Tag: UK

Netball in the playground of William Street Girls School, London. c1908. Note the wastepaper baskets used as goals.

On the Origins of Netball

The international game of netball can trace its popularity and codification to a unique college of Swedish gymnastics in the United Kingdom at the turn of the nineteenth century. The all-female college was also at the heart of the development of both the physical education and physiotherapy professions. Women’s Basketball

Rosalind Paget. Courtesy of the Wellcome Collection.

Rosalind Paget: An Historical Overview and Appreciation, Part 2

Rosalind Paget was one of the original four founders of the Society of Trained Masseuses which later became the Incorporated Society of Trained Masseuses,  in 1920 the Chartered Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics and ultimately, in 1944 the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. She was the first Chair of Council

Rosalind Paget. Courtesy of the Wellcome Collection.

Rosalind Paget: An Historical Overview and Appreciation, Part 1

Rosalind Paget was one of the original four founders of the Society of Trained Masseuses which later became the Incorporated Society of Trained Masseuses, in 1920 the Chartered Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics, and ultimately, in 1944 the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. She was the first Chair of Council

Pauline Paget (centre) surrounded by masseuses of the Almeric Paget Military Massage Corp.

Angel of Summerdown: Physiotherapy’s Forgotten Benefactor

This story begins with the unusually named Almeric Paget Massage Corps. Located in the United Kingdom, the Corps was formed to serve in the First World War. It was the forerunner of physiotherapy services for wounded servicemen; and its’ success significantly boosted the profession by raising practitioner numbers, and their

Training for Childbirth and After

The Birth of Women’s Health

In 1912, Dr John Shields Fairbairn, a leading consultant obstetrician at St Thomas Maternity Hospital, London, commenced a program to revolutionise the medical approach to child delivery. He aimed to replace the 19th century medical practice of heavily medicating women during labor and the common use of force to deliver.

Bomb damage at St Thomas Hospital with Westminster, across the Thames River, in the background.

Bombed

Over 40,000 Londoners died in the bombing ‘blitz’ of World War II. Australian physiotherapist Barbara Thomas, aged 32, was amongst the first and her tragic death prematurely curtailed a remarkable career. Barbara Mortimer Thomas was the daughter of Nehemiah James Thomas and Jane Emily Nora Clapcott. She was born in

The Value of Physical Treatment

The following Letter to the Editor, published in The Lancet in 1918 provides an extraordinary review of the growth of physiotherapy from the First World War. SIR,—The Prime Minister in his speech on Nov. 16th, in placing the case for the Coalition at the Central Hall, Westminster, said: ” The

Paralympic History

On the eve of the Paralympics Games Paris 2024 where more than 4,000 athletes, representing 169 nations, will compete over twelve days for 549 medals across 22 events it is instructing to consider its humble beginnings. At a hospital for war veterans in Stoke Mandeville, located 60 kilometres north of

Guy's Hospital, Southwark: an aerial view. Engraving by W. H. Toms after R. West, c.1738. Wellcome Collection.

Guy’s Hospital School of Physiotherapy, London

An Overview of the Origins and History 1888 to1992 During the early to mid-1970s I was privileged to work as a member of the physiotherapy staff at Guy’s Hospital London.  Guy’s was founded in 1726 and is recognised as one of the great and famous hospitals in the United Kingdom

Blinded ex servicemen training as Masseurs, one of whom was Leonard Howell who lost his sight at Highwood on the Somme in 1916.

Lest We Forget

At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we will remember them. The Armistice (Latin = “to stand arms still”) agreement to end the hostilities of the First World War at the beginning of peace negotiations, began at 11am on the 11th of November 1918. 

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