Posts

Aleen Cust – the first woman to join the veterinary profession, 100 years ago today!

One hundred years ago today, on the 20th December 1922, Aleen Cust became the first female MRCVS. To mark this significant event in the history of the British veterinary profession, we have digitised documents from our archives that tell Cust’s story. It begins with her unsatisfactory first encounter with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons […]

A snapshot of British veterinary practice in 1882

One of my favourite parts of our Archives is the extensive collection of applications for Existing Practitioner status, sent to the RCVS in 1882. After the arduous work carried out seven years ago to sort and list the 859 separate applications, I am very excited to now begin making these fascinating documents more accessible to […]

A Christmas Gift to the Future of the Veterinary Professions

Transcription Project Completed – thanks to our incredible volunteers!

RCVS Vet History Transcription Project

[Please note: Due to the high number of responses to this call for volunteers, we are currently unable to accept any more people onto the project. We hope to expand the project in the future, so please keep an eye on this blog for further opportunities.] The Vet History team have been quiet on this […]

A Few Of My Favourite Things

I thought before I leave my role here, and go off to study for my MA in Archives and Records Management, it would be a nice idea to share snippets of my favourite finds and favourite materials that I’ve had the pleasure of working with during my time with RCVS Knowledge’s historical collections. For those […]

Cataloguing the Correspondence of Henry Gray

As the RCVS Knowledge Archives and Digitisation assistant, my main duties are to scan the historical material, upload it to our Digital Collections website and take part in the promotion of the collection. In recent months, I have worked on a side project: cataloguing the personal correspondence and research papers of veterinary surgeon Henry Gray (1865-1939). One of the […]

Living Pictures – Vet History Podcast

This year, RCVS Knowledge were very pleased to participate in an internship scheme organised by the Kings College London History department. MA student Abbie Latham spent a few months with us, reading and transcribing Fred Smith’s Boer War letters. She also recorded the following podcast, in which she explores aspects of the letters relating to […]

Happy 160th Birthday Fred Smith!

  Today, 19th April, marks 160 years since the birth of Frederick Smith in 1857. I’m going to take this opportunity to tell you a bit more about the man, and what I like about him, after spending over a year working with his papers.   Potted History of Smith Smith was born in Hull, […]

Introducing Helena!

Hi, my name is Helena and I am the new Archive and Digitisation assistant. My role, like Adele’s before me, is to assist in the digitisation and online accessibility of documents within the archive and historical book collection.  I hope to one day become a fully qualified archivist so this role is a wonderful opportunity […]