Background information
The best source for general information about the Almeric Paget
Military Massage Corps (A.P.M.M.C.) is the Women’s Work
Collection at the Imperial War
Museum (IWM).
The collection is categorised into the various forms of employment
undertaken by women and includes
many photographs and letters of those women who died. If a relative
was a member of the Almeric Paget Military Massage Corps or did
work for the Lady Smith-Dorrien's Hospital
Bag Fund, information can be found in this collection. The Women’s
Work collection is available on microfilm in the Department
of Printed Books. For more information please see http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/books.htm
The information about the history of the A.P.M.M.C.
was found by visiting the IWM reading room and searching the
large, heavy index book
for microfilm references.
Once you have a list of reference numbers,
you can order the relevant microfilm reels and use
a microfilm reading machine to view the contents. Microfilm readers
look complicated from a distance, but have an instruction sheet
attached to them and really are quite simple. If you are
unsure about how to use the machines, ask a member of staff.
One small piece of advice – pay attention to which way
up you are loading the reel or you end up with a lap full of
film!
Photographs
The Imperial War Museum has
a Photograph Archive which holds some images of Corps members.
The pictures can be found
in volume 160, under reference 20a,21a,22a and 23a. They are
interesting but like a lot of the military photographs in the
archive are not labelled with individuals’ names.
You can attend the photograph archive Visitors Room, hire a
researcher to visit on your behalf, or to send a written enquiry.
The Visitors Room is located a short distance from the Imperial
War Museum in the All Saints Annexe, Austral Street, London SE11
4SL. The Visitors Room is open by appointment Monday - Friday
10:00am to 5:00pm. Access is free of charge and staff will be
on hand to advise you in your search. To make an appointment
please phone +44 (0) 20 7416 5333. For more information see http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/photos/access.htm.
Pensions Records
The National Archives holds
numerous pension records. Pension awards documentation can be
a surprisingly rich source of information
for family historians. However, a large number of records
have been destroyed and those between 1783 and 1920 require a
lot more searching through physically heavy skeleton index books
ordered year by year. The skeleton index for treasury papers
can be found at catalogue reference: T
3 .
Post 1920 the records are individually searchable.
The information about Ethel Jones was found by searching The
National Archives' Catalogue .
If you are able to visit The National Archives, you can order
and view the original records.
To obtain copies of documents held at the National Archives
if you are not able to visit in person you can search
The Catalogue and then order copies of documents.
The records for Ethel Smith were found at catalogue reference:T
1/12337.
Although sometimes when you order documents you get delivered
an individual file, in this case a box of 96 files
was delivered and had to be sorted through. If you are unable
to visit the National Archives in person, in this sort of circumstance
it might be better to employ an independant
researcher.
Information about visiting the National Archives and ordering
documents can be found here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/visit/plan.htm
Other Sources
The Wellcome Library
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy(C.S.P.)
donated all its archives to the Wellcome Library for the History
and
Understanding of
Medicine several years ago. The C.S.P. have a paper-based catalogue of all the works transferred.
Further information about the Wellcome Library holdings can be
found at http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/collections/srcgreatwar.shtml
Further information about the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy can be found at http://www.csp.org.uk/director/libraryandpublications/libraryandinformationservices.cfm
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