Author Topic: Abbreviations after person's name  (Read 3191 times)

Offline Nese

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Abbreviations after person's name
« on: Friday 15 September 17 08:01 BST (UK) »
I've found one of ours in 1914 Kelly's Directory for Reading.  The entry reads:

Biddles, William Byron R.V.S., A.A.C.L., A.P.S.L. Sydney and what looks like 1o, 40 Prospect Street; TN 102.

William was a chemist/druggist and veterinary surgeon. One census has 'dental and veterinary surgeon' but having seen no further evidence of the occupation of dentist elsewhere I suspect that 'chemist' may have been said but heard as 'dentist'.  (An unusual combination in any case.)

My problem is that I cannot find what the abbreviations stand for.  Any help will be appreciated.

Offline goldie61

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Re: Abbreviations after person's name
« Reply #1 on: Friday 15 September 17 10:30 BST (UK) »
RVS = Royal Veterinary Surgeon?
A search on Google seems to say it's really the  Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon
https://www.rcvs.org.uk/
or the Royal Veterinary College
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Veterinary_College

Can't find the others yet!

By the way, have you done a search on Google for "William Byron Biddles"? (You need to put the speech marks round the name)
Lots of stuff comes up about him, including what looks like lots of old photographs - didn't go through them. Of course, that may be your site! In which case you'll know all about it!  ;)
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Offline KGarrad

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Re: Abbreviations after person's name
« Reply #2 on: Friday 15 September 17 11:27 BST (UK) »
Quoting from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons:

Please bear in mind that, before 1881, it was possible to practise veterinary surgery without being a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and without having a degree from an approved university.   Even after the 1881 Act it was possible for persons other than members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to practise veterinary surgery, but they were not able to go to court to recover fees and charges for doing so.  It was not until the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1948 that it became an absolute requirement for anyone practising veterinary surgery to be a registered veterinary surgeon, and even then there were a number of exceptions.
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Offline carlineric

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Re: Abbreviations after person's name
« Reply #3 on: Friday 15 September 17 12:10 BST (UK) »
Information on dentists at https://bda.org/museum/enquiries/PublishingImages/-and-research/was-your-ancestor-a-dentist-factsheet.pdf. The BBC Two documentary "The Victorian Pharmacy" showed one of  the team branching out into dentistry in the final episode. As a vet he would have learnt all about "teeth pulling". In one of the James Herriot books he is getting a tooth extracted by a RAF dentist and comments that that is how he does it. The dentists asks for his occupation to which he replies a vet!


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Re: Abbreviations after person's name
« Reply #4 on: Friday 15 September 17 13:29 BST (UK) »
Information on dentists at https://bda.org/museum/enquiries/PublishingImages/-and-research/was-your-ancestor-a-dentist-factsheet.pdf. The BBC Two documentary "The Victorian Pharmacy" showed one of  the team branching out into dentistry in the final episode. As a vet he would have learnt all about "teeth pulling". In one of the James Herriot books he is getting a tooth extracted by a RAF dentist and comments that that is how he does it. The dentists asks for his occupation to which he replies a vet!

One of my favourite TV programmes is "The Yorkshire Vet", which is James Herriott's old practice in North Yorkshire.  Scarcely a week goes by without an animal having a tooth extracted or a horse having its teeth filed down.
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Offline stanmapstone

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Re: Abbreviations after person's name
« Reply #5 on: Friday 15 September 17 14:08 BST (UK) »
RVS means he was entered in the "Register of Veterinary Surgeons" According to Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1915,  he was not a Fellow or a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Stan
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Offline stanmapstone

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Re: Abbreviations after person's name
« Reply #6 on: Friday 15 September 17 14:20 BST (UK) »
The first Veterinary Surgeons Act passed in 1881 allowed the RCVS to maintain a register of unqualified 'existing practitioners', all of whom had to have been practising since at least 1876.

Stan
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Offline groom

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Re: Abbreviations after person's name
« Reply #7 on: Friday 15 September 17 14:56 BST (UK) »
Quote
R.V.S., A.A.C.L., A.P.S.L. Sydney

Sydney as in Australia? Did he go abroad at some point?
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Offline John915

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Re: Abbreviations after person's name
« Reply #8 on: Friday 15 September 17 16:28 BST (UK) »
Good afternoon,

I looked at 2 lists of Australian post nominals but nothing like that came up. Also looked at an exhaustive list of British ones, nothing there either.

John915
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