Osler Club of London

The Osler Club of London is a society founded in 1928 to encourage the study of the history of medicine, particularly amongst medical students, and to keep "green the memory of Sir William Osler". Membership in the club is open to medical men and women, medical students, and persons associated with the history of medicine and in allied sciences. Origins The Club was founded by a group of British gentlemen, considered part of a medical elite and pursuing the same ideals. They were following the "Oslerian legacy" which was reflected in their activities. Osler was the "ideal British gentleman" who showed concern, commitment, and loyalty to both patients and colleagues. His interest in books and the history of medicine were emphasised, particularly in the first 10 years of the Club. The most influential Club founder was probably Alfred White Franklin. In 1926, whilst a medical student, Franklin had crossed the Atlantic with the Cambridge University Medical Society. His experiences of the hospitality he and his colleagues met with at various American and Canadian cities was reflected in his notes, describing the importance of maintaining contact, "sympathy and cooperation between the English-speaking peoples that is so essential for international peace". A selection of men, from places connected with Sir William, had "met the spirit of Osler". By 1927, Franklin and his friend Walter Reginald Bett had visited Sir William's literary executor and nephew, W.W. Francis, at Sir William's house in Oxford, been seduced by "Oslerolatry", and in response, drawn up a plan to form the "Osler Club". T. F. McNair Scott, G. W. Pickering, H. E. Mansell, and C.F. Watts also became founding members. The Osler Club of London was among the first organisations to be founded in Osler's name. The first meeting of the Club was held on 30 April 1928 around the drawing room fireplace in Franklin's father's house at 27 Wimpole Street, London. In attendance was Charles Singer, the conservator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, L. W. G. Malcolm, and six medical students. They listened to a paper on the "Life and Work of Louis Pasteur".