National Osteopathic Archive

The following is an interim description which may be altered when detailed cataloguing takes place in future.

The NOA comprises material donated by individual practioners and the British School of Osteopathy. The NOA covers medical matters and techniques, training needs, political issues and professional concerns, regulation and training and daily operational and practical concerns. Due to the mix of institutional and personal papers, the archive spans discussions with Establishment figures down to interactions between individual practitioners. Key events documented in the archive include the formation of the British arm of osteopathy, the history of individual organisations in the field, the development and application of different techniques and ideas, work on the 1935 Bill, the achievement of statutory recognition in 1993, and the development of the profession since that date.

c1913-2014

Uncatalogued: 745 archive boxes and 2 transfer boxes

The archives were given to Wellcome Library by the National Osteopathic Archive in February and May 2017.

Dr Martin Collins, British School of Osteopath's Principal and Chief Executive 1998-2006, has taken an interest in preserving the school's archive for the last thirty years and, together with John O'Brien and the late Robin Kirk, initiated the idea of a national osteopathic archive. The three worked together to collect the archives of the different bodies within osteopathy, chiropractic and naturopathy, and founded the Osteopathic History Group in 2010 (now the National Osteopathic Archive History Society). The result is a broad archive containing prime records from the most influential organisations and personalities which chart the history of the osteopathic and naturopathic movements in the UK and the development of what was at first an unregulated trade to its position as a recognised and accredited profession.

The NOA was awarded Research Resources funding in January 2015 for a scoping survey to assess the state of the archive and provide recommendations, one of which was to deposit the archive in a suitable repository.

This collection is currently uncatalogued and cannot be ordered online. Requests to view uncatalogued material are considered on a case by case basis. Please contact collections@wellcomecollection.org for more details.