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London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

TOPLEY, William Whiteman Carlton (1886-1944)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0809 Topley

Held at: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Title: TOPLEY, William Whiteman Carlton (1886-1944)

Date(s): 1913-1944

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 2 boxes

Name of creator(s): Topley | William Whiteman Carlton | 1886-1944 | bacteriologist

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

William Whiteman Carlton Topley was born in Lewisham in 1886; graduated BA at St John's College, Cambridge, 1907 and qualified MB B.Ch. from St Thomas's Hospital, 1911. By then he was already an Assistant Director of the Pathology Department at Charing Cross Hospital, London. Always keen on research, war-time experience of a severe epidemic of typhus in Serbia turned his mind to epidemiology, and in 1922 he was appointed Professor of Bacteriology in the University of Manchester.

By 1922, Topley was developing the study of experimental epidemiology, in which he came to rely on the statistical contributions of Major Greenwood. In 1927 both men were appointed to new chairs at the new London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Their collaboration and friendship continued throughout their time at the School, until the threat of war catapulted Topley into organising the Emergency Public Health Laboratory Service (EPHLS). With his younger friend and associate, Graham Wilson, Topley published in 1929 the first of many editions of their classic text, Principles of Bacteriology and Immunity. In 1941 he took over as Secretary to the Agricultural Research Council. War-time stress and a family history of coronary disease caused his sudden death in February 1944, 2 days after his 58th birthday.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of William Whiteman Carlton Topley, 1913-1944, comprise publications by Topley and others including Major Greenwood and Graham Wilson, and photographs.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Arranged in two series: publications and photographs.

Conditions governing access:

This collection is open for consultation. Please contact the Archivist to arrange an appointment. All researchers must complete and sign a user registration form which signifies their agreement to abide by the archive rules. All researchers are required to provide proof of identity bearing your signature (for example, a passport or debit card) when registering. Please see website for further information at www.lshtm.ac.uk/library/archives.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogue

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Unknown.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine also holds correspondence and photographs relating to Topley, within Admin/19/22, Admin/20/01 and Admin/25/02/15.

The National Archives holds correspondence with Sir Henry Dale, 1943-1944 (Reference: CAB127/227).

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Victoria Killick, LSHTM Archivist and edited by Samantha Velumyl, AIM25 cataloguer. Sources: Prevention and Cure The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, A 20th Century Quest for Global Public Health Lise Wilkinson and Anne Hardy (Kegan Paul Limited, 2001).

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: February 2008


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Bacteriology | Microbiology
Photographs | Visual materials

Personal names
Greenwood | Major | 1880-1949 | medical statistician
Topley | William Whiteman Carlton | 1886-1944 | bacteriologist
Wilson | Sir | Graham Selby | 1895-1987 | Knight | microbiologist

Corporate names
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Places