Bonney, Victor (1872-1953)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0114 MS0001
Held at	: Royal College of Surgeons of England   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums-and-archives/archives/ ›
Full title	: Bonney, Victor (1872-1953)
Date(s)	: 1898-1953
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 5 boxes
Name of creator(s)	: Bonney | William Francis Victor | 1872-1953 | gynaecologist x Bonney | Victor

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

William Francis Victor Bonney was born in Chelsea in 1872. He was educated at a private school and at St Bartholomew's Hospital, but transferred to the Middlesex Hospital, intending to become a physician. Sir John Bland-Sutton invited him to the Chelsea Hospital for Women, where he laid the foundations of his success as a gynaecological surgeon. In 1905 he became obstetric registrar and tutor at the Middlesex Hospital. He was elected assistant gynaecological surgeon in 1908, a post which he held till 1930, when he succeeded his old friend Sir Comyns Berkeley FRCS as gynaecological surgeon. Together they wrote Textbook of Operative Gynaecology. During the first World War Bonney served as a surgeon made famous for his 'violet green anti-septic', popularly called 'Bonney's blue' (British Medical Journal 15 May 1915). At the Royal College of Surgeons he was a Hunterian Professor in 1908, 1930, and 1931, Bradshaw Lecturer in 1934, and Hunterian Orator in 1943. He was the only gynaecological specialist ever elected to the Council, and served with distinction from 1926 to 1946, being a Vice-President 1936-1938; died, 1953.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of William Francis Victor Bonney, 1898-1953, comprising the typescript and accompanying illustrations of Bonney's memoirs; 3 volumes of reprints of papers and articles written by Bonney, 1898-1938; 2 copies of a dinner speech attributed to Bonney, 1952, with accompanying correspondence; and letters to the librarian, 1924-1942.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

As outlined in Scope and Content.

Conditions governing access:

By written appointment only.

Conditions governing reproduction:

No photocopying permitted.

Finding aids:

Additional Manuscript List in Library.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The collection was deposited at the College at various times. In 1950 Bonney deposited his memoirs with the College Library and Archives. At his death in 1953, Bonney bequeathed his collected reprints to the College Library and Archives.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Anya Turner.
Sources: The Royal College of Surgeons of England, Lives of the Fellows, 1952-1964.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Aug 2008