London’s medical past is astonishing. The fascinating stories of women dentists, child patients and civil war hospitals are among those that will be revealed at the Archives for London conference, ‘Sick of London’, on 4 October 2008.

A host of specialist speakers will be brought together with archive users, enthusiasts and practitioners in a day which will reveal how medical archives can enrich our research experiences, whether we are an enthusiastic genealogist, dedicated local historian, professional researcher or archives practitioner. Sick of London will also introduce sources that can be all too easily overlooked in local and family history.

Presentations and discussions confirmed include Medical Officers of Health by Professor Anne Hardy; Civil War casualties in London by Professor Eric Gruber von Arni; Medical treatment in hospital and workhouse by Dr Alysa Levene; surgeons and surgery in London by Beth Astridge; women dentists in 18th and 19th centuries by Melanie Parker; and Great Ormond Street Hospital in-patients by Sue Hawkins and Juliet Warren.

‘The speakers at this year’s AfL conference demonstrate the talent currently working and researching with London’s diverse archival assets’, says AfL chair, David Mander, ‘And Sick of London will show that medical archives are a healthy source for research from the 17th century to the modern day’.

Sick of London takes place on Saturday 4 October at London Metropolitan Archives. Delegate fees are just £45 for non-members which include a year’s membership of AfL as well as buffet lunch and refreshments at the conference. To book your place please email conference@archivesforlondon.org

Further information on Sick of London along with details of AfL seminars, tours and joining Archives for London is available online at www.archivesforlondon.org.

Archives for London is the independent voice for archives in our capital city. It brings together everyone interested in archives in or about London – users, practitioners and enthusiasts.