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Wellcome Library

Association of Health and Residential Care Officers


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0120 SA/AHR

Held at: Wellcome Library

Title: Association of Health and Residential Care Officers

Date(s): 1897-1984

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 24 boxes

Name of creator(s): Association of Health and Residential Care Officers
National Association of Workhouse Masters and Matrons
National Association of Masters and Matrons of Poor Law Institutions
National Association of Administrators of Local Government Institutions/Establishments
Association of Health and Welfare Administrators
Association of Hospital and Residential Care Officers

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Originally set up to consider the duties, responsibilities and interests of Masters and Matrons of Poor Law Institutions (at the time a joint post held by a married couple resident on the premises), the Association underwent various alterations in structure, organisation and title as a result of changing attitudes and legislation. The names held by the organisation were as follows: National Association of Workhouse Masters and Matrons (to c 1915) National Association of Masters and Matrons of Poor Law Institutions (c 1915-1932) National Association of Administrators of Local Government Institutions/Establishments (1932-1948) Association of Health and Welfare Administrators (1948-1970) Association of Hospital and Residential Care Officers (1970-1982) Association of Health and Residential Care Officers (1982-1984). Its members were involved in residential care (mostly of children and the aged), and in hospital administration, throughout its existence. In 1944 the Association established a closer relationship with National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO), the trade union representing local government officers, in order to have the resources of this larger body at their disposal. The differences in approach, and the fact that AHRCO was a small interest group within this much larger organisation, led to inevitable tensions, in particular over the question of industrial action. Membership, once over 2000, declined to 400 by 1979, as a result of structural changes within the health and caring professions and changes in attitudes generally. It was thus decided to dissolve the Association as a formally constituted body in 1984. Further details of the history of this Association can be found in Lionel Lewis, Association of Health and Residential Care Officers: A Short History (1898-1984) (L. Lewis, Faversham, [n.d.]), a copy of which may be found at SA/AHR/C.55.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of the Association of Health and Residential Care Officers including minutes, yearbooks, and files on conferences and on general organisational matters. Minutes of the entire organisation survive only from 1915 and there is a large gap for the period 1933-1946, although there are earlier minutes from No 2 and No 4 Inspection Districts. Files relating to the organisation of, and proceedings at, Annual Conferences only go back to 1961.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

The collection is divided into sections as follows:

A. Minutes and committee correspondence: A.1-20 Minutes, 1915-1984; A.21-32 Committee correspondence, 1948-1980; A.33-34 Minutes of No 2 Inspection District, 1897-1929; A.35 Minutes of No 4 Inspection District, 1918-1936.

B. Yearbooks, 1913-1978

C. General Organisational Matters: C.1-11 General correspondence of officers, 1956-1984; C.12-17 Constitutional matters, 1942-1978; C.18-19 District matters, 1966-1972; C.20-32 Pay, superannuation and allied questions, 1957-1973; C.33-36 Legislation affecting AHRCO members, 1970-1973; C.37-42 Publications, publicity, etc 1961-1980; C.43-46 Children's section, 1961-1968; C.47-50 Residential Care section, 1977-1984; C.51 Disputes involving members, c 1970s-1980s; C.52 Miscellaneous items, 1980s.

D. Annual Conferences, 1961-1984

E. Other bodies: relations with: E.1-17 NALGO (National Association of Local Government Officers), 1932-1980; E.18-20 Whitley Councils, 1965-1972; E.21-46 Other bodies: various, 1958-1981; E.47 Reports to outside bodies: committees, commissions etc, 1963-1970.

F. The Bulletin, 1933-1984

Conditions governing access:

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Readers are restricted to 100 photocopies in twelve months. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

Finding aids:

The catalogue to this collection has not yet been fully converted to electronic form: for detail, and to order material, see hard-copy list available in the Wellcome Library. Copies of the catalogue are available on request. The catalogue is available on microfiche via the National Inventory of Documentary Sources (NIDS).

Collection level description available on-line on the Wellcome Library website

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Accruals:

Archival history:

The records as received in 1985 were by no means complete. A number of significant gaps were filled in when Lionel Lewis subsequently gave the Wellcome Library a substantial collection of old yearbooks and bulletins and some associated material (Accession 787). However, because the records moved around the country from secretary to secretary some lacunae are inevitable. Some clearing out of files would seem to have taken place in 1969 (see letter from T. Crook to J. Dawber, 18 Aug 1969, SA/AHR/E.29).

Immediate source of acquisition:

These archives were received by the Wellcome Library in June 1985, via the Science Museum (which holds memorabilia relating to the Association), from St Catherine's Hospital Birkenhead where they had been stored subsequent to the dissolution of the Association in 1984.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of copies:

A photograph of the title page of SA/AHR/B.1/1, the Handbook of the National Association of Workhouse Masters and Matrons, is held by Wellcome Images at L0041591.

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Copied from the Wellcome Library catalogue by Sarah Drewery.

Rules or conventions: In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: Jan 2009


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Adolescence | Age groups | Age distribution
Associations | Organizations
Child | Age groups | Age distribution
Community health nursing | Health services
Disabled persons | Disadvantaged groups
Gerontology | Medical sciences
Hospitals | Health services
Midwifery | Nursing | Medical sciences
Professional practice | Organization and administration | Health services administration | Public administration | Government
Geriatrics x Gerontology
Medical institutions
Social work

Personal names

Corporate names
Association of Health and Residential Care Officers

Places