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Royal College of Psychiatrists

Royal College of Psychiatrists Records


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 2087 Royal College of Psychiatrists Records

Held at: Royal College of Psychiatrists

Title: Royal College of Psychiatrists Records

Date(s): 1841-2010

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 400 boxes

Name of creator(s): The Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane (1841-1865) The Medico-Psychological Association (1866-1925) The Royal Medico-Psychological Association (1926-1970) The Royal College of Psychiatrists (1971 onwards)

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

The archives comprise of the administrative records of the College and its predecessor bodies from 1841. The archive also includes personal and asylum records donated by former prominent Members and Fellows of the College, and some printed material in the form of booklets containing histories of mental hospitals, reports of Commissioners in Lunacy, reports on London County Asylums and Parliamentary Papers on Mental Health. Specifically, the records include:

Foundation Papers: Papers of the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane (the first predecessor body of the College); Circulars received by Dr Jones of Chester announcing the preliminary meeting of the Association, with minutes of the preliminary, first and second meetings, 1841 and 1842. Announcements of Association meetings in the 1850s and 1860s; report of the Special Committee to consider the Government's Bills for the Amendment of the Laws relating to the Care and Treatment of the Insane, 1859.

Minutes and related papers: on the foundation of the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane, 1841 and minutes of meetings, 1841-54, excluding 1845, 1846, 1848, 1849 and 1853 when there were no meetings. Annual meeting minutes have been abstracted onto a Meetings Database. The database can be accessed from the College Library online catalogue. There are no manuscript minutes after 1854 as the Journal of Mental Science was started in that year and the minutes printed in the journal became the official record. Financial information contained in the minutes was also considered the official record and there are no separate financial papers.

Administrative papers, correspondence and circulars: of The Medico-Psychological Association 1870s-[1920], including a few papers on nursing and other examinations, asylum officers superannuation, insanity as grounds for divorce, letters of congratulation, meeting programmes and abstracts, dinner invitations, and menus.

Council minutes, 1887-November 1971: with a few supporting papers, e.g. agenda. An acting sub-committee (also referred to as the managing committee) was appointed at the 1856 annual meeting and there are references to council meetings in the 1860s but no minutes before 1887 have been found. There are some omissions after 1887, especially in the early years but it is not clear if this was because there was no meeting or because no minutes were taken. Council minutes 1887-1971 have been abstracted onto the Meetings Database.

Council and Executive and Finance Committee: Minutes from 1971 onwards are on the Policy Index, which is on the College Library online catalogue.

Minutes and some papers of the Appeals and Buildings Committee, 1972-1974, Appeal Committee 1974-1987, Appeal Advisory Committee, 1989-1990 and Appeals Committee, 1992-1994; Correspondence with contributors (mainly major donors) to the Appeal and on administrative matters, 1971-1979, including the formation of a College chapter in North America and opposition in divisions to a London headquarters; agreement with Craigmyle, 1988.

Conference Office Records: Minutes of committees for organizing the 1999, 2000 and 2001 annual meetings.

Public Education, Parliamentary, and Public Relations Committees Records:
Parliamentary Committee: minutes, 1906-72; General Purposes Sub-Committee: Minutes, 1968-1972; Working Party to Review the Mental Health Act 1959: minutes, 1972-1974; All Parliamentary Group on Mental Health: Minutes and notes of meetings, 1980-1997; Annual Reports 1999-2006; Minutes 1998-2006; Annual meetings with Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC): Minutes 1994 onwards, excluding 1997; Papers and Discussions Committee/Programmes and Meetings Committee: Minutes, 1946-1992; Public Education Committee: Minutes, 1987-2005; Reports to Executive and Finance Committee and Council, 1988-2000; Launch of Help is at Hand leaflets, correspondence, invitations, launch; Public Education Committee Editorial Sub-Committee: Minutes, 4 Oct 2002-20 Jun 2007, Proposal to St Andrews Charitable Fund and resource catalogues; Patients' Liaison Group/Patients and Carers' Liaison Group/Special Committee of Patients and Carers (SCPC): Minutes of Meetings, 1991-2006; Public Policy Committee (PPC): Minutes, 1972 onwards (some missing for 1994); membership lists, 1989-1999; Mental Health Law Sub-Committee: Minutes, September 1994 onwards (1996 missing); Parliamentary Liaison Sub-Committee: (Parliamentary Committee in 1992, Parliamentary Liaison Group, 1994-1999; Parliamentary Sub-Committee, 1999 onwards); Minutes, 1992 onwards (not complete), 2002-2007 (complete); Minutes of joint meetings of the Mental Health Law Sub-Committee and the Parliamentary Liaison Sub-Committee, 2003 are stored with the Parliamentary Liaison Sub-Committee minutes; Public Relations Committee: minutes, 1957-1971; Special Committee on Unethical Psychiatric Practices (SCOUPP): Minutes, 1978 (inaugural meeting) to 1993; agenda 1978-1993; attendance book 1979-1993; Ethics Sub-Committee/Working Group minutes and agenda, November 1994 onwards; Joint Meeting of the Mental Health, Ageing and Older People, Autism, Disability, Drugs and the Primary Care and Public Health All Party Parliamentary Groups and the Associate Parliamentary Group: Minutes of Meeting to discuss the Mental Health Bill, 30 January 2007.

Joint Committees Records:
A Joint Meeting of the Men's Health and Mental Health All Party Parliamentary Groups: Minutes of Meeting to discuss Men's Mental Health, 13 June 2006; A Meeting of the Mental Health APPG in association with the APPGs on Ageing and Older People, Autism, Carers, Children, Disability, Drugs Misuse, Associate Parliamentary Group, Learning Disability, Primary Care and Public Health: Minutes to discuss The Mental Health Bill, 17 January 2007.
Meeting between the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Mental Health Act Commission: Notes of Meetings of 2004 and 2006.
Meeting of Mental Health Law Sub-Committee Minutes: 24 February 2004.
Medical Planning Committee: Minutes, papers and memo, 1941-1945.
British Geriatrics Society (BGS)/College Joint Liaison Committee: Minutes, 1979-90, (not complete); proposed constitution 1976.
Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry/BGS Liaison Committee: Minutes, 1996-2000, correspondence on establishment of BGS Special Interest group on Cerebral Ageing and Mental Health Care, 1998-2000.
British Paediatric Association/BPA/College Joint Liaison Committee: Minutes 1986-8, July 1991-November 1992 (not complete); letters on remit, 1980s.
British Psychological Society/College Joint Liaison Committee: Minutes 1977-94 and a little correspondence about re-formation, 1975-1976, constitution 1987 and College's withdrawal of administrative support, 1995.
College of Occupational Therapists/College Liaison Committee: Minutes 1988-1993.
Medical Planning Committee: Minutes, papers and memo, 1941-1945.
British Geriatrics Society/College Joint Liaison Committee: Minutes, 1979-90, (not complete).
Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry/BGS Liaison Committee: Minutes, 1996-2000, correspondence on establishment of BGS Special Interest group on Cerebral Ageing and Mental Health Care, 1998-2000.
British Paediatric Association (BPA)/College Joint Liaison Committee: Minutes 1986-8, July 1991-November 1992 (not complete); letters on remit, 1980s.
British Psychological Society/College Joint Liaison Committee: Minutes 1977-1994 and a little correspondence about re-formation, 1975-1976, constitution 1987 and College's withdrawal of administrative support, 1995.
College of Occupational Therapists/College Liaison Committee: Minutes 1988-1993.

Campaigns Records:
World Mental Health Day Campaign: Correspondence on the planting of a tree in Belgrave Square by the President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists to commemorate World Mental Health Day, 10 October 1995; Correspondence and minutes of meetings on the World Mental Health Day Campaign, 1995; Correspondence and Papers on the World Mental Health Day Local Grants Scheme, 1996; World Mental Health Day Campaign, 1997.
Defeat Depression Campaign: Video tapes and associated booklet, research studies, reports, minutes, posters, newspaper and magazine articles, factsheets, Christmas card, cartoons, recipes and miscellanea; Defeat Depression Project: Final Report - by The Institute of Mental Health, Castle Peak Hospital. Hospital Authority, Hong Kong 1 pack containing: The Final Report of the Defeat Depression Project; a set of 28 educational leaflets; a book titled "Defeat Depression"; VCD on Depression; Audio CD on Drama series "The Age Depression"; Game Set - Game Fun; CD-ROM of Continuing Medical Education for General Practitioners; CD-Rom of Community Awareness Depression Kit; and Mood thermometer.
Changing Minds: Every Family in the Land: Minutes of the Changing Minds Campaign Management Committee: 2000-2003; Campaign information and booklets.
Stigma Campaign: Complete series of Stigma Campaign leaflets, tickets for launch of '1 in 4' mental health film, 2000.
2001: A Mind Odyssey: Notices, music, and other papers, scrapbook and photographs.
Partners in Care/Carers' Campaign: Notices, leaflets.
Images of Psychiatry Campaign: Psychiatry for Teachers DVD and information.
Focus: Minutes, financial and other supporting papers, details of media and other events.
Help is at Hand and other Information Factsheets: Help is at Hand leaflets. Leaflets in other languages are also included. Reprinted leaflets are also included so some that appear to be duplicates are not so, usually because they have a different publication date.

Special Interest Groups Records:
Biological Psychiatry: Letters on establishing Group, 1977-8; meeting minutes 1978-1985 (some signed) executive committee minutes (some signed) and agenda, 1984-1987; annual meeting minutes, signed, 1986-1987; letters about wish to become section, 1986-1988.
Computers in Psychiatry: letters on establishing Group, 1988; newsletters 2-7, 1989-1993.
History: letters on establishing Group, 1988; newsletters 5-8, 1989-1996.
Management: letters on establishing Group, 1991-3; Newsletter 1-2, 1995-1997; Correspondence and minutes 1991-1999.
Perinatal: minutes, papers and newsletters, 2002 onwards.
Philosophy: letters on establishing Group, 1988-1989; minutes, 1989-1993; newsletters 1-14 and 23, (not a complete series); correspondence, 1994-1998.
Private Practice in Psychiatry: letters on establishing Group, 1992-1993; minutes, 1993-1994.
Psychopharmacology: (Previously called Working Group, Working Party, Committee and Sub-Committee. Psychopharmacology Special Interest Group from 2000). Minutes March 1996, March and September 1997.
Transcultural Psychiatry: letters on establishing Group, 1990-1993; Agenda and Minutes of Meetings and Conference, 1994-1997; Correspondence and Newsletters, 1993-1998.

Postgraduate Education, Publications and Membership Records:
Board of International Affairs: minutes, 2001 onwards.
Overseas Doctors' Training Committee (previously Overseas Trainees Sub-Committee, 1974 (first meeting) -87, Overseas Liaison Group, 1988-1990; Overseas Liaison Committee, 1990-1995): Minutes, 1988-2000, lists of overseas doctors who have completed training, 1997 onwards (names, country of origin, dates of start and finish and status only).
Continuing Professional Development (CPD): Minutes of Continuing Medical Education (CME)/CPD committee, 1992 (first meeting) onwards; a few notes and papers relating to establishing CME/CPD, 1994-1995, Lists of CPD approved events, 1999, 2000 (the only ones that were produced). Notes on meetings of deputy regional advisers (CPD) 1996-1997.
Court of Electors: Papers on establishing, 1966; minutes, 1967-2000.
Collegiate Trainees Committee (CTC): Minutes, September 1979 (inaugural meeting) - November 1999.
Education Committee: Minutes, 1893 onwards (pre-1971 minutes have been abstracted onto the meetings database on Heritage Library On-line catalogue).
Education Committee Royal Medico-Psychological Association Sub-Committees: Clinical Tutors Sub-Committee minutes, 1968-1972; Diploma in Psychological medicine/DPM Sub-Committee minutes, regulations, forms, examination questions and correspondence, 1940s, 50s; Films/Audio-Visual Sub-Committee minutes, correspondence and details of films, 1956-1972; General Purposes Sub-Committee minutes, 1963-1971; Postgraduate Education in Psychiatry Committee minutes, 1958.
General Professional Training Committee: Minutes of Central Panel, May 1974 (the first meeting) to May 1980 continued as Central Approval Panel Minutes October, 1980 to September 1997, and continued as General Professional Training Committee minutes from November 1997 onwards.
Higher Specialist Training Committee (HSTC): Minutes of JCHPT, 1973 (first meeting) -97 (final meeting) with correspondence on establishing, 1972 and Professor Brockington's notes, c1994; HSTC minutes, 1998- ; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry SAC minutes, 1972 (1st meeting)-98; Forensic Psychiatry SAC minutes, 1973 (1st meeting)-98; General and Old Age Psychiatry SAC minutes and some agenda, 1973 (1st meeting) -1998; Psychiatry of Learning Disability SAC/Mental Handicap SAC minutes, 1983-5 (few only) 1993-8; Psychotherapy SAC minutes, 1973 (first meeting) -1998.
Manpower Committee: Minutes, 1972-87, 1990-1992.
Recognition of Tutors Working Party: (Tutors Panel from 1998) Minutes and agenda, 1989-1999.
Research Committee: see Faculties and Sections for pre-1972 archives of this Committee; Consultation paper prepared by the former RMPA Research and Clinical Committee on the structure and functions of the Standing Research Committee of the College, 1972; Committee minutes, 1972-99 with a few agenda, reports and discussions on the future of the Committee.
Tutors Sub-Committee: Minutes, February 1983 (not the first meeting) -1999.
University Psychiatry Committee: Minutes, December 1996 (first meeting).
Journal Committee: minutes and papers, 1961-1991.
Business Affairs Committee/Publications Management Board: minutes and papers, 1987-January 1998.
Membership lists from the 1850s to 1960s are in the Journal of Mental Science; the same lists are in the year books included below. The Archives has other copies of membership lists produced after 1971; Year Books 1934-1969 excluding 1948, 1950-1952, 1964; RMPA membership cards A-Z.
Fellows: Biographical details of Fellows, some with photographs, 1971 onwards.

Lectures and Prizes
Alec Shapiro Travelling Fellowship: correspondence on establishing, 1988; Blake Marsh Lecture: advertisements, 1960s and 70s; Christmas Lecture: programmes and a few papers, 1987 onwards; Eli Lilly Lecture: correspondence on establishing, and the Lilly Travelling Fellowship, 1984-1994; Gaskell Prize: appointment of trustees, 1896, 1908, mid 20th century copy of trust deed, 1887, circular 1909, photographs of medal, correspondence about revival of Gaskell Dinner; Gaskell Club Table Mats of the Famous Insane book ; Maudsley Lecture: advertisements, 1945-74, Maudsley Bequest Lecture: advertisements, 1953-71,and Maudsley Lectures and Lecturers: List, 1981-1991; Merck Essay Prize: details, 1993-4; Brian Oliver Prize: details, 1993-5; Gillian Page Prize in Adolescent Psychiatry: correspondence about establishment, 1980-4, details, 1985, 1989-95; Penrose Memorial Meeting: programme, 1973; Research Prize and Bronze Medal: letters, 1990s; Peter Scott Memorial Fund: copy of trust deed, committee minutes and agenda, 1977-94, details, 1980s, 1990s; President's Essay Prize: details, 1991 and correspondence about disestablishment, 1994; Morris Markowe Prize: Proposals for a Public Education Prize, Correspondence, submissions for the Prize, 1990-2000; and RCPsych Awards: 2009: Minutes of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Awards Steering Group, August 2008-October 2009; certificate; awards ceremony programme, attendance list, events schedule and winners` biographies; call for papers; rules for entries; awards criteria; application forms; RCPsych Awards 2009 DVD-R; and a DVD-R on Professor Sir David Goldberg.

Mental Nursing Papers
The Nursing Certificates: The Certificate of Proficiency in Mental Nursing was founded at the Medico-Psychological Association Annual Meeting in 1890 and until 1921 was the only recognised qualification in mental nursing. A separate certificate in Mental Deficiency Nursing was instituted in 1919 and a short-lived Occupational Therapy Certificate was introduced in 1939. After negotiations with the General Nursing Council, the examinations for these certificates were discontinued, the last being held in 1951.
Handbooks: Handbook Committee reports and letters, 1937-1961.
Regulations: Regulations for the Training and Examinations for the Certificate of Proficiency in Nursing and Attending on the Mentally Defective, undated, before 1926; Regulations for the Training and Examinations for the Certificate of Proficiency in Mental Nursing and in the Nursing of Mental Defectives, revised February 1930, revised 1932; Regulations and Rules for the Nursing Certificates, July 1938; Regulations and Syllabus for the Certificate in Occupational Therapy, 1939.
Syllabus: Syllabus for the Examinations for the Certificate of Proficiency in Mental Nursing, November 1927; Syllabus for the Examinations for the Certificate of Proficiency in the Nursing of Mental Defectives, November 1927; Syllabus for the Examinations for the Certificate of Proficiency in the Nursing of Mental Defectives, 1932; Occupational Therapy: an Addendum to the Handbook for Mental Nurses, 1938.
Question papers: Mental Nursing Preliminary and Final Examination and Mental Deficiency Nursing Examination question papers, May 1928-May 1938; Mental Nursing Preliminary Examination question papers, May 1938-November 1949; Mental Nursing Final Examination question papers, November 1938-November 1951; Mental Deficiency Nursing Final Examination question papers, November 1938-November 1951.
Registers: Register of persons who have obtained the certificate of proficiency in nursing, 1891-1951 (18 volumes); Register of persons who have passed the preliminary examination in nursing, 1938-49 (4 volumes); Register of persons who have obtained the certificate of proficiency in nursing mental defectives, 1919-1951; Register of persons who have passed the preliminary examination in nursing mental defectives, 1938-49; Register of persons who have passed the examination in occupational therapy, Educational Committee register of chief examiners for the mental nursing certificate, 1931-1951.
State registration: Extract from Council report, 1926; report on questionnaire, 1928, report on mental defective nurse training, 1928 (all in one pamphlet); letters on relations with the GNC, 1926-9; Memos on termination of the examinations, 1946-51; Shortage of mental nurses: RMPA report and related memos and correspondence, 1953-6; Disciplinary matters: Disciplinary Committee minutes and correspondence on GNC, 1962-3; Mental Nursing Sub-Committee minutes, 1957-1971; Nursing Sub Committee: (continuing the Mental Nursing Committee, known as Nursing Committee from 1980) 1972-90; Nursing Liaison Committee: minutes 1991-1994 and a little correspondence about reorganisation 1990 and about College's withdrawal of administrative support, 1995.

Private Papers:
Freud, Sigmund: Letters on election as RMPA Honorary Member and reply to letter of welcome to England from RMPA, 1936-1938. 4 letters including 3 in German.
Galton, Francis: Letters to Dr Saleeby, mainly about publications, 1904-1909.
Meyer, Alfred: Personal certificates, letters received (some in French or German) and three photographs, 1918-71; list of printed papers and copy of first paper, 1918. Dr Meyer died in October 1990 and these papers probably came to the College Library from his widow, Dr Nina Meyer.
Letters to Samuel Tuke of York from Thomas Hancock of London, 1814-1815, from E Anderson of Dundee, 1815, from Thomas Wintar of Philadelphia, 1815 and from William Morton Pitt of Dorset, 1829-1830.

Asylums: Records and Manuscripts
Camberwell House Asylum: Case Book volume 1, 1846-7, admissions 1 to 441, with notes to 1860s; Orders for the reception of pauper patients, 1846-8, admissions 201 to 600, including admissions of some patients in above Case Book; Commissioners in Lunacy visitors book, 1846-1865.
Otto House, 47 North End Road, West Kensington: Case Book number 1, recording admissions 1902-15, with notes to 1930s and with some death certificates and letters inserted.
Unidentified asylum for female patients, possibly called Fisher House: Case Books 1848-1852, 1858-1872.
Hanwell Asylum: 'Notes of Clinical Lectures on Insanity Delivered at the Hanwell Asylum in 1848 by Dr Conolly and Dr Hitchman'.

Asylums: Plans, drawings and photographs:
Berkshire: Broadmoor: photograph of interior, exterior and patients, and of related newspaper report, from about the time of opening in 1863. Buckinghamshire: Bucks County Lunatic Asylum: Architect's Report, 1853; plans, c1860, some probably from Lunacy Commissioners' Report. Cambridgeshire: Isle of Ely and Borough of Cambridge Lunatic Asylum, Fulbourn: Plans, c1850. All on tracing paper, brittle and very fragile, outsize and stored in large folder Cheshire: County Asylum: 'Designs For the Proposed Lunatic Asylum For the County of Chester' 1826 (large manuscript volume, stored in folder); Lunacy Commissioners' Report and plans, 1860; concert programmes, 1860s; coloured sketch of the Pump Yard and patients, undated, 19th century. Cheshire: Manchester Royal Hospital for the Insane (Cheadle Royal): newspaper advertisement and picture, c1850; photograph of nurses' uniforms, 1850s to 1960s, sent to RMPA, 1967; photograph of North House, c1970. Cumbria: Cumberland and Westmorland Lunatic Asylum, Garlands, Carlisle: Plans and description from The Builder, 1858. Derbyshire: newspaper picture of Derby County Lunatic Asylum, c1850. Devon: Devon Pauper Lunatic Asylum: plans and related letter from architect, Charles Fowler, to Samuel Tuke, 1842. These may be the plans that were given to the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane in 1844 Dorset: Herrison Hospital: photograph of uniforms, instruments of restraint etc., taken at an exhibition, 1963; engraving with title 'Forston', 19th century. Essex: Essex Hall Asylum, Colchester: newspaper cutting with picture, c1850 Gloucestershire: Gloucester Asylum (Horton Road): advertisement and picture, 1848; photograph of plan for extensions, early 1840s (copyright Gloucestershire Records Office, who hold the photocopy, their reference H 22 15/1, from which this photograph was taken); programme for Christmas festivities, 1865-66; photograph of exterior, c1960. David Smith, Gloucestershire County Archivist, in a letter of 15 March 1991, said that plans of the asylum by Thomas Fulljames were with the records of that firm, GRO reference D 2593/2/41. Herefordshire: Hereford County and City Asylum: plan from Lunacy Commissioners' Report, mid 19th century. Hertfordshire: Leavesden see Surrey, Caterham. Kent: Heath Asylum, Bexley: plan and photograph of ward, opened 1895; City Asylum, Stone, Dartmouth, Kent: Postcard, early 20th century. Lancashire: County Asylum, Prestwick: plans, mid 19th century; photograph, taken 1983, of c1900 interiors. Lancashire: Haydock Lodge, Warrington: newspaper advertisements, 1852 and pictures of exterior, mid 19th century. Lancashire: Manchester Public Infirmary and Lunatic Asylum: photograph (copyright RSM) of exterior, 1782 and plan, 1846. Lancashire: West Derby Lunatic Asylum, Rainhill: plan, c1849. Leicestershire: Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum: aerial view, 19th century. Lincolnshire: Lincoln Asylum (The Lawn): plan, 1843, photograph and postcard, c1960 Lincolnshire: County Asylum: plan and newspaper description, mid 19th century. This may be the plan that was given in 1842 to the newly formed Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane, forerunner of the College. London: Bethlem: sketches, one signed HS Tuke, of mediaeval hospital. London: Bethlem: engravings and one photograph (copyright RSM) of the second hospital, 1676 to 1815. London: Bethlem: engravings and modern card of the third hospital, 1815 to 1930; newspaper cuttings and pictures from The Illustrated London News, 1860; photograph of the workroom, c1910, probably from The Story of Bethlem Hospital by EG O'Donaghue, Hospital Chaplain; photograph of the exterior, early 20th century, and the interior, c1960; photograph of instruments of restraint. London: Camberwell House: photograph of grounds, laundry rules and advertisement for entertainment, early 20th century. London: St Luke's: engravings, early 19th century; extract from Lunacy Commissioners' Report and newspaper pictures, mid 19th century; two photograph of interior, early 20th century; photograph of the West Wing at Woodside Hospital, Muswell Hill, the successor to St Luke's, early 20th century. London: Fountain Hospital, Tooting: photograph of wards and postcard, 1950s. London: Various asylums, mainly private: pictures, mainly from 19th century newspapers of Baums House, Hoxton; Bridewell; Charing Cross Hospital for Lunatics (sketch plan on tracing paper); Earl's Court House, Old Brompton; Effra House, Brixton; Kensington House, Kensington (photograph of print); Munster House, Fulham; Park House. Highgate. London and Home Counties: photograph of Cane Hill, Darenth Park and Warley, Horton, Mapperley, St Bernards Ealing and Springfield, possibly taken by N Boast, c1990. Photograph of Cell Barnes, Claybury, Friern, Goodmayes, Harperbury, Hill End, Leytonstone House, Napsbury, Shenley and Woodside, taken by C Priest, 1991. Middlesex: Colney Hatch: ground plans, pictures and aerial view c1847; newspaper description of opening 1851 and of New Year festival 1853; photograph of fete, 19th century; Friern Hospital magazine centenary issue, 1950; colour transparancies, 1992. Middlesex: Hanwell: 'Description of the design for a New Lunatic Asylum for the County of Middlesex marked "Dean Swift" 'undated, early 19th century; 'Middlesex Lunatic Asylum Key to the Design, Estimate and Skeleton Models with Comparative Estimates', 1828. Middlesex: Hanwell: ground plan, section of the well, aerial view and report of 'fancy fair' 1843; plan for second asylum, undated; timetable for clinical visits, 1848. Middlesex: Hanwell: aerial photograph c1960; photograph of interior, instruments of restraint and patients' wall paintings taken for 150th anniversary, 1981; photograph purchased from the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, 1986. Middlesex: Shenley: ground plan and aerial view, undated, mid 20th century. Norfolk: Bethel Hospital, Norwich: photograph of the north front, the foundation stone and Mrs Chapman, early 1960s, all copyright RSM. Northampton: Northampton Asylum: newspaper report and engraving c1850; postcard of Abingdon Abbey, c1960. Nottingham: Brook House, Mansfield: newspaper advertisement. Nottingham: Nottingham Asylum: Fortieth Annual Report, 1851; newspaper report and pictures, c1850; photograph of exterior, interiors and staff c1890. Nottingham: Saxondale: photograph, c1912 of interiors showing staff at Saxondale, the hospital that replaced the County Asylum in 1902. Oxfordshire: plans and estimates, engravings and newspaper pictures of the Radcliffe and the Warneford Asylums, c1850. Rutland: see Leicestershire Somerset: plans for and description of a proposed pauper lunatic asylum, 19th century; photograph of late 19th century lunatics' ball at Mendip Hospital. Staffordshire: Coton Hill Asylum: plans from The Builder, advertisement, newspaper cuttings and pictures, mid 19th century. Suffolk: Colville House Institution for Imbecile Children, Lowestoft: newspaper cutting, mid 19th century. Surrey: Cane Hill: photograph of the interior and staff, about 1920; poster, 1951; examples of admission sheets, 1898, 1945; notes on coat of arms and names of wards, 1950; colour prints, received 1994. Surrey: Caterham: description and picture from The Builder, 1868, of proposed asylums for the imbecile poor of the Metropolitan District at Caterham and Leavesden; photograph of aerial view, 1870 (copyright RSM); photograph of ward, c1960. Surrey: 'New County Lunatic Asylum' plan from Lunacy Commissioners' Report, undated c1860. Surrey: The Royal Earlswood Institution for Mental Defectives, Redhill: interior and exterior views, 19th and 20th century; descriptive booklets, 1859, 1947 and undated. Surrey: Horton Epileptic Colony, Epson: plan, 1901. Surrey: Long Grove Asylum, Epsom: ground plan, photograph of garden, main hall and men's baths, early 20th century. Surrey: Netherne: aerial views, plan of interior and panorama, undated. Sussex: Sussex Lunatic Asylum, Hayward's Heath: description from Journal of Mental Science, April 1860 and plans from the Journal of Mental Science, October 1900; photograph c1960. Sussex: Lady Chichester Hospital, Hove: description from Good Housekeeping, 1950s. Wiltshire: County Asylum: plans and description, 1852. Worcestershire: photocopy of Elgar's music for Powick Asylum band, 1880 and related letter, 1991. Yorkshire: Northallerton: plans for a pauper lunatic asylum, c1820 (not built). Yorkshire: The Retreat: plans, 1820s and 1830s; view of north front, 1830s; group photograph, probably of the MPA, who met in York to mark the Retreat centenary, 1892; copies, c1960, of photograph of interior and exterior, c1900; copy, 1965, of photograph of staff, 1919; photograph of exterior, c1950. Yorkshire: West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum: 'Plans, elevations and description of the Pauper Lunatic Asylum lately erected at Wakefield for the West-Riding of Yorkshire'. 2 copies, 1 bound, 1 partly bound, both outsize and stored separately in folder; fifth, eighth and ninth reports of the Director, 1822, 1826 and 1828. Ireland: Limerick: plans of proposed asylum, early 19th century. Clare: plan and description of asylum, 1864. Scotland: Crichton Royal, Dumfries: newspaper pictures of exterior, 1839 and undated. Scotland: Glasgow Royal Lunatic Asylum (Gartnavel): plans and picture of first asylum, application form, all undated, probably early 19th century; newspaper cutting and picture of new building opened 1842. Scotland: Edinburgh Royal Lunatic Asylum (Morningside): plan of principal floor, undated, mid 19th century. Wales: Denbigh: North Wales Asylum for the Insane: plans and prints, mid 19th century, one outsize and stored separately in folder. Wales: Lunatic Asylum, Abergavenny: newspaper cutting and picture from The Builder, mid 19th century. France: plan with title 'projet d'establishment pour 600 alienes par le Dr Esquirol', early 19th century. Unidentified: photograph of hospital exterior taken by W Hunt, 1853; modern photograph of hospital on a hill.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

As above in Scope and Content.

Conditions governing access:

All archives over 30 years old are open to Members and Fellows of the College and by appointment to researchers and members of the public. Archives less than 30 years old are normally open only to College Members and Fellows.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopying of archival material is done according to the College Preservation Policy and under the supervision of the Archivist and Information Services staff.

Finding aids:

Cataloguing of the archives collection is in progress. A detailed listing of the archives is available for inspection at the College. A summary of the list is on the College website available here

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Not given.

ALLIED MATERIALS

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Entry compiled by Francis Maunze.

Rules or conventions: National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997; ISAD(G), Second edition, 2000.

Date(s) of descriptions: June 2010.


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Asylums | Medical institutions | Health services
Forensic psychiatry | Psychiatry
Government policy | Government
Learned societies | Associations | Organizations
Medical education | Higher science education
Medical societies | Societies | Associations | Organizations
Mental diseases | Psychopathology | Psychiatry
Mental health | Health
Mental health legislation | Health and welfare legislation | Legislation | Law
Psychiatric hospitals | Hospitals | Health services
Psychiatric nursing | Nursing | Medical sciences

Personal names
Freud | Sigmund | 1856-1969 | psychologist
Galton | Sir | Francis | 1822-1911 | Knight | eugenicist

Corporate names
Medico-Psychological Association
Royal College of Psychiatrists

Places