Volume containing mounted letters in support of midwifery lectures at St Mary's Hospital and other items. A note in the front cover indicates that it was donated to the Radford Library by John Hirst of Ladcastle, Dobcross, Saddleworth on 31 May 1886. The rest of Hirst's extensive library was sold at auction by Sotheby's in December 1887.
The correspondence includes letters from the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Society of Apothecaries, the University of Cambridge, University & King's College London, Society of Apothecaries of Ireland, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, University of St Andrews, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, University of Durham, University of Oxford, and King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland all offering their support or recognition of lectures in obstetrics and midwifery given at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester although some impose certain conditions.
Other items include:
- A photograph of the lower half of a man's leg
- Two coloured paintings of a 33 day old girl suffering from occipito-cervical encephalocele dated September 1855
- A copy of the regulations of the King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland respecting the education, examination and admission of candidates
- A sample return for a course of lectures on midwifery delivered by Dr Radford, Dr Clay, and Mr Winterbottom
- A letter received by Clay from Dr James Blundell (1791-1878) dated 2 June 1855 regarding Clay's success with the ovarian operation
- Acceptance of Clay's resignation from the board of management of St Mary's Hospital dated 7 December 1858
- Letter dated 5 March 1860 informing Clay that he has been appointed one of the Referees of Papers for the year 1860 by the Council of the Obstetrical Society.
- Copy of A New Clinical Method of Estimating the Quantity of Sugar in Diabetic Urine by William Roberts, physician to the Manchester Royal Infirmary, 1861
- Letter in testimony of the professional qualifications of Clay by James Blundell (1791-1878) dated 9 March 1858
- Letter received from John Christie, Professor of the Institutions of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen congratulating Clay on his appointment as a teacher in obstetrics at Manchester dated 6 March 1858.
- Letter in testimony of Clay received from James Matthews Duncan (1826-1890) dated 4 March 1858.
- Letter in support of a midwifery school in Manchester from a physician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary dated 17 March 1858.
- Letter in testimony of Clay received from Francis Ellington M.D., Birmingham dated 20 March 1858.