Central Registry Files
Production date
1939-2000
Description
The Central Registry files are the formal administration records which were created at the headquarters of the British Red Cross. As such, apart from committee minutes and annual reports, the files provide a key and often unique record of the official work of the organisation from 1940 to the early 1990s. In responding to the dramatic changes that occurred on the national and international stage in this period, this was a time of reaction, adjustment and expansion for the British Red Cross which is clearly demonstrated in the content of the records.
These official papers concern a number of topics including the Second World War, the peace-time activities of the British Red Cross, the National Health Service Act 1948, the expansion of overseas branches, disaster relief, major international conflicts including the Korean War and the Falklands War, the coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, the strategies and long-term plans of the organisation and youth activities in the United Kingdom.
These official papers concern a number of topics including the Second World War, the peace-time activities of the British Red Cross, the National Health Service Act 1948, the expansion of overseas branches, disaster relief, major international conflicts including the Korean War and the Falklands War, the coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, the strategies and long-term plans of the organisation and youth activities in the United Kingdom.
Collection Type
Archives
Level of Current Record
sub-sub-fonds
History
On 4 August 1870 a public meeting was held in London and a resolution passed that “a National Society be formed in this country for aiding sick and wounded soldiers in time of war and that the said Society be formed upon the Rules laid down by the Geneva Convention of 1864”. The British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was formed and rendered aid and relief to both warring armies during the Franco-Prussian War and in subsequent wars and campaigns during the 19th century under the protection of the red cross emblem.
In 1905 the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was reconstituted as the British Red Cross Society and received its first Royal Charter in 1908 at the request of Queen Alexandra, who became President of the Society.
In 1905 the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was reconstituted as the British Red Cross Society and received its first Royal Charter in 1908 at the request of Queen Alexandra, who became President of the Society.
Catalogue Number
RCC/1/12