guild was established, with branches in many parts of the world, to make and distribute clothes and other items to Servicemen. At the conclusion of the War a considerable sum of money collected by the Guild was left unspent and Queen Mary decided to use these funds to endow a Maternity Home, for the benefit of wives and children of Servicemen. The Home opened in October 1919 in temporary premises at "Cedar Lawns", North End Road, Hampstead, a house provided by Lord Leverhulme. The foundation stone of the new building at Upper Heath, on a site again provided by Lord Leverhulme, was laid on 12th October 1921 and was designed to provide 16 beds. The new maternity home was occupied in July 1922. In August 1939 the Home was evacuated to Eynsham Hall, Oxfordshire, but moved again to Freeland House, Oxfordshire, in the Autumn of 1941. The Home returned to Hampstead in the winter of 1945-1946.
On 1st April 1946 the management of Queen Mary's Maternity Home was taken over by the London Hospital. On 1st February 1972 it was transferred to the Royal Free Hospital. With the closure of New End Hospital, Hampstead, in 1986 and its subsequent sale, funds became available for the development of Queen Mary House as a Care of the Elderly Unit, known as Queen Mary House, which opened under the management of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust in 1991.
Founded in 1868 as the Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum, as a result of the Metropolitan Poor Act of 1867 (30 and 31 Vic.c6), which gave authority to the Poor Law Board to order the combination of Unions and Parishes to provide asylums for the Sick Poor. Poplar and Stepney Unions formed one of six such Asylum Districts and administered the Asylum, built at Bromley-by-Bow along architectural lines favoured by Florence Nightingale, and opened in 1873. The Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum District, whose minutes (1868 - 1925) are held at London Metropolitan Archives (ref: PSSA), administered the Asylum until the District was abolished in 1925.
The Asylum was renamed St. Andrew's Hospital in 1921 and was administered by the Metropolitan Asylums board from 1925 until 1933, at which time responsibility transferred to the London County Council. St. Andrew's became an N.H.S. Hospital in 1948 and was administered by the No. 8 Group, Bow Hospital Management Committee, until 1963, when the Group merged with the West Ham Group to form the Thames Group of Hospitals. From 1974 to 1982 the Hospital formed part of Newham Health District (though positioned in Tower Hamlets) under the City and East London Area Health Authority (Teaching) and since 1982 it was been administered by the Newham Health Authority.
The Hospital grew through 19th century extensions to over 650 beds. A School of Nursing was established in 1875 and nurses followed a three-year course for a certificate of training and sick cookery. By 1930 an optional maternity training course had been established and the nursing staff had expanded to over 200. The headquarters of Newham District School of Nursing transferred to St. Andrew's following the closure of Newham Maternity Hospital, Forest Gate, c.1985, and the School merged with in 1991 with the Princess Alexandra College of Nursing and Midwifery.
In 1990 the Hospital had 283 beds, but a systematic reduction of services had begun. Eighty-five percent of the Hospital buildings were considered to be in poor condition and below acceptable standards for clinical use. The Out-Patients Department closed, as well as some wards. Patients were transferred to Newham General Hospital. The Devons Road entrance to the Hospital was closed. The Intensive Treatment Unit closed in 1995, as well as the Accident & Emergency Department (but a Receiving Room was retained so that GPs could refer patients with medical or surgical problems; this closed in 1999).
The remaining services concentrated on rehabilitation and geriatric care.
The Pathology Laboratories closed in 2001. It had been intended that the site would be vacated by 2004, but St Andrew's remained open for patients until it closed in 2006.
The Alexandra Hospital for Children with Hip Disease was opened on 12 March 1867. Founded by a group of women (two of whom were nurses at the nearby Great Ormond Street Hospital), it was initially based in 19 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London. Until 1870, it was known as the House of Relief for Children with Chronic Diseases of the Joints, and from 1870 to 1881 the Hospital for Hip Diseases in Children. Hip disease, or tuberculous arthritis, was a common disease at this time.
The demand for the hospital's beds was such that 18 Queen Square was purchased in 1872 to provide additional accommodation. 17 Queen Square was acquired in 1873 and properties in Queen Square Place were added over the following years. In 1881 the hospital was re-named after Princess Alexandra, and by 1897 the Alexandra Hospital had sixty-eight beds. However, the buildings in which the hospital was accommodated were dilapidated and unsanitary and in 1898 a decision was taken to re-build. The hospital took temporary accommodation at 34 Guilford Street, Russell Square, London whilst the rebuilding took place. The new hospital buildings opened on 20 July 1899. The Alexandra Hospital also had convalescent homes at Helen Branch Hospital, Bournemouth, Hampshire (1874-1993); Wash Well Home, Painswick, Gloucestershire (1893-1914); and Clandon Branch Hospital, East Clandon, Surrey (1903-1936).
In 1920, the Alexandra Hospital moved from its central London location. It took up residence at the Kettlewell Home in Swanley, Kent, the site of St Bartholomew's Hospital's convalescent home. The Alexandra Hospital had maintained close ties with Bart's from its foundation in 1867, and many of its medical staff had served both institutions. These links were now strengthened and on 3 November 1922, the hospitals amalgamated. After the amalgamation the Committee of Management was renamed the Committee of the Alexandra Hospital and Kettlewell Home.
In 1940, the Alexandra Hospital moved for the final time, to Stockwood Park near Luton, Bedfordshire, a property on lease from Luton Borough Council. It was later proposed that a further move be made to Nyn Park in Hertfordshire, but these suggestions came to nothing and in 1958 the Ministry of Health closed the Alexandra Hospital.
The 1860s was a decade of epidemics in London and it was an outbreak of 'relapsing' fever, in which the patient fell victim to a fever, appeared to recover but relapsed after a week, which led to the foundation of the fever hospital that later became the Eastern Hospital. Since 1867 the Metropolitan Asylums Board had been responsible for the care and control of all fever cases within London. The site in Homerton had been designated as a fever hospital and a smallpox hospital, but it was not until the 'relapsing' fever epidemic that work began. The fever hospital was opened in December 1870, with six wards for typhus, two each for scarlet fever and enteric patients and two smaller wards for any special cases. This gave a total of 200 beds which were immediately occupied. Building work then continued on the adjacent smallpox hospital in an attempt to counteract a growing epidemic of that disease, from which nearly 8000 people died in London between 1870 and 1871.
The hospital opened in February 1871, and consisted of four blocks each containing eight wards with twelve beds. In the first three days sixty patients were admitted and by the middle of the month all the beds were filled. The overflow of patients had to be taken to the fever hospital next door, where the number of beds had been increased to 600. Convalescent patients had to be accommodated in the corridors or in tents in the grounds, while some were even sent to a hospital ship moored at Greenwich. By July, the epidemic had run its course and the number of patients rapidly dropped until, by October 1873, the smallpox hospital was almost empty. Although the first vaccination against smallpox had been made in England in 1721, and a reliable form of vaccine was introduced in 1796, it was not until 1853 that infant vaccination against the disease was made compulsory. Even this did not ensure that everyone was vaccinated and some doctors used the wrong serum. However, the 1870s epidemic clearly showed the value of vaccination, since no patients died who had been vaccinated. After this date the number of smallpox cases gradually declined until, by 1921, there were insufficient numbers to justify a separate hospital and the smallpox hospital was amalgamated with the Eastern Hospital. In the same year, the buildings of the East London Union Infirmary in Clifden Road were also incorporated into the Eastern Hospital.
In the 1920s, scarlet fever and diphtheria were the main diseases treated at the Eastern and the majority of patients were children. They were kept in isolation cubicles until the diagnosis was confirmed and then moved to a general ward. The patients wore rough flannel nightdresses and black boots, and there was a menu of weak cocoa with marmalade sandwiches for breakfast. In 1930, control of the Eastern passed to the London County Council.
During the Second World War St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin was severely bombed and all its in-patient facilities were lost. Wards at the Eastern were allocated to patients from St John's and the association between the two hospitals continued until the 1980s.
When the National Health Service was established in 1948, the Eastern came under the control of the Ministry of Health and was one of the four hospitals administered as the Hackney Group, the others being Hackney, the German and the Mothers' hospitals. During the post-war years the Eastern played an important part in defeating two of the most feared diseases of that time - tuberculosis and poliomyelitis. In 1974, the Eastern became part of the newly-created City and Hackney Health District.
The Eastern Hospital was closed in 1982 and shortly afterwards most of the old buildings on the site were demolished. The new Homerton Hospital was built where the Eastern formerly stood. The first patients were admitted to the Homerton in the summer of 1986 and the official opening took place in 1987.
The first record of medical students working within St Bartholomew's Hospital occurs in 1662, when the Governors gave orders that "young gentlemen or doctors or practitioners" should seek permission if they wished to be in attendance when the Hospital's Physicians were prescribing. The Surgeons also had pupils, and the first students often bound themselves to their teachers by means of an apprenticeship agreement. They received most of their education by attending in the wards and following Surgeons at their work, a practice which later became known as "walking the wards" of the Hospital. Physicians at that time would usually have learned their craft by means of a university degree, but with less opportunity for practical work. In 1734 the Governors for the first time gave consent for any of the Surgeons or Assistant Surgeons "to read lectures in anatomy in the dissecting-room of the Hospital", although permission was withdrawn in 1735. Hospital staff offered lectures to pupils privately before this time, often in their own homes, and continued to do so until the 1780s. In 1767 the Physicians and Surgeons again approached the Governors, who agreed to allow the reading of lectures in a room adjoining the operating theatre in the newly-built East Wing.
In 1791 the Governors agreed to the request of the surgeon John Abernethy for a purpose-built lecture theatre to be constructed within the Hospital. A theatre was built between Long Row and what was then Windmill Court, behind the West Wing, to the design of George Dance. It was variously known as the "Surgeons' Theatre", the "Medical Theatre" and the "Anatomical Theatre", and lectures were given there by Abernethy (on anatomy, physiology and surgery), John Latham (on medicine), Richard Powell (on chemistry) and others. The theatre was rebuilt, on the same site but with an enlarged capacity, in 1822. The efforts of Abernethy also persuaded the Governors to pass a resolution giving formal support to the provision of medical education within the Hospital. This recognition by the Governors and the rebuilding of the lecture theatre are generally regarded as marking the foundation of the Medical School in 1822. Further accommodation in Long Row was acquired by the School in the course of the nineteenth century. A theatre for chemical lectures was built at the southern end of Long Row, and in the 1830s a new museum and library were constructed, with a further theatre for lectures on materia medica and botany.
In Abernethy's time, and for some years afterwards, a student decided his own curriculum, attending lectures as he wished, besides walking the wards. If he preferred, he could choose to attend lectures at several different hospitals or private medical schools. At Bart's, as elsewhere, students paid no lecture fees to the Hospital, but could purchase admission tickets to as many individual courses as they wished to attend. Each lecturer sold tickets for his own courses. At the end of a course a certificate of attendance might be granted to those who had completed it. Certificates of "hospital practice" were also issued, to students who had attended regularly in the wards. After Abernethy's death in 1831 the School began to decline, as no member of the medical staff was prepared to take responsibility for administering it, or for offering guidance to the students in the development of their studies.
Until 1843 students had to arrange their own accommodation, but in that year the Governors founded a residential college to allow the students residence within the walls of the Hospital. The residential quarters occupied a row of houses on the west side of Duke Street (now called Little Britain). The first Warden of the College was James Paget, who had already distinguished himself by his discovery of the parasitic worm trichinella spiralis while still a student at the age of 21. As Warden, Paget soon found himself directing the studies not only of the residents, but also of those students who lived outside. Paget's dedication to this task quickly re-established the prestige of the School, and the Wardens became in effect the administrators of the School and the keepers of its accounts. In 1850 Paget was largely responsible for the welcome which Bart's extended to Elizabeth Blackwell, who had just become the first qualified female medical practitioner. From May 1850 until July 1851 she was the first, and only, female student in the Medical School at St Bartholomew's. After her departure, however, a more conservative outlook prevailed and for many years any suggestion that female students should be admitted to Bart's was met with strenuous resistance. Women students continued to be prohibited until 1947.
Until 1892 the regulations of the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Surgeons required four years' study for a professional qualification, of which only thirty months had to be spent at a hospital medical school. After 1892 five years' study became the norm. By 1900 the winter sessions at St Bartholomew's offered lectures, classes and demonstrations in the different branches of medicine, surgery, anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, pathology and bacteriology. The summer session provided tuition in forensic, ophthalmic and psychological medicine, materia medica and pharmacology, midwifery and public health. The fee for five years of study was 150 guineas, if paid in one sum on entrance, or 160 guineas if paid in four annual instalments. As early as 1839 the teaching at the Medical School had been recognised by the University of London in admitting candidates for medical degrees. In 1900 the School became one of the constituent colleges of the University, but it remained a voluntary association of teachers in the hospital with no legal status of its own until after the First World War. A new post of Dean was created in 1904. In 1919 Medical and Surgical Professorial Units were established, in anticipation of a formal alteration to the status of the School. The Units aimed to bridge the gap between training, practical medicine and surgery, and the academic world of scientific research. It was a condition of University recognition that the Units were provided with their own research laboratories. The School and the Hospital were formally separated in 1921, when the School was incorporated with a new title, the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital in the City of London.
In 1933-1934 the Medical College purchased the site of the former Merchant Taylors' School in Charterhouse Square. This acquisition enabled it to re-house the pre-clinical departments, which were previously in cramped quarters on the west side of Giltspur Street. In the Second World War, however, the college suffered badly. Most of the buildings on the Charterhouse Square site were damaged or destroyed, and on the Smithfield site the buildings in Long Row were also wrecked. At the outbreak of war pre-clinical students were evacuated to Queen's College, Cambridge, while clinical teaching was divided between St Bartholomew's and its two evacuation sites, Hill End Hospital at St Alban's and Friern Hospital, New Southgate. The pre-clinical school returned to London in 1946, but the rebuilding of the Charterhouse Square site was not completed until 1963. The Robin Brook Centre for Medical Education was opened in June 1980. In the 1960s the College acquired its first regular peacetime teaching facilities outside Bart's when seventy general medical beds were made available to it at St Leonard's Hospital. After the establishment of the City and Hackney Health District in 1974 it became possible for all students to receive part of their training at several other hospitals within the District.
Following the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Medical Education in 1968, a close association with the London Hospital Medical College was developed, and a number of joint academic departments were established. At the same time, a link with Queen Mary College (later Queen Mary and Westfield) was begun, with the aim that eventually students would take their two-year pre-clinical course at Queen Mary College before going on to study at St Bartholomew's or the Royal London. In 1989 the pre-clinical teaching of the London Hospital Medical College merged with that of St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School as the Central and East London Confederation (CELC). It was re-sited at the Basic Medical Sciences Building at Queen Mary & Westfield College, Mile End, and the first intake of students entered the new pre-clinical school in 1990. Following the recommendations of the Tomlinson Report (1992) and the governmental response to it (Making London Better, 1993), the medical colleges of the Royal London Hospital and St Bartholomew's Hospital were united with Queen Mary & Westfield College in December 1995. The medical school is now known as Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and is part of Queen Mary, University of London.
Before the Reformation there appear to have been five chapels within St Bartholomew's Hospital, but only one survived the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. In the winter of 1546/7, when the Hospital was re-founded by royal charter, its precinct was established as the Anglican parish of St Bartholomew the Less and one of the medieval chapels became the parish church. The tower and part of the west wall of the church date from the fifteenth century and are the oldest structures which now survive within the Hospital precinct. The original parish boundary followed the line of the boundary of the Hospital in Henry VIII's day. However, since 1954, the parish boundary has extended to include land on which the Hospital has expanded to the south and east.
Bart's is now unique among English hospitals in being a parish in its own right. The parish has its own churchwardens and, since 1958, its own parochial church council, which functions independently of the Hospital authorities. The title of 'Anglican chaplain', found in practically every other hospital in England, does not exist at Bart's. The role is filled by the Vicar of St Bartholomew the Less, who is correctly known as the 'Vicar and Hospitaller'. In the sixteenth century, these were two separate offices: the Vicar of St Bartholomew the Less, who undertook pastoral care of the parishioners, and the Hospitaller to St Bartholomew's Hospital, who looked after the needs of the patients. However, in the time of William Orme, Vicar from 1670 to 1697, the two positions were combined and they have been held jointly by successive clergy down to the present day. In former times there were a number of tenanted houses in the Hospital precinct, but there are now no parishioners except resident Hospital staff, and the incumbent's main responsibility is for the spiritual welfare of the patients within the Hospital.
The medieval church remained largely intact until 1789-1791, when the roof and practically the whole of the interior were demolished and rebuilt to the design of George Dance junior, the Hospital Surveyor. Dance's structure, however, was rapidly attacked by dry rot, and the church was again rebuilt in 1823-1825. The architect of the second rebuilding was Thomas Hardwick and it is chiefly his work that is visible in the church today. Hardwick retained much of Dance's octagonal design for the interior of the church, but reconstructed it using more durable materials, and pulled down all that remained of the medieval building apart from the tower and the west end. Some of the monuments from the old building were preserved and reinstated, including memorials to Robert Balthrope, Queen Elizabeth I's sergeant surgeon (died 1591), and to Anne, wife of Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, whose London house stood within the Hospital precinct in the early seventeenth century. A curious feature of the church is the height of the floor, most of which is some seventy-five centimetres above ground level. The reason for this appears to be unknown. Two of the three bells in the tower are medieval, and are very probably as old as the tower itself. The stained glass windows depicting the Virgin and Child with St Luke, St Bartholomew and Rahere, and also the war memorial windows, were designed by Hugh Easton and dedicated in 1951. They replaced Victorian glass destroyed in the Second World War.
In earlier centuries, attendance at church was compulsory for the nursing staff of the Hospital. Patients were also expected to attend every Sunday, unless they were too weak to do so. Regular Sunday and weekday services are held throughout the year, and the church is frequently used by members of staff for weddings, for the baptisms of their children, and for memorial services. The Vicar and Hospitaller works in close co-operation with the chaplains of other denominations and advises and counsels staff and patients, their relatives and other visitors.
Alfred William Alcock was born in Bombay on June 23 1859, the son of Captain John Alcock. Alcock's school years at Westminster were cut short by his father's financial difficulties, he was sent to India at the age of 17, to relatives in the coffee trade. For five years he tried out a number of jobs including schooolmastering; during this time he became interested in science, helped by Michael Foster's physiology textbook. In 1881 a brother-in-law, an officer in the Indian Civil Service, offered to help him to a medical education, which he completed at Aberdeen in three and a half years graduating MB, CM in 1885. Adding a course in tropical medicine at Netley to his qualifications, Alcock then spent another 20 years in India, in the Indian Marine Survey, as Surgeon-Naturalist, with the Indian Museum in Calcutta, and keeping in touch with medicine at the Medical College Hospital.
On his return to London, Patrick Manson recruited him, in 1906, to head a new medical entomology department, to join Leiper's helminthology and Wenyon's protozoology at the School of Tropical Medicine at the Albert Dock. He was the author of the first comprehensive textbook of Entomology for Medical Officers in 1911; in 1921 he became the first Professor of Medical Zoology in the University of London. His influence on the development of the London School was much greater than that of a mere teacher of medical entomology. He became an active architect; he embellished the school museum; he collected and arranged a large collection of insects of medical importance. He was largely concerned with the foundation of the Tropical Diseases Library based to a great extent on the books which Manson had collected. He was a frequent contributor to the short-lived Journal of the London School of Tropical Medicine which flourished for a time under his guidance but which was discontinued in 1913. Alcock died in 1933.
Publications include Report on the natural history results of the Pamir boundary commission (Calcutta, 1898) and Entomology for medical officers (London, 1911).
William Budd was born on 14 September 1811 in North Tawton, Devon; studied medicine in London, Edinburgh and Paris, 1828-1837 and gained an MD at Edinburgh, 1838. He practised at North Tawton, Devonshire, 1839 and Bristol 1842-1873; made important researches into the conditions of zymotic diseases and published numerous medical papers. Budd died in Somerset in 1880.
Patrick Alfred Buxton, born London, 1892, educated at home until the age of ten and was influenced by his father's family tradition (an old Quaker custom) of spare time nature study, less so by his mother's family's insistence on classical languages - she was a Jex-Blake, sister of the Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, and of the Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
At Trinity College, Cambridge, Walter Fletcher encouraged Buxton's studies in the Natural Sciences Tripos. During the Great War he qualified in medicine at St George's, and then spent his time in the Royal Army Medical Corps collecting insects in Mesopotamia and Persia. During the 1920s he gradually equipped himself for his future role as an eminent medical entomologist, working in Cambridge, London and abroad. From 1923-1925 he led an expedition to Samoa, New Hebrides and the Western Pacific Islands.
In 1925 Buxton succeeded Col A Alcock as Director of the Department of Entomology in the new London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and became the Professor of Entomology in London University in 1933. With V B Wigglesworth he built up the study and teaching of insect physiology and medical entomology in the School. His studies of lice (The louse, 1939,1947) involved students, friends and family members as incubators and have become legendary. According to Wigglesworth his crowning achievement was The natural history of tsetse-flies, 1954.
Buxton did invaluable work on insecticides leading to the control of typhus in the war in Italy and elsewhere. Buxton wrote papers on many other zoological subjects and has several species of birds to his credit. He was elected a member of the Medical Research Council, President of the Royal Entomological Society and of the Linnean Society. In addition, he was a member of many other learned bodies. At the time of his death in 1955, he had had the longest service of any member of the active staff of the School.
Dr James T Duncan was born in Ireland in 1884; educated at schools in Dublin and Watford and attended Dublin Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. Post qualification, Duncan spent a year visiting Medical Colleges in the United States and Canada and was appointed lecturer in anatomy at the Edward VII Medical School, Malaya, 1914; later becoming Acting Principal of the Edward VII Medical School, 1916. He returned to England and took a course at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the Albert Dock Hospital, 1919, later being appointed as assistant to Dr Newham.
Duncan was attached to the Bacteriological Department at LSHTM from 1929, studying the Salmonella and Brucella groups, having already demonstrated skill in this field, in 1922, by separating Brucella abortus from man, the first published record of this. Duncan was moved to Winchester with the Emergency Medical services, 1939, and became Chairman of the Medical Research Council Committee on Mycology, initiating a movement for the establishment of a centre for Medical Mycology in London, which was later established at LSHTM. Duncan was appointed as Reader in Mycology to the University of London, 1945 and formed active centres of mycology in Leeds, Exeter, Glasgow and Birmingham Universities. Duncan retired in 1949.
Publications include An Annotated Bibliography of Medical Mycology, 1943(-1950) edited by Duncan and others (Kew, 1944-1951) and Review of Medical and Veterinary Mycology edited by Duncan and others (Kew, 1951-).
Percy Cyril Claude Garnham was born in London, 15 January 1901; graduated from St Bartholomew's Hospital, 1923; Diploma in Public Health, 1924; moved to Kenya to take up a position with the Colonial Medical Service, 1925. Here he spent a number of years investigating and controlling outbreaks of epidemics such as yellow fever and sleeping sickness. His interests whilst in Kenya ranged from the viral aetiologies of Rift Valley Fever and Nairobi Sheep Disease, studied in cooperation with the service's Veterinary Department, and through bird malaria to monkey and human malaria.
When the Division of Insect Borne Diseases was set up in Nairobi, Garnham became its Malaria Research Officer and then Director. He submitted a thesis on malaria in Kisumu for the degree of MD which he gained in 1928, with the award of Gold Medal from the University of London. In 1947, Garnham returned to London where he became a Reader at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Much of his interest was in malaria parasites, but he also made major contributions on leishmaniasis, piroplasmosis, toxoplasmosis, haemogregarines and many other parasites. In January 1948 Garnham and Professor Henry Shortt discovered the pre-erythroctic stages of true malaria parasites. He was appointed chair of Protozoology in 1952, and became Head of the Department of Parasitology.
Garnham retired as Emeritus of the University of London in 1968 and was invited to be Research Fellow for Imperial College at Silwood Park in Ascot. He collected over 1000 type and voucher specimens of nearly 200 species of malaria parasites from 170 vertebrates or vectors. The collection was catalogued with Dr Tony Duggan and deposited in National History Museum. At the age of 71 Garnham launched an expedition to Borneo to rediscover and redescribe 'P. pitheci,' a malaria parasite of the orang-utan. He came across a new host 'P. silvaticum' in 1972. Between 1926 and 1989 Garnham published solely or jointly more than 400 papers, including 'Malaria Parasites and other Haemosporidia' in 1966. He retired in 1979 and wrote a book on the life of Edgar Allen Poe which was nearing completion on his death on Christmas Day 1994. During his lifetime Garner received Fellowship of the Royal Society, Corresponding Membership of five Foreign Scientific Academies, Honorary Membership of 16 Societies, 14 Medals and Prizes, Doctorates Honories Causa of 2 French Faculties of Medicine, an appointment as Pontifical Academician of the Vatican and the CMG award. Twenty-one taxa parasites and vectors were named after him.
Publications include: Malaria parasites and other haemosporidia (Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, 1966); Progress in parasitology Athlone Press, London, 1971) and Catalogue of the Garnham collection of malaria parasites and other haemosporidia by P C C Garnham and A J Duggan (Cambridge University Press [for] the Wellcome Trust, Cambridge, c1986).
Major Greenwood was born in 1880 and was the third generation and only surviving son in a family of East End General Practitioners. He was expected to follow suit, but was rescued for medical research by the physiologist Sir Leonard Hill, father of Bradford Hill. Trained in the laboratories of Hill; instructed in biometry and statistics by Karl Pearson, Greenwood developed Karl Pearson's rigorous mathematical logic in a way which made medical statistics acceptable to a previously hostile and uncomprehending medical profession.
Greenwood became a medical statistician to the Lister Institute, 1910, where he published numerous studies which added to his fame, among others, with his friend Arthur Bacot, on the epidemiology of plague in India. He was then called during World War One to the medical research subsection of the Ministry of Munitions and became immersed in industrial problems. After the end of war, working for the Medical Research Council, he was appointed first senior medical statistician to the new (1919) Ministry of Health with Sir George Newman. Having already collaborated with WWC Topley on Medical Research Council sponsored studies in experimental epidemiology, their collaboration continued when, in 1927, both men were appointed to new chairs in the new London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Greenwood was appointed Professor of Epidemiology and Vital Statistics, a post which he held until his retirement in 1945. When Brig. Parkinson was recalled to service in 1943, Greenwood stood in and carried out the onerous duties of the Dean of the School until his successor could be appointed.
He was the Milroy Lecturer at the Royal College of Physicians in 1922, received the Buchanan Medal of the Royal Society in 1927 and was a Gold Medallist of the Royal Statistical Society. He died very suddenly in October 1949.
Up until 1830, the Irish mail service did not come under the control of the British Post Office and was overseen by its own Postmaster General. In 1831 it was re-united with Great Britain's postal service and ceased to have its own Postmaster General. Under this new arrangement an Irish secretary was appointed to supervise Ireland's postal services and reported directly to the Postmaster General in London.
An overseas mail service has been in operation since 1580, before the establishment of the public postal service. A staff of ten Royal Couriers carried letters on affairs of State, or on the business of 'particular merchants' to Dover. At Dover, the postmaster provided horses for returning couriers and vessels for those passing through to Calais.
In 1619 the office of Postmaster General for Foreign Parts was created.
The mail service with foreign countries was not large in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The foreign Post Office, as it was called, had a staff of only four men in 1660. At the time of the Napoleonic wars, the Foreign Office business was barely accounting for 10% of the total net income of the Post Office. Postal connections with other countries were irregular and difficulties were experience in the capturing of letters arriving in ships and in the collection of profits. From the 1690s the government attempted to resolve these problems and extend the service by means of convention with the postal administrations of other countries for the establishment of an overseas service. The Overseas Air Mail service came into operation in 1917, thus after this date the conventions are between The Post Office and overseas postal administration for the transportation of mail by air. These can be found in POST 50/1.
Until 1969 the General Post Office was a government department and its expenditure was controlled by the Treasury. The Receiver General was an independent appointment, designed to remove all responsibilities for cash from the hands of the Postmaster General.
Prior to 1879 the Post Office was responsible for the work of storing and distributing Postage Stamps etc. This work was apparently carried out from St Martin's le Grand and because of insufficient accommodation at that address, the Post Office in 1879 sought Treasury authority for the work to be transferred to the Inland Revenue Department. Treasury approval was given and after a trial period, the work was finally transferred about the middle of 1880. This situation continued until 1911, when a Departmental Committee was set up to consider questions relating to the supply of stamps and stamped stationery. The committee, after reviewing all relevant factors, recommended that the control of production and distribution of stamps, stamped stationery, insurance stamps, postal orders and licences should be re-transferred to the Post Office together with the staff currently employed. This course was agreed by the Treasury and in March 1914 the Inland Revenue staff employed on this work at Somerset House came under the control of the Post Office Stores Department. The Inland Revenue staff employed on Control duties at Contractors works and the staff employed in the India Stamp Branch were, however, not transferred until 1922.
From 1 April 1914 the work of demanding, storing and issuing adhesive stamps and stamped postal stationery was transferred from the Inland Revenue to the Post Office and the following contracts, made by the Board of Inland Revenue were taken over by the Postmaster General.
Messrs Harrisons and Sons - for the supply of unified (Postage and Revenue) stamps other than the 6d commencing on 1 January 1911 for a period of 10 years and thereafter from year to year terminable after 12 months calendar notice.
Messrs McCorquodale and Sons Ltd - for the supply of stamped postal stationery commencing on 1 January 1911 for a period of five or ten years and thereafter from year to year terminable after twelve calendar months' notice.
Messrs Waterlow Bros and Layton Ltd - for the supply of Insurance stamps other than a small quantity of Bi-colour stamps - commencing 1 May 1912 for a period of five years and thereafter from year to year terminable by twelve calendar months notice.
There was also an informal arrangement with Messrs Waterlow Bros and Layton for the supply of High Value Postage stamps, namely the 2s/6d, 5s/-, 10s/- and 20s/- values.
The informal arrangement with Messrs Waterlow Bros and Layton was terminated in 1915, tenders being invited from four firms. Four tenders were received and a contract was placed with Messrs De La Rue whose quotation was by far the lowest.
The following abbreviations are used in the files throughout this series.
HMSO Her Majesty's Stationery Office
PMGPostmaster General
OOD/CSD/SOperations and Overseas Department Counter Services Division (Stamps)
OOD/CSD/MOperations and Overseas Department Counter Services Division (Marketing)
SUP/DSupplies Division
SPD/HHSupplies Division Stamp Depot
SCD/EHSupplies Division Scottish Depot
LDP/PRSupplies Division London Postal Stores Depot
LDP/RSSupplies Division London Reproduction Section
HPOHead Post Office
BOBranch Office
DODistrict Office
SOSub Office
Not available at present.
The position of 'head of The Post Office' was first entitled 'Postmaster General' under the Commonwealth Act of 1657. Previously he had been known by various titles, Master of the Posts, Comptroller General of the Posts and Postmaster of England. The Post Office Act of 1660 provided that 'one Master of the General Letter Office shall be from time to time appointed by the King's Majesty, his heirs and successors, to be made or constituted by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England, by the name and style of his Majesty's Postmaster General'. The appointment was generally not made for a fixed length of term and Postmaster Generals were succeeded upon retirement or resignation. From 1691 two Postmasters General were appointed to hold office conjointly. At that time one was a member of the Whig party and the other a member of the Tory party. This joint appointment continued as a government policy until 1823, although the political ramifications lost much of their initial importance. Between the years of 1784 and 1831, the Post Offices of Great Britain and Ireland were separate and had separate Postmasters. The post of Receiver General was established in 1677, with the responsibility to receive and account for all payments received and expended by the Post Office. In 1855 these duties were combined with those of the Accountant General. The Office of Court Post, which was abolished [1798] was that of messenger responsible for conveying the sovereign's letters and those of his Principal Secretaries of State to the nearest stage of post town.
In 1934 as part of a general re-organisation of the Post Office, a Director General was appointed to replace the office of Secretary to the Post Office. At the same time a Post Office Board was created under the Chairmanship of the Postmaster General. Further re-organisation also took place in 1934 with the replacement of district surveyors by regional directors, who were given full powers of day-to-day control of local postal and telecommunications affairs in their regions.
The establishment of a functional board for the Post Office was first recommended in the Bridgeman report of 1932, and the Post Office Board was subsequently established with eleven members, including all the General Directorate and Directors. Recommendations made by the Board were put before the Postmaster General through the Secretary's Minutes to the Postmaster General. However the board had no executive power, and decisions rested ultimately with the Postmaster General. Although the Bridgeman Committee had envisaged the Board as a controlling body, in time it came to be more of a reviewing body and, due to its increasing size and the consequent difficulty of assembling members, its meetings became less frequent.
In November 1964 the board was reconstituted with the following members: Postmaster General, Assistant Postmaster General, Director General and the General Directorate, with Directors invited to attend as appropriate. The board considered and gave decisions on all major issues of policy and administration. In general, ministerial approval on important issues of policy was sought by submitting papers to the board and not by submitting minutes to the Postmaster General, except where a decision was urgently required before the board could be convened.
Before 1967 at Post Office Headquarters, 'common' engineering, finance, and personnel departments operated in parallel with Postal and Telecommunications service departments, all reporting through the general directorate to the Postmaster General. From 1967, Posts (which incorporated the existing remittance services and New Giro service) and Telecommunications were put under separate Managing Directors, each with nearly complete finance, personnel, and technological support provided by dividing up common departments.
A substantial 'central' personnel function remained and legal and some other services were left centralised. Telecommunications took on procurement and research for both businesses. The National Data Processing Service was established by Act of Parliament and began to function as an independent (central) service. Managerial links between Posts and Telecommunications began to disappear.
1969 was a year of change; with the passing of The Post Office Act in October 1969, the Post Office became a nationalised industry, established as a public Corporation.
For this reason there was two Post Office Boards in 1969; the 'old' Post Office Board (with Board papers carrying the 'POB' prefix) had its final meeting on 22 July 1969, after this, a newly constituted Board was formed and it had its first meeting on 25 July 1969 (Papers produced by the new Board were given the reference 'PO').
The Corporation was split into two businesses, Posts and Telecommunications. The office of Postmaster General was discontinued, and the Post Office was headed by a Chairman and Chief Executive/Deputy Chairman. This role was directly appointed by the Post Office Board. Members of the board also included the Managing Directors Posts and Giro, and Telecommunications, the head of the National Data Processing Service, members for industrial relations, technology and, from January 1970, a finance member.
Following the establishment of the Post Office Corporation, a second board was created, the Post Office Management Board. Both were responsible for overseeing operations, but the Post Office Board took responsibility for strategic issues, while the Post Office Management Board took over the day to day running of the Corporation. The Post Office Management Board was a non-statutory board which consisted mostly of full time board members and two officials. It was to meet monthly and receive reports from the businesses on their operations and review them in accordance with board policies, consider capital projects for which board approval was required, to examine the annual investment programme and other tasks as required.
In 1971, the Post Office Board established an Emergency Committee to handle the strike of that year.
During 1978-1979 the board operated under an experiment in industrial democracy with about half of its membership nominated by unions. This experiment was, however, considered to be unsuccessful.
In 1980, in preparation for the departure of British Telecom from the Post Office, two separate boards were established for the Telecommunications and Posts and Girobank businesses. These two new boards replaced the Post Office Management Board, and were additional to the main Post Office Board.
The main Post Office Board continued to oversee the transition period, although it met less frequently. The Chairman of the Post Office was the Chairman of both new boards (as was the Secretary) and the boards were intended to deal with matters wholly or mainly the concern of each business. They had the power to defer matters to the Post Office Board, and power to authorise action to proceed on decisions made by the board. It was stated that these boards were not intended to replace the Managing Director's Committees.
At this time, discussion was also begun regarding what procedures would be put in place to replace the 1978-1979 experiment in industrial democracy. It was suggested that a new joint body should be created for each of the businesses (Posts, and Telecommunications) titled the National Joint Policy Council, consisting of executive board members and the General Secretaries / Presidents of unions to meet and discuss a wider range of issues than the National Joint Council General Purposes Committee had done so previously. The idea was to air important policy, planning and performance issues on the National Joint Policy Councils before board decisions were taken to increase awareness of union views. In 1981 the National Joint Council General Purposes Committee was renamed the National Joint Council Posts and Giro Committee.
In 1980 the Chairman's Executive Committee was established by the Post Office Board. This Committee considered matters affecting the running of the Posts and Giro businesses relating to performance and progress against targets and personnel. This committee was renamed the Post Office Executive Committee (POEC) in September 1992.
In 1981 a Girobank and Counters Committee was established which comprised the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, board member for Finance, Personnel and Industrial relations member, Miss E Cole, Sir Clifford Cornford, Mr P E Moody, Senior Director National Girobank, the Director of Marketing and Customer Services National Girobank. In 1985 a Giro Board was created in anticipation of the establishment of Girobank as a public limited company (plc).
Also in 1981, the telecommunications business of the Post Office became a separate public corporation, trading as British Telecom. When the responsibility for telecommunications was transferred from the Post Office Corporation to British Telecom, copies of board papers relevant to the new corporation were passed to British Telecom. Following the 1981 split the Post Office was then re-organised into two distinct businesses: Posts and Parcels.
In 1981, the Post Office established an Audit Committee consisting of three part time members, the board member for finance and external auditors and internal auditors invited to attend as appropriate. It was to meet four times a year, with two meetings to consider the accounts, one to consider the external auditors letters to management, and one to meet internal auditors. The terms of reference for the committee stated that it was 'to review, as necessary, the financial policies and procedures of the Corporation and their implementation, including particularly the adequacy of the Corporation's internal control systems, and to report thereon to the Board through the Chairman of the Corporation.'
The Post Office was restructured during 1986 to create three businesses: Subscription Services Limited, Royal Mail, and Parcelforce, and the make up of the board members reflected this. In 1987 the network of Post Offices was established as Post Office Counters Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Post Office, and the Counters Management Committee was established in 1986 to replace previous monthly AD meetings. The principle of this committee was that it would deal with matters of a collective concern and of a longer term nature, for example, monthly monitoring reports and progress against the business plan. It was an effort to make more effective use of management time, and provide for more effective management of the counters business. It was renamed the Counters Executive Committee in July 1993, and reported to the Post Office Counters Board, and the main Post Office Board.
In 1988, business boards were established for the Letters, Parcels and Counters Businesses. A Major Projects Expenditure Committee (MaPEC) was also established during this year to deal with the financing of major one-off projects.
In 1990, Post Office Parcels changed its name to Parcelforce Worldwide and was launched as an independent division. National Girobank was also privatised in this year and sold to Alliance and Leicester Building Society.
The Postal Services Act 2000 created a company with more commercial freedoms and a more strategic relationship with government, and on 26 March 2001, it became a plc wholly owned by the UK government (its sole shareholder). A new regulatory framework was set up with an independent regulator (Postcomm) and a reformed consumer body (Postwatch). On 4 November 2002, a name change from Consignia to Royal Mail Group plc occurred.
The Royal Mail Group website states that the 'Royal Mail Holdings plc Board sets the strategic vision of the company. It is responsible for driving the four goals of the renewal plan: being a great place to work; improving customer service; returning to profitability; and delivering positive cash flow.' The Management Board 'comprises all the Executive Directors of Royal Mail Holdings plc and certain other Senior Executives of the Group. The Management Board develops and monitors deployment of the Group's strategy, annual operating plans and budgets for Board approval. It reviews operational activities, and sets policies where these are not reserved to the Board.'
There are three formal committees of the board including the following; Nomination Committee, Remuneration Committee, Audit and Risk Committee. Terms of reference for these committees can be found on the Royal Mail Group website. (http://www.royalmailgroup.com/portal/rmg/jump1?catId=23200529&mediaId=23200554 - last accessed November 2006).
A system of outside consultation of Post Office administration was initiated by Herbert Samuel, the Postmaster General, as early as 1913 in the form of local telegraph and telephone committees. These were set up by chambers of commerce, trade or, in their absence, by local authorities. In 1921 Frederick G Kellaway, the Postmaster General, under pressure from the Federation of British Industries, set up a national body known as the Post Office Advisory Committee. This was the direct ancestor of bodies still operating today. These committees had only a limited effect, mainly on particular details of the running of the service, and they did not have much impact. By the early 1930s, the national council was meeting very infrequently. In the years immediately following World War Two the local committees were revamped to cover all aspects of Post Office work.
In August 1969 it was decided to establish a Users Council. This was titled the Post Office Users National Council (POUNC). Its aim was to represent at national level the interests of the users of Post Office services, to ensure the existence of adequate consultative arrangements at local level, to receive proposals from the Postmaster General, and to make recommendations to him about the services.
These powers were established under the 1969 Post Office Act. POUNC was an independent statutory body, funded by the Department of Trade and Industry. It was modelled on the consultative or consumers councils of the major nationalised industries. It covered the whole of the British Isles, and three country councils covering Scotland, Wales and Monmouthshire and Northern Ireland. These councils were independent from The Post Office. An independent chairman, (although appointed by the Postmaster General), sat with thirty two members who were unpaid, except for reasonable out of pocket expenses. All members were appointed on 1 January 1970 and would serve, initially for three years. These members formed a cross section of Post Office users, and, as they served in a personal not a delegate capacity, were free to express their own views, and to represent the views of the ordinary Post Office user. Some of its work was delegated to individual committees, one for postal matters, one for telecommunications, other committees were formed as the need arose. From its establishment the Post Office provided a secretary and premises. The work of the council would arise from matters put to it by the Post Office, the public, and local advisory committees. This gave the local advisory committees a direct link to Post Office headquarters, something not previously available to them. POUNC maintained close liaison with Advisory Committees, receiving regular reports of their meetings, and circulating a periodic POUNC newsletter.
Between 180 and 200 Post Office Advisory Committees existed in 2000 throughout the United Kingdom. New committees were often formed and existing committees merged, when for example, a Head Postmaster's area of responsibility was enlarged. Membership was drawn from local authorities, commercial organisations, local voluntary bodies, and individuals. The committees were non-statutory. Post Office managers attended meetings to explain Post Office policy and answer questions about local issues. The aim was to increase the confidence of the business community in the Post Office. Advisory Councils acted as liaison points between the Post Office and the local community on matters of mutual concern. Prior to the enactment of the Post Office Act of 1969 Advisory Committees were sponsored and, in some cases, financially supported by bodies such as the Post Office itself, Chambers of Commerce, Chambers of Trade and Local Authorities.
On 1 January 2001, the Secretary of State transferred all the property, rights and liabilities of the Post Office Users' National Council to Postwatch. The following was based on information taken from the Royal Mail Group website (http://www.royalmailgroup.com) in November 2006:
Postwatch (initially called the Consumer Council for Postal Services) was established to promote the interests of users of postal services within the framework of the Postal Services Act 2000. It replaced the Post Office Users' National Council (POUNC) and had a more extensive regional structure.
Postwatch was responsible for monitoring postal service standards and acts as a focus for consumer issues and complaints. It was consulted on key decisions including variations in the services for which postal licences were required, the granting and modification of licences, and the enforcement of licence conditions. Together with the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm), Postwatch also monitored and advised on the network of Post Office branches.
Postwatch stated that its role was to protect, promote and develop the interests of all customers of postal services in the UK. It campaigned for a better overall postal service for customers, advising Government, the Regulator and Royal Mail Group on consumer views, demands and needs.
Postwatch had a network of nine regional committees around England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The chairman of each committee sat on the National Council. The regional committees included; Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England, Wales, Midlands, East of England, Greater London, South East England, and the South and West. Postwatch also established the Counters Advisory Group 'to identify, consider and act on consumer concerns about issues affecting the post office network and to inform Postwatch's national policy development and campaigning work.' Postwatch also conducted research into consumer views.
According to information taken from Postwatch's website (http://www.postwatch.co.uk/) in September 2009, the body was merged with energywatch and the National Consumer Council (including the Welsh and Scottish Consumer Councils) on 1 October 2008 to create Consumer Focus, an organisation established to support the rights of consumers in England, Scotland, Wales and, for post, Northern Ireland.
The Savings Bank was established by the Post Office Savings Bank Act 1861. This act empowered the Postmaster General to receive money on deposit, to make repayments, and to pay interest at the rate of two and a half per cent per annum on the balance outstanding to the credit of depositors. The Bank opened for business on 16 September 1861 using the already existing system of 301 Post Office Money Order offices and with 1,700 Post Offices acting as its local agents for deposit and withdrawal transactions. This quickly grew to 2,300 Post Offices. As the first institution of its kind in the world its success was immediate. The minimum deposit needed to open an account was fixed at one shilling.In 1861 the Savings Bank had twenty four thousand account holders and a staff of 200. By 1871 there were 1,300,000 accounts and the total sum on deposit was 15 million. The original system of manual book keeping lasted until 1926. Services were extended to include: government stocks and bonds in 1880; insurance and annuities in 1888; war savings certificates in 1916; (Renamed National Savings Certificates in 1920); premium savings bonds in 1956; investment accounts in 1966 and a Save as You Earn contractual scheme in 1969. A new logo for the Post Office Savings Bank, designed by Robert Gibbings and featuring a key, was introduced in 1936. In the mid 1960s as part of a general government policy to disperse staff from London, the Savings Certificate Division relocated to Durham, firstly into temporary accommodation then into a new purpose built office block. The move was completed by 1969. Other parts of the Savings Bank dealing with Ordinary and Investment accounts moved out of London to Glasgow. The Department was renamed 'Department for National Savings' in 1967. In 1969 the Department had a staff of over 14,000. By 1988, thanks largely to mechanisation and computerisation, this had been reduced to nearly half this size.When The Post Office ceased to be part of the Civil Service in 1969 and became a Public Corporation, the Savings Bank remained with the Civil Service and started a new life as a Public Corporation. The Post Office continued handling savings transactions over the counter on an agency basis.
The origins of the Post Office factories go back to 1870 when the Post Office telegraph system was established. One of the properties acquired was a factory previously run by the Electrical and International Telegraph Company. In 1892 a factory at Bolton was taken over, part of which was transferred to London. Later, the National Telephone Company's factory at Nottingham was acquired, the work and staff being subsequently transferred to Birmingham. The Factories department was a separate division of the Stores Department. The work of the factories was reviewed by a committee in 1910-1911. The committee's report (See POST 77/4) recommended that the factories should be placed under the control of the Stores Department, and factories were absorbed into the department in 1912. The factories were again removed from the control of the Stores Department in 1941 and a separate department was established under H A Thomas who acted as Controller of the department. The main functions of the Factories Department altered during the period covered by the material listed below. Broadly speaking its work covered the repair, reconditioning, assembly and manufacture of all Post Office equipment and machinery.
The Contracts Department was established on 1 April 1941 to take over all the contracting functions previously performed by the Personnel, Engineering and Stores Department. The Department became responsible for making specialised studies of contractual arrangements for the execution of works, the purchase and sale of supplies and for placing the relative contracts. It did not, however, deal with contracts for the transportation of mails, small buildings and local installation works. The department also liaised in respect of all matters pertaining to contracts with other departments of the Post Office and government purchasing departments. These departments existed until the early 1970s, when contracting work was no longer centralised and was instead managed partly by Purchasing and Logistics and partly by individual departments.
The Post Office annual accounts, like those of other government departments, were liable to examination by the Public Accounts Audit Commissioners. One of the main duties of the accountant General was to superintend the making out and examining of the general accounts of Post Office revenue and to certify their validity before the Exchequer.
The first Agency Service to be provided by the Post Office on behalf of the government was the Post Office Insurance and Annuity Scheme introduced at selected post offices in 1865. The payment of Old Age Pensions at post offices was introduced in 1909 and in 1912 Health Insurance and Unemployment Insurance Stamps began to be sold. In 1915, through the medium of the Post Office Savings Bank, the Post Office helped to float the 'War Loan,' and in the same year it began to issue War Savings Certificates through its Money Order Department.
The first of the early telegraph companies was the Electric Telegraph Company, founded in 1846 by Sir William Fothergill Cooke (one of the inventors of the telegraph) and a number of City financiers. Prior to the Post Office takeover in 1870, some of the companies had already amalgamated or been taken over by competitors. For example: the Electric Telegraph Company and the International Telegraph Company merged in 1855, and the London Telegraph Company formally changed its title to London and Provincial Telegraph Company in December 1857.
Accounts created during the transaction of Post Office business.
POST 9 consists of the following series: statements and accounts of gross and net produce of the General Post Office revenue; Receiver or Accountant General's cash account journals; accounts of daily, monthly, quarterly or annual receipts and payments, inland foreign and colonial services; District Surveyors' incident expense accounts, England and Wales; District Surveyors' monthly accounts of provincial riding work payments to contractors, England and Wales; Account of provincial postmasters' allowances and payments, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland; detailed returns of provincial post offices in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland; ledgers and lists of old debts of postmasters and other officers; salary schedules and authorities, GPO London, Twopenny Post Office and London District Post Office accounts; accounts of individual post offices, inland and overseas; miscellaneous accounts.
Born, 8 January 1803; educated at the high school, Edinburgh, and studied medicine at Edinburgh, Dublin, and Paris; surgeon with the East India Company, 1823; visited India and China five times, availing himself of every possibility to pursue his interest in natural history; returned to Britain, 1829; helped to establish the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club; private medical practice; appointment in the zoological department of the British Museum, 1841; FRS, 1867; died, 1872.
Publications: Cyclopaedia of the Natural Sciences (1858)
Born, 2 March 1811 ; educated at home until 1827; Thomas Arnold's school at Laleham, 1827; Oriel College, Oxford, 1828-1832; after he left Oxford, natural history became his main pursuit. He began to publish articles in the general areas that would continue to preoccupy him throughout his career: geological description, ornithology, and problems of classification and nomenclature. Accompanied William John Hamilton on a tour through southern Europe to Asia Minor, 1835-1836; summer journey through Scotland and Orkney, 1837; deputy reader in geology, Oxford University, 1850; elected a fellow of the Royal Society, 1852; died, 1853.
Publications: The Dodo and its Kindred (1848)
June M Hopkins raised several orphaned duikers and other animals for the Zoo of the University of Ibadan.
Born 1826; educated at Cotterstock, Northamptonshire, 1835–1837); Laleham, 1837–1839, Winchester College, 1839–1844, Christ Church, Oxford, 1844-1848; studied medicine, St George's Hospital, London, 1848-1851, house surgeon, 1852-1853; assistant surgeon in the 2nd Life Guards, 1854-1863; journalist for the Field newspaper, 1856-1865; started a weekly journal Land and Water, 1865; inspector of salmon fisheries, 1867; scientific referee to the South Kensington Museum, 1865-1880; died, 1880.
Publications: Curiosities of Natural History
Born in 1800 or 1801; educated at Macclesfield grammar school until 1814; Richmond, Surrey, 1814-1816; nominated for the Bengal civil service, 1816; East India Company training college, 1817; arrived in Calcutta early in 1818; studied Sanskrit and Persian at Fort William College; assistant commissioner of Kumaon, 1819; assistant residentship at the Nepalese capital, Katmandu, 1820; acting deputy secretary in the Persian department of the Foreign Office, 1822; Katmandu, residency postmaster, 1824; assistant resident, 1825; studied Nepalese institutions and commerce and became proficient in Nepali and Newari, 1820-1821; retained at his own expense a group of local research assistants, training himself and some of his staff as naturalists, specializing particularly in ornithology; he described 39 new mammalian and 150 bird species and published 127 zoological papers; collector of Buddhist scriptures in Sanskrit and Tibetan and was the first to reveal to the West the Sanskrit literature of northern, or Mahayana, Buddhism; acting resident, 1829-1831; resident, 21 January 1833, resigned from the civil service and returned to England, 1844; returned to India in 1845; continued work on zoology and the physical geology of the Himalayas, but concentrated in particular on the ethnology of the peoples of northern India, relying extensively on linguistic comparisons; the botanist Joseph Hooker stayed with him from 1848 to 1850; left India in 1858 and retired to Gloucestershire; died 1894. Member of the Royal Asiatic Society (1828), elected a fellow of the Linnean Society (1835) and of the Royal Society (1877), made a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (1838), and awarded the honorary degree of DCL at Oxford University (1889).
The period between 1903 and 1914 was one of resurgence in the women's suffrage movement. At this time, the methods by all those involved began to change: although the suffragists' efforts were mainly aimed at forming parliamentary opinion, they also began to engage in public demonstrations and other propaganda activities. The Artists' Suffrage League (ASL) was established in Jan 1907 in order to assist with the preparations for the 'Mud March' that was organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) in Feb of that year. However, it continued with the creation of suffrage propaganda for the NUWSS after this date. Other than the central committee of chairperson, vice-chair and treasurer, the organisation had no traditional formal structure or statement of aims. The body was responsible for the creation of a large number of posters, Christmas cards, postcards and banners designed by artists who included the chairperson Mary Lowndes, Emily Ford, Barbara Forbes, May H Barker, Clara Billing, Dora Meeson Coates, Violet Garrard, Bertha Newcombe, C Hedley Charlton and Emily J Harding. The ASL was responsible for the decoration of the Queens Hall for the celebrations in 1918 that had been organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies.
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Unknown.
The Women's Freedom League (WFL) (1907-1961) was formed in Nov 1907 by dissenting members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). The cause was the WSPU's lack of constitutional democracy, an issue that came to a head on the 10 Sep 1907. Mrs Pankhurst announced the cancellation of the annual conference due on the 12 Oct 1907 and the future governance of the party by a central committee appointed by herself, effectively overturning its original constitution. Several members, including Charlotte Despard, Edith How Martyn, Teresa Billington-Greig, Octavia Lewin, Anna Munro, Alice Schofield and Caroline Hodgeson, broke away and continued with the conference. Here, the new constitution was written which encoded a system of party democracy. Its first committee consisted of Despard as president and honorary treasurer, Billington-Greig as honorary organising secretary, honorary secretary Mrs How Martyn, and Mrs Coates Hanson, Miss Hodgeson, Irene Miller, Miss Fitzherbert, Mrs Drysdale, Miss Abadam, Mrs Winton-Evans, Mrs Dick, Mrs Cobden Sanderson, Mrs Bell, Mrs Holmes and Miss Mansell as members. The following month, they renamed themselves the WFL, having used the title of the WSPU until that time: this had prompted Mrs Pankhurst to add 'National' to the name of her own organisation for this brief spell. They classed themselves as a militant organisation, but refused to attack persons or property other than ballot papers, unlike the WSPU. Their actions included protests in and around the House of Commons and other acts of passive civil disobedience. Their activities in 1908 included attempts to present petitions to the King and have deputations received by cabinet ministers while further protests were held in the House of Commons such as Muriel Matters, Violet Tillard and Helen Fox chaining themselves to the grille in the Ladies gallery. That same year, they were the only militant group to be invited by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies to take part in the Hyde Park procession on 13 Jun 1908. Despard was the first woman to refuse to pay taxes as a protest, an action which quickly inspired others to form the Women's Tax Resistance League. These activities were expanded upon in Apr 1911 when women householders either spoilt or failed to complete their census forms. This escalation of action did not prevent them joining a Conciliation Bill committee with other suffrage groups in 1910 in response to Prime Minister Asquith's offer on a free vote on extensions to the franchise. A truce was called with the Government until the failure of such a bill for the third time, but by 1912 the organisation had already announced that it would support Labour Party candidates against any of the Government's Liberal candidates at elections. This practice of working with other groups was one which the WFL supported, having ongoing links with the International Women's Franchise Club, the International Women Suffrage Alliance and the Suffrage Atelier. During the early part of the First World War, like most of the other suffrage organisations, the League suspended its practical militant political action and began voluntary work, though not the 'war work' of the type advocated by other suffrage groups. The group formed a number of women's police services and a Woman Suffrage National Aid Corps that provided some help to women in financial difficulties and limited day care for children. Furthermore, in 1915, the WFL founded a National Service Organisation to place women in jobs. However, the following year, political activity began again when they joined the WSPU in a picket of the Electoral Reform Conference. When women were granted suffrage after the war, they continued their activities with a change of emphasis. The organisation now called for equality of suffrage between the sexes, women as commissioners of prisons, the opening of all professions to women, equal pay, right of a woman to retain her own nationality on marriage, equal moral standards and representation of female peers in the House of Lords and they continued with this programme of social equality until the dissolution of the group in 1961.
The club named the Women's Institute (1897-1928) predated the more famous National Federation of Women's Institutes by almost two decades and was of a very different character. It was founded in 1897 at 15 Grosvenor Crescent by Mrs Nora Wynford Philipps and was intended to be a centre for women involved in the professions, education, social and philanthropic work. It was also intended to make other societies' work better known through its information bureau and co-operated with the Central Bureau for the Employment of Women regularly. It initially held weekly debates and 'at homes' run by the Executive Committee and organised a musical society, an art society, a recreational department, a circulating library, and a voluntary workers' society for philanthropic work. It also organised a secretarial department that undertook the training of typists and book keepers as well as an employment service for its members. At the same time it acted as a centre for the organisation of social and educational activities and a centre for research and dissemination of information on various subjects. It was responsible for the publication of several works such as Mrs Sidgwick's 'The Place of University Education in the Life of Women', pamphlet versions of lectures and the 'Dictionary of Employments Open to Women'. By the turn of the century it had over 800 members and maintained links with over 45 other groups, making it necessary to move to its second location at 92 Victoria Street from where a large range of other feminist organisations operated. In 1916 it was responsible for the opening of the Women's Club for the wives and mothers of servicemen and during the First World War gave rooms to the British Women's Patriotic League, the London School of Needlework, the Women's Local Government Society and the Head Mistresses Association amongst others. After the war, it was the location of meetings of the Dexter Club, the Censorship Club and the association for former members of the Scottish Women's Hospitals. While is appears to have still been active in 1925, activities ceased some time around 1928.
The Women's Employment Publishing Company Ltd was established by the Central Employment Bureau for Women around 1913/14 in order to deal with its publications. The Central Bureau had been issuing the twice-monthly journal 'Women's Employment' since 1899 and other occasional publications in connection with their work and it was this that the Women's Employment Publishing Company continued from the parent organisation's offices in Russell Square. In addition to the main periodical, the press was also responsible for the publication of numerous editions of 'Careers [later, 'and Vocational Training']: A Guide to the Professions and Occupations of Educated Women and Girls', 'The Finger Post', 'Hints on how to find work' and 'Open Doors for Women Workers'. The directors just before the outbreak of the Second World War were H John Faulk (Chairman), Miss E R Unmack (Managing Director) and Miss A E Hignell (secretary). Despite problems cause by this disruption and a decline in the number of readers in this period, the company survived and continued publishing 'Women's Employment' until 1974.
The British Women's Emigration Association (BWEA)(1901-1919) was founded in 1901. The effort to encourage educated middle class women to emigrate in an effort to relieve the pressures of population growth and the perceived problem of the number of 'superfluous' unmarried women, led to the foundation of several organisations to assist the latter group. In 1884, several former members of the Women's Emigration Society came together to form the United Englishwoman's Emigration Register, which would go on to become the United Englishwoman's Emigration Association in Feb 1884. Its aims were to emigrate women of good character, to ensure their safety during and after their travel and to keep in touch with them for some time after their arrival. In Nov 1885, Ellen Joyce and Mrs Adelaide Ross replaced Miss Louisa Hubbard at the head of the organisation. By 1888, the group began to work in co-operation with the Scotch Girl's Friendly Association and the Scottish YWCA, prompting a change of name. The following year the new United British Women's Emigration Association changed the original constitution, centralising what had been a loose grouping of independent workers and outlining their responsibilities, roles and relationships. Their expansion continued, from the establishment of Irish and Scottish branches in 1889 to one in Staffordshire and one for Wiltshire and Somerset that same year, while another was established in Bath in 1891. Homes for emigrants waiting to depart were created in Liverpool in 1887 and in London in 1893. The majority of emigrants which passed through them in the 1890s were destined for Canada, New Zealand or Australia, but towards the end of the century, the flow of emigrants to South Africa increased to such a degree that it became necessary to set up a South African Expansion Scheme Committee. This would go on to become the independent South African Colonisation Society. In 1901, the parent organisation dropped the 'united' element of its name and continued to expand in their own fields, opening a hostel at Kelowna in British Colombia in 1913. After the outbreak of the First World War the number of emigrants declined. In 1917, a Joint Council of Women's Emigration Societies was established to deal with the situation after the war and liaise with central government. This co-operation between the British Women's Emigration Association, the Colonial Intelligence League and the South African Colonisation Society finally resulted in their amalgamation into the Society for the Overseas Settlement of British Women in Dec 1919.
At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, the economic position of actresses was precarious due both to the nature of their work and the inequality of rates of pay between themselves and their male colleagues. Influenced by the argument that working women needed the vote to improve their economic and working conditions, the Actresses' Franchise League was founded in 1908 by Gertrude Elliot, Winifred Mayo, Sime Seruya and Adeline Bourne. The first meeting was held in December of that year in the Criterion Restaurant in London and was attended by nearly four hundred actresses. Membership was open to those of the profession who wished to support efforts to achieve suffrage for women and the main office was established in the Adelphi Theatre. At the first meeting, it was decided that the group should not affiliate to either the constitutional National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies or the militant Women's Social and Political Union as many individual members were already part of one or the other. However, by 1909, leaders in the Women's Social and Political Union and the Women's Freedom League were regularly being asked to address their meetings. A number of members who held non-militant views, including the Vice president, Irene Vanburgh, consequently resigned from the group in 1910. However, few actresses involved with the organisation took part in militant action as this could have disastrous consequences on their careers, as another member, Kitty Marion, discovered.
By 1911, provincial branches had been created in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Eastbourne and Liverpool and members included Cicley Hamilton, Ellen Terry, Edith Craig, Lena Ashwell, Sybil Thorndyke, May Whittey, Eva Moore, Lillah McCarthey and Elizabeth Robins. It held some meetings and distributed literature but its initial principle role was to support the work of other organisations' campaigns. It regularly put local suffrage organisations in touch with its touring members so that the latter could offer their services in that area by staging suffrage events, speaking at lectures, reciting and writing plays. In 1912 the League became part of the Federated Council of Suffrage Societies and in 1913 a men's group was added. It was around this time that the group undertook a new activity: the creation of the independent Women's Theatre Company, an extension of propaganda and pageant work hitherto carried out for others. Over time, the close links with the WSPU faded and those with the NUWSS and the Men's League for Women's Suffrage grew stronger. Membership rose from 360 in 1910 to 900 in 1914. However, less that two weeks after the start of the First World War, normal activities were suspended and members joined with the Women's Freedom League and the Tax Resisters';s League to form the Women's Emergency Corps. This began to lay the foundations of a register for women who were willing to take part in war work. In addition, from 1915 the Actresses Franchise League helped organise the British Women's Hospital. However, when this work was treated with indifference by the government, their efforts were transferred to creating a Theatre Camps Entertainments group which toured military bases throughout the country. Though it took little active role in the post-war campaigns for an equal franchise for women, the organisation continued in existence until 1934.
The Women's Suffrage Petition Committee (1865-1866) was founded to support the work of John Stuart Mill. In 1865 John Stuart Mill who had avowed his belief in Women's Suffrage in his election address, was elected to Parliament. Some of the leading figures in the Women's Suffrage movement asked him whether he would present a Petition to Parliament on behalf of the movement. He agreed to do so if a reasonable number of signatures could be obtained. In Nov-Dec 1865 Madame Bodichon and Emily Davies enlisted the help of Miss Jessie Boucherett, Rosamund Hill and Elizabeth Garrett to form a small informal committee to promote the Petition. They met at the house of Elizabeth Garrett and became known as the 'Kensington Committee'. Madame Bodichon, Jessie Boucherett and Emily Davies drafted the Petition and during the first months of 1866 they obtained the support of many leading women who between them secured eventually 1,499 signatures to the Petition from all parts of the British Isles. The signatories included many prominent women who made subsequently a significant contribution to the Suffrage movement.
On 7 Jun 1866 Mill presented the Petition to Parliament which was at that time considering the Reform Bill. As Madame Bodichon was ill, Miss Emily Davies accompanied by Miss Garrett took the Petition to the House of Commons. At the Oct Congress of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Sciences held at Manchester, Madame Bodichon read a paper 'On the Extension of the Suffrage to Women'. (Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Sciences, Manchester Congress 1866, 1867, p.794).
The Women's Suffrage Provisional Committee [London Branch] (1866-1867) was formed in 1866. Soon after the Congress at Manchester, The Women's Suffrage Petition Committee decided to transform the informal Petition Committee into a more formal organisation, and the Women's Suffrage Provisional Committee was formed. The members of this London Committee were - Dean Alford (Canterbury), Miss Jessie Boucherett, Professor John Elliot Cairnes, the Rev. WL Clay, Miss Emily Davies, Lady Goldsmid, George Hastings, James Haywood, Mrs Hunt (Isa Craig), Miss Munning and Mrs Hensleigh Wedgwood. Mrs Peter Taylor was the Honorary Treasurer and at first Emily Davies acted as Honorary Secretary. Mrs JW Smith (a Garrett sister) soon acted as Secretary but she died in 1867 and Caroline Biggs, who was to edit the 'Englishwoman's Review' for nearly twenty years succeeded her. The Committee met at Mrs PA Taylor's home, Aubrey House, from which the petitions in 1867 were organised. ('Englishwoman's Review', 14 Sep 1889, p. 386 (Helen Blackburn's obituary for Miss Caroline Biggs). On 5 Jul 1867 the Women's Suffrage Provisional Committee in London dissolved itself and reformed as the 'National Society for obtaining Political Rights for Women' (1867), but was re-named within a short time as the 'London National Society for Women's Suffrage'.
The National Society for Obtaining Political Rights for Women (1867) was formed on 5 Jul 1867 when the Women's Suffrage Provisional Committee in London dissolved itself and reformed with this name. It was re-named again within a short time as the 'London National Society for Women's Suffrage'.
The London [National] Society for Women's Suffrage (1867-1871) was founded in 1867. On 5 Jul 1867 the Women's Suffrage Provisional Committee in London dissolved itself and reformed as the 'National Society for obtaining Political Rights for Women' (1867), but was re-named within a short time as the 'London National Society for Women's Suffrage'. There is a tradition that Mill was responsible for the change of name. (The Executive Committee comprised:- Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Mrs Fawcett, Miss Hampson, Miss Lloyd, Mrs Lucas, Mrs Stansfeld and Mrs PA Taylor who acted as Treasurer. Mrs Smith the Honorary Secretary died soon after the Committee was formed and Caroline Biggs took over, Mrs Taylor having acted until Miss Biggs' appointment.) In 1871 there was an organisational split into two separate bodies: 1) The London National Society for Women's Suffrage (1871-1877); 2) The Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1871-1877). The former appears to have been subsumed into the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage in 1877.
The Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1871-1877) (CNSWS) was formed after Jacob Bright at the Nov 1871 annual general meeting of the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage called for the creation of a central committee in London to co-ordinate the suffrage lobbying of MPs. Sure of solid support in the provinces, the Women's Suffrage Provisional Committee called a General Meeting at the Langham Hotel on 17 Jan 1872 at which Jacob Bright presided. (Notice of the meeting on 17 Jan 1872 and its purpose appeared in the 'Women's Suffrage Journal', 1 Jan 1872, p.13. A full report of the meeting in the journal's issue 1 Feb 1872, pp.21-3. Another good report, substantially the same, appeared in 'Englishwoman's Review', Apr 1872, pp. 113 'et seq'. Both journals gave a list of the Committees who had placed themselves in connection with the Central Committee.) This meeting passed the following Resolutions:- '1. That this meeting approves the general course pursued by the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage. 2. That an Executive Committee be constituted with all necessary powers for promoting the movement subject to the control of the Central Committee.' The Executive Committee was to consist of the following persons elected:- Professor Sheldon Amos, Mrs Amos, Mr R Arthur Arnold, Mrs Arthur Arnold, Mr Ashurst, Mr Edwin Arnold, Miss Caroline Biggs, Mrs Jabob Bright, Mr Percy Bunting, Mrs Chesson, Miss Courtenay, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Miss Agnes Garrett, Miss Rhoda Garrett, Miss Katherine Hill, Mr Frederic Hill, Mr Henry Hoare, Mrs Duncan M'Laren, Mr W Malleson, Mrs W. Malleson, Mrs Frederick Pennington, Mr Edwin Pears, Mrs Pochin, Mrs Peter Rylands, Dr Humphrey Sandwith, Mrs James Stansfeld, Mrs Venturi, Miss Williams and the following ex-officio members:- 1) All members of Parliament who are members of the Central Committee. 2) Such delegates as the Committees in connection with the Central may appoint (both reports contain names of 13 already appointed by Committees). 3) All members of Executive Committees in connection with the Central Committee. About half of those elected were already playing a leading role in the Repeal Movement. The structure of the Executive Committee fulfilled the need for such a standing Central Committee representing all Suffrage Societies as Jacob Bright had advocated at the meeting in Manchester on the previous 8 Nov. It was the dismantling of this closely knit structure with was one of the main reasons for the Schism in 1888. The Central Committee took offices at 9 Berners Street, the premises of the Berners Club for Women, and in summer 1874 it moved to 294 Regent Street (Langham Place). During the first half of 1872 the Executive Committee pursued an intensive campaign of public meetings and lectures, issued several pamphlets and endeavoured to increase their support among M.P.s and the press. ('The Women's Suffrage Journal' and the 'Englishwoman's Review' gave very good coverage of the activities of the Central Committee, including details of provincial committees and their officers as these were either reorganised or newly established in affiliation with the Central Committee.) Meanwhile the three temporary Honorary Secretaries had the services of a paid Secretary, Miss Emma A. Smith who was later retained on a permanent basis. The first Annual Meeting was held on 17 Jul 1872. (For accounts of the meeting, see 'Women's Suffrage Journal' 1 Aug 1872, pp.108-110 and 'Englishwoman's Review' Oct 1872, pp. 271 'et seq'. As the Editors of these journals, Miss Becker and Miss Biggs, were in the inner councils of the Committee, both journals gave extensive coverage of meetings, Petitions and provincial committees throughout the United Kingdom as these were established. The 'Women's Suffrage Journal' is particularly important for details of Committee membership and officers, in all issues.) To this meeting the Executive Committee presented its 'First Report', which contained a brief account of the events leading to the formation of the Central Committee. As the three Honorary Secretaries had intimated at the Executive meeting held on 12 Jun that they did not wish to continue beyond the Annual Meeting, Miss Caroline Biggs and Miss Agnes Garrett were appointed Honorary Secretaries for the time being. Miss Smith was appointed then on a permanent basis and Mr Henry Hoare was re-elected as Honorary Treasurer. Mrs Fawcett had remained with the London National but she later became exasperated with dissensions in the Society and joined the Central Committee. In 1877 the two London Societies (Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage; 1871-1877 and the London National Society for Women's Suffrage) merged to become the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1877-1888) and Lydia Becker became the parliamentary agent.
The London National Society For Women's Suffrage (LNSWS) (1871-1877) continued after the split in the London Society for Women's Suffrage (1867-1871) at the end of 1871, as a smaller Society. It mainly represented London as the larger and influential provincial societies had affiliated to the Central Committee. John Mill remained as its President, but he died on 8 Apr 1873. (Coverage of the London Society was small in the two Suffrage journals although all important meetings were well reported.) Outside London the Society arranged a few public meetings in those areas which had remained connected with it and the membership followed the established pattern of raising Petitions in their areas and supported the current leader of the Bill in the Commons. The London National Society For Women's Suffrage (1871-1877) appears to have been subsumed into the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage in 1877.
The Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1871-1877) (CNSWS) was formed after Jacob Bright at the Nov 1871 annual general meeting of the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage called for the creation of a central committee in London to co-ordinate the suffrage lobbying of MPs. Sure of solid support in the provinces, the Women's Suffrage Provisional Committee called a General Meeting at the Langham Hotel on 17 Jan 1872 at which Jacob Bright presided. (Notice of the meeting on 17 Jan 1872 and its purpose appeared in the 'Women's Suffrage Journal', 1 Jan 1872, p.13. A full report of the meeting in the journal's issue 1 Feb 1872, pp.21-3. Another good report, substantially the same, appeared in 'Englishwoman's Review', Apr 1872, pp. 113 'et seq'. Both journals gave a list of the Committees who had placed themselves in connection with the Central Committee.) This meeting passed the following Resolutions:- '1. That this meeting approves the general course pursued by the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage. 2. That an Executive Committee be constituted with all necessary powers for promoting the movement subject to the control of the Central Committee.' The Executive Committee was to consist of the following persons elected:- Professor Sheldon Amos, Mrs Amos, Mr R Arthur Arnold, Mrs Arthur Arnold, Mr Ashurst, Mr Edwin Arnold, Miss Caroline Biggs, Mrs Jabob Bright, Mr Percy Bunting, Mrs Chesson, Miss Courtenay, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Miss Agnes Garrett, Miss Rhoda Garrett, Miss Katherine Hill, Mr Frederic Hill, Mr Henry Hoare, Mrs Duncan M'Laren, Mr W Malleson, Mrs W. Malleson, Mrs Frederick Pennington, Mr Edwin Pears, Mrs Pochin, Mrs Peter Rylands, Dr Humphrey Sandwith, Mrs James Stansfeld, Mrs Venturi, Miss Williams and the following ex-officio members:- 1) All members of Parliament who are members of the Central Committee. 2) Such delegates as the Committees in connection with the Central may appoint (both reports contain names of 13 already appointed by Committees). 3) All members of Executive Committees in connection with the Central Committee. About half of those elected were already playing a leading role in the Repeal Movement. The structure of the Executive Committee fulfilled the need for such a standing Central Committee representing all Suffrage Societies as Jacob Bright had advocated at the meeting in Manchester on the previous 8 Nov. It was the dismantling of this closely knit structure with was one of the main reasons for the Schism in 1888. The Central Committee took offices at 9 Berners Street, the premises of the Berners Club for Women, and in summer 1874 it moved to 294 Regent Street (Langham Place). During the first half of 1872 the Executive Committee pursued an intensive campaign of public meetings and lectures, issued several pamphlets and endeavoured to increase their support among M.P.s and the press. ('The Women's Suffrage Journal' and the 'Englishwoman's Review' gave very good coverage of the activities of the Central Committee, including details of provincial committees and their officers as these were either reorganised or newly established in affiliation with the Central Committee.) Meanwhile the three temporary Honorary Secretaries had the services of a paid Secretary, Miss Emma A. Smith who was later retained on a permanent basis. The first Annual Meeting was held on 17 Jul 1872. (For accounts of the meeting, see 'Women's Suffrage Journal' 1 Aug 1872, pp.108-110 and 'Englishwoman's Review' Oct 1872, pp. 271 'et seq'. As the Editors of these journals, Miss Becker and Miss Biggs, were in the inner councils of the Committee, both journals gave extensive coverage of meetings, Petitions and provincial committees throughout the United Kingdom as these were established. The 'Women's Suffrage Journal' is particularly important for details of Committee membership and officers, in all issues.) To this meeting the Executive Committee presented its 'First Report', which contained a brief account of the events leading to the formation of the Central Committee. As the three Honorary Secretaries had intimated at the Executive meeting held on 12 Jun that they did not wish to continue beyond the Annual Meeting, Miss Caroline Biggs and Miss Agnes Garrett were appointed Honorary Secretaries for the time being. Miss Smith was appointed then on a permanent basis and Mr Henry Hoare was re-elected as Honorary Treasurer. Mrs Fawcett had remained with the London National but she later became exasperated with dissensions in the Society and joined the Central Committee. In 1877 the two London Societies (Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage; 1871-1877 and the London National Society for Women's Suffrage) merged to become the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1877-1888) and Lydia Becker became the parliamentary agent.
The Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (CCNSWS) (1888-1897) was formed in 1888 when the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (CNSWS) (1871-1877) split into two factions over the issue of political affiliation, i.e. whether suffrage was a cross party issue. This group retained the name 'Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1888-1897)' the other became the 'Central National Society for Women's Suffrage' (1888-1897). The Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1888-1897) was also known in this period as the 'Great College Street Society'. The committee included Mrs Fawcett, Miss Becker, Miss Courtnay, Helen Blackburn, Mrs Haslem and Frederic Hill amongst others. In Oct 1896 after a conference in Birmingham of all the suffrage societies, it was agreed that the country should be divided into regions. Thus the name changed in Sep 1897 to the 'Central and East of England Society for Women's Suffrage' (1897-1900).
The Central National Society for Women's Suffrage (CNSWS) (1888-1897) was formed in 1888. In 1888 the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1871-1877) split into two factions over the issue of political affiliation, i.e. whether suffrage was a cross party issue. This group became the 'Central National Society for Women's Suffrage' (1888-1897); the other group retained the name 'Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1888-1897)'. This group, which had party affiliation, had largely placed its faith in the Liberal Party to achieve Women's Suffrage. It was also known as 'The Parliament Street Society' (although it later moved premises to Victoria Street). In 1889 the Central National Society for Women's Suffrage lost members to the 'Women's Franchise League (1889-1897)' as would not expressly include married women in the aims of being eligible to vote. Members of the Central National Society included the McLaren family,Anna Maria Priestman, Mary Bateson and Jane Cobden. Between 1888-1896 the Central National Society was most active in the west country. In Oct 1896 after a conference in Birmingham of all the suffrage societies, it was agreed that the country should be divided into regions. Thus the name changed in 1897 to the Central and Western Society for Women's Suffrage' when their activities in the West of England were 'officially' recognised.
The Central & East of England Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) was formed in Oct 1896 after a conference in Birmingham of all the suffrage societies, it was agreed that the country should be divided into regions. Thus the name changed in Sep 1897 from the 'Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage' (1888-1897) to the 'Central and East of England Society for Women's Suffrage'. In 1900 the Central & Western Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) merged with the Central & East of England Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) to become the 'Central Society for Women's Suffrage' (1900-1907).
The Central & Western Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) was formed in Oct 1896 after a conference in Birmingham of all the suffrage societies, it was agreed that the country should be divided into regions. Thus the name changed in 1897 from 'Central National Society for Women's Suffrage' (1888-1897) to the Central & Western Society for Women's Suffrage' when the West of England was added to its sphere of activity. In 1900 the Central and Western Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) merged with the Central and East of England Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) to become the 'Central Society for Women's Suffrage' (1900-1907).
The Central Society for Women's Suffrage (1900-1907) was formed in 1900 from a merger between the Central & Western Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) and the Central & East of England Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900). In 1907 the Central Society for Women's Suffrage (1900-1907) became the London Society for Women's Suffrage (1907-1919).
The London Society for Women's Suffrage (1907-1919) was established in 1907 out of the Central Society for Women's Suffrage (1900-1907). 'The Women's Service Department': At the outbreak of the First World War, the London Society suspended its political work and placed its offices, its large staff of trained organisers and its branch organisation at the service of the nation. It opened the Women's Service Department whose work during the first months was to provide information to enquirers as to openings for voluntary work and supplied during that period over 1500 voluntary workers for countless organisations including major societies such as the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association the Invalid Children Aid Association, the Women's Patrols, the Belgian Committee and Soldiers' Canteens. It also opened 6 emergency workrooms for women thrown out of work, 9 clubs for soldiers' and sailors' wives and families, 2 clubs for girls, 7 hostels for Belgian Refugees, 3 centres for infant consultations and 2 clothing depots. The society's branches supported and worked with Mayor's Committees in many metropolitan boroughs. The Society also made a major contribution to the work of the Scottish Women's Hospitals, raised London Units and supplied special ambulances. 'Training Women For War Work': By mid 1915, the need for voluntary work diminished but there was a growing demand for trained women to replacement who had joined the armed forces as well as women for the increasing number of new jobs created by the expansion of production of war weapons and materials to meet the needs of the war effort. The Society's Service Department co-operated in the compilation of the Board of Trade's War Register for Women and also set about providing all kinds of technical training for women for entry to factories. Classes were established for such important work as acetylene welding, tracers for mechanical drawings and micrometer and vernier viewing. As the war progressed and the Society was able to raise quite considerable sums of money through appeals and fund raising activities, this work expanded greatly. 'The Women's Employment Department': Having made a major contribution to the training and placing of women in war work, as the war was drawing to a close the Society, with its very experienced organisation, turned its attention and resources to planning to meet the problems that women would face in seeking employment in the post-war period. Having briefly turned its attention, to political activity over the electoral bill which gave women a limited franchise in 1918, the Society re-thought its post-war policy and decided that apart from the battle to secure the franchise for women on the same terms as men, the 1918 Act enabled it to concentrate now more on obtaining equal rights and in this field employment was the major field for its activities. The Society therefore replaced the Women's Services Department by an Employment Department with an Employment Committee, organised with seven Sections. One of these was a Women's Services Section, the other six being Industrial, Political, Training, Publicity, Professional, Commercial and Civil Service Sections. These changes were made early in 1919 and a Resolution of the Executive Committee, 5 Mar 1919, gave effect to a Report of an ad hoc Committee on Advisors, by setting up a Council of Advisers which would consist of representatives of the seven existing Sections. The Executive Committee was empowered to call in representatives of any section for advice when discussing matters concerning subjects dealt with by that Section. A Report of a Sub-Committee on Public meeting, 9 Apr 1919, recommended the Employment Committee to sponsor a public meeting to be held in the last week in May in the Queen's Hall, to publicise the new policy and organisation. Women's Service Leaflet No.2, Apr 1919, was prepared, headed 'The Open Door' to serve the same purpose. The Employment Committee's staff carried out an extensive and intensive survey of occupations that might be suitable for women, interviewing a large and wide range of firms. A Bureau was established to which employers could notify vacancies which the Bureau's staff then tried to fill from those women who contacted them in their search for employment. Eventually, as the work expanded, this activity was taken over by a new organisation that was established by the co-operation of many women's organisations, namely the Women's Employment Federation. In 1919 the name changed to the London Society for Women's Service (1919-1926).
The London Society for Women's Service (1919-1926) was created in 1919 through the renaming of the London Society for Women's Suffrage (1907-1919). The name change reflected the shift in emphasis of the Society's Objects, due to the Act giving women the franchise and also to the fact that the Society had added to its Objects a broader service to women as a result of its contribution to the prosecution of the 1914-1918 war. The London Society for Women's Suffrage had acquired a deep knowledge and experience of the broader aspects of the social and economic needs of women during its intensive contribution to the war effort, through its Women's Service Department. Once the limited franchise had been granted, the leaders and many members of the Society felt that in the post war years, while the Society should continue to work for the granting of the franchise to women on the same terms as men, there was a great deal of work which could be done to secure equal citizenship for women. It was therefore proposed that the aims of the Society should be broadened and that the name of the Society should also be changed to reflect this change of emphasis.
The discussions in the Executive Committee resulted finally in the passing of the following resolutions at the General Meeting held 24 Feb 1919: 1) 'That the Society continue to stand for equal suffrage and equal opportunities for women, but resolve to concentrate its efforts for the present on obtaining economic equality for women.'; 2) 'That the Society resolve to promote this object by means of propaganda, political work, the collection and distribution of information with regard to employment, the promotion of training, opening up of occupations, and such other practical steps as may from time to time seem advisable.'('The Common Cause', vol xi, No. 524, 25 Apr 1919, p.17. The Executive and Annual Meeting Minutes and papers for the transition period are missing, and therefore it is necessary to rely upon the report in 'Common Cause'.). It was also decided to change the title of the Society to 'The London Society for Women's Service'. In a letter that was sent out to all members announcing these changes, the following was added - 'The Committee believe that the struggle to secure equality of opportunity for men and women in the wage-earning work is the next great step towards the full enfranchisement of women; they believe moreover that the forces which threaten the economic position of women to-day are of a most serious and menacing nature and that action is immediately needed to the protection of women workers.' 'They are convinced that a non-party of men and women who are united in principle and experience in practice will be able to give immediate support to the demobilised women, and that by building up public opinion and focussing political action on this group of subjects, they can best serve the cause for which the London Society for Women's Suffrage was originally called into being.' (The Common Cause, vol xi, No. 524, 25 Apr 1919, p.17. The Executive and Annual Meeting Minutes and papers for the transition period are missing, and therefore it is necessary to rely upon the report in 'Common Cause'.)
Two weeks later, the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies changed their constitution and title for the same reasons. The change of Object of the Union now allowed any societies having the equality of men and women as one of their objects to affiliate to the Union. This changed the relationship between the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship and the London Society as the latter's Annual Report presented at the Society's Annual Meeting on 16 Dec 1919 explained - 'That decision (i.e. by NUWSS) has fundamentally altered the relation of the Society to the Union of which it has been so ardent a promoter and supporter. Until last year, the London Society for Women's Suffrage Societies (sic) was the representative of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in the Metropolitan area. Now the London Society for Women's Service is but one of several London Societies affiliated to the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship, each carrying out a different part of the Union's programme. This new relationship, which is no less harmonious than the old, results in a different form of co-operation and is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that the National Union may now properly hold meetings in London without reference to the London Society, while the London Society may carry on its work in co-operation with any other Society sympathetic to is special aspects of equality, without reference to the National Union.' (ibid., No. 560, 2 Jan 1919, p.503.) The report also referred to the rather pressing financial problems of the Society and after referring to the great work of the London Unit of the Scottish Women's Hospitals, hinted that it may have to close down that activity in the near future. The President, Miss Philippa Fawcett, in commenting on this problem, appealed for donations as well as subscriptions to enable the Society to carry out fully its aims. In 1926 the society was renamed the London & National Society for Women's Service.
The London & National Society for Women's Service (1926-1953) was created in 1926 and was the renamed London Society for Women's Service (1919-1926). The name change reflected the shift in becoming the national body campaigning for women in employment. In 1953 it was renamed The Fawcett Society.
The Fawcett Society (1953-fl.2008) was created in 1953, out of a series of predecessor bodies dating back to 1865 and the campaigns for women's suffrage. Best known as 'London National Society for Women's Suffrage' later the 'London Society for Women's Service' the organisation went through many name changes between 1865 and 1953 when it became known as The Fawcett Society. The name changed in 1953 from London & National Society for Women's Service (1926-1953) to The Fawcett Society in honour of Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, the leader of the constitutional campaign for women's suffrage, and the president of several of the Fawcett Society's predecessor bodies. The Fawcett Society became the United Kingdom's leading campaign for equality between women and men, at work, at home and in public life. They campaigned on on women's representation in politics and public life; pay, pensions and poverty; valuing caring work; and the treatment of women in the justice system. They raised the profile of these issues by creating awareness, leading debate, lobbying politicians and policy makers, and driving change. They influenced developments such as: a change in the law to allow political parties to use all-women shortlists to increase the number of women MPs; the reform of the rape law; and a new duty on public bodies to promote equality between women and men. As at 2008 the Fawcett Society was still active.
Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929) was born in Suffolk in 1847, the daughter of Newson and Louisa Garrett and the sister of Samuel Garrett, Agnes Garrett, Louise Smith and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. The sisters' early interest in the issue of women's suffrage and commitment to the Liberal party were heightened after attending a speech given in London by John Stuart Mill in Jul 1865. Though considered too young to sign the petition in favour of votes for women, which was presented to the House of Commons in 1866, Millicent attended the debate on the issue in May 1867. This occurred a month after she married the professor of political economy and radical Liberal MP for Brighton, Henry Fawcett. Throughout their marriage, the future cabinet minister supported his wife's activities while she acted as his secretary due to his blindness. Their only child, Philippa Fawcett, was born the following year and that same month Millicent Garrett Fawcett published her first article, on the education of women. In Jul 1867, Millicent Garrett Fawcett was asked to join the executive committee of the London National Society for Women's Suffrage and was one of the speakers at its first public meeting two years later. She continued her work with the London National Society until after the death of John Stuart Mill in 1874, when she left the organisation to work with the Central Committee for Women's Suffrage. This was a step which she had avoided taking when the latter was formed in 1871 due to its public identification with the campaign for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. Fawcett, despite her support for the movement's actions, had initially believed that the suffrage movement might be damaged by identification with such controversial work. However, the two groups later merged in 1877 as the new Central Committee for Women's Suffrage and a new executive committee was formed which included Fawcett herself. Her influence helped guide the group towards support for moderate policies and methods. She did little public speaking during this period but after the death of her husband in 1884 and a subsequent period of depression, she was persuaded to become a touring speaker once more in 1886 and began to devote her time to the work of the women's suffrage movement. In addition to women's suffrage Millicent Garrett Fawcett also became involved in the newly created National Vigilance Association, established in 1885, alongside campaigners such as J Stansfeld MP, Mr WT Stead, Mrs Mitchell, and Josephine Butler. In 1894 Fawcett's interest in public morality led her to vigorously campaign against the candidature of Henry Cust as Conservative MP for North Manchester. Cust, who had been known to have had several affairs, had seduced a young woman. Despite marrying Cust's marriage in 1893, after pressure from Balfour, Fawcett felt Cust was unfit for public office. Fawcett's campaign persisted until Cust's resignation in 1895, with some suffrage supporters concerned by Fawcett's doggedness in what they felt was a divisive campaign. In the late nineteenth century, the women's suffrage movement was closely identified with the Liberal Party through its traditional support for their work and the affiliation of many workers such as Fawcett herself. However, the party was, at this time, split over the issue of Home Rule for Ireland. Fawcett herself left the party to become a Liberal Unionist and helped lead the Women's Liberal Unionist Association. When it was proposed that the Central Committee's constitution should be changed to allow political organisations, and principally the Women's Liberal Federation, to affiliate, Fawcett opposed this and became the Honorary Treasurer when the majority of members left to form the Central National Society for Women's Suffrage. However, in 1893 she became one of the leading members of the Special Appeal Committee that was formed to repair the divisions in the movement. On the 19 Oct 1896 she was asked to preside over the joint meetings of the suffrage societies, which resulted in the geographical division of the country and the formation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. She was appointed as the honorary secretary of the Central and Eastern Society that year and became a member of the parliamentary committee of the NUWSS itself. It was not until the parent group's reorganisation in 1907 that she was elected president of the National Union, a position that she would retain until 1919. By 1901, she was already eminent enough to be one of the first women appointed to sit on a Commission of Inquiry into the concentration camps created for Boer civilians by the British during the Boer War. Despite this, her work for suffrage never slackened and she was one of the leaders of the Mud March held in Feb 1907 as well as of the NUWSS procession from Embankment to the Albert Hall in Jun 1908. She became one of the Fighting Fund Committee in 1912 and managed the aftermath of the introduction of the policy, in particular during the North West Durham by-election in 1914, when other members opposed a step that effectively meant supporting the Labour Party when an anti-suffrage Liberal candidate was standing in a constituency. When the First World War broke out in Aug 1914, Fawcett called for the suspension of the NUWSS' political work and a change in activities to facilitate war work. This stance led to divisions in the organisation. The majority of its officers and ten of the executive committee resigned when she vetoed their attendance of a Women's Peace Congress in the Hague in 1915. However, she retained her position in the group. During the war, she also found time to become involved in the issue of women's social, political and educational status in India, an area in which she had become interested through her husband and retained after the conflict came to an end. She remained at the head of the NUWSS when the women's suffrage clause was added to the Representation of the People Act in 1918 and attended the Women's Peace Conference in Paris before lobbying the governments assembled there for the Peace Conference in 1919. She retired in Mar 1919 when the NUWSS became the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship but remained on its executive committee. She also continued her activities as the vice-president of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, to which she had been elected in 1902, for another year. After this she became the Chair of the journal, the 'Women's Leader', and appointed a Dame of the British Empire in 1925. It was in that year that she resigned from both NUSEC and the newspaper's board after opposing the organisation's policy in support of family allowances. She remained active until the end of her life, undertaking a trip to the Far East with her sister Agnes only a short time before her death in 1929.
This group, initially named the Manchester Committee for the Enfranchisement of Women, was formed in the 1860s, possibly initially to support John Stuart Mill's 1866 suffrage petition. Early members included Elizabeth Wolstenhulme Elmy, Jacob and Ursula Bright, Rev, S.A. Steinthal and Dr. Richard Pankhurst. It was formally re-founded in 1867 to canvass women householders in Manchester to support further suffrage petitions. It became federated to the National Society for Women's Suffrage, changing its name in 1897 to the North of England Society for Women's Suffrage.
The Susan B Anthony Memorial Committee (fl. 1937-1949) was established to help organise the creation of memorials to the American Suffragist. It appears to have operated between around 1937 and 1949, mainly working in California. It succeeded in having a giant tree named after her in the Sequoia National Park after an application to Interior Department of the United States government. It also resulted in a bequest of 500 volumes being bequeathed to the Huntingdon Library in California, that formed the nucleus of the significant women's studies collection that was later formed. In 1937, its committee consisted of Mrs Robert Adamson as the national Chair, Sue Brobst as the Californian Chair and Una R Winter as the vice-Chair of the region. Una Winter appears to have been responsible for the collation of the background information for the request.
The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service (1914-1919) was part of the suffrage response to the First World War. At the outbreak of the First World War, a large number of the existing suffrage societies put their administrative skills at the disposal of the war effort. The Scottish Federation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, at the suggestion of Dr Elsie Inglis, put forward the idea of female medical units to serve on the front line. The War Office rejected the idea, but nonetheless private donations, the fundraising of local societies and the support of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies financed a number of units staffed entirely by women. The organisation's headquarters were in Edinburgh throughout the war, with committees also in Glasgow and London, working closely with the London office of the Croix Rouge Francaise. The Fawcett Society was particularly involved with the London Unit of the Scottish Women's Hospitals. The first unit mobilised established a 200 bed Auxiliary Hospital at Royaumont Abbey in Dec 1914. In Apr 1915, Dr Inglis herself was at the head of a unit based in Serbia. By Jun 1915 SWH had responsibility for more than 1,000 beds with 250 staff including 19 women doctors. The Austrian offensive of that summer led to their camps being overrun and a number of the staff including Inglis herself being taken prisoner, only to be released after negotiations. By the end of the war there were fourteen Scottish Women's Hospitals in France, Serbia, Russia, Salonica and Macedonia. Inglis herself was ill with cancer by 1917 while working in Russia. She and her unit were part of the retreat of forces to Archangel and she was evacuated to Newcastle on the 25 Nov 1919 of that year, only to die the following day. The Scottish Women's Hospitals work continued until the end of the war.
Josephine Elizabeth Butler [née Grey] (1828-1906) was born on 13 Apr 1828 (7th of 10 children of John Grey and Hannah née Annett). In 1835 the Grey family moved to Dilston near Corbridge, Northumberland after her father's appointment in 1833 as agent for the Greenwich Estates in the north. On 8 Jan 1852 Josephine married George Butler at Corbridge, Northumberland. He had been a tutor at Durham University, and then a Public Examiner at Oxford University. In 1857 they moved to Cheltenham following husband's appointment as Vice-Principal of Cheltenham College. In 1866 they moved to Liverpool following husband's appointment as Head of Liverpool College. Josephine took up plight of girls in the Brownlow Hill workhouse and established a Home of Rest for girls in need. In 1868 Josephine became President of North England Council for Promoting Higher Education of Women, and in the following year she was Secretary of Ladies' National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts (extended by legislation in 1866 and 1869). In 1875 she established the International Abolitionist Federation in Liverpool. In 1883 the Contagious Diseases Acts were suspended. In 1885 the age of consent was raised to 16 which Josephine fought for. The Contagious Diseases Acts were repealed in 1886. From 1888 until Oct 1896, Josephine edited 'Dawn' a quarterly journal. From 1882-1890 Josephine lived in Winchester where Rev George Butler was appointed canon. In 1890 George Butler died. Josephine moved to London and continued campaigning against state regulation abroad. In 1894 she moved to her son's home in Galewood within Ewart Park near Milfield. In 1898-1900 Josephine edited and wrote 'Storm Bell'. In 1906 Josephine moved to Wooler where she died on 30 Dec and was buried at Kirknewton.
Ladies National Association for the Abolition of the State Regulation of Vice and for the Promotion of Social Purity (1869-1915) (LNA) was established in 1869. In the 1840s there was an upsurge in concern about prostitution in the United Kingdom. Evangelical Christians, socialists and chartists all condemned the industry and moral campaigns were established to suppress vice. However, only after 1857' Royal Commission report on the health of the army, and a follow-up report on the level of venereal disease in the military five years later did official tolerance of prostitution came to an end as the question became fused with contemporary concerns over public health. The result was three successive decrees in 1864, 1866 and 1869 known as the Contagious Diseases (referred to as the CD) Acts. By these, in certain towns containing military bases, any woman suspected of being a prostitute could be stopped and forced to undergo a genital inspection to discover if she had a venereal disease. If she did not submit willingly, she could be arrested and brought before a magistrate. If she was found to be infected, she could be effectively imprisoned in a 'lock' hospital. After the 1869 Social Sciences congress at which the CD Acts were raised and condemned, a number of individuals established the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act. No women were originally included in the organisation though many later joined. The result of this omission was that by the end of Dec 1869, the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts was formed. On New Year' Day 1870, one of their first actions was to publish in the Daily News a protest against the Acts. This was signed by 124 women including Florence Nightingale, Josephine Butler, Mary Carpenter, Lydia Becker and drafted by Harriet Martineau and became known as the Ladies' Protest. This manifesto document opposed the acts on several grounds: they gave unbounded powers over women to the police; they identified and penalised the wrong sex as the source of vice; they withdrew moral restraints on conduct without tackling the moral causes of disease; they posed a serious danger to civil liberties; and finally, the group claimed, they were incapable of diminishing disease. The group' treasurer was Mrs Jacob Bright and Butler acted as the honorary secretary. By Oct 1871, they had gathered 1400 members and by 1871 57 branches had been formed. At the end of that year the Executive Committee comprised: Mrs Jacob Bright, Lydia Becker, Mrs Blackburn, Miss Estlin, Mrs McLaren, Mrs E. Backhouse, Miss Merryweather, Mrs Nichol, Miss L Marche-Phillipps, Mrs Reid and Miss Wigham; Mrs Arthur Tanner had become its head and Josephine Butler remained secretary. Its main bases of support were in the North and Bristol: until 1873, the organisation had no London offices and support in this area remained weak until the 1880s. However, throughout its existence, it maintained ties with the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act though maintaining its independence as a female organisation focused on moral rather than statistical arguments. Therefore, when the CD Acts were repealed in 1886, the organisation did not end as NARCDA did, but went on to fight for equal moral standards between the sexes as the Ladies National Association for the Abolition of the State Regulation of Vice and for the Promotion of Social Purity. In this incarnation, the body campaigned for the repeal of the Acts remaining in force in India. In 1915, they amalgamated with the British Branch of the British, Continental and General Federation for the Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution to become the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene.