| Description Of Item | There is one card for each doctor. The cards were arranged by geographical area and recorded the following details: Local War Committee; county; name of doctor; date of birth; grade; place; address; qualifications; and date of registration, although not all these categories were always used. Below this are two further divisions: civil class details and war service record. The civil class details were to record partner's name, assistant's name, assistant/substitute to, and appointments but were never used. The war service record gives: date posted; whether Royal Navy, Royal Army Medical Corps (T C standing for temporary commission) or RAF; and date of leaving service.
The cards cannot be easily dated. The date of registration given on the cards are often quite early, some as early as the 1850s, and probably reflect dates of professional registration. The date used in the entries is that of posting or release.
Because the cards had been taken out of their original boxes it was not always clear about the divisions between them. Where a bundle of cards did not clearly relate to the others in the packet they have been sectioned off with a paper divider.
A code was used on the card to indicate details about each doctor as follows:
Classes
P - Panel
GP - General Practitioner (non-panel)
HA - home address
WTO - whole time officer
C - consultant
R - retired
Groups
A - under 45
B - 45 to 55
C - 56 and upwards
A red cross on the card meant a commission and if the card was scored through this meant the man was away. |