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Records of charity The Ranyard Mission and Ranyard Nurses, comprising Council minutes; Finance Committee minutes; Executive Committee minutes; registers of nurses; annual reports; correspondence; booklets, pamphlets and magazines; accounts of the Mission; speeches; photographs; badges; and papers relating to Special Funds.

Receipts for building work completed by Simon Foster, bricklayer, at Hamylands [or Hamy Lands], the property of Charles Duncombe in Teddington, 1691-1694.

Records of the Middlesex Sessions of the Peace comprising extracts from minutes of the orders of court relating to County business. The extracts were first made in 1819 for the period 1716-1829. Only two entries were made between 1826 and 1829.

Papers, 1645-1887, collected by the solicitors in the course of their work, including leases, copies from court rolls of courts baron, letters of administration and copy will and probate relating to property in Ealing, Edmonton, Chiswick and Sutton.

Papers, 1587-1856, collected by the solicitors in the course of their work, including bargain and sales, bonds, copies of wills and probates, leases, releases, copies from court rolls, quitclaims, deeds, mortgages, feoffments, marriage settlements and assignments for property and land in Acton, Chiswick, Sutton, Ealing, Brentford, Hampton, Harefield, Harrow, Kenton, Wembley, Hendon, Hillingdon, Isleworth, Stanmore and Colham manor. Also sheet of 10 turnpike tickets for the "Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Roads", 1854.

Papers, 1636-1907, collected by the solicitors in the course of their work, including survey of the Manors of Colham, Harefield and Moorhall and the Borough of Uxbridge; "Titles to Heritable Estates", compiled by Pysh [or Fysh] de Burgh of Colham Manor in 1798; quitrents for Colham Manor; index of admissions and surrenders, rentals, bill and cash book, minute book of enclosure proceedings and enclosure act for West Drayton; and various legal papers relating to properties in Colham, Harefield, Hillingdon, Uxbridge, West Drayton, Kensington, Paddington and elsewhere.

Advertisement label, pasted on cloth, for Nathaniel Gladman, trunkmaker, 17--.

Papers, 1764-1903, collected by the solicitors in the course of their work, comprising legal documents relating to properties in South Mimms, Highgate, Edmonton, Whetstone, Enfield, Hornsey and Islington; with papers relating to cases at the Chancery Division and Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice.

Papers of Jessop and Gough, solicitors, 1726-1920, including practice papers; papers arising from work as clerks to Edmonton petty sessions, relating to licensing, rates, school attendance and certain other matters; list of Guardians of Edmonton Union, elected between 1865 and 1879; vestry papers for Waltham Abbey parish, and correspondence. The papers relate mainly to Edmonton and Enfield, but also Wood Green, Kentish Town, Islington, Waltham Abbey, Hendon, Ponders End, Cricklewood, Lea Valley, Harrow, Lee, Catford and Tottenham.

Papers, 1899, collected by the solicitors in the course of their work, comprising legal documents relating to the lease of a shop and basement at 4, Spring Bridge Road, Ealing.

Papers collected by the solicitors in the course of their work, comprising agreements to let premises called The Peaks, Harlaxton, Rosefield Cottage, Ford Cottage and Ascham in Ford Bridge Road, 1905-1910 and probate and miscellaneous papers of John Charles Gee of Avon House, Acton Hill, 1874.

Navy Office records belonging to Charles Sergison comprising Navy Board Minutes, 1673 to 1718 (seventy-six volumes), and copies of Admiralty orders to the Navy Board, 1603 to 1717 (thirteen volumes), mostly after 1674. There are also a large number of miscellaneous documents, including lists of ships in Sea Pay, 1660 to 1685 and 1684 to 1718, lists of officers, 1688 to 1716, Instructions for Ordnance, 1660 to 1688, Instructions for the Navy, 1686 to 1688, an abstract of Navy Board Warrants, 1660 to 1717, an abstract of numbers of dockyard workmen, 1686 to 1718, the Ordinary Estimate, 1692, papers relating to a victualling enquiry, 1710 to 1713, and an account of the Select Committee to Examine and State the Debt of the Navy, 1714. Finally there are copies of Hollond's 'Discourse on the Navy' and 'Survey of the South Coast' by Edmund Dummer, Surveyor of the Navy between 1692 and 1699.

Signals Collection comprising two East India Company signal books. The first is a printed signal book of 1783 entitle 'A Collection of Signals for the use of the ships in the Service of the United East India Company'; a sheet of coloured flags has been loosely inserted, but the book was not issued. There is also a manuscript volume of signals issued by Captain Alexander Montgomerie to the fleet under his command, St Helena to England, 1794.

153 volumes of sailing and fighting instructions include the majority of those listed in Sir Julian Corbett, Signals and instructions (Navy Records Society, 1908). In addition, there are many examples of those issued to smaller squadrons rather than fleets. The earliest is a printed copy of 1673 issued to James Duke of York (1633-1701). There is a copy of 1691 by Admiral Russel (1653-1727), issued in 1702. Subsequent sets show the development which took place up to the Seven Years War. From 1756 onwards additional and supplementary instructions became more numerous. The collection also contains several versions of instructions for ships in convoy, 1708 to 1815. In addition to these single items, there are sets in the personal collections. The most extensive, of thirty-four volumes, is that of Admiral Duncan (q.v.), 1760 to 1799, including signals and instructions issued during the American War, convoy instructions for 1782 and a number of sets from the 1790s. Other sets of significance include those of Vice-Admiral Duff, 1748 to 1762, including convoy instructions, 1756 and 1758, and printed instructions for disembarking and re-embarking troops, which were issued by Admiral Rodney (1719-1792) for the landings at marinique, 1762; of Rear-Admiral Clements, 1758 to 1770; and of Captain Lord Longford, 1779 to 1780.

120 printed and manuscript signal books and signal logs. 1711 to 1816. The earliest signal book is a manuscript volume compiled between 1710 and 1711. This contains additional signals made by Sir John Norris (c 1670-1749) in the RANELAGH. The format of this volume is very similar to the printed signal book of 1714 by Jonathan Greenwood. There are some manuscript examples produced privately by individual officers usually with a thumb index for quick reference, dating from the mid-eighteenth century. There are also printed signal books for 1790, 1793, 1795, 1798 and The General Signal Book of 1799, 1808 and 1816. During the 1790s the printing of signal books became general practice. There are various examples (which include day and fog signals), night signals, instructions and additional instructions, which were usually issued in sets. For example, the collection has a set issued in 1793 by Admiral Lord Hood to the Mediterranean fleet. There is a similar set issued by Sir John Jervis in 1794 while in the West Indies. Most of the printed books which were issued have additional signals inserted in manuscript. The manuscript signal books are copies kept by officers who were not issued with a printed signal book, and preferred their own copy for easy reference; they are therefore usually pocket size. This practice was forbidden because of the danger of the code falling into enemy hands. However, there are a number of these in the collection and they often contain additional information, such as orders of battle and sailing, keys to both the British and French systems of coastal signals, pendant lists, etc. Many are finely executed and some are illustrated. There is a manuscript signal book used at the battle of the Nile, based on the 1795 edition entitled 'Day and Night Signal Book, Horarry, Fog etc.' by Midshipman (later Commander) Charles Claridge (fl 1798-1823) in the DEFENCE. This has a short diary at the back of the volume describing the battle and an order of battle and an order of battle and sailing. A manuscript copy of Lord Howe's (q.v.) code of 1793 is also included; this contains a list of signals for identifying coasts and headlands, caricatures, a sea song and drawings of naval vessels. The collection contains a group of signal books issued for use in a particular area; they include volumes for Barbados, 1820, Plymouth, 1797 and St Helena, 1817. There are also three signal logs, one of which was kept in the VICTORY, 1804.

Over half the signal books in this category are French; the other nations represented are Spain, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Sweden and Turkey. There are eighteen volumes, 1754 to 1885, the majority of which are printed with manuscript annotations. Of the French volumes, the earliest is a signal book kept in 1754 by the pilot of LA ROSE, in the squadron of Le Comte de Gallissoniere (1693-1756). The volume has a thumb index of coloured flags and is illustrated with watercolours of fleet manoeuvres. There is also an English translation of the signal book issued by the Comte D'Ache (1700-1775) to his fleet while in the East Indies in the ZODIAQUE, 1757 to 1759; a signal book issued by the Comte D'Orvilliers (1708-1792) in 1779; and a printed signal book of 1787 issued by the Marquis de Nieul, in which the names of the vessels in the squadron have been scratched out, but the twenty flags and ten pendants have been coloured. The Revolutionary War period is represented by three signal books issued for the navy of the Republic in 1799 and 1801. Only one has actually been issued and gives a key to the flags. In addition, there is a handbook for a coastal semaphore between Bayonne and Flushing; published in 1807, the system was invented by an artillery officer named Depillon and built ca.1803. The category also includes two signal books for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; one was issued in c 1784 by John (later Sir John) Acton (1736-1811), the other in 1816; a Spanish book of signals and instructions printed in Cadiz in 1765 and issued by the Marques de la Victoria; another Spanish volume for 1781 for the fleet of Don Luis de Cordova; and two Swedish volumes, 1795 and 1796. The Turkish signal book is naval, 1885, and the format is similar to a French or an English volume. There is also a Dutch volume of flags rather than signals which was compiled c 1687; it is described on the title page as 'The Flagbook of Captain Paulus van der Dussen' (1658-1707).

Seven volumes concerned with naval signalling, telegraphic and merchant shipping codes, 1787 to 1822. The earliest volume is by Captain (later Admiral) Phillip Patton (1739-1815); in 1787 he published 'A system of signals combining the method commonly used in theBritish Navy...with a numerary method'. As far as is known this was never used, since preference was given to the code invented by Lord Howe. Patton employed two methods: one was the old idea of the meaning of the flag being governed by the position of the hoist and the other gave each flag a fixed numerical value. A new arrangement of Howe's day and night signals and instructions was made in 1792 by John McArthur (1755-1840), while secretary to Lord Hood, and printed in 1793. McArthur also published a comprehensive plan in c 1804, entitled 'Thoughts on several plans combining a system of Universal Signals by day and night', of which there is also a copy. There is a lithographed copy, made in 1822, of 'Practical Rules for making Telegraphic Signals with a description of the two-armed telegraph invented in 1804' by Lieutenant-Colonel Pasley (1780-1861); he put forward a system of sending messages by land using a pole with two moveable arms. A similar manuscript of ca.1820 is by Lieutenant (later Commander) Poynter Crane (1782-1879).

Papers of Frank Clarke Strick comprising minutes of the Board of Directors' and General Meetings, profit and loss accounts and annual returns of the numerous companies which made up the Strick group, 1896 to 1974. These include Frank C. Strick and Company Limited, 1903 to 1965; Anglo-Algerian Steamship Company (1896) Limited, 1896 to 1922; London, Paris and Marseilles Steamship Company Limited (later London and Paris Steamship Company Limited -- later London and Paris Steamship and Investment Company Limited), 1920 to 1965; Strick Line Limited, 1915 to 1970; Strick Line (1923) Limited, 1924 to 1958; the Shahristan Steamship Company Limited, 1923 to 1971; the Dwina Limited, 1908 to 1965; Strick, Gorchs and Company Limited, 192] to 1965: the North Devon Steamship Company Limited (later Frank Strick and Company (South Wales) Limited), 1923 to 1965; United Ship Supplies Limited, 1930 to 1965; Strick, Scott and Company Limited, 1921; Frank Strick and Company (Glasgow) Limited, 1920 to 1971, (Newcastle) 1931 to 1976 and (Liverpool) 1954 to 1974. There are ships' voyage accounts and cargo documents for a number of ships from 1969 to 1971; six freight contracts of 1914 and the 1922 management agreement between Strick's and Gray Dawes; and two letterbooks with out-letters to Government Ministries and Departments, 1909 to 1918. Finally, there are some technical records and publicity and personal material relating to Strick; included here is a memorandum on 'Ormuz' Red Oxide ore which gives details of rates and shipments, 1906 to 1942.

Papers used by Beevor during the preparation of Inside the British Army (Chatto Windus, London, 1990), including papers on Defence estimates; officer education; Army Personnel Research Establishment, with Sandhurst reports relating to social conditions; officer and other rank recruitment, bullying; the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; UK Land Forces; the Falklands Islands and BFFI (British Forces, Falklands Islands); Northern Ireland; the Intelligence Corps; women in the Army; medical and psychological services and facilities; punishment; the Army in the Field; officer careers; reduction in numbers of personnel; the Territorial Army. Papers used in the preparation of Crete: the battle and the resistance (John Murray, London, 1991), including retrospective personal accounts of operations in Greece and the evacuation of British forces in Apr 1941; the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Yak Mission to train Greek resistance forces; the defence of Crete during the German invasion, May 1941; retrospective personal testimonies of the land and sea battle for Crete, 1941, and typescript copy of the SOE final report on operations in Crete, 1945. Also, typescript text of lecture by Beevor, entitled 'The defence of Crete', given at National Army Museum, 1991, and paperback edition of Crete: the battle and the resistance (Penguin, London, 1992).

'Reporting on the effectiveness of RAF officers', a paper on personnel assessment in the RAF, 1957, with covering letter to Senior Personnel Staff Officer, Far East Air Force HQ, 1957.

Photographs relating to his naval career, 1912-1949, including photograph album containing photographs taken during his service on HMS BACCHANTE, 1914-1915, at Gallipoli, 1915, and in the North Sea, 1916-1918, Baltic Sea, 1918-1920, East Indies and East Africa, 1921-1924, China Station, 1932-1934, Mediterranean, 1941-1943; photographs of Allied landings at Sword Beach, Normandy, France, 1944. Two volumes of press cuttings relating to the publication of Bless our ship (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1958), 1958, The flowers of the sea (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1962), 1962 and 1971, and Salute the soldier, (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1966), 1966, and Gallipoli (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1975), 1975.

Papers created or collected by Edmonds during the course of his life and career, dated 1827-1838, 1852, 1879-1881, 1890-1957, principally comprising typescript memoirs covering his life and career, 1861-1951, and notably concerning his work at the Royal Military Academy, 1890-1896, and in the Intelligence Division of the War Office, 1899-1901, 1904-1908, his service in South Africa, 1901-1902, and in World War One, 1914-1918, at the Geneva Conference, 1906, as General Staff Officer, 4 Div, 1911-1914, and in the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, 1919-1949, written in [1951]; correspondence with Rt Hon Sir Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, 1922-1954, relating to Churchill's book The World Crisis, 1911-1918 (Thornton Butterworth, London,1923-1929, abridged and revised, 1931); letters from FM Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig and his wife, 1903-1939, mainly relating to Edmonds' work on the official history of World War One; correspondence with Maj Gen Sir Ernest (Dunlop) Swinton, 1919-1950; texts of lectures,[1908-1947], notably relating to the American Civil War, 1861-1865, laws of war and the organisation of intelligence and information in warfare; typescript and printed articles, 1893-1957, mainly relating to World War One; official army handbooks and reports by Edmonds and others, 1899-1918, 1945; papers related to World War One collected by Edmonds, dated 1900, 1907, 1914-[1945]; presscuttings, [1906-1943], mainly concerning political and military developments and international relations; photographs, 1895-1918, mainly of Edmonds with Army colleagues.

Announcement, in Russian, by Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia and Poland, Great Prince of Finland (1894-1917), of Austria-Hungary's declaration of war upon Russia, as reported by the St Petersburg Telegraph Agency in the 'Astrakhan Leaflet', 21 Jul 1914 (3 Aug 1914). Translation into English included.

Dennis Gilley personal papers, including: an early example of his work at R Watson and Sons; papers on his work on professional conduct and pension fund administration; papers relating to his 'How to be a Happy Pension Fund Trustee' booklet; texts of speeches and papers delivered by Gilley; and press cuttings.

Personal correspondence and papers of Baron Ernst von Feuchtersleben, mainly relating to medical topics and to the Faculty of Medicine in Vienna, 1826-1858. The papers are mainly copies of medical texts with mansuscript annotations and copies of medical essays by him - some unpublished. Also, his case book 1836-1842. The records often relate to the Viennese Medical Faculty, his interest in medical education, and addresses given by him. The correspondence is primarily from medical colleagues in Austria and Germany.

MSS.3259-3285 comprise chiefly scientific material; they include student notebooks on zoology, botany and geology (MSS.3259-3280); scientific logs from the British Antarctic Expedition (MSS.3281-3283), specifically a biological log (MSS.3281-3282) and a log of whales sighted (MS.3283), both spanning 1910-1913; an address delivered in 1913 to the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association on Mendel's principle of heredity (MS.3284); and some notes on fish and fishing (MS.3285). MSS.5252-5254 comprise more personal and more miscellaneous material. MS.5252 is a scrapbook kept by Lillie, containing news cuttings, photographs and miscellaneous papers, spanning the period c.1845-1910 and including cuttings (with portrait prints) on science and scientists, 1845-1901; caricatures by Lillie of lecturers and staff at Birmingham University, 1904-1905; geological photographs, 1907-1909; family photographs (including a group class portrait at United Services' College, Westward Ho!, c.1892); and ephemera from Cambridge, 1909-1910. MS.5253 comprises cuttings from newspapers and illustrated magazines, spanning 1910-1914 and mainly relating to Robert Falcon Scott's British Antarctic Expedition. Finally MS.5254 comprises correspondence and very miscellaneous papers from the period 1824-1938 (plus some undated material) among them letters to his grandfather John Lillie D.D. (1806-1866), and to his maternal relatives the Macaire family, and letters to Lillie from E.A.N. Arber, Caroline Oates and others.

Collection of prescription-books of an unidentified London [Islington?] Chemist. From an entry inside the fly-leaf of Vol. 10, it appears that these prescription-books were commenced in 1835. The name of the firm responsible for this collection has not been ascertained, and has not been found in any of the volumes, but from the names of physicians appended to many of the prescriptions it seems to have been in Islington or in that part of London, for a large proportion of these are associated with the Islington Dispensary. Among these are many entries for Henry Bateman, FRCS [1806-1880] who was surgeon and later consulting surgeon to that institution. [Cf. Obituary notice in the Lancet 1880, ii, p. 874.] Pasted inside the upper cover of Vol. 18 [1861-1863] is a cut-out signature of Florence Nightingale [1820-1910]. Pasted inside the upper and lower covers of Vol. 27 [1884-1888], are two printed advertisements of J. Ramel, Crosby Hall Chamber, 24 Bishopsgate St., who describes himself as a 'Sanitary India-Rubber and Chirurgical Instruments Manufacturer and Importer'. One of the lists includes contraceptives. They are here entered as 'F.L.s', priced at from 6/6 per gross: there are also 'Marguerites'-for use by women-at 2/- each. Produced in London.

Personal and professional correspondence, photographs and papers of George Rolleston and his son Sir Humphry Rolleston, 1805-1947. There are also miscellaneous Rolleston family papers, as well as 2 papers given by John Davy Rolleston. George Rolleston's main areas of research were in comparative anatomy, zoology, archaeology, anthropology - his correspondence was often with contempories who were prominent in the same or related fields (botanists, biologists, natural historians). Humphry Rolleston was a keen photographer, and his albums contain a total of 323 photographs. These include portraits of relatives and friends, as well as contemporaries who were subsequently prominent in medicine and surgery. There are also general photographs taken during his career in medicine which are of interest for medical historians. His correspondence and papers cover both professional and personal matters.

The collection centres on Wallich's work on biology, particularly marine biology, and his belief that other figures in the field were ignoring or plagiarising his discoveries. As well as his notes, it includes a collection of offprints by Wallich (MS.4969) and a collection of offprints by other scientists, with Wallich's comments (MS.4970).

The material comprises notes, taken by Susan H. Cannon, of Wilson's lectures on pathology and the treatment of diseases by Swedish remedial gymnastics.

Papers cover Witkowski's writings on medical history (and other areas of history) rather than his medical activities. MSS.5036-5038 comprise press cuttings, publishers' notices, reviews, etc., relating to Witkowski's writings, plus original poems, some photographs, and some letters to him about his work; they span the bulk of his career (1865-1920). MSS.5039-5085 consist of material related closely to various published works on medical history and art history by Witkowski: typescript and holograph drafts, annotated published material, etc. Within this block of material, MSS.5057-5062 consist of a detailed critique of Folie de l'Empereur by Augustin Cabanès (1862-1928), consisting of heavily annotated copies of the published work. Also worth noting are MSS.5063-5064, copies of Witkowski's Comment j'ai appris l'Histoire Sainte, a Rabelaisian and satirical anti-clerical history. Finally, MSS.5086-5088, written under the pseudonym "Docteur Clam", comprise travel writings, recording travels in Italy, Turkey, Romania and Hungary, in 1901 (MS.5086); Egypt, in 1901-1902 (MS.5087); and Italy, in 1905 (MS.5088).

Notebooks kept by three generations of the Carr family, William Carr (b 1715), of Settle, Yorks.; William Carr (1745-1821), apothecary to the Leeds Infirmary, 1774-1781, surgeon apothecary at Elland, Yorks., 1784, and later at Gomersal; and William Carr (1785-1861), general practitioner, of Gomersal.

Account books and miscellaneous papers relating to James Prew's dental practice, {Bristol and Bath], 1830-1847.

Papers of James Ware including notes for lectures on the eye and its disorders, notes on anatomy and mathematics, and a partnership indenture, 1760s-1780s.

Letters received by Henry Lee, naturalist, 1866-1887.

Papers of Henry Reeve comprising a journal of continental travels, 1805-1806; letter to Francis Horner, 15 July 1805.

Records of General Apothecaries Co. Ltd including abstract of the deed of settlement of the Company; minute books, 1860-1942; share certificate books, 1856-1948; annual reports and balance sheets, 1882-1945 and miscellaneous papers, 1889-1951.

Diaries of James Adam as superintendent of the Metropolitan District Asylum at Caterham, Surrey, and of Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries, with inserted letters, memoranda, and programmes of events, 1872-1882.

Certificates issued by the Company of Surgeons, London (and subsequently by the Royal College of Surgeons), certifying candidates as qualified to serve as surgeons or surgeons' mates in the Army, 1787-1826. Each document is signed by the Master and Wardens (subsequently the Governors) and by the Examiners. The certificates are addressed to the Secretary at War, and some are endorsed with the date of receipt at the War Office.

Journal and account book of Thomas Baker comprising journal of a visit to Paris containing narratives of visits to the Surgeons' College of Saint-Côme, and to the hospitals of Les Invalides, L'Hôtel-Dieu, and La Charité. At the latter Baker witnessed operations for fistula in ano and facial abscess by Sauveur François Morand (1697-1733), whose collection on the pathology of bones he also inspected and account book containing accounts of his income and expenditure. Included are accounts of annual income from surgery and bleeding, and from named apprentices, dressers and surgical pupils at St Thomas' Hospital, London, where Baker held the post of Surgeon from 1739. On ff. 1, 2, 40, 41 and on the end-papers are notes by Baker and others on his family and on surgeons at St Thomas' Hospital, 1703-1768.

Correspondence and financial papers of William Stearns (described variously as 'Dr Stearns', 'apothecary', and 'druggist'), and of Major Joseph Sprague and Seth Low (described as 'Dr Low', and 'druggist'), with whom Stearns appears to have been in partnership.

Testimonials and notebook of John Temperley Gray, 1859-1888.

Notes by Charles Hall from lectures and other sources on anatomy and the practice of physic, 1752-1763.

Accounts for medicines supplied by Hallifax as Royal Apothecary to George, Prince of Wales (afterwards King George IV) and to the Prince of Wales' household. Both sets of accounts bear the signatures (on examination and approval) of Sir Richard Jebb, physician to the Prince, and Charles Fitzroy, 1st Baron Southampton, groom of the stole to the Prince. With signatures (on receipt of payment) of Robert Hallifax.

Correspondence and papers of Robert Jones relating to his work as House Surgeon and Apothecary of the Denbighshire Infirmary and General Dispensary, 1826-1828, and to his studies in Dublin at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Meath Hospital 1836-1837.

Letters from Robert Liston to his friend and former assistant, James Miller (1812-1864), plus general Liston family material relating chiefly to Robert Liston's brother David Liston and the latter's son Henry Liston.

Records of the Sydenham Medical Club includign treasurer's books, 1796-1923; list of members, 1791-1928 and photograph album, c 1900.

Letters and papers of James Ormiston McWilliam, 1839-1862. The letters to McWilliam show the interest generated by his investigations into contagious diseases such as yellow fever, and his subsequent official reports. Other contemporary naval issues form a major part of the subject-matter, especially the working conditions and status of assistant surgeons, on whose behalf McWilliam campaigned.

Manuscripts from the collection of the British Medical Association, formerly held in the BMA Library, Tavistock Square, London. The manuscripts were numbered and catalogued at the BMA, with two exceptions among these papers - however the numbering of surviving documents is not consecutive, so that the original collection must have contained at least 26 catalogued items and an unknown number of unrecorded acquisitions. Former BMA MSS.1-6 (transferred at the same time as the manuscripts described here) are now GC/140; one fugitive BMA manuscript was purchased separately and is now MS. 6881. The location of the remainder is not known. The contents mainly comprise transcripts of medical lectures and case notes.

Correspondence between members of the Harland family.

Transcribed minute books of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, 1682-1861.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence: the Singers were clearly vigorous letter writers and both Charles and Dorothea had an enormous number of family, friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately many of their letters were hand written and very few carbon copies survive. Very occasionally an attempt at methodical selection and arrangement is evident: on the whole correspondence had been kept in alphabetical order, and this has been retained in the arrangement of the collection. Dorothea and Charles' correspondence was fairly mixed (reflecting their working life together) with the exception of two distinct groups: correspondence about Dorothea's research on alchemical manuscripts, and later correspondence about her hearing aids.

The main part of the collection centres on the correspondence; this has been grouped together in a self-evident sequence: writings and biographical personal papers follow. Certain of Dorothea's papers remained clearly distinct and these have been kept together. Section E contains a variety of material relating to Jewish refugees, which had been placed on one side by Dorothea after the war for permanent preservation. It has not been listed in detail but sorted into three broad categories. The last section, comprising additional correspondence of the Singers with Sir Zachary Cope, Sir Arthur Salusbury MacNalty and Dr F N L Poynter, is not strictly part of the collection, but these groups of correspondence were given to the Institute to be placed alongside the Singer papers.

The papers are very extensive though there are some lacunae, probably attributable to Chain's many changes of workplace. The early biographical period is sparsely documented, there are sporadic gaps in the correspondence files, and there is no original documentation of the penicillin research at Oxford (although there are many historical accounts and much correspondence about the history of penicillin). The surviving biographical material provides documentation of the arrangements for Chain to live and work in Britain, later honours and awards and his musical interests, and family correspondence, photographs and press-cuttings. There are very substantial records of his later career at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and Imperial College, London, including his continuing contributions to biochemical problems such as carbohydrate metabolism, ergot alkaloids, edible proteins and aeration studies. The Imperial College material also contains records of the creation, administration, finance and architectural design of the Biochemistry Department, and developments in the Department after Chain's statutory retirement in 1973. Additional information about Chain's research is available in the documentation of his very extensive consultancy agreements and collaborative work with industrial firms such as Astra, Beechams and Rank Hovis McDougall, and records relating to government, grant-giving and charitable bodies such as the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research Campaign and Medical Research Council which contributed to the funding of his research. There is much material on Chain's lectures, addresses and broadcasts, and on his extensive travel on visits and conferences, which includes a substantial number of unpublished talks.

An exceptional feature of the Chain papers is the documentation of the large number of Israel and Jewish organisations with which he was associated, especially the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he was a governor for many years and had at one time considered taking up an appointment.

The collection provides good documentation of many aspects of McIlwain's career and his contribution to the development of neurochemistry in the UK and internationally.

Section A, Biographical, brings together obituaries, curricula vitae and bibliographies, and material relating to the various stages of McIlwain's scientific career, especially in the 1930s and 1940s, his appointment to the Biochemistry Chair at the Institute of Psychiatry in 1954 and the symposium held in his honour on his retirement in 1980. The section also presents a significant body of material relating to McIlwain's undergraduate studies at King's College, University of Durham, including essays and notebooks.

Section B, Institute of Psychiatry, is principally papers relating to the activities of McIlwain's own Department of Biochemistry and especially its teaching programme in neurochemistry. There is also material relating to various government and University of London enquiries into medical education.

Section C, Research, includes copies of McIlwain's M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses, notes, drafts and reports for early work in the 1930s and correspondence 'from the Lab' for the 1930s and 1940s.

Section D, Publications, lectures and broadcast, is the largest in the collection. It presents significant documentation, especially correspondence, relating to his textbook Biochemistry and the central nervous system which went through five editions, 1955-1985, and important editorial correspondence for the Biochemical Journal (member of the Editorial Board, 1946-1950), Biochemical Pharmacology and Journal of Neurochemistry. There are also drafts for lectures and seminars for scientific audiences in the UK and abroad, principally from the 1960s onwards.

Section E, Societies and organisations, documents McIlwain's involvement with a number of UK and international bodies including the Biochemical Society, the International Brain Research Organisation and the International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN) of which he was a founder member and from 1984 'Historian' of the Society with responsibility for its archives.

Section F, Visits and conferences, covers the period 1947-1993 and is of particular interest for its documentation of the historical sessions which McIlwain organised at ISN meetings.

Section G, Correspondence, presents an alphabetical sequence of McIlwain's correspondence including significant exchanges with a number of distinguished mentors and contemporaries such as G.R. Clemo, F. Dickens, K.A.C. Elliott, P.G. Fildes, S.S. Kety, H.A. Krebs, Derek Richter and F.L. Rose, and a chronological sequence of shorter scientific correspondence covering the period 1938-1992.

There is also an index of correspondents.