Heberden Society

Administrative files of the Heberden society. Includes merger with BARR and pre merger paperwork and correspondence.

1714-1983

5 boxes

The Heberden Society was officially formed in 1936 and was formed to stimulate and promote the development of scientific knowledge about rheumatology, rheumatic disease, diseases of the connective tissue, and medical disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

The Society grew alongside efforts to form an International League Against Rheumatism in the 1910s and 1920s, of which the prime movers were Fortescue Fox and Dr Van Breemen of Amsterdam. Also in the 1930s the British Red Cross Society had set up an experimental Clinic for Rheumatism. In 1936 six physicians on the staff of this clinic, including Dr William Copeman, met to form a clinical group for the study of rheumatic diseases, which was formally designated 'The Committee for the Study and Investigation of Rheumatism'. This group grew rapidly in number as the numbers of physicians interested in rheumatism began to grow. By 1937 the committee's name was changed to the Heberden Society. The name of the 18th century physician, William Heberden, was chosen as the figurehead of the society in light of his early descriptions of gout and rheumatism.

After WWII the Society formally adopted the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases as its official publication and in 1945 the Heberden Society affiliated itself with the Empire Rheumatism Council and became the official clinical branch of the Council.

Two annual honours were appointed, being the Heberden Oration and the Heberden Round. The Orator was first appointed in 1938 and it was his job to deliver the Heberden Oration at the Annual Scientific Meeting. The honour was awarded internationally and covered a wide professional spectrum although it was awarded traditionally to honour excellence in rheumatological research. Usually the Oration Lecture was published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. The Heberden Round was first awarded in 1948 in the field of clinical rheumatology. It took the form of the presentation of a thematic case from the appointee's own hospital.

The Heberden Society existed until 1983 when it merged with the British Association for Rheumatology and Rehabilitation to form a new Society - the British Society for Rheumatology. The two societies had increasingly similar interests and objectives and there was a 70% overlap in membership. A joint working party was formed, which was called the BARR / Heberden Working Party and this body was responsible for drawing up the draft constitution and bye-laws.