Patient address binders from the Toorak Werner Optometry Practice

Historical Significance: The Werner optometry practice was founded by Carl Werner (b1852) who went to London to obtain his training and qualifications in optometry. He was the very first person to qualify in 1898 for the then new Fellowship of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (FSMC) in London. His three sons, Fred (b1889), Roy (b1891) and Max (b1893) also qualified in England before there was formal training in Australia. Fred and Roy were leaders in the profession in the first half of the 20th C.The Werner practice in the city has long since closed but the name has continued in a practice in Toorak owned by Ray Spargo and subsequently by Helen Robbins.In the1936 Register of Optometrists a single practice was listed at 336 Collins Street. In the 1967 Membership List of the Victorian College of Optometry Carl and Roy practised at 247 Collins Street, Max at 437 Toorak Road, Toorak.These binders are from the Toorak practice, some of the listings indicate that examination records are located at the city practice. The reference numbers probably indicate the location of the last examination record. This was often in a book before the adoption of card file systems