British Postgraduate Medical Federation

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0096 UoL/BPMF
Held at	: Senate House Library, University of London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/our-collections ›
Full title	: British Postgraduate Medical Federation
Date(s)	: 1943-1997
Level of description	: Sub-fonds View parent record
Extent	: 228 boxes
Name of creator(s)	: British Postgraduate Medical Federation | University of London
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The British Postgraduate Medical Federation (BPMF) was established by the Senate of the University of London in April 1945, was granted incorporation by Royal Charter in March 1947 and was admitted as a school of the University in December 1947. The Royal Charter stated that the BPMF would "provide opportunity for the advancement in general medicine or in any of the special branches thereof and by arranging lectures and demonstrations or otherwise promote the investigation of disease".

The BPMF was established as a result of the Goodenough report (1944), which recommended the reorganisation of the British Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith and its reconstitution as a federal organisation. The first Director of the Federation, Sir Francis Fraser, was instrumental in taking forward the Goodenough report's recommendation that the federation should constitute a series of institutes in each of the principal special subjects of medicine, based on a leading teaching hospital. The Federation included medical research institutes such as the Institute of Cancer Research, Institute of Child Health, Institute of Dental Surgery, National Heart and Lung Institute, Institute of Neurology, Institute of Ophthalmology and Institute of Psychiatry.

The Tomlinson report (1992) recommended that the institutes supervised by the BPMF should instead be attached to the multi-faculty Colleges within the University of London. As a result, the BPMF ceased operations on 31st July 1996.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of the British Postgraduate Medical Federation (BPMF), 1943-1997, comprising directors' files from the 1940s; records relating to funding from the 1950s onwards; annual reports; papers of the Central Academic Council; papers of the Governing Body; papers of the Executive Committee; papers of the Finance and General Purposes Committee; papers of the Audit Committee; papers of the Special Purposes Committee; papers of the Education Committee; papers relating to the Institute of Child Health; papers relating to the Institute of Cancer Research; papers relating to the Institute of Neurology; papers relating to the Institute of Ophthalmology; papers relating to the Institute of Psychiatry; papers relating to the National Heart and Lung Institute; papers relating to the Hunterian Institute; files of the BPMF Directors; files of the BPMF secretary; files of the BPMF financial officer; publications; audio-visual material; accounts; and papers of British Postgraduate Medical Technology Limited.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

As outlined in Scope and Content.

Conditions governing access:

Open except for records exempt under the Data Protection Act or the Freedom of Information Act. See conditions outlined at file level. Please contact the University Archivist for details. 24 hours notice is required for research visits.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

Finding aids:

A hard-copy catalogue is available in the Special Collections Reading Room, or on-line at http://archives.ulrls.lon.ac.uk

Archival Information

Archival history:

The archive of the BMPF was transferred to the care of Senate House Library in 1996, and forms part of the wider archive of the University of London.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Transferred to Senate House Library in 1996.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Further University of London BPMF material can be found in the Annex Archive.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Anya Turner.

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:
July 2008