FRANCIS, Harold Hugh: letters concerning William Blair-Bell

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1538 S44
Held at	: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/library-services/archives-and-heritage/archives/ ›
Full title	: FRANCIS, Harold Hugh: letters concerning William Blair-Bell
Date(s)	: 1994
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 folder
Name of creator(s)	: Francis | Harold Hugh | fl 1950-2000 | gynaecologist

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 (bibliography: Sir John Peel, Lives of the Fellows, pp 73-77).

Harold Hugh Francis, BSc, MB, ChB, MRCS, LRCP, became a Member of the College in 1950 and a Fellow in 1959. Now retired, he served on the Joint Committee on Contraception from 1977-1981 (bibliography: RCOG, Register of Fellows and Members 1997 p 38).

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Letters by Harold Hugh Francis, 1994, relating to biographical inaccuracies concerning William Blair-Bell, gynaecologist, in Lives of the Fellows of the RCOG 1929-1969 (Whitefriars Press Ltd, 1975) and William Blair Bell - founder and father (c1986), both by Sir John Peel; anecdotes concerning Blair-Bell which were recounted to Mr Francis.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Open 20 years after last date on file.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: Harold Francis.

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

Archival history:

These two letters and related papers were sent to the College Library by Harold Francis FRCS, FRCOG in 1994; the letters were later passed to the College Archives.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Allied Materials

Related material:

Papers which were originally enclosed with the letters are held in the College Library. The College Archives holds Blair-Bell's records as College President (Refs: A1 and A4/1); for other donated or deposited records concerning Blair-Bell see S1, S10, S14, S20, S33. For John Peel's Lives of the Fellows see S4.

Publication note:

Description Notes

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