Honours Fellowship certificate of the British Optical Association for L R C Werner

Historical Significance: In the late 19th C and early 20th C, optometrists often travelled overseas to obtain training and qualifications. Some studied for the Fellowship of the British Optical Association (FBOA) and others the Fellowship of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (FSMC). Other early Australian optometrists had migrated from the UK and already had British qualifications.The British Optical Association (BOA) was founded in 1895 as the first professional body for ophthalmic opticians (optometrists) in the world. It ran the first professional examinations in optics in 1896 and provided the Secretariat for a number of other optical bodies including what would eventually become the Association of Optometrists and the World Council of Optometry. In 1980, the BOA joined forces with the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers and the Scottish Association of Opticians (now disbanded) to found the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists); in 1987 the title was changed to British College of Optometrists, known since 1995 as The College of Optometrists. Roy Werner FSMC (1891-1990) was a principal of one of three major optometry practices in Melbourne in the first half of the 20th C. He was a foundation member of the College. He was one of the activitists in optometric educational advancement in the 1940s. He was a member of the first Registration Board and one of the Victorian Optical Association fellowship examiners prior to 1940. He was made an Honorary life member of the College 1960 when the new building in Cardigan Street was opened and a number of honorary life memberships were conferred to mark the occasion. The Werner practice in the city has long since closed but the name was continued in a practice in Toorak owned by Ray Spargo and subsequently by Helen Robbins. A profile of the Werner family can be found under the tab 'People who made history' on this web site.