History
The London Refraction Hospital (LRH) was formed in October 1922, the first institute of its kind in the world, through the efforts of several dedicated people. Three outstanding men of vision were Owen Aves, Dr James Forrest and Anthony Preston. The first committee of management consisted of Owen Aves (Chairman), F.W. Bateman, J.H.Cuff, F.W. Dadd, G.E. Houghton and W. H. Nichols. The first secretary was F.T. Gregg. The London Refraction Hospital was enlarged and re-modelled in October 1928 and re-opened in February 1929 by the Rt. Hon. the Countess of Mayo. In November 1938 the LRH was reconstituted by order of the Charity Commission.
The involvement of Dr. Forrest, who was a surgeon oculist, in the founding of the LRH in 1922 was a foregone conclusion because he was already teaching optometry students about ocular diseases in 1906 and by 1911 he had published a text book for optometrists. Numerous distinguished optometrists, clinicians, educators, vision scientists and authors of text books on optometry were associated with the LRH since it started. For example, the second Lord Charnwood who was a distinguished optometrist was active in the management of the London Refraction Hospital after the second world war.
In 1985 it was suggested by Rishi Agarwal in a letter published in Optometry Today that 'in addition to making efforts for a Royal College of Optometrists, efforts should also be made to achieve a Royal status for the LRH i.e. Royal London Refraction Hospital'. The title Institute of Optometry was approved three years later.
Read more about this topic: The Institute Of Optometry
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