Collection: Anaesthesia Heritage Centre

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The Anaesthesia Museum owes its establishment to the donation by A. Charles King of his collection of historic anaesthetic apparatus to the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (now Association of Anaesthetists) in 1953.

  Since then, significant donors and collections have included the personal collections of eminent anaesthetists, most notably;

  • Dr David Zuck
    • Donation in 1987
    • 139 objects
    • Collection includes early dropper bottles and facepieces and equipment late 1930s-1960s.
  • Dr Thomas Boulton
    • Donation in 1988
    • President of the Association of Anaesthetists from 1984 to 1986
    • Collection includes some important equipment (Oxford Vaporizer and EM) developed in response to the needs of doctors during the Second World War and just after.
  • Brigadier Ivan Houghton (Royal Army Medical Corps)
    • Donation date unknown
    • Houghton developed the Triservice Anaesthetic Apparatus (1980s), which could be easily carried by Field Surgical Troops. It was taken up by the Army, Navy and RAF around the world, and was the only anaesthetic apparatus to be used on land in the Falklands Conflict.
    • Donation includes some research/trial components for the Triservice Apparatus and other equipment made or modified by British Army Unit 43 Command Workshops during the 1970s.

  Other notable donors are hospital anaesthetic departments, the largest or most significant collections have been donated by;

  • Addenbrookes Hospital
    • Donated in 2000
    • 405 items donated.
  • Great Ormond Street Hospital
    • Donated in 2014
    • Includes larger observation and monitoring equipment.
  • Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, Oxford
    • Donated in 2007
    • 204 objects including equipment developed and manufactured by the department itself, including 1940s anaesthetic apparatus and a complete 1980s anaesthetic machine.

  Disposals

  A collection of controlled drugs were disposed of (by transfer) to the Royal Pharmaceutical society in 2019 as the museum did not hold a Controlled Drugs License.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The collection, and continued development of the collection, supports the museum’s statement of purpose:

  The Anaesthesia Museum…..enables people to explore its collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. It seeks to collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts which are held in trust for society relating to the development of the speciality of anaesthesia. It promotes awareness of the history of the speciality amongst anaesthetists and the general public.

  The collection has grown since King’s donation in 1953 to include over 4,000 objects dating from the early nineteenth century, when the specialty developed, to the present day. It spans the entire history of the profession including anaesthesia, pain relief, resuscitation and intensive care.

  The Anaesthesia Museum is recognised by specialist researchers as the best collection of its kind, nationally and internationally. Its strength lies in Charles King’s original collection which contains equipment developed by pioneer anaesthetists John Snow and Joseph Clover; Snow’s 1847 chloroform inhaler and Clover’s 1877 portable ether inhaler. There is also an excellent selection of anaesthetic accessories such as mouthgags and facepieces, including early pieces from the 1860s and 1890s. Other significant items include prototypes for the 1988 laryngeal mask (which is still in use today) and a Manley ventilator, one of the most popular early mechanical ventilators. The museum also holds the ECG machine used during King George VI pneumonectomy in 1951.

  The collection is used in permanent displays in the museum and opportunities to bring objects out of store for display are provided through the annual temporary exhibition and travelling exhibitions displayed at Association conferences and sectors events (for example, London Museums Of Health and Medicine’s Up Close and Medical).

  The museum also has a small handling collection of duplicates and replicas. These objects support our aim to reach wider audiences and are used at travelling exhibitions, events and as part of our group visit offer to educational and community groups.

  The Anaesthesia Heritage Centre maintains a rare book collection and an archive, which includes an extensive oral history archive. However, these collections are not included in the Anaesthesia Museum’s holdings and are therefore outside the scope of Museum Accreditation.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC