- Royal Humane Society
The Royal Humane Society was founded in England in
1774 as the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned, [New Scientist, Vol. 193 No. 2586 (13-19 Jan 2007), p. 50] for the purpose of rendering "first aid" in cases ofdrowning and for restoring life by artificial means to those drowned.Dr William Hawes (1736-1808), an English physician, became known in 1773 for his efforts to convince the public that persons dead from drowning might in many cases be resuscitated by artificial means. For a year he paid a reward out of his own pocket to any one bringing him a body rescued from the water within a reasonable time of immersion. Dr Thomas Cogan (1736-1818), another English physician, who had become interested in the same subject during a stay at
Amsterdam , where was instituted in1767 a society for preservation of life from accidents in water, joined Hawes in his crusade.In the summer of
1774 each of them brought fifteen friends to a meeting at the Chapter Coffee-house, St Paul's Churchyard, when the Royal Humane Society was founded. The society, the chief offices of which are at 4 Trafalgar Square, London, has upwards of 280 depots throughout the kingdom, supplied with life-saving apparatus. The chief and earliest of these depots is the Receiving House in Hyde Park, on the north bank of theSerpentine , which was built in 1794 on a site granted by George III.Boats and boatmen are kept to render aid to bathers, and in the winter ice-men are sent round to the different skating grounds in and around
London . The society distributes money-rewards, medals, clasps and testimonials, to those who save or attempt to save drowning people. It further recognizes "all cases of exceptional bravery in rescuing or attempting to rescue persons fromasphyxia in mines, wells, blasting furnaces, or in sewers where foul gas may endanger life."It further awards prizes for swimming to public schools and training ships. Since 1813 the Stanhope gold medal has been awarded "to the case exhibiting the greatest gallantry during the year." During the year 1905 873 persons were rewarded for saving or attempting to save 947 lives from drowning. The society is maintained by private subscriptions and bequests.
Its motto is "lateat scintillula forsan", " a small spark may perhaps lie hid."----
References
External links
* [http://www.royalhumanesociety.org.uk/ Royal Humane Society]
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