Spear, Frederick Gordon

These papers fall naturally into several distinct groups; items pertaining to his radiological research conducted in Cambridge at the Strangeways Laboratory, materials about the Strangeways Laboratory as an institution, presumably accumulated during his many years as deputy director, papers relating to his connections with other bodies associated with radiology, such as the Hospital Physicists Association and the British Institute of Radiology, of which he was president in 1961, publications and unpublished papers by him, and also some publications by others on subjects related to the work he was doing.

A very small amount of material, not classifiable under these headings, has been put together in a 'Personal' section.

While Spear originally studied tropical medicine, and spent some time at the Baptist Mission Hospital at Yakusu in the Belgian Congo in the early 1920s this aspect of his career is not represented in these papers.

Received along with Spear's papers were a number of notebooks formerly belonging to his first wife Ada Louisa Sowerby, which she kept during her nurse and midwifery training in London in the later 1920s.

The collection is divided into sections as follows:

A Personal [1/2 box]

B Radiological research at the SRL [11/2 boxes + 1 oversize]

C Strangeways Research Laboratory: historical items [4 boxes, 2 oversize]

D Other bodies [2 boxes]

E Writings: by Spear [3 boxes] and by others [11/2 boxes]

F A. Sowerby's notebooks [11/2 boxes]

Frederick Gordon Spear (1895-1980) M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.T.M. & H., D.P.H., was a radiologist.

Spear originally studied tropical medicine, and spent some time at the Baptist Mission Hospital at Yakusu in the Belgian Congo in the early 1920s. In 1923 he returned to England and joined the Strangeways Research Laboratory, where he worked until his retirement, serving latterly as Deputy Director.

At Wellcome Collection:

The archives of the Strangeways Research Laboratory are held as SA/SRL. The papers of Dr A. Glucksmann (GC/91) also have relevant material.

In other repositories:

Additional Spear papers on radiation martyrs are held at the British Institute of Radiology.

Abbreviations used in the catalogue:

BECC British Empire Cancer Campaign

BIR British Institute of Radiology

BJR British Journal of Radiology

DMRE Diploma in Medical Radiology and Electrology

FGS F G Spear

HPA Hospital Physicists Association

RCS Royal College of Surgeons

SRL Strangeways Research Laboratory

TC Tissue Culture

Many of the abbreviations used by Spear himself in the papers appear to be his own personal ones.