BELL, William Blair- (1871-1936): drawings of College robes and designs for the presidential badge

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1538 S36
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	: BELL, William Blair- (1871-1936): drawings of College robes and designs for the presidential badge
Date(s)	: 1931
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 2 folders
Name of creator(s)	: Bell | William Blair- | 1871-1936 | President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

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 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 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).

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Drawings comprising copies of designs by William Blair-Bell for the presidential badge and ceremonial robe and for a Fellow's robe, of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 1931.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Single item.

Conditions governing access:

Open

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: vested in the estate of William Blair-Bell. Copyright expires in 2007.

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 drawings were formerly the property of William Blair-Bell. According to Fletcher Shaw in his history of the College, the badge was designed by Blair Bell and Omar Ramsden, and presented to the College by the former. It was stolen in 1943; a new badge was copied from the original designs. The robes were also designed by Blair-Bell in conjunction with the firm of Ede & Ravenscroft (Ibid pp 59-60) (bibliography: W Fletcher Shaw, Twenty-Five Years: the story of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists 1929-1954, J & A Churchill Ltd, 1954, pp 57-60). The designs were presented to the College by Lady Bell, wife of Sir Arthur Bell, the nephew of W Blair-Bell.

Immediate source of acquisition:

This item was presented to the College by A H Rowson, FRCOG, in April 1990.

Allied Materials

Related material:

RCOG Archives holds other records relating to the design of robes and the presidential badge (Refs: A1/10, A1/44 and H2/12). A1/44 comprises Ede & Ravenscroft's bill and receipt for the presidential robe; photographs of the design for the badge and robes are at PH12/1 and PH14/4-6.

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

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