Earlier this month, the College received a remarkable donation of unique archives from the descendants of the late Morris Myer Datnow (1901-1962, FRCOG 1939). Datnow was a founder member of the College and a close colleague and friend of RCOG co-founder Professor William Blair-Bell. Datnow was born in South Africa in 1901 and did his…
Tag: archive collections
Fantastic Finds: What do a Maternity Hospital, a Lottery, and Daring Prison Escape Have in Common?
What do a Maternity Hospital, a Lottery, and Daring Prison Escape Have in Common? One man: Bartholomew Mosse (1712-1759), the male midwife behind the founding of the Dublin Lying-In Hospital in Ireland. The Dublin Lying-in Hospital, now known as the Rotunda Hospital, opened on 8th December 1757, taking over from the city’s previous Lying-In Hospital…
The Most Beautiful President’s Badge in London
The RCOG Library and Heritage Service extends a big thank you to everyone who visited our blog and reading room during Explore Your Archive 2016! As we reach the end of this year’s campaign, our blog is taking an artistic turn. Today we look at Blair-Bell’s designs for the College’s presidential badge. In 1932, William…
A Very Lucky Gift
It has been a hectic week for the RCOG Heritage Service. We’ve hosted celebrity guests, showcased some of the best our historic midwifery collections have to offer, and we’ve paid tribute to one of the most complicated figures in our College’s history. To round off Explore Your Archive Week 2016 this weekend, we are highlighting…
A Surgeon and his Dog
Few things are more iconic than the image of a man and his dog. Today’s Explore Your Archive blog post looks at RCOG co-founder William Blair-Bell and his relationship with animals and with country life. While he had no children, Blair-Bell did keep dogs at his country house, Eardiston Estate. The most personal and humanising…
Blair-Bell’s Cancer Curiosities
Today’s Explore Your Archive post follows the theme of scientific innovation and advancement. Not surprisingly, the heritage collections of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are full of treasures, curiosities and mysteries concerning the history of medicine. Our collections cover a wide range of specialties in addition to our extensive papers and publications on…
Stephen McGann from BBC’s Call the Midwife visits the RCOG
For today’s Explore Your Archive post, themed around ‘A Year in Archives’, we’re taking a short detour from the life, work and times of William Blair-Bell to focus on the achievements of our College’s library and heritage services. This year has been a busy one for us. We welcomed a new Archivist as well as…
A Very Recognisable Head of Hair
Look at any group photograph of the Gynaecological Visiting Society and one head always stands out: that of the GVS’s and the RCOG’s co-founder William Blair-Bell. In a sea of dark hair and balding heads, Blair-Bell’s head of striking white hair (which, according to his friend Fletcher Shaw, ‘time whitened without thinning’) is instantly recognisable….
No Simple Affair: the College’s First Annual Dinner
Today Explore Your Archive is about firsts: the pioneers, the maiden voyages, and new beginnings. One of our favourite ‘firsts’ captured in our Archive is the College’s first Annual Dinner.
“Many Charming Letters” from Blair-Bell to Fletcher Shaw
Today’s post for Explore Your Archive Week offers a sneak peek at our latest exhibit, which opens in the RCOG Library tomorrow. Our exhibit “Many Charming Letters” showcases the founding years of the College through the letters, mementos and photographs of its founders, William Blair-Bell and William Fletcher Shaw. A star of the exhibit is…
‘A felicitous courtship…’ Blair-Bell and the Founding of the Gynaecological Visiting Society
Today’s Explore Your Archive blog post takes a quick look at Blair-Bell’s ‘first baby’: The Gynaecological Visiting Society. RCOG co-founder William Blair-Bell was certainly a powerhouse in the world of obstetrics and gynaecology, juggling research, publication and teaching positions during his busy career. But even he knew that without a network of strong medical practitioners…
Blair-Bell through the Eyes of a Friend and Colleague: extracts from the diaries of William Fletcher Shaw
As we edge ever closer to Explore Your Archive Week, it is only fitting that we give a nod to a figure who did much to capture and preserve the early history of the RCOG: College co-founder William Fletcher Shaw (1878-1961). It was Fletcher Shaw who first approached William Blair-Bell with the idea of founding…
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Heritage Blog 