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The Religious Tract Society (RTS) was founded in 1799 to print and distribute religious tracts among those who with, in the words of the Proceedings of the first twenty years, 'little leisure and less inclination to peruse entire volumes might thus be furnished with agreeable and useful employment and eventually be led to an acquaintance with the state of their own hearts and a knowledge of Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ'. The founders of the Society were drawn from the same group of evangelicals who had earlier set up the London Missionary Society and were later to found the British and Foreign Bible Society, in the realization that more might be achieved through co-operation between denominations than by individual denominational efforts. From its earliest years the Society concerned itself not only with the distribution of tracts in Britain but with similar work in continental Europe, in the British colonies, and in the many countries of the world where British missionary societies were active. By 1848 the RTS was operating, directly or indirectly, in China, Singapore, Borneo, Thailand, Burma, India, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand, the South Pacific islands, Africa, Madagascar, the West Indies, the United States, Canada, most European countries, and the countries of the Near and Middle East.

Towards the end of 1857 representatives of four British missionary societies working in India - the Baptist Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society and the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society - put forward proposals for a new society, to be named the Christian Vernacular Education Society for India. The proposers did not, according to its First Annual Report, intend the new society to compete with 'existing educational establishments which employ the English language and literature and which are chiefly attractive to the higher classes of Hindu youth ... but rather to reach the village populations, and the masses of the lower orders in towns throughout the country, exclusively through the vernacular of each district'. The new society was formally instituted in May 1858 as a memorial to the Indian Mutiny. John Murdoch was appointed 'Representative and Travelling Secretary in India'. In 1891 the name of the Society was changed to the Christian Literature Society for India and in 1923 the words 'and Africa' were added when the Society extended its work to that continent.

The Christian Literature Society for China had a complex genesis. It originated as a School and Text Book Committee of the China Missionary Conference in 1877, developing into the Chinese Book and Tract Society in Glasgow in 1884 and forming the Society for the Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge (SDCGK) among the Chinese in 1887. It was supported by the Christian Literature Society for China, organised in 1892 to succeed the Chinese Book and Tract Society. In 1906 the SDCGK changed its name to the Christian Literature Society for China.

The United Society for Christian Literature (USCL) was formed in 1935 when the Religious Tract Society and the Christian Literature Society for India and Africa merged. The RTS China kept its old title in China, with USCL as a sub-title. In 1941 the London Committee and in 1942 the Scottish Committee organising support for the Christian Literature Society for China were incorporated.

For further information see William Jones, The Jubilee Memorial of the Religious Tract Society (London, 1850); S G Green, The Story of the Religious Tract Society (London, 1899); G Hewitt, Let the People Read (London, 1949), the last of which surveys the work of all three societies.

The Reliance Marine Insurance Company Limited was established in Liverpool in 1881. In 1916 it was taken over by Guardian Assurance (CLC/B/107-01), which later became part of Guardian Royal Exchange.

Carl Henry Randall was born on 4 Dec 1880. He studied at Guy's Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1903. MC FRCS (Edin). Joined the Indian Medical Service, 1905, reaching the rank of Colonel in 1929.

The Reid Trust came into existence in 1866, following the death of Mrs Reid, and provided a capital sum of £16,400 to be used 'for the promotion and improvement of female education'. It stipulated that there should be at least three (and no more than five) Reid Trustees, all unmarried women: the first Trustees were Elizabeth Ann Bostock, Jane Martineau and Eleanor Elizabeth Smith, who also served as Managers of the Residence. Control of capital which could help the financially precarious College, as well as control of the property leases, put the three in a position to determine a new structure of management for Bedford College. Due to their demands, the School attached to the College was closed and the Bedford College Council ceased to exist in Jun 1868, replaced for eighteen months by a Committee of Management. After a period of autocratic rule, the Committee of Management proposed a Constitution that was accepted by the Board and came into force in 1869. The College was incorporated as an Association under the Board of Trade, with Memoranda and Articles of Association, and the management structure consisted of a body of Members termed 'The College', which replaced The Board, and a new Council elected from amongst the Members.

Following this period of change, the Reid Trust used its income to promote female education, and, rather than giving an annual lump sum to Bedford College, chose to devote funds to the creation of scholarships, exhibitions and grants for entrance to the College made directly by the Trustees to the recipient. This was done through the creation in 1872 of a Scholarship Fund with capital of £2000. They also promoted higher education by making contributions to Bedford College Council for stated purposes such as the increase of the salaries of lecturers and a yearly public examination of the standard of teaching. Donations were made to the Library and laboratories, and money was sometimes provided for building or extension work.

After the first Government grant to Bedford College in 1895, the Reid Trust discontinued its contributions to higher education, and widened its donations to take in other institutions, such as the London School of Medicine for Women. A travelling scholarship named for Rachel Notcutt was founded in 1918 to commemorate her long service with the Trust, and the Trust has maintained close links with the affairs of the College. The Reid scholarships, which were suspended in [1985], were recently reinstated.

Born in Australia, 1859; big game expedition to Portuguese East Africa, 1900-1903; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), 1904-1914; employed by the Belgium Government to chart mineral and other resources between the Congo and the Nile, [1904-1909], producing a map of Aruwimi river and with his brothers, C A and A E H Reid, a map of the region North of the Aruwimi; Portuguese East Africa, 1910-1911; RGS Cuthbert Peek Grant, 1911; Nigeria, 1912-1913; died, 1914.

Louis Arnaud Reid (1895-1986) studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and from 1919 to 1926 lectured in Aberystwyth and Liverpool. From 1932 to 1947 he was Professor at Armstrong College, Newcastle, and in 1947 became the first Professor of the Philosophy of Education in Britain, at the University of London Institute of Education, a post which he held until his retirement in 1962. After his retirement, among other activities, he continued to teach students in the Art and Design Department of the Institute of Education. He was closely involved with the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain and wrote and lectured widely on aesthetics and the arts.

Elizabeth Jesser Sturch was born on 25 December 1789 in London, daughter of William Sturch, a wealthy Unitarian ironmonger. In 1821 she married John Reid, M.D., author of 'Essay on hypochondriasis and other nervous affections' (1816). His father and brother had been hosiers in Leicester, but the family's roots appear to have been in Scotland, and Dr Reid had inherited land on the River Clyde at Glasgow which had become extremely valuable as the port grew in size. His death in July 1822 gave Mrs Reid an independent income with which she patronised various philanthropic causes. Active in liberal Unitarian circles, she was an anti-slavery activist, attending the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 and taking a close interest in the American Civil War (1860-1865), and was in contact with leading figures in the revolutions in France and Germany in 1848, and the struggles for Italian independence. In 1849 she founded the 'Ladies College' in Bedford Square, London, which became Bedford College for Women. She died on 1st April 1866.

Born, 2 June 1833; medical student, King's College London, 1851; served in the Crimean War, 1855-1856.

Publications: Memories of the Crimean War, January 1855 to June 1856 (St Catherine Press, London, 1911); Soldier-surgeon. The Crimean war letters of Dr Douglas A Reid, 1855-1856 edited by Joseph O Baylen and Alan Conway (University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, [1968]).

Brother of Robert Lawrence Reid; worked for the Société internationale Forestière et Minière du Congo; mapped the northern Congo basin with his brothers A E H and Robert Reid, [1910-1911], published in the The Geographical Journal, Vol. 38, No. 6 (Dec, 1911), pp. 591-592; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society 1910-1961.

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The Reichsvertretung der jüdischen Landesverbände was founded at the end of 1932 and it was superceded by the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden as the first organisation to claim to be truly representative of all German Jews. Its principal achievement was the establishment of the Zentralausschuss für Hilfe und Aufbau (Central Committee for Aid and Reconstruction) which was to become the main social and economic instrument of German Jewry. The Preussische Landes Verband (The Prussian State League) was the largest regional Jewish organisation but had no legal standing.

The Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland was founded in 1933 and became the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden in 1935, and later the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland in 1939. It came into being shortly after the Nazi seizure of power as the successor to the Reichsvertretung der jüdischen Landesverbände, a loose federation of Jewish organisations in Germany. Its main objective was to deal with the serious problems facing German Jewry from the new, antisemitic regime.

Rabbi Leo Baeck was elected president, and the driving force in the organisation was its chief executive officer, Otto Hirsch. The organisation's activities were to include all aspects of the internal life of the Jews of Germany, and it was to act as their representative before the authorities as well as Jewish organisations abroad. Its main spheres of operation, conducted through the Zentralausschuss der Deutschen Juden für Hilfe und Aufbau (Central Committee of German Jews for aid and reconstruction) were education, vocational training, support for the needy, economic assistance, and emigration.

The Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland was founded in 1933 and became the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden in 1935, and later the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland in 1939. It came into being shortly after the Nazi seizure of power as the successor to the Reichsvertretung der jüdischen Landesverbände, a loose federation of Jewish organisations in Germany. Its main objective was to deal with the serious problems facing German Jewry from the new, antisemitic regime.

Rabbi Leo Baeck was elected president, and the driving force in the organisation was its chief executive officer, Otto Hirsch. The organisation's activities were to include all aspects of the internal life of the Jews of Germany, and it was to act as their representative before the authorities as well as Jewish organisations abroad. Its main spheres of operation, conducted through the Zentralausschuss der Deutschen Juden für Hilfe und Aufbau (Central Committee of German Jews for aid and reconstruction) were education, vocational training, support for the needy, economic assistance, and emigration.

The Reischsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Reich Organisation of German Jews) came into being in February 1939 and, as far as its leadership and basic purposes was concerned, was a continuation of its predecessor, the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland. As a result of the intensification of the Third Reich's anti-semitic policies, its aims were increasingly linked to Jewish survival, and in particular, emigration. It was put under the control of the Ministry of the Interior, in practice the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office). It was the only organisation in Germany dealing with Jewish survival until its liquidation in July 1943 when its leaders, Leo Baeck and Paul Eppstein were deported to Theresienstadt.

The Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland was founded in 1933 and became the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden in 1935, and later the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland in 1939. It came into being shortly after the Nazi seizure of power as the successor to the Reichsvertretung der jüdischen Landesverbände, a loose federation of Jewish organisations in Germany. Its main objective was to deal with the serious problems facing German Jewry from the new, antisemitic regime.

Rabbi Leo Baeck was elected president, and the driving force in the organisation was its chief executive officer, Otto Hirsch. The organisation's activities were to include all aspects of the internal life of the Jews of Germany, and it was to act as their representative before the authorities as well as Jewish organisations abroad. Its main spheres of operation, conducted through the Zentralausschuss der Deutschen Juden für Hilfe und Aufbau (Central Committee of German Jews for aid and reconstruction) were education, vocational training, support for the needy, economic assistance, and emigration.

Possibly these reports were either commissioned by or came about as the result of the activities of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland.

The Reischsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Reich Organisation of German Jews) came into being in February 1939 and, as far as its leadership and basic purposes was concerned, was a continuation of its predecessor, the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland. As a result of the intensification of the Third Reich's anti-semitic policies, its aims were increasingly linked to Jewish survival, and in particular, emigration. It was put under the control of the Ministry of the Interior, in practice the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office). It was the only organisation in Germany dealing with Jewish survival until its liquidation in July 1943 when its leaders, Leo Baeck and Paul Eppstein were deported to Theresienstadt.

The Kulturbund Deutscher Juden, later the Reichsverband der Juedischen Kulturbuende in Deutschland was an organisation engaged in promoting culture and the arts among the Jews of Germany between 1933 and 1941. Its purposes were to enable the Jewish population to maintain the cultural life to which they were accustomed, and to alleviate the distress of the thousands of Jewish theatrical artists and musicians who had been thrown out of their jobs when the Nazis came to power.

Reichsministerium der Justiz (Justice ministry) was one of the ministries of the Third Reich. The Richterbriefe are a series of confidential letters addressed to the Nazi judiciary from the Reichsministerium outlining in detail the stance that should be taken and verdicts, which should be given in numerous case scenarios. They were a method of further controlling and subordinating the judiciary to Nazi ideology. They came about shortly after the appointment of Otto Georg Thierack to the position of Reichsminister der Justiz in August 1942.

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Established by law in 1933, the Reichskulturkammer (RKK) was created to enable the Reichsministerium fuer Volksaufklaerung und Propaganda (RMfVP)(Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda) to control virtually all aspects of organised cultural life in Germany. The RKK was closely linked to the RMfVP under Joseph Goebbels, who also served as president of the RKK. The card index relates to some 185,000 members and applicants of the RKK and its affiliated organisations, including staff members of the RMfVP. For those whose livelihood derived from the arts, membership was compulsory in the RKK and its subordinate chambers of literature, music, film, theatre, radio, graphic arts and the press. Those denied membership were effectively prevented from practising their profession.

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The SS (Schutzstaffel) was founded in 1925 with the object of protecting the Nazi Party leader, Adolf Hitler. By 1936, under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler, the SS had assumed responsiblity for all police and security matters throughout the Third Reich. The Reichsführung SS SD Hauptamt (SS High Command Security Service Main Office) was the internal security branch of the SS.

Carl Schmitt, the controversial and influential political and legal theorist, was born on 11 July 1888 in Plettenberg, Westfalen. He was professor for jurisprudence in Greifswald, 1921; Bonn, 1922-1923; Berlin (Handelshochschule), 1926; Köln, 1933; and again in Berlin, during the Nazi era when he achieved the exalted position of 'Crown Jurist'. During his career as a successful academic and teacher, he became recognised as a fierce critic of the Weimar constitution, which he accused of having weakened the state and of relying on liberalism, which, in his view, was incapable of solving the problems of a modern mass democracy. His loyalty to the Nazi cause had long been suspected by elements within the SS Security Service and his anti- semitism was regarded as opportunistic. As a result of a critical article in the SS periodical Der Schwarze KorpsSchmitt was investigated by the Security Service and subsequently lost most of his prominent offices, and retreated from his position as a leading Nazi jurist, although he retained his post as a professor in Berlin thanks to Göring. He never again dealt with domestic or party politics, but turned his attention to the study of international relations, and soon passed into obscurity. After the war he continued to publish but never held office. He remained a controversial figure, having never been formally charged with complicity with the Nazi regime, nor ever exonerated. He died on 7 April 1985.

Reichsführer SS was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, became the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel (SS). Reichsführer SS was both a title and a rank. The title of Reichsführer was first created in 1926 by Joseph Berchtold. Berchtold's predecessor, Julius Schreck, never referred to himself as Reichsführer but the title was retroactively applied to him in later years. In 1929, Heinrich Himmler became Reichsführer-SS and referred to himself by his title instead of his regular SS rank. This set the precedent for the Commanding General of the SS to be called Reichsführer-SS. In 1934, Himmler's title became an actual rank after the Night of the Long Knives and from that point on, Reichsführer-SS became the highest rank of the SS and was considered the equivalent of a Generalfeldmarschall in the German Army.

The Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten (RjF) was founded in 1919 to combat the resurgence of anti-Semitism during the First World War. From the outset it was both a defence organisation and a veterans' association. It endeavoured to be apolitical but was regarded as assimilationist when compared with other Jewish organisations such as the Zionist Centralverein. It became the second largest German Jewish organisation with 30-40,000 membership at its peak, publishing its own fortnightly newspaper, Der Schild.

By 1924, at its national congress the RjF resolved to include physical training for the young. Athletics and, in particular, boxing were promoted, the latter as a form of self-defence and a means to counter the claim that Jews were weak and cowardly.

As anti-Semitism increased during the Weimar years, links with other non-Jewish veterans' associations decreased. By the time the Nuremberg race laws had been brought into force, any privileges that the Reichsbund might have enjoyed, by virtue of members' service to the fatherland, were gone.

The Reichsbund der Deutschen Beamten (Reich League of German Civil Servants) became the national representative organisation for German Civil Servants from October 1933 and was affiliated to the Nazi party. Although not all members had to be Nazi party members, most were. The head of the organisation was Herman Neef, who had been the head of the predecessor organisation, Deutsche Beamtenbund (German Civil Servants' League). In addition to training and development of members, the organisation also ensured that Civil Servants maintained a Nazi focus.

Bernhard Reichenbach, 1888-1975, was the son of a Jewish businessman and a protestant teacher; childhood and schooling in Hamburg; later became an actor in Bochum and Hamburg, 1912-1914; studied literature, art history and sociology in Berlin; active in the youth movement and a member of the Freie Studentenschaft, Berlin. As a medical orderly in World War One he won the Ehren Kreuz II Klass. In 1917 he was a founding member of the Unabhängige Sozialistischepartei Deutschlands; co-founder of the Kommunistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, and, as a representative of the latter party, he attended the Executive Committee of the Communist International in Moscow, and the third World Congress of the Communist International. He left the KAPD on his return to Berlin and joined the SPD in the beginning of 1925. He continued his activities as a journalist for a number of left-wing periodicals whilst working as a company secretary for a weaving business in Krefeld. After the Nazis came to power he could no longer continue working as a journalist, and after pressure from the police he emigrated to Great Britain.

In 1935 he joined the Labour Party. He was interned on the Isle of Man, 1940-1941, and after his release worked in the field of political instruction of German POWs. From 1944-1948 he edited the British government periodical for German POWs in Great Britain, Die Wochenpost.

He was a member of Club 1943. He became the London correspondent of the Süddeutscher Rundfunk and Westfälische Rundschau. He also worked on Contemporary Review and Socialist Commentary and Welt der Arbeit. He was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 1958.

This letter is from a former friend of Philip Manes and his wife, addressed to Eva Manes and written in 1957. For the main Manes collection see WL document collection 1346.

The Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda or Propagandaministerium) was the Nazi ministry dedicated to enforcing the Nazi ideology in Germany and regulating its culture and society. Founded on March 13 1933 by Adolf Hitler's new National Socialist government, the Ministry was headed by Dr Joseph Goebbels and was responsible for controlling the press and culture of Nazi Germany.

Dorothy Reich (née Knight) was born on the 6th August 1921, the daughter of a civil servant. She entered Bedford College in 1941 to study German with French and graduated with a first class honours degree in German in 1944. She was awarded a University Scholarship to do postgraduate work in German but had to spend 2 years doing National Service with the ATS Intelligence. On her release she returned to Bedford College to undertake her MA thesis on 'Bodmer's contribution to the knowledge and appreciation of Medieval Literature'. Having completed her MA in 1949 Reich spent a year as a teaching assistant in the German Department at Glasgow University before returning to London to take up the position of Assistant Lecturer at King's College in October 1950. While working Reich began to study part time for a PhD under the supervision of Professor Edna Purdie (PP/4). In 1953 she became an Assistant Lecturer at Bedford College and was promoted to the position of Lecturer in 1955. In 1959 she married Thomas Henry Reich. All that is known about her after this date is that she edited the 6th edition of 'A History of German Literature' in 1970. Publications: editor of 'Laokoon' by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (Oxford University Press, London, 1965); editor of sixth edition of 'A history of German literature' (Blackwood, London, 1970).

Josef Reheis, a German citizen, was prosecuted for uttering 'unpatriotic' sentiments about the war. Having admitted to two strangers that he regularly listened to foreign radio stations for reliable news about the progress of the war and that he felt Germany was sure to lose, he was denounced by them, and sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Henri Victor Regnault was born in Germany, 1810; Foreign Member of the Royal Society, 1852; Copley Medal, 1869; Rumford Medal, 1848; died in Paris, 1878.

By an order of 1845 the Board of Trade authorised a system of voluntary examination of competency for men intending to become masters and mates of foreign-going British merchant ships. The system was made compulsory for those seeking promotion by the Act of 1850 and extended to the examination of masters and mates of home trade vessels by the consolidating Act of 1854. Examinations were conducted in the major ports of the United Kingdom and successful candidates were granted Certificates of Competency. Masters and mates already serving were granted Certificates of Service. In 1862 Certificates of Competency were issued to engineers and those already serving were granted Certificates of Service. In 1881 Certificates of Competency were issued to officers with experience in steamships. In the same year Certificates of Competency were issued to skippers and mates of fishing boats and two years later Certificates of Service were also issued.

The first registers of voters were lists of those owing land tax, since the right to vote depended on the amount of property a man owned.

It was not until the 1832 Reform Act that the creation of electoral registers became a requirement. At first these were the responsibility of the Quarter Sessions, although from 1888 they were compiled by County Councils and from 1974 by District Councils. The registers mainly list those eligible to vote for parliamentary elections although they often double as lists for local government elections.

Lloyds Register began in 1760, as a Register Society taking its name from it initial sphere of operation - Lloyd's Coffee House, Tower Street, London and the New Lloyd's Coffee House, at No 5 Pope's Head Alley, to which it moved in 1769. The Society was mainly controlled by underwriters, and had a Committee of eleven members chaired by John Julius Angerstein, to manage the affairs of the Society. (In 1771, the leading underwriters and brokers joined forces to establish Lloyd's of London - not to be confused with Lloyd's Register).

The first Register of Ships (the Green Book) was printed by the Society in 1764, in order to give underwriters and merchants an idea of the condition of vessels they insured and chartered. The Register contained details of the vessel's owner, master, tonnage, date of build, where built, and number of guns. It also gave a classification for condition of hull and equipment. The Society employed nautical men to undertake inspections of vessels. These inspectors were not necessarily experts in the field, and there were no clearly defined standards or rules for them to use. Over time practices developed whereby vessels could only hold the highest class for a limited period of time regardless of the quality of maintenance. This gradually led to the establishment of a rival register by the ship owners, in 1799 - The New Register Book of Shipping (also known as the Shipowners' Register or Red Book).

In the early 19th century, with both parties were on the verge of bankruptcy, and eventually agreed to joined forces. The Society was reconstituted in 1834 as the Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. A General Committee was formed to take responsibility for running the Society and for the standardisation of rules regarding ship construction and maintenance. Their aim was to survey and classify both British ships and any foreign vessels calling at British ports.

The Register has recorded numerous developments in the history of shipping, including the first classification of a steamer, 1818, and of an iron vessel, 1837. The Rules for Iron Ships were first published in the 1855 Register.

Lloyd's Register gradually established a number of offices throughout Britain and the world. In 1851, Captain Thomas Menzies, a ship builder from Leith, posted as their surveyor to Quebec, and the St Lawrence River, 1851. In 1856, Samuel Pretious was sent to the Netherlands and Belgium as a surveyor, but later recalled due to lack of business, and it was not until 1868, that an office was again opened there. The next year the first surveyor, Joseph Tucker, was sent to Shanghai. Other surveyors established Lloyd's offices in Austria, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Australia.

In 1890 a Technical Committee was formed under the guidance of Benjamin Martell, chief ship surveyor, 1872-1900. This Committee was responsible for recommending amendments to existing rules, and the adoption of new rules.

As the Register expanded, new premises were needed and the head office was moved to a new building in Fenchurch St in 1901, designed by Thomas Collcutt.

Lloyd's Register expanded into other fields during World War 1 when the French Government asked them to inspect steel that was to be used for armaments. This was followed by requests during the 1920s and 1930s, investigated cases of welding fractures in oil storage tanks in the Middle East. This was the beginning of what is today a large Energy and Transportation business stream. Following World War 1, the Register was approached by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors to undertake aircraft inspection. In 1930, the General Committee appointed an Aviation Committee and aviation surveyors. This work was eventually transferred to the Civil Aviation Authority.

During World War 2, the headquarters moved from London to Wokingham, with only a skeleton staff remaining in Fenchurch St. Their surveyors, which were classed as a reserved occupation, were involved in all sorts of projects, including secondment to the Admiralty, advising on construction of floating docks, and advising the army on refrigeration units for tanks to be used in the North Africa campaign. Following the end of the War, they were involved in many rebuilding projects, including the management and clearance of wrecks form harbours.

In 1986, moved into management system certification, and Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) was the first of its numerous quality and environmental systems certification programmes to gain accreditation.

The Regional Studies Association was founded in 1965. Its objects are: (1) to promote education in the field of regional studies by the exchange of ideas and information; and, (2) to stimulate and aid studies and research into regional planning, development and functions and to disseminate the results of such research. Since 1967, the Association has published a quarterly journal, Regional Studies.

The Regent's Park School was founded by Dr Bruno Schindler and his wife, Alma in 1933, mainly for Jewish refugee children from Germany. It was the aim of the Schindlers to make the children as independent as possible as they knew that a number of them would probably never see their parents again. There was a strong emphasis on Judaism and Dr Schindler made it a rule that every Friday evening he would give a talk about the history of the Jews and Judaism. There were also many discussion groups on a variety of subjects led by the matron of the school. The aim of the school was thus to encourage independent thinking, an ability to act independently and a feeling that, despite adversity, it was possible for all to achieve the kind of life and standard of living from which most of the children had come. The fact that the school produced an exceptionally large number of men and women in the professions is testimony to this.

Designed by architects Henry Tanner, F.J. Wills and W.J. Ancell, the Regent Palace Hotel was built in 1914 on Glasshouse Street, Piccadilly Circus, and at the time of its opening on 16 May 1915 was the largest hotel in Europe with 1028 bedrooms. Initially the responsibility of Morris Salmon, the hotel later came under the remit of Douglas Gluckstein and Rex Joseph, with Mr Frederichs and Mr Delaloye forming part of the management team.

At its height, the hotel employed more than 1000 staff, some of which were accommodated in the adjacent Annexe and its 160 bedrooms. This building also contained a complete laundry service for all of the Strand group hotels in London, and was linked to the main building by a bridge and underground passage constructed in the 1930s. The Regent Palace Hotel additionally supplied meat to all the Strand hotels and Cornerhouses in the form of pre-cut steaks which were butchered onsite in specially designed kitchens in the basement of the hotel.

During the First World War, the hotel's accommodation was requisitioned by the government, and later in the Second World War, two separate bombs caused minor damage to the building, including the staff Annexe.

The hotel was owned and operated by Strand Hotels Limited, a subsidiary of J. Lyons and Company Limited, until 1977 when the Stand Hotels group was acquired by Trusthouse Forte. It was subsequently run by Grenada, Compass and Travel Lodge, and finally closed in December 2006.

The Refugee Council is the UK's largest organisation working for refugees and asylum seekers. It offers direct support, alongside capacity-building amongst community groups, undertaking international work, and campaigning, lobbying and researching in a bid to influence public policy in the area.

The Council was formed in 1981 through the merger of the British Council for Aid to Refugees (BCAR), and the Standing Conference on Refugees (SCOR), both of which had been established in 1951, following the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. After the merger it was originally known as the British Refugee Council and was later renamed the Refugee Council due to the establishment of various other regional refugee councils. The Refugee Council became a membership organisation in 1983.

The Reform League was established in 1865 to press for manhood suffrage and the ballot. It collaborated with the more moderate and middle-class Reform Union and gave strong support to the abortive Reform Bill of 1866 and the Reform Act of 1867. The 1867 Reform Act gave the vote to every male adult householder living in a borough constituency. Male lodgers paying £10 for unfurnished rooms were also granted the vote. This gave the vote to about 1,500,000 men. The League ran parliamentary candidates in the general election of 1868 but with little success. It was dissolved in 1869.

The Reform Club was established in the context of political activity and ideas, which found expression in the passing of the Great Reform Act, 1832. It was instigated by Edward Ellice, MP for Coventry and the Whig Party whip, when he and a number of others of radical political persuasion were denied entrance to Brook's Club.

The Reform Club was initially located in a house at 104 Pall Mall, adapted for the club by Decimus Burton. In 1837, a competition was held for the design of a new clubhouse, and Charles Barry was declared the winner. The new clubhouse was opened in 1841, providing a morning room, coffee room, strangers' room, audience room parliamentary library, drawing room, and private drawing room and a map room. The interior also competed in 1841, was altered between 1852-1856m under the supervision of Barry, and in 1878, underwent a general refurbishment under the direction of his son E M Barry. The Club also had a large and well equipped kitchen. The French chef, and author, Alexis Soyer, proved a significant attraction of the club, until his resignation in 1850.

The Club provided a meeting place for members with a variety of political views including Whigs, Radicals, and Chartists. It became a symbol of Liberalism, and counted among its members Joseph Hume, George Grote, Prof E S Beesly, Louis Fagan, G E Buckle, Sir Anthony Panizzi, Sir Edward Sullivan, Sir Henry Irving, Samuel Plimsoll, and Sir Charles Dilke. Initially the Club members were politically very active, and included nearly 200 MPs and more than 50 peers. By 1890, this had decreased to about 120 MPs and a few peers, and by 1942 there were only 19 MPs who were members. This decrease appears to reflect the decline of the Liberal Party itself, as much as the club's role as a centre for political discussion, some of which had now moved to the National Liberal Club. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Club membership had a more literary bent, counting as members Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Hilaire Belloc, Lawrence Weaver, Stopford Brooke, Sir Paul Vinogradoff, Arnold Bennett, A T Bolton and Philip Guedella, as well as a number of publishers. However members also included the bankers and industrialists, and businessmen. Its current membership includes men and women of varied background and nationality, the criteria for admission being character, talent and achievement.

The Westminster Club was located in Albemarle Street, London. Members were eligible without restriction as to profession or business. Members are elected by ballot. In 1879, it charged an entrance fee of 5 guineas, and subscriptions at a rate of 5 guineas for town members, and 3 guineas for country members.

The Parthenon Club was located at 16 Regent St, the former home of the architect John Nash. It charged an entrance-fee of 20 guineas, with an annual subscription, of 7 guineas, and had about 700 members in 1850.

REfIT (Religious Education from Information Technology) was formed in November 1997 to look at the future of RE and IT, and discuss how information and communications technology would affect the teaching of RE. The original idea for the REfIT came out of a series of discussions under the aegis of the RE Futures Project set up on the 10th anniversary of the PCfRE (Professional Council for Religious Education) in 1995. From the communications module of the Futures Project came the recommendation for an RE and IT project. It was agreed that Farmington would look for funding and that the PCfRE would run the project. The Dulverton Trust agreed to provide £20,000 over three years, and REfIT was born. The aim of the REfIT Project was to 'develop and encourage the effective use of IT'. The participants wished to establish a network of those involved in ICT for RE; encourage the dissemination of classroom teaching materials; monitor and disseminate new technical developments; explore the potential European dimension of IT in RE; and consider 'the ethics, morals and spirituality of IT as a part of the whole school curriculum'. Led by the Project Director Jeremy Taylor, the fifteen-strong Project Team consisted of primary and secondary teachers, lecturers, examiners and IT experts. The project set up a website which held a database of interested teachers; case studies of RE lessons taught using ICT; articles on the use of ICT in RE; and the 'RE Web', a mapping of RE resources on the Internet. A CDRom was produced containing teacher information, classroom resources, case studies and the 'Children Talking' database. REfIT also formed links with numerous national bodies, including the DfEE, QCA, Ofsted and the TTA. there were also strong links with BECTa (British Education and Communications Technology Agency). Its members made significant contributions to conference, wrote articles for relevant publications, and set up courses to diseminate its work and ideas. The Project was extended for an extra year, holding its final meeting in November 2002. The REfIT website is at http://refit.ucsm.ac.uk/start.html.

Reffells Bexley Brewery at Bourne Road, Bexley, Kent, was founded in 1874 by H Reffell. It was incorporated in 1898, including Showells Brewery Company Limited, of City Road, London. The company took over the free trade of the Hampstead Brewery Company Limited in 1931. It was acquired by Courage and Barclay in 1957 and the Brewery closed. The company was in liquidation in April 1970.

Born, 1862; instructor in surveying and map curator at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), 1878-1933; Fellow of the RGS, 1900-1945; Victoria Medal, RGS, 1928; died, 1945.

Born, 1780; spent four years studying under the Norwich surgeon Philip Meadows Martineau, before matriculating at Edinburgh University in 1800; graduated MD at Edinburgh, 1803; attended Robert Willan's practice at the Public Dispensary in Carey Street, London, 1803; fellow of the Medical Society of London, 1803; went on a year-long European tour, 1805-1806; extra-licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, 1807; private practice in Norfolk; physician to the Norfolk Public Dispensary; physician to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and the Bethel Hospital for Lunatics, 1808; died, 1814.

George B Reese was Headmaster of Toroyn School, Merioneth, Wales.

William Rees Jeffreys was born in London in 1871. He worked for the Board of Trade until 1903, when he became Administrative Secretary to the Royal Automobile Club and Secretary to the Motor Union. In the same year, Rees-Jeffreys secured the appointment of a Departmental Committee to inquire into Highway Administration in England and Wales. From 1910, to its demise in 1918, he was Secretary of the Road Board. Rees Jeffreys also wrote and campaigned extensively on road transport and motoring in the United Kingdom, Europe and many other countries. He died in 1954.

William Stokes Rees entered the Navy in 1866 and served on the Mediterranean Station in the ROYAL OAK from 1868 to 1870. In 1872 he was in home waters in the PEMBROKE and the BELLEROPHON and then went out to the Pacific in the REPULSE until 1873. He became a lieutenant in 1877 and specialized in gunnery. Promoted to Commander in 1891, he went, in 1894, to the ST GEORGE, flagship at the Cape of Good Hope, and took part in the Brass River (1895), M'Wele (1896), Ashanti (1896), Zanzibar (1896) and Benin (1897), expeditions. Having become a captain in 1897, Rees took command of the THETIS in the Mediterranean, 1898 to 1900, and then on the Cape Station until 1901. After some short commands followed by two years as senior officer in Australia (1904 to 1906), he retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1910 and rose to Admiral on the retired list.

Born, 1900; educated at Eton and Trinity College Cambridge; BA, Historical Tripos, 1921; Honorary Attaché, Berlin Embassy, 1922; succeeded to his father's title as 2nd Baronet, 1922; Assistant Secretary, Cambridge University Press, 1923; Honorary Treasurer and Lecturer, London District, Workers' Educational Association, 1925-1927; editor of The Adelphi (which had been founded by John Middleton Murry), 1930-1936; left for hospital work in the Spanish Civil War, 1937; his friends during the 1930s included John Middleton Murry, Frieda Lawrence, and George Orwell; served in the British and French navies (including the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve), 1940-1945; French Croix de Guerre, 1944; became friends with Simone Weil in the 1940s; exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy and elsewhere; literary executor of George Orwell (d 1950) and R H Tawney (d 1962); died, 1970. Publications: Brave Men: a study of D H Lawrence and Simone Weil (Victor Gollancz, London, 1958); For Love or Money (Secker & Warburg, London, 1960); George Orwell: fugitive from the camp of victory (Secker & Warburg, London, 1961); A Theory of my Time (Secker & Warburg, London, 1963); Simone Weil: a Sketch for a Portrait (Oxford University Press, London, 1966). Edited: J Middleton Murry's Selected criticism (Oxford University Press, London, 1960); J Middleton Murry's Poets, Critics, Mystics (Carbondale & Edwardsville, Southern Illinois University Press; Feffer & Simons, London & Amsterdam, 1970). Translated: with Jane Degras, Jules Monnerot's Sociology of Communism (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1953); Alfred Grosser's Western Germany: from defeat to rearmament (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1955); Simone Weil's Selected Essays (Oxford University Press, London, 1962); Simone Weil's Seventy Letters (Oxford University Press, London, 1965); Simone Weil's On Science, Necessity, and the Love of God (Oxford University Press, London, 1968); Simone Weil's First and Last Notebooks (Oxford University Press, London, 1970).

Merlyn Rees was born into a mining family in Cilfynydd, South Wales, on 18 December 1920. In the 1920s his family moved to London. From 1933 to 1939, he attended Harrow Weald County Grammar School and later went on to Goldsmiths College (where he was President of the Students' Union) to train as a teacher. During the Second World War he joined the RAF, with the Desert Air Force. He served in campaigns in Italy, France and Austria. By demobilisation he had risen to the rank of Squadron Leader. Following the war, Rees studied economics and history at the London School of Economics. In 1949 he became a teacher at his old school in Harrow. Also in 1949, he married Colleen Cleveley, a former pupil of Harrow Weald County Grammar School. In 1955, he was awarded an MSc (Econ.) from London University for a thesis entitled, 'The economic and social development of extra-metropolitan Middlesex in the nineteenth century'. In 1960, Rees was the organiser of the Festival of Labour (held on 15-17 June 1962). From 1962-1963, he was Lecturer in Economics at Luton College of Technology. In the 1950s, Rees had a run of unsuccessful attempts as Labour parliamentary candidate for Harrow East. However, in June 1963, he successfully fought the by-election in Leeds South which had been called following the unexpected death of Hugh Gaitskell. He served as Member of Parliament for the constituency until 1992 (the seat changed its name to Morley and Leeds South in 1983). On becoming an MP, Rees became Principal Private Secretary to James Callaghan. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Army, 1965-1966; for the RAF, 1966-1968; and, at the Home Office (where he was responsible for immigration and the fire service), 1968-1970. In October 1971, Rees became opposition spokesman on Northern Ireland. The role involved shadowing Willie Whitelaw when he became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland following the announcement of direct rule from Westminster in March 1972. In opposition, Rees adopted a bipartisan approach to Northern Ireland policies, especially in support of the Government's white paper, 'Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals' (Cmnd 5259), published in March 1973. The paper proposed an elected Assembly, a power sharing executive and the establishment of 'institutional arrangements for consultations and co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland'. He also supported the Sunningdale Agreement (December 1973) which, amongst other points, agreed the formation of a Council of Ireland. When Labour regained power in March 1974, Rees became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Much of his time in this role was spent on security matters, at a time of intense terrorist activity in the province. His immediate political priority was to support the power sharing executive and implement the Sunningdale Agreement. However, Unionist opposition to Sunningdale was growing, as was evident by the fact that in the UK General Election of February 1974, 11 of the 12 Northern Ireland seats were won by anti-Sunningdale unionists. In May 1974, the Ulster Workers' Council organised a strike against the Sunningdale Agreement which crippled power supplies to the province. This led to the collapse of the executive and the restoration of direct rule from Westminster. In July 1974, the government published a white paper, 'The Northern Ireland Constitution' (Cmnd 5675). This proposed the establishment of an elected constitutional convention which, it was hoped, would enable Northern Ireland's political parties to create a workable constitution for the province. Elections were held on 1 May 1975, with Unionist parties opposed to power sharing in the majority. By the end of November 1975, the Convention recommended a return to majority rule - a position which was not acceptable to the Nationalists. Rees tried to break the deadlock by holding a series of talks with all the parties involved in the Convention. The talks failed and the Convention was dissolved in March 1976.

Other aspects of his time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland include: a ceasefire by the Provisional IRA; the end of internment (December 1975); and, ending of special category status for paramilitary prisoners (March 1976). For more details about his time as Secretary of State, see Merlyn Rees' own book, Northern Ireland: a personal perspective (1985). Following Harold Wilson's resignation as Prime Minister in 1976, Rees was manager of the successful campaign for Jim Callaghan to be the next leader of the Labour Party. In September 1976, he was appointed Home Secretary. He was Shadow Home Secretary, 1979-1981 and Opposition spokesman on energy, 1981-1983. In 1982, he served on the Falkland Islands Review Committee (Franks Committee). In 1987, he joined a deputation with Cardinal Basil Hume, Lord Devlin, Lord Scarman, and Roy Jenkins to campaign for the release of the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven. In 1992, he was created a life peer as Baron Merlyn-Rees. He died in London on 5 January 2006.

Harry Rée (1914-1991) was a student at the Institute of Education, University of London, from 1936-1937. He went on to become a language master at Bradford Grammar School and, after gaining a distinguished war record for his activities with the French resistance, was headmaster of Watford Grammar School. He then became the first Professor of Education at York University, 1961-1974. In the 1960s and 1970s he was a strong proponent of comprehensive education and was actively involved in a number of pressure groups, including the Society for the Promotion of Educational Reform through Teacher Training and the Programme for Reform in Secondary Education. In 1974 he left his professorship to return to classroom teaching in Woodberry Down Comprehensive School, London, where he remained until his retirement in 1980. In his retirement he continued to campaign for comprehensive education, for exchanges between young workers within the European Community and the reform of the 1988 Education Act. He was particularly influenced by Henry Morris (1889-1961) who, as Chief Education Officer for the County, had pioneered 'Village Colleges' in Cambridgeshire in the 1930s, and Rée became Morris's biographer and a strong advocate for community education.