Edinburgh and South East Scotland Blood Transfusion Service

Management 1930-1999; administration 1931-1985; publicity 1936-1986; history and publications 1930-1997; donors 1931-2001; photographs

Origins lie in the activities of Jack R Copland, an Edinburgh dentist shocked by the death of a friend due to a lack of blood donors. A member of the Holyrood Conclave of the Order of Crusaders, founded in 1921 by Lt. General Sir Edward Bethune, Copland proposed that they set up a blood donor panel and transfusion centre for the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. This began in 1930 with 26 donors, rapidly growing to 350 by 1936. In the same year the connection with the Crusaders ceased and the Edinburgh Blood Transfusion Service was founded. As a result of demands caused by World War II, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service was set up involving five regional centres, one of which was Edinburgh and South East Scotland.

Chronological within record class

Normal 30 year and 75 year Scottish closure rules apply

Blood Transfusion Service, Lauriston Place, July 1989

Compiled by Mike Barfoot and Jenny McDermott using existing handlists

Manual item-level descriptive list of available

Further accessions are expected

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (LHB1)

Fisher, David The Gift of Life: the story of the blood transfusion service in Edinburgh and the South East of Scotland. Edinburgh: Workers' Educational Association, n.d.

Masson, Alastair H.B. History of the blood transfusion service in Edinburgh. Edinburgh and South-East Scotland Blood Transfusion Association, 1993