Coleção GB 0074 LMA/4517 - ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY

25 linear metres

GB 0074 LMA/4517 1774-2006 Collection 25 linear metres Royal Humane Society x Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned

The Royal Humane Society was founded in London in 1774 by two doctors, William Hawes (1736-1808) and Thomas Cogan (1736-1818). Both men were concerned at the number of people wrongly taken for dead - and, in some cases, buried alive; they wanted to promote the new, but controversial, medical technique of resuscitation and offered money to anyone rescuing someone from the brink of death.

The first meeting was held on 18 April 1774 at the Chapter Coffee House, St Paul's Churchyard. The founder members of the Society felt sure that the public would support them in their aim of restoring "a father to the fatherless, a husband to the widow, and a living child to the bosom of its mournful parents".

The society - then called the 'Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned' - had five key aims:

• To publish information on how to save people from drowning;
• To pay 2 guineas to anyone attempting a rescue in the Westminster area of London;
• To pay 4 guineas to anyone successfully bringing someone back to life;
• To pay 1 guinea to anyone - often a pub-owner - allowing a body to be treated in his house;

• To provide volunteer medical assistants with some basic life-saving equipment.

  The reward of 4 guineas paid to the rescuer and 1 guinea to anyone allowing a body to be treated on his premises soon gave rise to a widespread scam among the down-and-outs of London: one would pretend to be rescued and the other the rescuer - and they would share the proceeds. So monetary rewards were gradually replaced by medals and certificates, with occasional "pecuniary payments" up to a maximum of one guinea.

  A network of 'receiving houses' was set up in and around the Westminster area of London where bedraggled bodies, many of them pulled out of London's waterways, could be taken for treatment by volunteer medical assistants. A farmhouse in Hyde Park was used at first. It stood on land donated by King George III, the Society's patron. In the 19th century, a special building was erected and remained there until its demolition in 1954. Hyde Park was chosen because of the Serpentine where tens of thousands of people swam in the summer and ice-skated in the winter. To try to keep the number of drownings to a minimum, the Society employed Icemen to be on hand to rescue anyone going through the ice. Gradually, branches of the Royal Humane Society were set up in other parts of the country, mainly in ports and coastal towns where the risk of drowning was high.

  Today the aim of the Society is to recognise the bravery of men, women and children who have saved, or tried to save, someone else's life. The Society operates solely from its headquarters in London but gives awards to people from all over the country, and sometimes from overseas. Financial rewards are no longer given, only medals and certificates.

  Records gifted to the Archive in October 2008.

  Records of the Royal Humane Society, formerly the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned, including:

  -LMA/4517/A/01: Minutes and Agendas, 1774-2000;
  -LMA/4517/A/02: General Court Proceedings, 1820-1950;
  -LMA/4517/A/03: Letter Books, 1830-1867;
  -LMA/4517/A/04: Legacy Book, 1848-1887;
  -LMA/4517/A/05: Ledgers, 1840-1949;
  -LMA/4517/A/06: Annual Reports, 1774-2005;
  -LMA/4517/B/01: Case books, 1821-2005;
  -LMA/4517/B/02: Medal registers, 1776-2006;
  -LMA/4517/C/01: 75th Anniversary Ticket Book, 1849;
  -LMA/4517/C/02: Enquiry files: selected files on the topics of resuscitation, shipwrecks, history of the society and its medals, 1934-2006;
  -LMA/4517/C/03: Historical papers relating to Captain Manby and the rescue of individuals from shipwrecks, 1814-1846;
  -LMA/4517/C/04: Swimming Competition Register, 1892-1949.

  LMA/4517/A: Administration; LMA/4517/B: Cases; LMA/4517/C: Related Documentation.

  These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

  Copyright to these records rests with the City of London.

  English

  Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

  The records of Lloyds Patriotic Fund, including award of medals for saving life at sea, are at reference CLC/120; and the records of the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire are at reference CLC/014.

  Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
  
  June to August 2010. Medals Disasters Accidents Accidental death Organizations Associations Pathology Societies Diseases Drowning First aid Medical sciences Therapy Medical treatment Emergency treatment Resuscitation Awards Social norms Social behaviour Rescue work Royal Humane Society x Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned London England UK Western Europe Europe

Records gifted to the Archive in October 2008.

Records of the Royal Humane Society, formerly the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned, including:

-LMA/4517/A/01: Minutes and Agendas, 1774-2000;
-LMA/4517/A/02: General Court Proceedings, 1820-1950;
-LMA/4517/A/03: Letter Books, 1830-1867;
-LMA/4517/A/04: Legacy Book, 1848-1887;
-LMA/4517/A/05: Ledgers, 1840-1949;
-LMA/4517/A/06: Annual Reports, 1774-2005;
-LMA/4517/B/01: Case books, 1821-2005;
-LMA/4517/B/02: Medal registers, 1776-2006;
-LMA/4517/C/01: 75th Anniversary Ticket Book, 1849;
-LMA/4517/C/02: Enquiry files: selected files on the topics of resuscitation, shipwrecks, history of the society and its medals, 1934-2006;
-LMA/4517/C/03: Historical papers relating to Captain Manby and the rescue of individuals from shipwrecks, 1814-1846;
-LMA/4517/C/04: Swimming Competition Register, 1892-1949.

LMA/4517/A: Administration; LMA/4517/B: Cases; LMA/4517/C: Related Documentation.

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Copyright to these records rests with the City of London.

• inglês

• latim

English

The records of Lloyds Patriotic Fund, including award of medals for saving life at sea, are at reference CLC/120; and the records of the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire are at reference CLC/014.

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• inglês