Danford Thomas (1 results)

Minutes of an important but almost forgotten organisation, the 'Medical Defence Association', a collective, well-supported attempt made in Britain by members of the profession in the 1870s to target and outlaw malpractice and charlatanry by purported members of the medical profession. Predating the better known Medical Defence Union, the first minuted meeting within this volume is dated December 10th 1875, chaired by Mr G Danford Thomas (later involved with the Dr Crippen case) which proposes the urgent formation of an association in response to a perceived 'apathy of the medical corporations and the profession generally'. By the meeting of January 19th 1876 Dr Benjamin W Richardson had accepted the office of President and Sir Alfred Meadows that of Vice President and a solicitor to work on the behalf of the Association had been appointed from Messrs Green and Pridham of Bedford Row. The noted members include Mr Spencer Watson, Henrietta St, Dr Duncan Turner, Islington, Dr Walter Smith, Regents Rd., Dr Derry Jones, Islington, Mr W Douglas Hemming, Bayswater, Dr JE Brooks, Kensal Green, Dr David Smart, Bermondsey and Mr J Wallis Masons Regents Pk NW. Pasted in is a printed document laying out the 32 objects of the Association including: to suppress practice of medicine and surgery by persons not legally qualified; to suppress and expose quack advertisements and medicine; to suppress the sale of bogus diplomas; to consider the question of outpatient hospital reform; to take into consideration any matters of a medico-ethical character; to consider the amendment of the medical and other acts relating to the practice of the profession. Many details of specific cases and successful prosecutions brought forward by the Association are outlined within the minutes of each meeting. The case of a man named J Worts residing at Kirby St Hatton who it is alleged as practising as a surgeon without legal qualification; an unqualified assistant conducting a Branch practice at Snodland on behalf of a medical man residing some miles off; a man named Young practising at Chelmsford who is prosecuted under the Medical Act for falsely assuming the title Dr; a man named Thomas Crow Balls, practising as a surgeon in Bermondsey in south London also prosecuted. The minutes of June 1876 discuss the Association's push for the General Medical Ccouncil to amend the 42nd clause of the Medical Act by introducing a bill to be brought before parliament to insure that only those with their name on the medical register shall take a medical title. The Association worked in conjunction with the BMA, the Apothecaries Association and the Association of Surgeons but the volume reveals it was often without their support. News of successful prosecutions in other provincial branches show the reach of the Association. Included are updates and news from Accrington, Nottingham, Sunderland, West Cornwall, Newcastle, East Anglia and the North of England branches. The final minuted meeting is dated October 1885 following an unexplained gap since the previous meeting of April 1879. Laid in are 4 handwritten letters from G E [Estrange] marked Nottingham and dated 1877/1878. These seek advice on specific cases and financial support. An additional letter is headed 3 Bolt Court, Fleet St, Oct 8th 78. Signed J Wickham Barnes, the contents state 'I consider the profession are indebted to your Association and to yourself particularly for a great deal of good work'. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION 8 vo. Half bound calf over cloth boards in fair condition. Spine top worn away revealing binding underneath. Marbled endpapers in fair condition split over gutters but still holding. 'Alex Goodland' bookseller plate affixed to front pastedown annotated 'EH Carter' to top. Four leaves of receipts/accounts dated 1877/1878 handwritten on blue paper taped between front endpapers. Circa 160 leaves mainly used on one side only in good condition. Blanks particularly to rear. Majority of leaves handwritten. Text.