On the 14th of January 2015 a new carpet was laid in the ‘Green Room’, originally called the Annexe at Avery Hill Mansion.
For a few hours only, the original, and almost perfect, Victorian tiled floor was revealed. We were able to photograph these in colour for the first and sadly last time.
To celebrate Christmas we have an exhibition of Christmas Past in the Library at Avery Hill, and will be part of a Christmas Fayre in the Winter Gardens on Saturday December 20th.
The Winter Garden Project website is currently down, but here’s our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AveryHillWinterGarden
Innocent men in trenches cold and wet fighting for freedom, women working in factories manufacturing to protect their innocent boys, these images of the First World War leave little room in the British popular memory for sex and the serious problem of venereal disease (VD) during 1914-1918. However it was a serious problem by 1918, some 60,000 British and colonial troops were receiving treatment for VD. [1] It is no wonder then that tucked in the archive is a reference to VD, during an Education Committee meeting at Woolwich Polytechnic on 15th March 1916 the following was noted in the minutes:
‘A Letter dated 14th March 1916, was read from the medical Office of Health (Dr Sidney Davies) asking for the use of a room for a course of four lectures on behalf of the National Council for the combating of venereal disease.’
Every solider heading off to war left with Kitchener’s message in his pocket, stating that they would find ‘temptation in both wine and women’ and that they needed to ‘entirely resist both’[2]. This however was not enough to prevent the spread of VD. It was however not the men who were thought to spread the disease but ‘illicit’ women who lured ‘innocent’ young men with their ‘loose’ ways. Cleaning campaigns were started and in 1916 there was a Royal Commission on Venereal Disease, along with lectures like that held requested to be held at Woolwich Polytechnic, however this was not enough and finally the Defence of the Realm Act was passed to tackle the problem of these women and VD.
Despite these government policies and public awareness of the problem, the committee’s response to the request is not surprising:
‘That the use of a room in the polytechnic be granted, providing that no other accommodation can be obtained, and on condition there be no public announcement of the lectures’
The matter of VD was a controversial one which many did not want to discuss, from the above statement it is clear that the polytechnic wished to prevent its reputation as an upstanding institution from being tarnished.
There were many successive amendments to the Defence of the Realm act, however the problem of VD was never really solved. This is obvious with the start of the Second World War, when once again the problem arose. The difference being this time a more public propaganda campaign was started to target VD.
[1] George Robb, British Culture and the First World War, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), p.54
[2] Susan R. Grayzel, Women and the First World War, (Pearson Education Ltd, 2002), p.70
Join us in celebrating National Archives Week from 8th to 14th November with a bespoke ‘Explore Your Archives’ poster for your office or notice board.
Available in all sizes from A5 to AO with an historic image remembering your location or department from the past 124 years. Example below:
Contact w.a.robley@gre.ac.uk for a poster or more information.
What will you say ARCHI’VE EXPLORED?
James ATKINS, 22nd September 1914
James Atkins was the first of the University’s Alumni to lose his life in the First World War.
Able Seaman Atkins was aboard HMS Hogue on the morning of September 22nd 1914 on patrol in the North Sea with HMS Aboukir and HMS Cressy, all old Cressy Class Armoured Cruisers. An explosion caused Aboukir to sink and assuming it was a mine Hogue stopped to lower its boats. Too late it was realised that it was a torpedo attack by the German U-boat U9 which then fired two further torpedoes sinking Hogue, and a further three sinking Cressy. 1,459 crew lost their lives before Dutch and British merchant ships and trawlers arrived saving the remaining 837.
James, who was a student from September 1912 to April 1914 is remembered in the first edition of the Woolwich Polytechnic Magazine January 1916 pages 2 & 7, and on the Woolwich War Memorial. Link: Woolwich Polytechnic Magazine Jan 1916
As with all the University’s fallen, over the next four years we hope to build up a fuller picture of our former student James Atkins in order to preserve his memory in our Archive, where James’ student record can also be found.
The next Archival record regarding the war comes in Reports to Governors and Committees February 1915 to July 1915. The Index lists under the entry War:-
Additional payment to certain members of staff
Billetting in Gymnasium
Enlistment of members of staff
Manufacture of munitions of war
Under the first heading, after the establishment of a staff subcommittee, the following decisions were agreed:
(a) That in the case of the men staff no action be taken at present
(b) That during the continuance of the war
1. Mrs. E. Shipston – the Refreshment Room Matron – receive an additional weekly payment of 2/6 (two shillings and sixpence/12.5p), making her total weekly payment of £1. 5. 0 (one pound an five shillings/£1.25).
2. Mrs. P. Staynes – House Matron – receive an additional weekly payment of 2/6, making her total weekly payment £1. 4. 6 (one pound four shillings and sixpence/£1.22.5)
3. The Charwomen engaged for cleaning to be paid at the rate of 6d per hour insted of 5d as at present
The next war related record from the Archive appears in the Principal’s Report to the Education Committee, Wednesday, 2nd December, 1914 in Principal’s Reports – 1914 -15.
UGA/WP/ 1/3/1914-1915/22
IV. PRO PATRIA
Several of the staff, many old boys and very many of the Evening Students and of the other members of the Polytechnic, are serving their country at the front or in other performances of military duty. It appears desirable that some permanent record should be made of this service. If the suggestion were considered favourably and due notice given it would enable us soon to secure as complete a list as possible. The method of making the record would be a matter for the General Purposes and Finance Committee and it therefore appears that for the present it would be sufficient to recommend to the Finance and General Purposes Committee and to the Governors –
That it is desirable that arrangements should be made to fix in some suitable position within the polytechnic a record of the names and service of those members of staff and of the students and members who are serving their country in other than a civil capacity during the present war.
Currently these records cannot be digitised, but are exhibited in the foyer of the Dreadnought Library.
When Britain and the Empire declared war on Germany at 11pm on August 4th 1914, for violating Belgium’s neutrality, The Woolwich Polytechnic, forerunner of the University of Greenwich, was closed for the summer.
On re-openning in September the impact was not initially felt since most of the evening students worked at the Royal Arsenal and so were classed as a reserve profession, and the days school boys were too young to serve.
The first action by the Polytechnic was to set up special classes for those affected by the War, and a relief fund:
Transciption from ‘Reports to Governors and Committees August 1914 to January 1915′.
UGA/WP/1/2/19/115
21. SPECIAL CLASSES CONSEQUENT UPON THE WAR.
RECOMMENDED:-
(a) That the opening of suitable separate classes/ in Trade Dressmaking and in Commercial subjects,/ exclusively for those thrown out of employment/ by reason of the War, be approved, and that the/ Principal be empowered to admit eligible persons/ to these classes without payment of fees.
(b) That the Principal be empowered to admit Belgian/ refugees in to the ordinary classes without payment/ of fees.
(c) That a class be formed for former scholars of the/ Girls’ Trade Schools, who are discharged by reason/of the War.
(d) That Mr. E. C. Hulin be engaged to conduct this/ class at a salary of 10/6 per evening.
22. RELIEF FUNDS.
RECOMMENDED:-
That the Governors raise no objection to the/ formation of a Polytechnic fund for the relief of/ persons distressed by the War, on condition that donations are not canvassed.
Sorry to all those of you who were hoping to see the McMillan Sisters’ Lantern Slides which I promised last week. We’ve discovered that they need cleaning or we’ll ‘digitise the dirt’.
If we’re right in our assumption that these were the slides used by Margaret McMillan on her lecture tours, then it could be argued that the ‘dirt’ is archival if we could identify the finger prints as Margaret’s. Yes, archive science is often forensic.
So the question is, do we ‘digitise the dirt’, then clean and digitise again. Twice the work, and twice the digital storage space.
Here’s a picture of Margaret to be going on with. If you search on Google Images, you will see that there might be a problem with this image. Its something we often face when digitising old glass slides.
