Mayneord, Professor William Valentine

Records cover the span of Mayneord's career, with materials dating from the 1920s to the mid-1980s, including early career research notebooks from the 1920s. The archive includes correspondence files; meeting papers, minutes and reports of committees Mayneord belonged to; papers concerning the publication of papers, including manuscripts, page proofs, and transcripts; and research and lab notebooks and papers.

The bulk of the archive is made up of committee minutes, correspondence and circulated papers and reports (Section B), including significant records relating to MRC Committees, especially MRC Committee on Protection Against Ionizing Radiations (PIRC) and its subcommittees. In addition to MRC Committees, there are also a limited number of records relating to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, of which Mayneord was the first chairman in 1956, as well as papers from the International Organisation for Medical Physics. Mayneord was also chair of the British Institute of Radiology (BIR); however there are no significant records in his archive charting this involvement.

The archive also includes correspondence between Mayneord and various colleagues and institutions, ordered by correspondent (Section A), including correspondence regarding consultancy work with the British American Tobacco Co; Central Electricity Generating Board, Berkeley Nuclear Laboratory; Tobacco Research Council; and National Gallery; as well as correspondence relating to Mayneord's work with the National Research Council of Canada. In addition to correspondence, some files also contain reports, minutes and related papers; notable instances of this are listed in the item description.

Section C includes Mayneord's research, including lab and research notebooks, and research and lecture notes. Lab books mostly comprise dated entries for experiments carried out, including research data and findings.

Section D includes records relating to the publication of papers, preparation of speeches and talks, and related matters. This section includes a number of unpublished papers, including delivered speeches and broadcasts, research notes for papers, and draft manuscripts. The bulk of this section is made up of papers relating to the publication of V W Mayneord and R H Clarke, "Carcinogenesis and Radiation Risk: A Biomathematical Reconnaissance", The British Journal of Radiology (1975), including drafts, page proofs and related correspondence. This paper was written by Mayneord in his capacity as consultant to the Central Electricity Generating Board, in collaboration with the R H Clarke of the Central Electricity Generating Board, Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories. Section D also includes a file of correspondence collected together by Mayneord for writing a memoir (which was never published) which draws together notable letters from his career and personal life.

1921-1982

26 boxes; 1 O/S

Donated by Mrs Audrey Mayneord, Professor Mayneord's widow, in January 2002.

Professor William Valentine Mayneord (1902-1988) was a British radiologist and pioneer in the field of medical physics. He was Director of the Physics Department at the The Cancer Hospital (Free) (later the Royal Marsden Hospital) until 1964, and President of the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) between 1942 and 1943.

Mayneord was born in Redditch, Worcestershire in 1902 and gained a Bachelor of Science at the University of Birmingham. He entered the field of medical physics in 1924 at Bartholomew's Hospital (Barts) in London. In 1927 he moved to the Royal Cancer Hospital, now the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Mayneord's work explored the potential uses of radiology in medicine, both in aiding therapy and supporting diagnosis. He pioneered a number of techniques, including the use of ultrasonics for diagnosis and the design and manufacture of some of the first medical scanning equipment. Mayneord's research on radiation units and dosimetry had a significant impact on radiation treatment, and he was widely recognised as the leading authority in the UK field. Mayneord's 1950 publication "Some Applications of Nuclear Physics to Medicine", The British Journal of Radiology, was used as a standard reference in British and European isotope clinics during the decade following its publication. Mayneord also played a key role in the development of Röentgen units, (later rads, now centigrays), as a measure of exposure to ionizing radiation. As well as considering how radiology could be applied to medicine, Mayneord assessed the risks and problems of radiation hazards, considering how volunteers and workers could be protected from radiation hazards.

In 1936, Mayneord was appointed Reader in Physics with special reference to Medical Radiology in the University of London and attached to the Royal Cancer Hospital. During World War II he was seconded by the government to work in Canada on the radiological aspects of atomic energy development. Here he worked as Advisor to the Medical Branch of National Research Council of Canada on the Chalk River Project (part of the atomic bomb programme) to consider the potential of nuclear physics in medicine. After the end of the war, Mayneord undertook temporary work in the Tube Alloys Directorate of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in Canada.

Working with a number of committees, Mayneord also explored the natural radioactivity of food and substances in the environment, as well as considering permissible levels of exposure to radiation, and the links between radiation and cancer. Significantly, in 1956, Mayneord was appointed the first chair of the UK Delegation to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. This Committee set out to collect and evaluate information on radiation exposure and radiation effects and included scientific representatives from across the world.

Over the course of his career, Mayneord served on a number of committees, acting as chair of the MRC's Committee on Protection Against Ionizing Radiations, or PIRC, as well as being a member of MRC Research Committee on the Medical and Biological Applications of Nuclear Physics, MRC Committee on the Hazards to Man of Nuclear and Allied Radiations, MRC Cyclotron Unit Advisory Committee, Joint MRC/AEA Coordinating Committee for Radiobiological Research, MRC/MOH Radiological Protection Service (RPS), and the International Organisation for Medical Physics, as well as various subcommittees, ad-hoc groups, and panels. In 1959, he was appointed a member of the Atomic Energy Office's Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee, set up under section 6 of the Radioactive Substances Act, 1948.

Mayneord also acted as a nuclear physics consultant to a number of firms, including the British American Tobacco Co and Tobacco Research Council, who he advised over a number of years on tobacco smoke carcinogenesis. From 1965, Mayneord worked as a consultant in radiation dosimetry to Berkley Nuclear Laboratories' Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) Research Division, focusing on carcinogens in the fossil fuel cycle, problems arising from the measurement of neutrons and high energy gamma radiation, and other related matters. Mayneord was appointed trustee of the National Gallery, London, and Chairman of the Honorary Scientific Committee from 1966 to 1971. His role was to advise the Trustees on the National Gallery on scientific questions concerning the conservation and restoration of artworks.

In 1964, Mayneord retired from the Physics department at The Cancer Hospital (Free). The following year, he was awarded a CBE and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. A hospital ward is named after him at the Royal Marsden Branch in Surrey. Mayneord died in 1988.

Some abbreviations used in this catalogue:

AEA Atomic Energy Authority

AERE Atomic Energy Research Establishment

BIR British Institute of Radiology

BNL Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories

CEGB Central Electricity Generating Board

ICRP International Commission on Radiological Protection

IOMP International Organisation for Medical Physics

IRPA International Radiological Protection Association

MRC Medical Research Council

PEF Panel on Stable Elements in Food

PIRC MRC Protection against Ionizing Radiations Committee

RPS Radiological Protection Service

UKAEA United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

This collection has been catalogued and is available to library members. Some items have access restrictions which are explained in the item-level catalogue records.