OEDA (William Ashton Tait) Archives

Scope and Content

Minutes; Publications; Reports; Correspondence; Lecture notes and presentations; Photographs; Audio and videotapes; Case notes; Personal memorabilia; Results of SPAID/ OEDA electron microscopy research; Scientific papers on asbestosis

Administrative / Biographical History

The Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association (OEDA), a registered charity, was founded to build on the pioneering work of the Society for the Prevention of Asbestosis and Industrial Diseases (SPAID). The two organisations have been at the forefront of campaigning for justice for the victims of asbestos-related illness and other industrial diseases. SPAID was founded by Mrs Nancy Tait, MBE, whose husband, William Ashton (Bill) Tait FRMS died after a puzzling illness - mesothelioma of the pleura. Mrs Tait's personal campaign for recognition of her husband's illness as an industrial disease widened into a 40 year long campaign for justice for many others, casualties of Britain's industrial past.

Access Information

Many of the documents are open. However access to personal case notes etc may be restricted for reasons of data protection or medical confidentiality

Other Finding Aids

The papers are not listed

Archivist's Note

Archivist's note: Description prepared by Margaret Harrison.Rules or Conventions: Description based on Scottish Archive Network guidelines, based on ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description, International Council on Archives (2nd edition, 2000). and Rules for the construction of personal, place and corporate names, National Council on Archives (1997)Date of descriptions: October 2008