Dr Heidi Topman

Dr John Cairnie (2006)

I undertook a  project which traced the history of a Scottish physician in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. He served with the East India Company in India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for 10 years. My task was to locate official records of his time there (documents of his first marriage and the births of his three sons).

Although this was essentially a family history project, it was not possible to use many of the same sources on which British family historians usually rely. Many birth and death certificates of British subjects are available from The Family Records Centre.

However, this project focused on official records including medical lists and ships logs in the India Office Collection at the British Library . Unlike, the Wimbledon Labour Hall project, (below) it was also feasible to use the web for some of this research. I located a will at Scotland's People. This certainly saved on my travel expenses!

This project presented different challenges from the Wimbledon Labour Hall one. There was a large amount of documentary evidence about the activities, which went on at the labour hall, many of the official records of Dr John's time in India had not been preserved. This is a good illustration of the fact that it may not always be possible to find every record in a history project.

Wimbledon Labour Hall (1999-2001)

During the course of this project, I was asked to research the history of the hall and produce an exhibition and a short publication from the results of this research. A 'labour hall' is a building purchased by a labour movement organisation (usually a labour hall society) for the purpose of providing a meeting place and venue for left-wing activities.

A (Very) Short History of Wimbledon Labour Hall

Wimbledon Labour Hall Co-operative Society was established in 1921 The following year, it purchased premises in Wimbledon, Greater London, in which to hold meetings and social events. The local labour movement organisations, such as the Constituency Labour Party, the trade unions, and the Women's Co-operative Guild all hired the premises for events ranging from whist drives and dances to public meetings. It was also necessary to hire out rooms to non-political organisations, in order to keep the hall as a viable proposition.1930, the premises were expanded by the addition of a large hall.

During the Second World War, the building was used as a centre for bombed out families and schools and as a public ar raid shelter. In the decades following the end of the Second World War, political usage of the premises declined and it became necessary to use the building for other things. More non-political organisations used the premises, including a Korean Church choir and a chess club. A full Indian wedding was also held on the premises. Eventually part of the premises was leased out long term. It is now a nightclub.

The Archive, Exhibition and Publication

Most of the Wimbledon Labour Hall archive was on the premises. I spent several months going through the minute books and other papers to construct a timeline of events at the hall. I also persuaded old and former members of the Society to share their memories of life at the hall. Several of them also lent items of interest for the exhibition.

The exhibition took place in September 2000. Although it was a comparatively small scale event, it attracted more than 100 visitors.

Photographs From the 'History of Wimbledon Labour Hall Co-operatve Society' Exhibition, held at William Morris Labour and Community Centre (then known as the William Morris Meeting Rooms), September 2000

Eighty Years of Wimbledon Labour Hall 1921-2001 was published in May 2001. For more details of this, please see the 'Thesis and Publications' page.