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People and Organisations
London South Bank University
AR/1 · Corporate body · 1892-present

London South Bank University was established as the Borough Polytechnic Institute in 1892. In 1883 a local solicitor, Edric Bayley, heard that the government's Charity Commissioners had been given powers to redistribute redundant money from City of London parishes to improve the physical and moral condition of poor Londoners. This led him to set up the South London Polytechnic Institutes Council in 1887, whose members included the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Mayor of London. With Evan Spicer as its Chairman and the Prince of Wales as its President, the Council on the 16th January 1888 petitioned the Charity Commissioners for money. The petition was successful and the Charity Commissioners pledged funds to match any money up to £150,000 raised by the public to establish three polytechnics in South London. As a result a committee of the Council, the South London Polytechnic Institutes Committee, was appointed to raise the funds, select sites and make plans for the three polytechnics, chosen to be located at Elephant and Castle, New Cross and Battersea. After a public appeal by the Committee at Mansion House in June 1888, £78,000 was raised in four years to set up the Battersea and Borough Polytechnics. Also by 1892 the Borough Polytechnic's Governing Body had been set up and the British & Foreign Schools Society's, Borough Road Training College had been bought to house the Polytechnic.

The stated aims of the Charity Commissioners' Scheme for the Borough Polytechnic were 'the promotion of the industrial skill, general knowledge, health and wellbeing of young men and women belonging to the poorer classes' (LSBU/1/9/3). It was officially opened on 30 September 1892 by Lord Rosebery the Foreign Secretary. The first Chair of the Board of Governors was Edric Bayley, the first principal was Charles Millis and the Secretary and Clerk to the Board of Governors was William Richardson. From 1893 the Polytechnic received grants from the Technical Education Board (TEB) of the London County Council. And the London Polytechnic Council (LPC) was established to inspect and co-ordinate the work of the polytechnics. Both the TEB and the LPC were abolished following the London Education Act in 1904, when the London County Council took over responsibility for education in London.

From its inception, the Polytechnic focused on teaching skills relevant to industry and the workplace. The first 'Technical and Trade' classes were offered to apprentices or tradesmen and included woodcarving, boot and shoe manufacture, typography, oils and colours and varnishes. Women could attend classes in laundry, needlework and dressmaking. Science classes comprised chemistry, building construction and drawing, machine construction and drawing and hygiene and music courses, art and design, commercial classes and elocution were also offered in the early years, though most emphasis was placed on the trade classes. Bakery classes began in 1894 and by 1898 comprised the largest group of students at the Polytechnic. In 1899 the National School of Bakery and Confectionery (now the National Bakery School) was opened. In 1898 the Polytechnic introduced its own diplomas, though in 1921 the Ordinary National Certificate (ONC) and Higher National Certificate (HNC) were introduced.

From 1894 the Polytechnic established three Junior Technical Schools, partly in order to justify the employment of full-time staff: many rooms were unoccupied during the day as much of the teaching and activities took place in the evenings. The junior school also had the advantage of producing students able to take up the polytechnic's adult courses. The first school was the Domestic Economy School for Girls in 1894, followed by the Technical Day School for Boys in 1897 and the Day Trade School of Waistcoat-making for Girls in 1904. The schools, for boys and girls aged 12 years and above, taught practical skills for the home and the future workplace.

The governors of the Polytechnic sought to integrate their work with that of neighbouring institutions, in particular Herold's Institute, the London Technical School of Leather Manufacture and the Norwood Technical Institute. In 1907 some work was transferred to Morley College in an attempt to rationalise technical education in London, and a Joint Committee established (see LSBU/3/10/5). In 1917 commercial classes and some language work also transferred to Morley.

During the 1920s diplomas and certificate work for structured courses were introduced, pioneered by the Borough Polytechnic and soon after introduced at other polytechnics as part of a national system. Courses evolved over time and were continually adapted to the vocational needs of students. Single courses were divided into elementary and advanced parts, preliminary and ancillary courses were added, such as mathematics or basic science, and gradually the course grew until it became suitable for examination under the National Certificate or some other scheme. This led to a considerable amount of specialisation in course content and level.

During the Second World War, the polytechnic was bombed with more than 13,000 square feet of the buildings destroyed or made unsafe. New courses were introduced during the war, notably accelerated Higher National Certificate engineering courses under the Hankey scheme by Lord Hankey, Chairman of the War Cabinet's Scientific and Engineering Advisory Committee, and two-year engineering courses were developed for the army. At the end of the war degree courses in Pure Science and Engineering were introduced, which the polytechnic decided to concentrate on. Some courses were discontinued, such as welding, metal plate work and paper technology. Scientists were recruited from the services and war industries and accommodation and equipment required for degree standard work was developed. Due to the 1944 Education Act the junior schools were separated from the Polytechnic after the war. Degree courses were offered in the late 1940s and in 1955 the National Council for Technological Awards (NCTA) began awarding Diplomas of Technology and Technology Engineering. The diploma was the first major award of first degree standing for technical colleges and was quickly adopted by the Polytechnic's different departments. Further education and training was reorganised following the White Paper on Technical Education in 1956. The variety of levels of work at the Polytechnic meant that it was designated a regional college rather than a college of advanced technology, after which the governors decided to reduce the proportion of lower level work. The NCTA was replaced in 1964 by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) and the South Bank Academic Board established. There was a large increase in full-time and sandwich courses in diploma, CNAA and external degree courses.

The publication of the White Paper 'A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges', published in 1966, had announced the creation of some 30 polytechnics throughout the country to form what became called the public sector of the binary system of higher education. The 13 existing colleges managed by the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) were to be reorganised into five. The Borough Polytechnic Institute, the Brixton School of Building, City of Westminster College and the National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering joined together to become the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1970.

First degree courses were the mainstay of the new polytechnic's activities, and by the mid-1970s departments were offering full-time or sandwich courses and part-time courses in each major discipline. There was a rise in full-time and sandwich education leading to diplomas, CNAA and external degree awards. CNAA honours degrees in several subjects replaced London external degrees and CNAA ordinary degree, and new awards were introduced. The polytechnic expanded its range of courses into new areas of work, including sociology, town planning, management, education and law, in an environment where science and engineering had been dominant. Courses such as dental technology and building crafts were also transferred in order to rationalise work at the Polytechnic. Engineering and science courses continued to be central, with electrical and mechanical engineering and chemical engineering particularly growing in importance. Postgraduate work increased during the 1970s and 1980s, with 16% of students studying on postgraduate courses by 1990. In 1976 Battersea College of Education was incorporated into the Polytechnic, as were the parts of the Rachel McMillan College of Education that provided courses at the New Kent Road annexe. During the 1980s the Polytechnic pioneered the provision of access courses, including one in legal studies, for part-time and mature students. A new Department of Hospitality, Food and Product Management provided a new range of courses, including hotel management and in 1988 the Polytechnic was accredited for first degrees by CNAA. In 1991 students from South West London College transferred to South Bank on the dissolution of the College, and the Central Catering College was also incorporated into the Polytechnic.

In 1987 the Polytechnic became known as South Bank Polytechnic, and as result of the 1988 Education Reform Act was awarded corporate status and became independent of local authority control. Funding of polytechnics was given over to a new body, the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC), which was itself replaced in 1992 when the Higher and Further Education Act created a single Higher Education Funding Council, removing any remaining distinctions between polytechnics and universities. As a consequence South Bank Polytechnic became South Bank University on 18 June 1992 with the power to award its own degrees.

South Bank University consolidated and developed course specialities in computing, engineering, applied science; architecture, construction and estate management, business studies, management, languages and law, social sciences, arts, media studies and a new programme of Combined Honours degree subjects. In 1995 Redwood College of Health Studies and Charles West School of Nursing were incorporated into the University, bringing a number of health courses including nursing and allied health professions.

In 2003 the University underwent another name change to London South Bank University and teaching was split into four faculties: Arts and Human Sciences (AHS), Business, Computing & Information Management (BCIM) (from 2009 Business), Engineering, Science & the Built Environment (ESBE) and Health and Social Care (HSC).

Brixton School of Building
AR/10 · Corporate body · 1904-1970

The London County Council School of Building was opened on 26th February 1904 with Mr H W Richards as Principal to provide a specialist training college for the large number of building workers in Camberwell and Lambeth. The Lambeth Polytechnic building in Ferndale Road, Brixton was renovated to contain workshops for painting and decorating, carpentry and joinery and a drawing office. When it first opened, 643 students enrolled on classes covering stone carving, plasterers' modelling, drawing, chemistry and physics of building materials, land surveying and levelling. The School soon gained a world-wide reputation as a centre of excellence in the fields of town planning, building technology, estate management and building architecture.

In 1906 a school of architecture was added which was organised by Professor Beresford Pite of the Royal Academy of Art. Demand for courses increased rapidly so that in 1908 the School added a Junior Day Technical College for Boys and then a Senior Day Technical School as well as a new extension in 1909. In 1910 five-year courses were introduced in all trade subjects, followed in 1911 by a four year course in reinforced concrete and in 1912 a course in structural engineering all examined by the City and Guilds of London Institute. In 1921 Mr A R Sage became Principal (the Sage Medallion was in the possession of the former Vauxhall College). In 1922, Sir Robert Blair (LCC Education Officer) wrote, 'the Brixton School is easily the first and most complete school of building in the world'. In 1927 until 1943 Mr F E Drury became Principal. The Board of Education classified the School as a College of Further Education in 1928 and the following year a three year day course was introduced leading to the Ordinary and Higher National Diploma in Building or the Intermediate Examination of the Royal Institute of British Architects or the Chartered Surveyors Institute.

In 1943 it became the Brixton School of Building, in March 1945 Mr D A G Reid CBE became Principal and after the Second World War the School rapidly expanded so that by 1949 the number of full time students exceeded 400, studying courses in architecture, surveying and structural engineering. In 1956 Brixton was designated a regional college, and the governors decided not to concentrate on work at higher levels, but to retain its craft work and lower level teaching. Under the government's policy for higher education, given in the White Paper 'A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges', published in 1966, the higher level studies at Brixton would have to be continued within a new institution based on the polytechnic model. Brixton School of Building became part of the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1970, along with the Borough Polytechnic, City of Westminster College and the National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering. The last Principal wrote, '1970 marked the end of the beginning; the School of Building had faithfully served many days and generations of students but to the work it was doing there is no end'.

Five of the six departments from Brixton became the new Polytechnic's Faculty of Construction, Technology and Design. The sixth department, along with some work from other departments formed the Vauxhall College of Further Education. The Faculty moved into the new purpose-designed Wandsworth Road building, on the Wandsworth Road, during the summer of 1973, a decade after the first draft schedule of accommodation was made. The building was officially opened on 17 April 1975 by Anthony Crosland MP. The Faculty became the largest and most comprehensive Built Environment faculty in Europe covering subjects such as Property Development, Waste Management and Architecture. In the summer of 2003 the Wandsworth Road building was sold by London South Bank University and students and staff transferred back to the University's main Southwark campus to form the Faculty of Engineering, Science and the Built Environment.

Whipps Cross Hospital
AR/11 · Corporate body · 1889-present

From Lost Hospitals of London: https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/whippscross.html In 1889 the West Ham Guardians bought Forest House and its estate of 44 acres of grounds as a site for a future infirmary, for which pla ing approval was granted in 1894. The old mansion house was then used from that year as an a exe to the West Ham Union workhouse in Leyton to accommodate elderly infirm men. Building work on the new infirmary began in 1900 and was completed three years later, having cost over £186,000. The West Ham Union Infirmary opened in 1903. It comprised a central administration building with ward blocks on either side.nAlthough originally there had been no operating theatre, this was soon added, although it was known as the 'operating room' as the word 'theatre' was considered to be too alarming to the patients. By 1912 some 350 operations a year were being performed. During WW1, in 1917 part of the Infirmary became the Whipps Cross War Hospital. It was affiliated to the Colchester Military Hospital and 240 beds were given over for wounded and sick servicemen. King George V and Queen Mary visited in November 1917, commenting on the magnificence of the buildings. The Queen presented medals and certificates to the nurses who has passed their Final examinations that years. By the end of the war in 1918 the Infirmary had become a general hospital. Its name was changed to Whipps Cross Hospital. During the 1920s the first specialist consultants were appointed to the medical staff. They established departments in dermatology, ophthalmology, genitourinary surgery and ear, nose and throat conditions. In 1926 the Board of Guardians who managed the Hospital were dismissed by Neville Chamberlain, the Minister of Health, as they had run up a debt of £250,000. In 1930 the Boards of Guardians were abolished and control of the Hospital was taken over by West Ham Borough Council. The Council added new ward blocks and, by 1936, the Hospital had 741 beds and had been recognised as a training school for nurses. During the years 1938-1940 four new blocks were built at the eastern end of the original buildings. During WW2 the Hospital joined the Emergency Medical Service, with 388 of its 744 beds reserved for civilian air-raid casualties. In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS under the control of the Leytonstone Group Hospital Management Committee, part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. It had 1,044 beds, of which 846 were open. In 1951 the Wilfred Lawson Temperance Hotel in Woodford Green was purchased by the Regional Hospital Board as additional accommodation for 50 nurses. The Hospital Management Committee decided to use the premises also as a Preliminary Training School for student nurses; this opened on a temporary basis in October 1951. The nurses' badges bore the Hospital's motto: Semper ad coelum (always aim high). In 1963, when the Hospital had 978 beds, it transferred to the control of the Forest Group Hospital Management Committee. In 1965 a Medical Education Centre opened. It was one of the first in England. An Intensive Care Unit opened in 1968, as did a Hyperbaric Unit. In 1974, following a major reorganisation of the NHS, the Hospital came under the control of the West Roding District Health Authority, part of the Redbridge and Waltham Forest Area Health Authority of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority. It had 862 beds. The Medical Education Centre was extended the same year. In 1982, after another major reorganisation of the NHS, the Hospital came under the administration of the Waltham Forest District Health Authority. In 1987 the Margaret Centre opened to provide palliative care for patients with life-limiting illnesses. In 1992, following the introduction of more reforms of the NHS, the Hospital became a trust - the Forest Healthcare NHS Trust. By 1997 the Hospital was in deep financial crisis, with a deficit of £4m. The long waits in the Accident & Emergency Department for patients on trolleys, cancelled operations and neglect of elderly patients on wards placed it as the second worst in the whole country for complaints (it is not stated which was the first). In 2001 the Forest Healthcare NHS Trust was dissolved and the Hospital came under the management of the Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust. The Hospital celebrated its centenary in 2003. A new Emergency Medical Centre was opened. Work began in 2011 at the northern part of the site for a new £23m Emergency and Urgent Care Centre, which opened in May 2012. The building incorporates the former Accident and Emergency Department and the Walk-In Centre. Because of the continuing financial problems and uncertainties over its future, a scheme for redevelopment of the site intended to begin in 2012 was abandoned. Instead, early in 2011, the Trust negotiated with the Barts and the London NHS Trust and the Newham University Hospital NHS Trust to create a new trust. The mergers were successful and the Barts Health NHS Trust came into being on 1st April 2012, the largest NHS Trust in the country. €¨Newham Archives, Stratford Reference Library, holds administrative records from 1900-1957, ephemera from 1917-1957 and pictoral records from 1900-1939. Waltham Forest Archives holds administrative records from 1875-1975, including staff records from 1932.

King George Hospital
AR/12 · Corporate body · 1912-1993

King George Hospital, Ilford, Essex, started in 1912 as the Ilford Emergency Hospital to serve the Ilford, Barking and Dagenham areas with 20 beds. During WW1 it became an approved military hospital with 56 beds.

AR/13 · Corporate body · 1883-1910

South London Polytechnic Institutes Council was established following the City of London Parochial Charities Act, 1883. In the Act the government's Charity Commissioners were to distribute money to schemes which would improve the physical, social and moral condition of Londoners. Edric Bayley, a solicitor and member of the London School Board, wanted to use the money to establish a people's college in Elephant & Castle, which could help alleviate the extreme poverty he saw in that area as well as help strengthen British industry.

In 1887 Bayley established the South London Polytechnic Institutes Council, whose members included the Lord Mayor of London and the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) as its President. In January 1888 the Council appealed to the Charity Commissioners for the money they needed. The Commissioners were impressed and pledged that they would match any funds raised by the public up to the sum of £150,000 in order to establish three technical colleges, or polytechnics, in South London.

A Committee of the Council had the task of raising the money needed from the public and also of deciding where the three polytechnics should be located. The Committee decided that one should be established at Elephant and Castle (now London South Bank University), another at New Cross (which is now Goldsmiths College) and lastly at Battersea (which eventually moved and became part of the University of Surrey). The public appeal for the money needed was launched at a widely publicised dinner held at Mansion House in June 1888. Within four years £78,000 had been raised through the public's generosity for the Elephant & Castle and Battersea Polytechnics, which was matched by the Charity Commissioners.

Wanstead Hospital
AR/14 · Corporate body · 1938-1986

From Lost Hospitals of London https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/wanstead.html The Essex County Hospital opened in 1938 in a building originally erected in 1861 as the Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum. (Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, had laid the foundation stone.) In 1921 the orphans moved to Bearwood House in Wokingham and the Asylum building was bought by the Convent of the Good Shepherd as a refuge for women and girls. In 1937 Essex County Council bought the building and converted it into a hospital. The Hospital joined the NHS in 1948 as a general hospital with 202 beds. It had suffered considerable damage during the war and a proposal was made to develop a larger hospital on the 7 acre site. However, these plans came to naught. The war damage was repaired and by 1961 the Hospital had 195 beds. The maternity service was withdrawn in 1975 and the Hospital finally closed in 1986 with 188 beds. Services were transferred to Whipps Cross Hospital.

The hospital was part of the Forest Group School of Nursing, centred on Whipps Cross Hospital, training nurses for both the Register and the Roll.

Recreation Committee
AR/16 · Corporate body · 1898-1946

The Recreation Committee was a sub-committee of the Governing Body (LSBU/1/2). Its terms of reference were to receive:

  • reports of Sections, Clubs, Societies, Field, Old Boys' Associations, Old Girls' Association, Bakery Students, Volunteer Corps;

  • reports of receptions by Governors and Members Conversazioni, Concerts, Lectures, Sports, Grants to Clubs;

  • fees of clubs and societies;

  • reports and recommendations of the Institute Council (LSBU/5/13);

  • applications for the formation of new societies and pass their rules;

  • reports and recommendations as to the Library and Reading Room.

Manor House Magazine
AR/17 · Corporate body · 1952-1960

Manor House Magazine was the College magazine for Battersea Training College of Domestic Science. Its first publication was in 1952.

South West London College
AR/21 · Corporate body · 1966-1991

The College was founded in 1966 from the amalgamation of other educational institutions, including a branch institute of Battersea Polytechnic established in Tooting during 1901. The College specialised in degrees and diplomas in Accountancy, Business and Management Studies. In 1967 a Higher National Certificate and the first full time course, specifically designed for the resettlement of members of the armed services, was introduced in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence. The growth of the College saw work spread to a number of annexes, including a Congregational church in Rookstone Road, Wandsworth, a floor of Smallwood Road School, Garrett Lane, and a further school at 10 Wiseton Road. In 1979 the former site of Battersea Grammar School was secured near Tooting Broadway. The College was designated a Higher Education Centre under the Education Reform Act 1988 and by 1991 offered a range of sub-degree level work and good quality post experience courses in Management. With ongoing accommodation problems and a damning report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate on some of its provision the College's Board of Governors chose in 1990 to amalgamate with Thames Polytechnic. However in November the Secretary of State announced his intention to dissolve the College under the 1988 Education Reform Act and allowing higher education students to choose where they wished to complete their studies. Over 1000 students chose to transfer to South Bank Polytechnic and most of the College's staff followed suit, helping to form the Faculty of Management and Policy Studies. The extra staff were housed in Diary House on Borough Road.

AR/22 · Corporate body · 1960-1995

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children opened on 14 February 1852 as a result of a campaign by Dr Charles West and Dr Henry Bence-Jones to establish a hospital solely for children, which until that point did not exist in Great Britain. Formal nursing training was introduced in 1878 and in 1960 a new School of Nursing building was officially opened on 31 March 1960 by Princess Alexandra. The Charles West School of Nursing merged with South Bank University in 1995.

AR/23 · Corporate body · c1968-

South Bank Polytechnic Student Union was formed in 1970 by amalgamating the unions of the Borough Polytechnic Institute, Brixton School of Building and City of Westminster College after these institutions were merged, along with the National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering to form the Polytechnic of the South Bank.

The Borough Polytechnic Students' Union had been situated in Borough Road Building, but the new South Bank Polytechnic Student Union was located on Rotary Street where facilities included a bar, coffee bar and games room. By 1973 the Union had established a Welfare Service and the clubs and societies on offer were categorised into four groups: sporting; academic; entertainments; and other. The Union promoted itself as "the only democratic organisation within the Polytechnic representing student's interest to the college and other authorities as a Union". As well as the building on Rotary Street, the Student Union also had a presence at Wandsworth Road Building, after its opening in 1973.

In 1987 the Polytechnic purchased the Vickers Building on Keyworth Street, which was renovated in order to house the finance department and the Student Union. Work was completed in 1990 and the building was renamed George Overend Building. It contained a Student Union shop and bar, a hairdressers and an events hall and was the second largest student venue in London. In 1993 the Union opened a shop in Wandsworth Road and in total provided four bars, two shops, a recreation room and student common room for the Polytechnic's students. The four categories for clubs and societies were altered to become: course based; cultural; external; and sports.

In January 1994 the Union opened a mini-mall on Keyworth Street containing the new Union shop, Endsleigh Insurance and a small space for amusement machines. The Union also expanded its welfare unit and opened two new entertainment venues within George Overend Building: The Void for smaller events and The Arc, which had space for 1,000 people. The venues within George Overend Building were refurbished and changed name several times, but by 1999 consisted of the Tavern, a bar styled as a traditional pub and Isobar, a larger venue.

The Student Union ceased to have facilities at Wandsworth Road in 2003 once the building was sold. It also ceded management of Turney Road Sports Pavilion to the University's Academy of Sport, Physical Activity & Wellbeing in 2006.

In 2007 the Student Union was relocated to a temporary structure on Thomas Doyle Street in order for the George Overend Building to be demolished. The temporary structure contained a shop, bar events area, outdoor seating and offices. The Union remained here until November 2012 when it moved to the newly built Student Centre next to Borough Road Building.

AR/26 · Corporate body · 1984-1986

The GLAWARS was set up in April 1984 during the height of the Cold War by the Greater London Council (GLC) to investigate the impact of a nuclear or conventional war on London. To date the GLAWARS has been the most extensive scientific investigation of possibilities for civil protection and civil defence of a metropolitan area in a modern war.

During 1979 the Government's perceived lack of readiness for such attack pushed the Home Office into publishing in May 1980 a public information series called 'Protect and Survive' on civil defence. It was intended to inform British citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack, and consisted of a mixture of pamphlets, radio broadcasts, and public information films. However many thought the publication misleading when confronted by the real outcome of nuclear war. In 1983 the GLC was required to draw up civil defence plans for the city under the Civil Defence Regulations and asked the Government for more information about the scale and nature of any likely attack, but met a refusal from the Home Office.

In 1984 Ken Livingstone's GLC commissioned the GLAWARS research project to consider the effect of an attack on London and Londoners. The brief was to establish how London would cope with an all-out attack, nuclear or otherwise, and what would happen to the capital's residents, the food, the water, roads, railways, houses and hospitals. The GLC appointed an international Commission of five experts guiding the direction of the study who were Dr Anne Ehrlich (Stanford University USA), Dr S William Gunn (International Red Cross/Head of Emergency Relief Operations, World Health Organisation), Dr Stuart Horner (DMO, Croydon Health Authority/British Medical Association Council Member), Vice-Admiral John M Lee (Assistant Director, US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, retired) and Dr Peter Sharfman (US Congress Office of Technology Assessment).

At the same time, the GLC commissioned the Polytechnic of the South Bank (now London South Bank University) to carry out the GLAWARS study, under the overall direction of the Commission. In all 44 expert authors, including scientists, military experts and disaster-relief specialists, mostly from outside the Polytechnic, produced 33 separate research papers on topics such as Emergency Nursing Services, Nuclear Blast and Building Stress, Communication Destruction and Food Pollution. The researchers took as the basis of their report, five scales of nuclear attack ranging from eight megatons dropped on Britain by bombers carrying nuclear bombs and air-to-surface missiles to 10-35 megatons targeted on London alone by SS20 missiles. The report also addressed the possibility of a conventional, non-nuclear attack on London's services.

The final horrifying results were presented to the GLC in early 1986 and were subsequently published in June 1986 in a 397-page book entitled 'London Under Attack: The Report of the Greater London Area War Risk Study'. The book was highly critical of Government and Home Office policy on civil defence and with its specific and merciless statistics destroyed the fairy tale of survival after a nuclear attack. "The prospect facing those who initially survived would be fear, exhaustion, disease, pain and long, lonely misery. Avoiding a nuclear war is still the only way of avoiding this fate", warns the Report. The depth and breadth of the conclusions of the GLAWARS went far beyond any investigation previously available to any official body, country or organization, and have since been found applicable to most major urban centres.

Local Endowed Charities
AR/27 · Corporate body

Endowed Charities are charities which exist to carry out the terms of bequests, usually within parishes, and hold some assets and investments in order to do this. Schemes are legal documents by which the Charity Commission may amend, replace or amplify a charity's governing document.

AR/29 · Corporate body · 1993-1994

Redwood College was formed in July 1993 by the merger of Roding and Romford Colleges of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare Studies. These Colleges were in turn formed by the amalgamation of several Schools of Nursing and Midwifery in Essex and London. Redwood College of Health Studies merged with South Bank University in 1994.

Records in this collection were created by several hospitals in Essex and London, which taught nursing but which no longer exist, with the exception of Whipps Cross Hospital.

Connaught Hospital
AR/3 · Corporate body · 1878-1977

From Lost Hospitals of London: https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/connaught.html In the late 19th century Walthamstow residents Mr and Mrs Tudor opened a 'Cottage for Sick Children' in a private house in Brandon Road. The Hospital moved to larger premises in Salisbury Road in 1880 and became known as the Leyton, Walthamstow and Wanstead Hospital. In 1894 the gift of Holmcroft in Orford Road enabled the hospital to expand so that it could also provide general services, and it was duly renamed the Children's and General Hospital for Leyton, Leytonstone, Walthamstow and Wanstead. It was enlarged in 1897 and again in 1903. By 1925 it had 50 beds. The Leyton and Leytonstone War Memorial Ward was added in 1927. In 1928 it was renamed the Co aught Hospital, as the Duchess of Co aught had been patron since 1866. The Duke of Kent had helped to raise £17,000 for its ru ing costs. By this time it had 100 beds. Comely Bank in Orford Road was acquired as a clinic in 1930. In 1934 the Hospital was enlarged again and by 1939 had 118 beds. Although mooted in 1945, the prospect of building a larger hospital never materialized and, in 1959, the old Walthamstow Town Hall, built in 1866, was incorporated into the Hospital and became its main entrance. This expanded it to 128 beds. In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS under the control of the Forest Group Hospital Management Committee, part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1974, following a major reorganisation of the NHS, it came under the auspices of the Enfield District Health Authority, part of the North East Thames Regional Health Board. The Hospital finally closed in 1977 due to financial cutbacks in the NHS.

AR/30 · Corporate body · 2001-

Havering campus was established in 2001, along with Whipps Cross Campus, after South Bank University merged with the Redwood College of Health Studies. It is on the site of the former Harold Wood Hospital which was founded in 1909 as a convalescence home for children. The campus is used by the School of Health and Social Care.

AR/31 · Corporate body · 2001-2011

Whipps Cross campus was established in 2001, along with Havering Campus, after South Bank University merged with the Redwood College of Health Studies. The campus closed in 2011.

Rush Green Hospital
AR/32 · Corporate body · 1901-1994

From Lost Hospitals of London: https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/rushgreen.html The Romford Isolation Hospital opened in April 1901 with 24 beds. It had been built by the Romford Rural and Romford Urban District Councils and served the Romford, Dagenham and Hornchurch areas. It was enlarged in 1906, after which it had 70 beds. A new pavilion ward block with 8 beds for TB patients was built in 1914. After the Becontree Estate was built by the LCC during the 1920s the Hospital was much enlarged in the 1930s to cater for the greatly increased population. During WW2 it joined the Emergency Medical Service and became the Rush Green Emergency Hospital - a general hospital with 230 beds available for military and air-raid casualties. The Hospital buildings themselves suffered some bomb damage and, on 16th June 1944, a flying bomb destroyed a ward. Six patients and two nurses were killed. After the war, in June 1947, a plaque commemorating the staff and patients who lost their lives in the incident was unveiled by the Minister of Health, Aneurin Bevan. In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS under the control of the Romford Group Hospital Management Committee, part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. It was renamed Rush Green Hospital and became a general hospital with 180 beds. The old open wards were considered unsuitable for fever patients, but one remained open, under protest, for scarlet fever patients, while two became used for TB patients, and one was closed due to insufficient staff (but probably would have been used for TB patients if there had been enough nurses). In 1957 the Hospital had 301 beds. A Polio Unit was established as there had been an epidemic of the disease during the 1950s. By 1966 there were 316 beds for general and infectious diseases patients, including the Polio Unit. In May 1969 a new 5-story maternity unit with 115 beds was officially opened by the Duchess of Kent. It had cost £829,000 to build and equip. In 1972 there were 409 beds. The maternity block contained 78 obstetric and 55 gynaecological beds. A Special Care Baby Unit for premature babies had also been established.

Following a major reorganisation of the NHS in 1974, the Hospital came under the control of the Barking District Health Authority, part of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority. In 1982, after another reorganisation of the NHS, the Hospital was administered by the Barking, Havering and Brentwood District Health Authority. It had 397 beds. By 1990 it had 345 beds. Maternity services were moved to Harold Wood Hospital and, in 1994, the local Health Authority decided to close the Hospital, despite local opposition.

Barking Hospital
AR/37 · Corporate body · 1893-present

From Lost Hospitals of London: https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/barking.html In the early 1890s Barking Urban District Council built an infectious diseases hospital on Upney Lane, to the west of Rookery Hall. The Upney Isolation Hospital opened in 1893, dealing with those suffering from scarlet fever, diphtheria and other infectious diseases (but not smallpox). In July and August 1896 some 13 patients were admitted to the Hospital following an outbreak of typhoid fever which affected 23 people in the region. In the early part of the 20th century the Council acquired more land nearby and the Hospital was extended, with the addition of a new ward block at the southwest part of the site. By the mid 1930s Barking Corporation had acquired the rest of the land bordering Upney Lane to Upney station, and a new isolation hospital was built on Upney Meadow to the south of the original building, parallel to the railway line. In 1936, a maternity pavilion was built on the site of the original isolation hospital in response to the need for more maternity beds (the nearby Becontree Estate had a birthrate which was double the national average). The Hospital now comprised two parts on the 18 acre site - at the southern part was the Upney (Isolation) Hospital with 108 beds and, at the northern, the Upney (Maternity) Hospital with 22 beds. In 1938 an ENT Department was established, dealing mainly with the removal of tonsils and adenoids. During WW2 the Upney (Maternity) Hospital became a principal casualty hospital for the Emergency Medical Service. It had 24 beds. Both Hospitals joined the NHS in 1948 as a maternity hospital under the name of Barking Hospital, under the control of the Ilford and Barking Group Hospital Management Committee, part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. The Hospital had 108 beds, which had been reduced to 74 by 1951. By 1954 the Hospital had 76 beds - 54 for maternity patients and 22 for chronically sick elderly females - in the former isolation section at the south, whilst the northern building became the Out-Patients Department, also housing the Borough Chest Clinic and Physiotherapy Department. At the end of the 1950s, because of the shortage of beds, the Hospital Management Committee decided it should become a general hospital for the group. The site was to be redeveloped, as the scattered bungalow buildings used for fever patients were no longer suitable as ward accommodation. The work was to commence in 1963 and be completed by 1967. In the meantime upgrading works were carried out on the existing facilities. In January 1958 the lighting on the labour ward was improved with the installation of mobile operating lamps. The operating theatre was modernised and re-equipped for £5,000. The 4-bedded wards in both maternity units were cubicled and curtained. Glass partitioning for weather protection was erected on the verandah of Sydenham Ward (the antenatal and gynaecological ward), which had the only verandah that had remained open to all the elements. All the woollen blankets on the wards were replaced by cellular cotton blankets (which were boilable). In 1958 work began to convert Ross Ward into an up-to-date surgical ward with 16 beds, at a cost of £9,000. Je er Ward, the medical ward, was to be modernised and become a geriatric ward. The mortuary remained a problem. Post-mortems were carried out in the same room where corpses rested; relatives were only allowed to see the deceased through a window, as the body lay on a slab beside the post-mortem table. nIn May 1959 the renewed Ross Ward opened - the Hospital's first modern ward - for surgical and gynaecological patients. The Hospital then had 98 beds, used variously for maternity, surgical, gynaecological and chronic cases. In addition, there were 4 cots for premature babies. Although some 90% of nurses were non-resident, it was recognised that there was a need for a Recreation Hall; the Hospital's League of Friends raised some £25,000 towards the cost of this project. The Hall was built at the far southeastern part of the site. The Out-Patients building - the Upney Clinic - now also accommodated an orthopaedic clinic. By 1960 the Hospital admitted mainly female patients. Plans were prepared for the expansion of the Hospital from its current 102 beds to 250 general beds by the erection of a 4-storey block at a cost of £1m. In the meantime, improvements to the existing wards continued. Stainless steel sinks were provided on all wards and in the main kitchen. The verandah to Je er Ward, now the female geriatric ward, was made into a pleasant sitting room and fitted with Venetian blinds. During the 1950s a severe shortage of nursing staff, especially midwives, meant that some beds had had to be closed but, in June 1960, deliveries resumed in Harvey Ward, relieving the pressure on Williams Ward, the main maternity ward. A Special Baby Care Unit for premature babies opened in Williams Ward (babies were also accepted from other hospitals). The need for a Leg Unit had been recognised, and this opened in April 1961 in Paget Ward. The 15-bedded unit had cost £5,500. Patients were seen in the Out-Patients Department at King George Hospital, Ilford, and operated on at Barking Hospital. A special X-ray service was supplied by Chadwell Heath Hospital. In 1965 the Hospital had 110 beds for mainly female patients. The new £1m building, built just to the north of the existing ward buildings, was officially opened by Princess Alexandra in April 1967. In 1970 the Hospital had 286 beds for mainly acute and maternity cases. Following a major reorganisation of the NHS in 1974, the Hospital came under the control of the East Roding District Health Authority, part of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority. The Hospital was rebuilt during the 1980s and, in 1987, a new maternity wing was opened, built on the site of the old Out-Patients building. The Hospital then had 314 beds for mainly acute and maternity patients. In 1990 the Hospital was under the control of Redbridge District Health Authority and had 362 beds for acute and maternity cases. In 1993 it came under the Redbridge Health Care Trust, when it had 254 beds for acute care and rehabilitation. By 1995 it had 96 beds for acute care and geriatric patients. In 1999, most of the site was sold off to Wilcon Homes for housing development, and a small part to Hanover Housing for apartments with associated care facilities for elderly people. In 2000 the Hospital had 96 beds, but only three of its four wards were operational as services began to be run down. In 2003 it came under the control of the Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust; there were notionally 105 beds. In 2007 medical and surgical in-patient services moved to King George Hospital in Barley Lane, while mental health in-patients were transferred to Grays Court, an intermediate care centre in Dagenham.n

Forest Gate Hospital
AR/4 · Corporate body · 1913-1985

From Lost Hospitals of London: https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/newhammaternity.html The origins of this Hospital lie in the Forest Gate Industrial School, which was built in 1854 on a 12 acre site once owned by Samuel Gurney (1785-1956), a well known Quaker philanthropist. In 1890 a tragic fire resulted in the deaths of 26 boys, who suffocated because they were locked in their dormitories. (This disaster led to institutions developing 'scattered homes' rather than barrack-style schools.) Poplar Union continued to use the building as a training school until 1906. It then closed temporarily, opening again in 1908 as a branch of the Poplar Union workhouse. In 1911 the building was bought by West Ham Union workhouse. It re-opened in 1913 as the Forest Gate Sick Home, with 500 beds. There were 21 beds for mentally handicapped adults and 25 for mentally handicapped children, including epileptics. In 1930 the West Ham Borough Council took over its administration. The main buildings became the Forest Gate Hospital, with 500 beds for mental patients and the chronic sick, and 64 beds in the maternity unit. A temporary building with 200 beds for the chronic sick was added in 1931. By 1937 the Hospital had 723 patients. During WW2 the Hospital suffered damage in 1940 from two direct hits, one a high explosive bomb. Much of the accommodation for non-maternity patients was destroyed, and the patients were evacuated to the South Ockendon Colony (a mental hospital in Essex which had opened in 1932). The number of beds was reduced to 201. After the war, accommodation for 128 patients re-opened in 1945, and the building of a new maternity unit commenced in 1947. In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS, when it had 207 beds. Further maternity wards were built in 1950. In 1974 it was renamed the Newham Maternity Hospital, by which time bed numbers had reduced to 116. By 1983 there were 106 beds. The Hospital closed in 1985 when the newly built Newham General Hospital opened.n