University of Birmingham Student (Alumni) Papers: Papers of Edward James Boome

Papers consist of a copy of Edward Jame's Boome's thesis on the influenza pandemic of 1918 as seen at a Casualty Clearing Station in France, dated October 1918 and written based on his experiences serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War, and a letter from Professor Kauffmann, Professor of Medicine at the University of Birmingham and likely to have been responsible for examining the thesis, to Dr Glynn, discussing the quality of the research

Edward James Boome was born on 20 May 1883 and educated at King Edward School, Birmingham. He attended the University of Birmingham from 1901, when his address is given in the student register as 176 Edmund Street, Birmingham. He graduated with an M.B. Ch.B in 1908. After holding resident posts at the General Hospital and Queen's Hospital he took a Diploma in Public Health at the University of Birmingham in 1912. He was assistant medical officer at Surrey County Council and then joined London County Council in 1913 as assistant in the school medical service. His address in the University of Birmingham Register of Graduates in 1931 is given as Greystacks, Hill View Road, Woking, Surrey. He served overseas during the First World War as a member of the RAMC TF, reaching the rank of major and being mentioned in dispatches. He submitted a thesis based on his observations of the 1918 influenza pandemic for the degree of M.D at the University of Birmingham in 1918, but this degree was not granted. He had been a member of the Territorial Army since 1911 and was the Territorial Decoration was conferred on him in 1925.

His main area of work with London County Council was in the field of school medicine where he focused on the diagnosis and treatment of children with learning difficulties and physical disabilities, and for a time was medical officer to the council's 'Farmfield Institution for Mental Defectives' and lecturer to the nursing staff there. In 1934 he became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians.

He was a pioneer in the study of speech defects, and was largely responsible for the development and teaching of speech therapy in the London County Council service, becoming consultant to the council in this area. He was a founder member of the College of Speech Therapists and the author of several textbooks including 'Relaxation in Everyday Life' and 'Abnormal Speech'. He was also a member of the Board of Registration of Medical Auxiliaries, the British Council for Rehabilitation, and the Research Board for the Correlation of Medical Science to Physical Education.

He retired in 1948 but continued working part-time in the staff medical examination section of the London County Council's health department. He died suddenly on 12 June 1954 and was survived by his wife.

Source: British Medical Journal Vol.2, No.4878, 3 July 1954, obituary; University of Birmingham Register of Graduates; University of Birmingham library card catalogue

Open, access to all registered researchers

Transferred from the Barnes Library store in Store I to Cadbury Research Library : Special Collections in 2013 per Fred Nicholls, and subsequently transferred to Cadbury Research Library manuscript collections August 2013

Please see https://calmview.bham.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=XUSS89&pos=1 for more information

A digital copy of this thesis is available at https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/4940/

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director, Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. The Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

This item was previously catalogued as a thesis on the University of Birmingham library card catalogue with the reference Diss.M1.B18B7

The Cadbury Research Library also holds the archives of other former staff, officials, and students