Minutes of the Charity Committee and the Bevan Trust Committee, 1852 - 1947

Series

Identifier: LHB7/4

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The minutes for the Bevan Trust Committee and Charity Committee deal with applications for assistance from the funds from those who could not afford to pay hospital fees.

Dates

Creation: 1852 - 1947

Conditions Governing Access

Public access to these records is governed by UK data protection legislation, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and the latest version of the Scottish Government Records Management: Health and Social Care Code of Practice (Scotland). Whilst some records may be accessed freely by researchers, the aforementioned legislation and guidelines mean that records conveying sensitive information on named individuals may be closed to the public for a set time.

Where health records relate to named deceased adults, they will be open 75 years after the latest date referenced, on the next 1 January. Case records of individuals below 18 years of age or adults not proven to be deceased will be open 100 years after the latest date recorded, on the next 1 January. Further information on legislation and guidelines covering medical records can be found here: https://bit.ly/2CXB4V8.

LHSA encourages the use of these records for legitimate clinical, historical and genealogical research purposes, and records that are designated as closed can be consulted by legitimate researchers if certain conditions are met. Please contact the LHSA Archivist for more details regarding procedures on how you can apply for permission to view closed records. Telephone us on: 0131 650 3392 or email us at lhsa@ed.ac.uk.

Biographical / Historical

The Charity Committee was set up by the Royal Edinburgh Asylum Act of 1851 to administer legacies and donations to the hospital. The Committee gave grants to make up the board of patients whose relatives could not pay the full amount.

In 1886, Mrs Elizabeth Bevan, granddaughter of Dr Andrew Duncan Senior, left the asylum a legacy to assist in paying the board of patients whose status was not that of paupers, but who could not pay the appropriate rate of board. A Committee was appointed to administer this fund.