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Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

SIMPSON, Sir Alexander Russell (1835-1916): correspondence, prints and papers


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 1538 S51

Held at: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Title: SIMPSON, Sir Alexander Russell (1835-1916): correspondence, prints and papers

Date(s): 1816-1893

Level of description: Series of Special collections of private papers

Extent: 2 folders

Name of creator(s): Simpson | Sir | Alexander Russell | 1835-1916 | Knight | physician

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Alexander Simpson was born in Bathgate, Scotland in 1835. He was the nephew of Sir James Young Simpson, Professor of Midwifery at the University of Edinburgh. Simpson studied at Bathgate Academy and later at the University of Edinburgh where in 1856 he received his M.D. He worked for seven years with his uncle in Edinburgh before moving to be a general practitioner in Glasgow. He succeeded to the Chair of Sir James Young Simpson following the latter's death in 1870. In 1872 he married a Miss Barbour. In 1905 he retired at the age of 70, and a year later he was knighted. He was killed in a road accident during a wartime blackout in 1916.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Correspondence, prints and papers of Alexander Russell Simpson, 1816-1893, comprising letter from Matthews Duncan, 22 Oct 1881; letters from Professor Eriole F Fabri of Modena, Italy, 1882-1883; letter from Professor G Brown, 5 Feb 1883; letter from Professor Dr Litzmann of Kiel, Germany, with translation by Dr George Selby, 8 Feb 1883; letter from Professor Michel Fari of Padua, Italy, 10 Feb 1883; letter from Professor T Habbertfma of Utrecht, Holland, 12 Mar 1883; letter from Professor D Eugene Hubert of Louvain, Belgium, 15 Mar 1883; letter from Professor Zweifel of Erlangen, Germany with translation by Dr George Selby, 15 Mar 1883; copy of part of a petition to the Members of the Senatus Academicus of the University of Edinburgh by James Hamilton, 15 Jan 1816; print of a drawing of Abbotsford, the seat of Sir Walter Scott, by Thomas H Shepherd, undated; paper given by Ian Cope to the Australian Society for the History of Medicine, entitled "The Other Professor Simpson of Edinburgh, Professor Sir Alexander Russell Simpson, 1835-1916", undated; "Address to the Medical Graduates In The University of Edinburgh" by Simpson, 1 Aug 1878; papers by Simpson (unless stated otherwise) comprising "Head-Flexion In Labour", 26 Feb 1879; "Axis-Traction Forceps", 21 Jul 1880; "The Uterine Sound", 9 Nov 1881; "Hydramnios: and the Source of The Liquor Amni", 31 May 1882; "Again on Axis-Traction Forceps: and On the Basilyst", 11 Jul 1883; "Extra-Uterine Gestation" by William Alexander Freund , 27 Jun 1883; "Case of Caesarean Hystero-Oophorectomy or Porro's Operation", 12 Mar 1884;"Keller and Crede, Presidential Address Delivered Before the Edinburgh Obstetrical Society", 9 Nov 1892;"Prolapse of the Female Urethra", 10 May 1893.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Correspondence is listed first in chronological order, followed by miscellaneous papers and prints and copies of addresses and papers given by Simpson; listed chronologically.

Conditions governing access:

Open.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Out of copyright.

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:

The material listed below was left to Dr Ian Cope of Australia. The papers came from the estate of Professor F J Browne, who had worked with the author of Sir Alexander Simpson's obituary, Professor Ballantyne.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Dr Cope presented the material to the College Archives by Deed of Gift in 1999.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Notes from lectures by Alexandar Simpson (Refs: S81 and S82)

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
Birth | Life cycle
Gynaecology | Medical sciences
Obstetrics | Medical sciences
Physicians | Medical personnel | Medical profession | Medical sciences
Surgery | Medical sciences
Personnel

Personal names
Matthews Duncan | James | 1826-1890 | physician x Duncan | James | Matthews | 1826-1890 | physician
Simpson | Sir | Alexander Russell | 1835-1916 | Knight | physician

Corporate names
Edinburgh Obstetrical Society

Places