2012.21.46.1

Collection type

Object

Description

Metal red coloured tin box bottom, part of a medical kit [See 2012.21.2 - .53]. [AFS [OPS move] 21/6/2018]

Geographical reference

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

England East Riding of Yorkshire Kingston upon Hull

Person

Field collector Charles Wadham Lyne

PRM source Charles R.W. Lyne

Date

Acquisition information

Donated: 02/02/2012

Materials and processes

Material Metal, Material Ink, Process Bent, Process Printed

Dimensions

Height: max 13 mm, Width: max 75 mm, Length: max 96 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 2012.21.46.1

Research and responses

Email correspondence between donor and Museum: "...I have his pith helmet and field medical kit from that era, though the medical kit has been 'updated' with medicines and dressings that are at least from the 1920s, if not later, as it includes prescriptions for my grandmother, Muriel, whom he married in the early 1920s..." [FB 26/03/2012]

Extract from biography of Charles Wadham Lyne, written by his Grandson Charles Lyne: "The exact detail of his early working life is not recorded, but in the early years of the 20th century Wadham was working in missions in the East Eand of London, helping to educate and train some of the poorest boys through movements such as the Boys' Brigade and the Boy Scouts. In the middle of this decade, while Europe was in the middle of the most savage war ever, Wadham sailed out to Burma (via Bombay) as a Christian Missionary. As a working member of the Church, Wadham was undoubtedly appalled by the slaughter in the trenches of Flanders and elsewhere, which most likely would have included many of the young men he'd worked with in the East End. Burma had different challenges for him, and a very different climate. In Burma, we know from family photos and paintings that Wadham moved around the country, visiting outlying villages as well as the larger cities. Here he did much the same sort of work he'd been doing in the in the East End: helping to set up Boy Scout troops and ministering to people as and where he could, making use of his medical kit where necessary. A pith helmet seemed to be the standard headgear for Europeans (both military and civilians) in these climates: light in weight weight as well as colour, it reflected much of the heat of the sun and, through its design, allowed the head to breathe. Wadham travelled the country taking photographs, and when he had time, painting delicate watercolours of the exotic countryside, culture and historic temples. In due course, Wadham's time in Burma ended and he returned to England to become the curate at a church in Barnet..." [FB 26/03/2012]

Search terms: Medicine, Box, Medical Accessory