RCPI Archive Part III – Membership of the College
This is a third in a series of posts looking at the contents of the College's own archive collection, which is the largest single collection in the archive. Because the collection is so big, I have split the collection list into five parts, this post will look at the contents of Part III. (Here you can read about part I and part II). PDFs of the five parts of the collection list can be downloaded from the archive webpage, and the records will shortly be available though the online catalogue as well.
Part III of the archive covers membership of the College, and is a very usefully resource for anyone doing research into a specific doctor who was a member of the College. Over its history the College has had three orders of membership; Licentiates, Members and Fellows. Under their founding charters the College had power to award Licences to those wishing to practice medicine on the completion of an exam; those who passed this exam became Licentiates. Initially licenses were just granted in Medicine, but later Licenses in midwifery and sanitary science were also added.
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| RCPI/5/5/1/1 - Roll of Officers 1693-1760 |
As well as the Licentiates the founding charters provided for 14 Fellows, to be elected from the Licentiates who would be responsible for the running of the College. This limit on the number of Fellows was removed in 1761 but no attempts were made to increase the numbers until the early nineteenth century. The final order, Membership of the College, was introduced in 1878. To a large extent Membership of the College replaced the Licentiates, who could apply for an automatic upgrade to Membership. Although Licenses continued to be offered into the twentieth century the numbers applying declined, as most doctors applied for the membership examinations. The College also has a further honorary order of membership; Honorary Fellowships. Originally the Honorary Fellowships were given to Fellows who, for certain reasons, had to resign their Fellowship, now it is used as an honorary title, awarded to those who have made a significant contribution to medicine.
So, having identified what is meant by Licentiates, Members and Fellows of the College, what can you expect to find out about them in the archive?
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| RCPI/5/1 - Page from College Register |
The archive holds the College Roll books which give the name and date of admission of all members, and in some cases a small amount of additional biographical information. For Licentiates from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century the archive holds a considerable number of application forms, examination result sheets and diploma receipts, although it is by no means a complete set. Similar records exist for the membership from the 1880s to the 1970s; with applications, examination papers and result sheets, as well as minutes of the exams and inspection committees.
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| RCPI/5/3/5/6/10 - Report of Examiners 1899 |
For the Fellows, there are roll books, some nomination forms (1844-1985), as well as papers relating to the offices within the College held by Fellows. For all three areas there are also papers relating to the oaths to be taken on admission, reports into the orders of membership and legal papers.
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| RCPI/5/5/1/1 - Oath to be taken by Officers 1693 |
RCPI/5/5/2/2 - Oath to be taken by Officers, c.1920s
This part of the archive also contains the papers relating to the Association of the Members of the King and Queen's College of Physicians which was founded in 1816 'for the purpose of more intimately uniting the Members of the College, and for the advancement of Medical Science'. Regular monthly meetings were held where members could discuss cases of interest and the latest developments. The Association finished in 1861, but was reformed in 1864 as the Medical Society of the College of Physicians which continued until 1883 when it was replaced by the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. The archive holds minute books, financial papers and correspondence, as well other papers. Printed reports of the Association and Medical Society can be found in Dun's Library.