Reference
JB
Title
Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire Joint Board for Mental Deficiency
Date free text
1929-1948
Production date
From: 1929 To: 1948
Admin/biog history
The Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire Joint Board for Mental Deficiency was set up in 1930, and dealt with the purchase, alteration and opening of Bromham House as a home for adults and children with learning difficulties. The home was known as Bromham House Colony and later became Bromham Hospital.
The work of the Board was taken over by the new Health Committee under the National Health Services Act 1946, and the minutes cease in 1948.
Archival history
Re-cataloguing and re-appraisal of the JB collection took place over the course of 2015 to reduce bulk, improve the previously scanty description and address data protection issues.
Over the Spring and Summer of 2015 this collection was re-appraised and, in places, re-catalogued, owing to the inadequate description levels of the existing catalogue. The following is a summary of the work undertaken:
-Re-catalogued JBPL (plans)
-Weeded JBP (Jont Board Papers) by c.80% and re-catalogued remaining material - category deleted.
-Re-appraised and re-catalogued JBA 1-9, weeding duplicate contracts, re-numbering and improving description. Plans in this section were also listed individually in the ‘scope and content’ field and marked with individual references.
-Merged JB items from accession 10129
-Weeded, re-arranged and catalogued material placed under JBV (Joint Board Various) and deleted this category.
-JBSC (Special Correspondence) appraised, re-catalogued and category deleted
-JB/GPP: weeded and re-catalogued
-JB/BP, JBE, JBH, JB/MA, JB/SS, JB/ST, JB/PT created and added to existing catalogue structure.
-Correspondence about individual patients separated and organised under series for patient records (JB/PT)
Examples of material weeded: national health circulars, ephemera (such as correspondence of a routine nature) and duplicates.
49 small boxes were reduced to 35 small boxes as a result of the exercise. There is still more work to be done on reducing bulk and improving access. The following series consist of bulky paper bundles:
-JB/GCP
-JB/TSP
-JB/FCP
It is possible that JBC duplicates JBL and if so the heavy letterbooks, consisting of poor quality paper, could be disposed of.
[Note added by RB on 16 May 2016]
The original accession number for the bulk of this material is unknown, but accession 10129 was amalgamated with the original JB collection during the above re-appraisal and re-cataloguing work.
Reference
Level of description
fonds