Location: 30 Euston Square, London NW1
Contact: heritage@rcgp.org.uk
Access: By appointment only
Website: https://www.rcgp.org.uk/about/museum-heritage/museum-collection
The collection consists of some nine hundred individual objects some of which are rare and of outstanding interest and value. A few items predate the 18th century and the whole collection is of great importance to the heritage of general practice. Many of the items will be of significance to those interested in the History of Medicine. The earliest objects currently on display include antique apothecary jars and a mid-17th century pewter baptismal syringe. On permanent display is our Edmund Culpeper monocular microscope with accessories, circa 1725.
Our research interests are energetic and diverse, including early studies of childhood asthma, measles and major national morbidity surveys. The archives are also particularly strong in the history of the College’s relationship with practitioners and institutions across the world. Institutional records include: minutes and correspondence of the Council, committees, AGMs, working parties and internal departments on subjects like policy, publications, quality and audit and members’ research interests; membership and fellowship records, citations and awards, obituaries; the development of the MRCGP examinations, vocational training and CPD; the records of regional and international faculties and their activities and UK based research units. Personal Papers include: the papers of eminent general practitioners who were involved in the establishment of the College, including founders Fraser Rose and Lord Hunt; the papers of researchers involved in general practice research, including William Pickles, Edgar Hope-Simpson and John Fry; papers relating to GPs interested in medical history, architecture and education. Special Collections include: attempts to establish a representative body for general practice in the mid 19th century, the National Association of GPs, 1844; photographs of college events, buildings and members; audio-visual material of oral histories, college lectures and special events like the Iranian Embassy Siege in 1980; material about Prince’s Gate, our HQ for almost 50 years, which was also home to the Kennedys, US ambassadors and banker J P Morgan; memoirs of GPs working across the UK and Ireland from the 1920s onwards.