The early history of the multiple sclerosis society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: A socio-historical study of lay/practitioner interaction in the context of a medical charity

Medical History

Volumn 46, Issue 2, 2002, Pages 141-174

  Nicolson, Malcolm ^a   Lowis, George W ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATION; HISTORY; HUMAN; MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS; SELF HELP; SOCIAL WELFARE; UNITED KINGDOM;

CHARITIES; GREAT BRITAIN; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; HUMANS; MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS; SELF-HELP GROUPS; SOCIETIES;

EID: 0036546535     PISSN: 00257273     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0025727300069064     Document Type: Article

References (193)

1. Little work has however been done in this area. For an exemplification of its potential, see M-A Bach, 'Building the French Muscular Dystrophy Association: the role of doctor/patient interactions', Soc. Hist. Med., 1998, 11: 233-53. For background, see W F Bynum, 'Medical philanthropy after 1850', in W F Bynum and R Porter (eds), Companion encyclopedia of the history of medicine, vol. 2, London, Routledge, 1993, pp. 1480-94.
2. Little work has however been done in this area. For an exemplification of its potential, see M-A Bach, 'Building the French Muscular Dystrophy Association: the role of doctor/patient interactions', Soc. Hist. Med., 1998, 11: 233-53. For background, see W F Bynum, 'Medical philanthropy after 1850', in W F Bynum and R Porter (eds), Companion encyclopedia of the history of medicine, vol. 2, London, Routledge, 1993, pp. 1480-94.
3. A major source for the history of the Society is the substantial collection of the papers of Richard Cave, which is held in the Wellcome Library, Archives and Manuscripts, shelf mark SA/MSS. All unpublished material referred to below is from this collection unless otherwise stated. Individual items are identified by their file numbers; see L Hall, 'Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: list of papers in the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine', unpublished catalogue.
4. For an authoritative medical account of multiple sclerosis, see A Compston et al., McAlpine's multiple sclerosis, 3rd ed., Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1998. For an epidemiological overview, G C Ebers, The geographic distribution of multiple sclerosis: a review', Neuroepidemiology, 1993, 12: 1-5.
5. For an authoritative medical account of multiple sclerosis, see A Compston et al., McAlpine's multiple sclerosis, 3rd ed., Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1998. For an epidemiological overview, G C Ebers, The geographic distribution of multiple sclerosis: a review', Neuroepidemiology, 1993, 12: 1-5.
6. For an account of the psycho-social problems associated with the uncertainty of prognosis, see I Robinson, Multiple sclerosis, London, Routledge, 1988, pp. 36-40; I Robinson, A Lawson and A Wynne, Talking about MS, general report no. 1, Brunel-ARMS Research Unit, University of West London, 1983; F Davis, 'Uncertainty in medical prognosis, clinical and functional', Am. J. Sociol., 1961, 66: 41-7.
7. For an account of the psycho-social problems associated with the uncertainty of prognosis, see I Robinson, Multiple sclerosis, London, Routledge, 1988, pp. 36-40; I Robinson, A Lawson and A Wynne, Talking about MS, general report no. 1, Brunel-ARMS Research Unit, University of West London, 1983; F Davis, 'Uncertainty in medical prognosis, clinical and functional', Am. J. Sociol., 1961, 66: 41-7.
8. For an account of the psycho-social problems associated with the uncertainty of prognosis, see I Robinson, Multiple sclerosis, London, Routledge, 1988, pp. 36-40; I Robinson, A Lawson and A Wynne, Talking about MS, general report no. 1, Brunel-ARMS Research Unit, University of West London, 1983; F Davis, 'Uncertainty in medical prognosis, clinical and functional', Am. J. Sociol., 1961, 66: 41-7.
9. Editorial, '"Cures" for multiple sclerosis', Br. med J., 1970, i: 59-60. W A Sibley, Therapeutic claims in multiple sclerosis, New York, Demos/ Vermande, 1998.
10. Editorial, '"Cures" for multiple sclerosis', Br. med J., 1970, i: 59-60. W A Sibley, Therapeutic claims in multiple sclerosis, New York, Demos/ Vermande, 1998.
11. It is the authors' impression, and that of several of the members we spoke to, that the MS Society has a greater proportion of active sufferer members than most other single-disease charities. But quite how typical the MS Society is in this and other aspects of its organization remains a matter for further research.
12. For example, M R Bury, 'Chronic illness as biographical disruption', Sociol. Health Illn., 1982, 4: 167-82; R Anderson and M R Bury (eds), Living with chronic illness, London, Unwin Hyman, 1988.
13. For example, M R Bury, 'Chronic illness as biographical disruption', Sociol. Health Illn., 1982, 4: 167-82; R Anderson and M R Bury (eds), Living with chronic illness, London, Unwin Hyman, 1988.
14. I Robinson, 'Personal narratives, social careers and medical courses: analysing life trajectories in autobiographies of people with multiple sclerosis', Soc. Sci. Med., 1990, 30: 1173-86; J Monks and R Frankenburg, 'Being ill and being me: self, body and time in multiple sclerosis narratives', in B Ingstad and S R Whyte (eds), Disability and culture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1995, pp. 107-33.
15. I Robinson, 'Personal narratives, social careers and medical courses: analysing life trajectories in autobiographies of people with multiple sclerosis', Soc. Sci. Med., 1990, 30: 1173-86; J Monks and R Frankenburg, 'Being ill and being me: self, body and time in multiple sclerosis narratives', in B Ingstad and S R Whyte (eds), Disability and culture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1995, pp. 107-33.
16. While, as historians, we are particularly interested in controversies and what they reveal, such a perspective does not preclude an appreciation of the many concrete achievements of the MS Society in both the welfare and research spheres.
17. For biographical details of Cave, see G Howell, 'Profile of Richard Cave - Founder and Chairman', MS News, 1965, Autumn, 6-9.
18. That applications for research funds are peer-reviewed is the most important criterion for membership of the Association of Medical Research Charities, which was founded in 1972, see Bynum, op. cit., note 1 above.
19. For biographical details of McAlpine, see J Walton, 'McAlpine, (Archibald) Douglas 1890-1981', Dictionary of national biography, Oxford University Press, 1990. McAlpine was the principal author of the definitive textbook, D McAlpine, N D Compston, C E Lumsden, Multiple sclerosis, Edinburgh, Livingstone, 1955.
20. For biographical details of McAlpine, see J Walton, 'McAlpine, (Archibald) Douglas 1890-1981', Dictionary of national biography, Oxford University Press, 1990. McAlpine was the principal author of the definitive textbook, D McAlpine, N D Compston, C E Lumsden, Multiple sclerosis, Edinburgh, Livingstone, 1955.
21. Letter, R Cave to D McAlpine, 22 Nov. 1967, in SA/MSS/B.19.
22. 'Rules for Branches and Groups', 3 July 1957, in SA/MSS/A.13. Cave often quoted this section of the constitution when defending the Society against accusations of impropriety, for example, letter, R Cave to Lord Brain, 22 May 1963, SA/MSS/A.12.
23. See, for example, letter, E R Bickerstaff to A C Waine, 24 Sept. 1969, SA/MSS/A.12.
24. See file SA/MSS/A.29.
25. Captain Ludovic Porter, R.N., was the first Organising Secretary of the Society, serving until 1966. (He was succeeded by A C Waine, who had the title General Secretary.) Major Guy Armstrong, R.A., was the influential chair of the Policy Subcommittee. A number of other military titles will be noted below.
26. Cave was created a Papal Knight of St Gregory the Great in 1966; Anon, 'Editorial', MS News, 1967, Spring, 1. He was a close friend of Archbishop, later Cardinal, Hume; see file SA/ MSS/A.46.
27. See file SA/MSS/A.30.
28. R Cave, 'Why Sickness?', Newsletter, Hull and East Riding Branch, Multiple Sclerosis Society, undated [probably late 1957], 2-3, Also published in MS News, 1958, Spring, 4-5, and elsewhere.
29. R Cave, 'Why Sickness?', Newsletter, Hull and East Riding Branch, Multiple Sclerosis Society, undated [probably late 1957], 2-3, Also published in MS News, 1958, Spring, 4-5, and elsewhere.
30. R Cave, 'Closing address at the first Multiple Sclerosis Society course for Relatives held at Le Court Study Centre, Liss, Hants, 8th-12th December, 1969', typescript, SA/MSS/A.28. Le Court was a Cheshire Home, many of the residents of which were multiple sclerosis patients, and Cave would seem to have been very influenced by the spiritual and welfare ethos of the Cheshire Foundation. He and Group Captain Cheshire were close friends, see SA/MSS/A.28. It is interesting, moreover, that Le Court was riven by tensions between the chronic sick and their carers that were not dissimilar to those experienced by the MS Society, see E J Miller and G V Gwynne, A life apart, London, Tavistock, 1972. Cave also maintained active links, on behalf of the MS Society, with a number of other religious charities.
31. R Cave, 'Closing address at the first Multiple Sclerosis Society course for Relatives held at Le Court Study Centre, Liss, Hants, 8th-12th December, 1969', typescript, SA/MSS/A.28. Le Court was a Cheshire Home, many of the residents of which were multiple sclerosis patients, and Cave would seem to have been very influenced by the spiritual and welfare ethos of the Cheshire Foundation. He and Group Captain Cheshire were close friends, see SA/MSS/A.28. It is interesting, moreover, that Le Court was riven by tensions between the chronic sick and their carers that were not dissimilar to those experienced by the MS Society, see E J Miller and G V Gwynne, A life apart, London, Tavistock, 1972. Cave also maintained active links, on behalf of the MS Society, with a number of other religious charities.
32. This is not to deny that religious consolations are very important to many MS sufferers, see Robinson, op. cit., note 4 above, on pp. 131-4.
33. As late as the mid-sixties, Cave had to quiz Professor Henry Miller, then Chair of the Medical Panel, at some length to discover, on behalf of the Society, exactly how the MARC was constituted. Letter, R Cave to H Miller, 9 Dec. 1965, SA/MSS/B.20: 'Perhaps I might pose some propositions and questions: 1) Presumably the M.A.R.C. is a committee appointed in the first place by the Medical Panel? Do all members of the Medical Panel receive minutes of the meetings of the M.A.R.C.?' And so on, for two detailed pages.
34. R Cave, 'Editorial', MS News, 1954, 1:1.
35. Multiple Sclerosis Society, Policy Subcommittee, 'Summary of Recommendations, 20th Sept 1955', SA/MSS/A.44.
36. Annual report of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1954.
37. Multiple Sclerosis Society, Policy Subcommittee, 'Recommendations for disposal of Agnes Wood Fund', SA/MSS/A.44.
38. I Macleod, 'Message', MS News, 1954, 1:1.
39. Letter, Chris [no surname] to R Cave, 22 March 1955, SA/MSS/A.7.
40. Letter, R Cave to R C Rose, 21 April 1955, SA/MSS/A.7; Letter, R Cave to E Gowers, 31 March 1955, SA/MSS/A.7.
41. Himworth's support was offered in the face of the opposition of his senior colleagues in the MRC, see letter, L Porter to R Cave, 18 March [no year given], SA/MSS/B.13.
42. Letter, H Himsworth to R Cave, 29 June 1956, SA/MSS/A.44.
43. MS Society, Policy Subcommittee, 'Notes', 24 Aug. 1955, SA/MSS/A.44.
44. MS Society, Policy Subcommittee, 'Programme for 1955/56', SA/MSS/A.44.
45. William Mervyn Crofton (b. 1879) was a pathologist by training. Having been pathologist to St Stevens Hospital, Dublin, and a lecturer in pathology at University College, Dublin, he set himself up, in the early fifties, in private practice in London as a vaccine therapist. The fullest account of his views on therapeutics is contained in W M Crofton, The cure of acute and chronic infections by active immunisation, London, Bale, 1939.
46. For an interesting account of aspects of the history of vaccine therapy, see M Worboys, 'Vaccine therapy and laboratory medicine in Edwardian Britain', in J V Pickstone (ed.), Medical innovations in historical perspective, London, Macmillan, 1992, pp. 84-103.
47. Hansard, 20 April 1955, 463-4.
48. Letter, D McAlpine to R Cave, 23 April 1955, SA/MSS/B.5. Emphasis in original.
49. Untitled draft, May 1955, SA/MSS/B.5.
50. Letter, V Bennett to L Porter, 4 July 1955, SA/MSS/A.12. Bennett, a schoolteacher, had spoken on the radio about his MS and was a regular contributor to MS News throughout the mid-fifties.
51. In the sixties, Bennett became actively involved in the breakaway Multiple Sclerosis Treatments Investigation Group, for which see below.
52. Annual report of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1957, p. 4.
53. Annual report of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1956, p. 2.
54. By the late fifties, Guttmannn's pioneering work at Stoke Mandeville had improved the management of paraplegic patients and established him as a national hero. He was knighted in 1966. For biographical details and appreciation, see the special number of Paraplegia, May 1979, 17, issued to commemorate his eightieth birthday.
55. See H Miller, C A Simpson, W K Yeates, 'Bladder dysfunction in multiple sclerosis', Br. med. J., 1965, i: 1265-9. For an account of the stigma associated with urinary incontinence, see S K Toombs, 'The body in multiple sclerosis: a patient's perspective', in D Leder (ed.) The body in medical thought and practice, Dordrecht, Kluwer, 1992, pp. 127-37;
56. See H Miller, C A Simpson, W K Yeates, 'Bladder dysfunction in multiple sclerosis', Br. med. J., 1965, i: 1265-9. For an account of the stigma associated with urinary incontinence, see S K Toombs, 'The body in multiple sclerosis: a patient's perspective', in D Leder (ed.) The body in medical thought and practice, Dordrecht, Kluwer, 1992, pp. 127-37;
57. Undated later marginal annotation to file copy of letter, R Cave to L Guttmann, 22 May 1958, SA/MSS/B.13.
58. Quoted in letter, L Porter to D McAlpine, 17 July 1959, SA/MSS/B.1.
59. Letter, L Guttmann to L Porter, 1 July 1959, SA/MSS/B.13.
60. Letter, R Cave to L Guttmann, 22 May 1958, SA/MSS/B.13.
61. Letter, F Wood to R Cave, 11 Nov. 1958, SA/MSS/B.13.
62. Letter, G Armstrong to R Cave, 12 Nov. 1958, SA/MSS/B.13.
63. Letter, D McAlpine to R Cave, 23 April 1959, SA/MSS/B.13.
64. Letter, E Gowers to R Cave, 27 April 1959, SA/MSS/B.13.
65. Details of the report of the Armstrong Working Party are from SA/MSS/A.44.
66. Letter, H Miller to R Cave, 10 Dec. 1965, SA/MSS/B.20.
67. Letter, L Porter to D McAlpine, 17 July 1959, SA/MSS/B.1
68. Note, L Porter to R Cave, 'Lunch with McAlpine, 18th March' (no date given), SA/MSS/ B.13. See also SA/MSS/B.1.
69. Anon, 'Bladder dysfunction in multiple sclerosis', Lancet, 1964, ii: 813; Annual report of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1967, p.1; see also SA/MSS/B.4.
70. Anon, 'Bladder dysfunction in multiple sclerosis', Lancet, 1964, ii: 813; Annual report of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1967, p.1; see also SA/MSS/B.4.
71. Letter, D McAlpine to R Cave, 23 April 1959, SA/MSS/B.13.
72. Letter, George [no surname] to R Cave, 12 Oct. 1964, SA/MSS/B.4.
73. Letter, L Porter to R Cave, 16 Oct. 1964, SA/MSS/B.4.
74. H Miller, 'What voluntary effort has done to fill research gaps', Medical News, 26th April, 1963, unpaginated. Henry Miller, Professor of Neurology, University of Newcastle, was a major figure in British neurology throughout the sixties and was a dominant force within the MARC until he resigned upon becoming Vice-Chancellor at Newcastle in 1968. For biographical details, see his obituary in The Times, 27 August 1976.
75. H Miller, 'What voluntary effort has done to fill research gaps', Medical News, 26th April, 1963, unpaginated. Henry Miller, Professor of Neurology, University of Newcastle, was a major figure in British neurology throughout the sixties and was a dominant force within the MARC until he resigned upon becoming Vice-Chancellor at Newcastle in 1968. For biographical details, see his obituary in The Times, 27 August 1976.
76. Letter, E R Bickerstaff to J Walford, 24 Sept. 1969, SA/MSS/A.12.
77. Letter, A C Waine to E R Bickerstaff, 26 Sept. 1969, SA/MSS/A.12.
78. M Nicolson and C McLaughlin, 'Social constructionism and medical sociology: the case of the vascular theory of multiple sclerosis', Sociol. Health Illn., 1988, 10: 234-61.
79. Letter, R Cave to D McAlpine, 3 Dec. 1964, SA/MSS/B.19.
80. 67Anon, '. . . to encourage scientific research . . .', MS News, 1959, Christmas, 5-7.
81. B Brookwood, 'The Portsmouth story', MS News, 1960, Spring, 4-6.
82. L Porter, 'Memorandum by the Secretary', undated, SA/MSS/B.18.
83. Ibid.
84. Letter, Ludo [Porter] to Richard [Cave], 1 June 1959, SA/MSS/B.18.
85. Ibid.
86. Ibid.
87. Ibid.
88. Letter, R Cave to D McAlpine, 2 June 1959, SA/MSS/B.18.
89. Anon., 'A treatment for disseminated sclerosis', Br. med J., 1961, i: 1121.
90. AC Waine, 'Interested in research?', MS News, 1965, Autumn, 19.
91. Letter, A England to Community Council of Lancashire, 17 May 1965, SA/MSS/A.38.
92. Letter, A C Waine to M Hawkins, 20 March 1969, SA/MSS/A.37.
93. 'Sclerosis campaign is challenged', Daily Telegraph, 1 Aug. 1964, cutting in SA/MSS/A.37.
94. Letter, L Porter to H Miller, 28 July 1964, SA/MSS/A.37.
95. Draft circular letter, untitled and undated, SA/MSS/A.37.
96. Quoted in 'Sclerosis campaign is challenged', Daily Telegraph, 1 Aug. 1964.
97. Report, H Miller to A C Waine, 12 March 1965, SA/MSS/B.15.
98. C Perry, letter to the editor, Southern Evening Echo, 13 March 1969; cutting in SA/ MSS/B.15.
99. A C Waine, 'Le Gac treatment', Memo to Executive committee, Agenda item no. 7, 5 Feb. 1969, SA/MSS/B.15.
100. Letter, A England to A C Waine, 8 Dec. 1969, SA/MSS/B.15.
101. E J Field, 'Research Report 1969', SA/MSS/ B.20. It is noteworthy, however, that, despite the use of the term "trial" and despite Miller acknowledging that therapies might work purely empirically, Field did not test Le Gac's therapeutic regimen. Only the possibility of underlying rickettsial infection was investigated.
102. There is no mention of the MSTIG, either in the MS Society Archives or in MS News, after 1970.
103. Letter, A C Waine to C E Lumsden, 16 June 1966, SA/MSS/B.18.
104. Letter, C E Lumsden to A C Waine, 12 Sept. 1966, SA/MSS/B.18.
105. Letter, P Brooke to A C Waine, 30 Dec. 1966, SA/MSS/B.18.
106. Letter, A C Waine to H Garland, 14 Feb. 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
107. Letter, A C Waine to P Brooke, 24 Feb. 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
108. Letter, P Brooke to A C Waine, 9 Feb. 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
109. Letter, A C Waine to C E Lumsden, 7 April 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
110. Letter, A C Waine to P Brooke, 7 April 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
111. Ibid.
112. Garland died suddenly in Oct. 1967 and it may well have been that the balance of his mind was already disturbed when he spoke to the Yorkshire Branches. However, the fact that their medical advisors generally tended to lack skills in the popular presentation of their policies was a persistent problem for the MS Society. In 1985, one of us (Nicolson) heard the then Chair of the MARC, Dr Reginald Kelly, seriously antagonize a public meeting organized by the MS Society in Edinburgh, when feelings were running high over the MS Society's refusal to endorse hyperbaric oxygen therapy. He had evidently assumed a deference to his status, authority and expertise which many of his audience were quite unwilling to supply.
113. Letter, P Brooke to A C Waine, 18 May 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
114. Unsigned undated account of visit to Lumsden's laboratory, probably prepared for publication in a Branch Newsletter, SA/MSS/B.18.
115. Letter, J Towse to R Cave, 17 May 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
116. Ibid.
117. Letter, Bill [A C Waine] to Richard [Cave], 19 May 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
118. Letter, A C Waine to H Miller, 26 June 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
119. Ibid.
120. Letter, H Miller to A C Waine, 14 Nov. 1967, SA/MSS/B.18. While Lumsden's work did not wholly elucidate the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis, it did provide useful experimental models of demyelination, see D McAlpine, C E Lumsden and E D Acheson, Multiple sclerosis: a reappraisal, Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1972
121. Letter, H Miller to L Porter, 19 Nov. 1962, SA/MSS/B.22.
122. Letter, R Cave to H Garland, 23 May 1967, SA/MSS/B.18.
123. H Miller, 'Science Survey-Multiple Sclerosis', transcript of radio broadcast, undated, SA/MSS/B.22.
124. Anon., 'Lively meeting in Bloomsbury', Outlook [Newsletter, South-West London Branch], undated, unpaginated. SA/MSS/A.4.
125. For the history of the key change from "organizations for" to "organizations of" the disabled, see J Campbell and M Oliver (eds), Disability politics: understanding our past, changing our future, London, Routledge, 1996; and L Barton and M Oliver (eds), Disability studies: past, present and future, Leeds, Disability Press, 1997.
126. For the history of the key change from "organizations for" to "organizations of" the disabled, see J Campbell and M Oliver (eds), Disability politics: understanding our past, changing our future, London, Routledge, 1996; and L Barton and M Oliver (eds), Disability studies: past, present and future, Leeds, Disability Press, 1997.
127. K Hurren, 'A dramatic revival', Daily Telegraph Magazine, 11 Aug. 1974, 32-8.
128. Letter, R Kelly to Lord Willis, 7 Aug. 1975, SA/MSS/B.7.
129. Letter, R Cave to Sir J L Gray, undated, SA/MSS/B.11; Anon,'An important research appointment', MS News, 1958, Summer, 5.
130. E Field, et al., 'Specific laboratory test for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis', Br. med. J., 1974, i: 412-14.
131. J H Millar, et al., 'Double-blind trial of linoleate supplementation of the diet in multiple sclerosis', Br. med J., 1973, i: 765-8.
132. The information in this paragraph is mostly taken from an unsigned and undated MRC memorandum 'Demylinating Diseases Unit' in SA/MSS/B.11.
133. Research into multiple sclerosis in Newcastle upon Tyne', Notice of Questions and Motions, House of Commons, no. 26, 4 Dec. 1973, 1462.
134. R Lacey, 'The politics of multiple sclerosis', Sunday Times, 28 April 1974.
135. R Lacey, 'Multiple sclerosis: some new hope', Sunday Times, 12 May 1974.
136. Letter, G Smith to R Cave, 1 Feb. 1974, SA/MSS/B.11.
137. R Cave, 'Professor Field - An announcement on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland', Sunday Times, 2 June 1974.
138. Letter, A C Waine to All Branch Secretaries, 14 Dec. 1973, SA/MSS/B.11.
139. R Lacey, 'The politics of multiple sclerosis', Sunday Times, 28 April 1974.
140. Letter, R Cave to Sir J L Gray, 13 Dec. 1973, SA/MSS/B.11.
141. Letter to Editor, R Cave, Sunday Times, 2 June, 1974.
142. Ibid.
143. Letter, J Simkins to R Cave, 14 June 1974, SA/MSS/A.36.
144. From anonymous, unsigned Action Group leaflet in SA/MSS/A.36.
145. Letter, J Simkins to R Cave, 14 June 1974, SA/MSS/A.36.
146. Letter, J Simkins to A C Waine, 5 July 1974, SA/MSS/A.36.
147. 'Multiple Sclerosis Action Group. Notes on a meeting between this Group and representatives of the Council of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. . . 25th February, 1976'. SA/MSS/A.36
148. A C Waine, 'Editorial', MS News, 1974, 1; Letter, R Cave to J Simkins, 10 Aug. 1974, SA/ MSS/A.36.
149. Letter, B S Farley to A C Waine, 20 Aug. 1974, SA/MSS/A.36.
150. Letter, J T Walford to B S Farley, 21 Aug. 1974, SA/MSS/A.36.
151. Letter, A C Waine to W Johnston, 3 Dec. 1975, SA/MSS/A.36.
152. Letter, J Potter to A C Waine, 13 Dec. 1974, SA/MSS/A.36.
153. Anon, 'Minutes of the 20th Annual General Meeting', MS News, 1974, Christmas, 9-13.
154. Letter, J Simkins to All Members of the Council, 13 Nov. 1974, SA/MSS/A.36.
155. Bacon was a Director of Securicor Ltd., which had long had charitable links with the MS Society (see SA/MSS/A.50). He had previously been an Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police; Who's Who, 1975, London, Black, p. 126.
156. Anon., 'Angry grumbling mutterings', Photo-copied extract from Camden Branch Newsletter, 1975, SA/MSS/A.4.
157. Anon., 'Minutes of the 21st Annual General Meeting', MS News, 1975, Christmas, 11-14.
158. Anon., op. cit., note 142 above.
159. Letter, F Kerr to R Cave, 6 Oct. 1975, SA/ MSS/A.4.
160. Ibid.
161. Anon, Report of the working party of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, undated, SA/MSS/A.57.
162. See note 112 above. The Report of the working party contains many telling exemplifications of the divergence in the points of view of the two parties. The Action Group, for example, wished the MS Society to adopt a policy of preferentially recruiting MS sufferers to paid posts in its Head Office; the Society wished merely to ensure that there was no discrimination against sufferers in its employment practices.
163. Letter, M Faro and C G C Wade to R Cave, 10 Oct. 1975, SA/MSS/A.4.
164. Letter, R Cave to M Faro and C G C Wade, 15 Oct. 1975, SA/MSS/A.4.
165. Letter, J Potter to A C Waine, 13 December, 1974. SA/MSS/A.36
166. Letter, F Kerr to R Cave, 6 Oct. 1975, SA/ MSS/A.4.
167. Letter, R Cave to F Kerr, 8 Oct. 1975, SA/ MSS/A.4.
168. Letter, J Simkins to R Cave, 29 Nov. 1975, SA/MSS/A.36.
169. Letter, J Simkins to R Cave, 8 March 1976, SA/MSS/A.36.
170. R F V Heuston, 'Manningham-Buller, Reginald Edward, fourth baronet and first Viscount Dilhorne', Dictionary of national biography, Oxford University Press, 1986.
171. It is an indication, however, of where the Society's priorities lay with respect to the organization of this meeting that it was only latterly realized that wheelchair access to toilets was not possible from the Hall. A corner was duly curtained off and buckets were provided; an arrangement not ideal for those with impaired balance. Anon. pers. com.
172. Letter, R Cave to the Bishop of Leicester, 11 March 1976, SA/MSS/A.57.
173. Letter, R Cave to the Bishop of Leicester, 29 March 1976, SA/MSS/A.57.
174. Anon, 'News from Nottingham', account written by a participant for publication in a Branch Newsletter, publication details unknown, copy in SA/MSS/A.57.
175. Ibid.
176. Ibid.
177. Letter, J J Pritchard to R Cave, 6 April 1976, SA/MSS/A.57.
178. Robinson, op. cit., note 4 above, describes the differences in character between the two societies, pp. 114-24. ARMS remained active until it ran into financial difficulties in the midnineties. Field continued his work, initially with ARMS support, at the privately funded Naomi Bramson Research Unit, University of Warwick. His diagnostic test did not become generally adopted.
179. For an analysis of aspects of this controversy, see Nicolson and McLaughlin, op. cit., note 65 above.
180. Letter, R Bacon to R Cave, 15 June 1975, SA/MSS/A.57.
181. Waine resigned at the same time, see MS News, 1976, Christmas, 17.
182. Election leaflets for both candidates are in the Council Papers, 1976 AGM, SA/MSS/A.5.
183. Anon., 'A fairly light-hearted profile of our new chairman by someone who knows him fairly well', MS News, 1977, Spring, 9-10.
184. Typescript of speech, 17 Oct. 1974, SA/ MSS/B.31; A N Davison et al. (eds), Multiple Sclerosis research: proceedings of a joint conference held by the Medical Research Council and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, London, HMSO, 1975.
185. R Cave, undated typescript SA/MSS/A.32.
186. See also M Nicolson, 'Emergence, resistance and the historiography of medicine', Soc. Stud. Sci., 1996, 26: 863-74.
187. D Armstrong, Political anatomy of the body: medical knowledge in Britain in the twentieth century, Cambridge University Press, 1983.
188. This point is cognate with the political argument of M Oliver, Understanding disability: from theory to practice, London, Macmillan, 1996, pp 106-7.
189. M P Kelly and D Field, 'Medical sociology, chronic illness and the body', Sociol. Health Illn., 1996, 18: 241-57; G P Stone, 'Appearance and the self', in A M Rose (ed.), Human behaviour and social processes, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962.
190. M P Kelly and D Field, 'Medical sociology, chronic illness and the body', Sociol. Health Illn., 1996, 18: 241-57; G P Stone, 'Appearance and the self', in A M Rose (ed.), Human behaviour and social processes, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962.
191. For accounts of sufferers politicized and, indeed, empowered by their multiple sclerosis, see N Davoud, Where do I go from here: the autobiography of a remarkable woman, London, Piatkus, 1985; C Mackie, Me and my shadow: learning to live with multiple sclerosis, London, Aurum, 1999. MS patients may also, of course, react to their illness with demoralization or depression, G E Berrios and J I Quemada, 'Depressive illness in multiple sclerosis: clinical and theoretical aspects of the association', Br. J. Psychiatry, 1990, 156: 10-16.
192. For accounts of sufferers politicized and, indeed, empowered by their multiple sclerosis, see N Davoud, Where do I go from here: the autobiography of a remarkable woman, London, Piatkus, 1985; C Mackie, Me and my shadow: learning to live with multiple sclerosis, London, Aurum, 1999. MS patients may also, of course, react to their illness with demoralization or depression, G E Berrios and J I Quemada, 'Depressive illness in multiple sclerosis: clinical and theoretical aspects of the association', Br. J. Psychiatry, 1990, 156: 10-16.
193. For accounts of sufferers politicized and, indeed, empowered by their multiple sclerosis, see N Davoud, Where do I go from here: the autobiography of a remarkable woman, London, Piatkus, 1985; C Mackie, Me and my shadow: learning to live with multiple sclerosis, London, Aurum, 1999. MS patients may also, of course, react to their illness with demoralization or depression, G E Berrios and J I Quemada, 'Depressive illness in multiple sclerosis: clinical and theoretical aspects of the association', Br. J. Psychiatry, 1990, 156: 10-16.