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Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

BELL, William Blair- (1871-1936): ephemera presented by Stanley Shoop


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 1538 S14

Held at: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Title: BELL, William Blair- (1871-1936): ephemera presented by Stanley Shoop

Date(s): 1920-1931

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 4 folders

Name of creator(s): Bell | William Blair- | 1871-1936 | President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

William Blair-Bell (1871-1936) was co-founder (with William Fletcher Shaw) of the College and its first President. The second son of William and Helen Bell, he was born in Wallasey in 1871 and educated at Rossall School, King's College London and King's College Hospital. In 1905 he left general practice in Wallasey and was appointed to the post of Assistant Consultant Gynaecologist to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary. In 1918 he became senior surgeon and in 1921 was appointed to the Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Liverpool University, a position he held until 1931. In 1929 he married his cousin, Florence.

Blair-Bell was President of the Obstetric Section of the Royal Society of Medicine and of the North of England Gynaecological Society and the Liverpool Medical Institution. In 1911 he founded the Gynaecological Visiting Society (GVS). He was co-founder of the College in 1929 and presented the College with its first headquarters at 58 Queen Anne Street. He established the money for the William Blair-Bell memorial lectures and for other research projects. He was President of the College from its inception until 1935, the year before his death.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Personal correspondence of William Blair-Bell, 1920-1931, including 5 photocopies of documents relating to William Blair-Bell's private practice and to his personal dress etc, 1923-1928; page of a letter sent to Blair-Bell by a firm of monumental masons relating to the churchyard memorial to his mother and brother, 1931; copy letter of Blair-Bell to the Secretary of the Royal Automobile Club complaining of treatment he had received at a hotel recommended by the RAC; letter of thanks to Blair-Bell from Dorothy Leith. Murray, wife of Herbert Leith Murray, FRCOG, and Blair-Bell's successor as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Liverpool University; photocopy of a letter of congratulations from J M Munro Kerr to Blair-Bell, almost certainly on the latter's appointment as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Liverpool University; photocopies of two letters to Blair-Bell from solicitors and insurers relating to a verdict of negligence against Blair-Bell in a motor accident; letter of thanks to Blair-Bell for a donation to a fund for the medical care of an individual; two letters regarding references for chauffeurs, 1924; letter from an antiquarian bookdealer, 1921; copy letter to a travel agent, 1925; letter from Sir Ewen J Maclean thanking him for a testimonial; 1921; letter relating to rental of shooting rights, 1924; correspondence with American Hospital suppliers, 1926.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Open.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: vested in the estate of William Blair-Bell. Copyright expires in 2007.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

A general index to the files listed in the catalogue of the Archives of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is maintained in the College Archives; refer to the College Archivist.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

No further accruals are expected.

Archival history:

Five photocopies of documents relating to William Blair-Bell's private practice and to his personal dress etc (see S14/1) were deposited by Stanley Shoop, a collector of medical ephemera, in 1989. He later offered his entire collection of Blair-Bell papers to the College. The collection filled two 4" boxes and consisted mainly of bills and receipts purchased at auction. It does not appear to have included any personal correspondence, research, or clinical notes, and the College declined to purchase it. Mr Shoop made further deposits of papers, mostly correspondence, in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1997.

Immediate source of acquisition:

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

RCOG Archives holds other collections of Blair-Bell papers (Refs: S1, S10 and S18); Blair-Bell's papers as College President (Ref: A4/1); his history of the College (Ref: S33); photographs of Blair-Bell (Refs: PH1/1, PH7/4, PH7/9, PH7/13/1-2, PH7/16/5, PH7/18/1, PH7/18/15 and PH7/19/2).

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Sources: Biographical details of the individuals who have presented material to the College and/or comprise the subject of the records, have been compiled using information in administrative files and, where relevant, consulting Sir John Peel's book The Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 1929-1969, Whitefriars Press Ltd, 1975. Compiled by Clare Cowling, Archivist, RCOG.

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: September 2000


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Gynaecology | Medical sciences
Motor vehicles | Vehicles | Transport
Obstetrics | Medical sciences
Physicians | Medical personnel | Medical profession | Medical sciences
Surgeons | Medical personnel | Medical profession | Medical sciences
Surgery | Medical sciences
Surgeons x Physicians
Personnel

Personal names
Bell | William | Blair- | 1871-1936 | gynaecologist and obstetrician x Blair-Bell | William

Corporate names
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists x British College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Places