British Optical Association

The British Optical Association (BOA) was founded in February 1895 as the first professional body for ophthalmic opticians (optometrists) in the world. The British Optical Association Museum and Library was founded in 1901; it retains the BOA name but is now part of the College of Optometrists, located in Craven Street, London.

At a meeting called by Mr Robert Sutcliffe, a sight-testing optician of Rochdale, the BOA was formed and elected the distinguished London optician John Browning (scientific instrument maker) as its first President. The BOA ran the first professional examinations in optics in 1896 and campaigned over many years for the state recognition of the profession, finally achieving success in 1958 with the passing of the Opticians Act by Parliament. It operated a number of local associations across the UK and was responsible for establishing the Army Spectacle Depot during World War I and establishing the Joint Council of Qualified Opticians (JCQO) together with the Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians (IOO) in 1922. The BOA also provided the Secretariat for a number of other optical bodies including what would eventually become the Association of Optometrists and the International Optometric and Optical League (IOOL), known since 1995 as the World Council of Optometry.

In a series of amalgamations the BOA swallowed up the smaller rival examining bodies, the National Association of Opticians (NAO) in 1955, and the Institute of Optical Science (IOSc) in 1962. In 1980, the BOA joined forces with the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (WCSM) and the Scottish Association of Opticians (SAO, now disbanded) to found the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists); the title was changed to the British College of Optometrists in 1987 and, with the grant of a Royal Charter in 1995, the territorial distinction was dropped and the name shortened to the College of Optometrists.

Fellows of the British Optical Association were entitled to use the affix FBOA, introduced in 1897, and those who held only the Dioptric Grade the affix DBOA or the Ophthalmometric Grade, the little-used affix OBOA. These latter grades were abolished in 1923. Examinations for dispensing opticians were first introduced in 1928. The BOA also administered several higher qualifications including the Diploma in Contact Lens Practice (DCLP), introduced in 1961, and awarded the BOA Research Medal from 1953. The Association published the Dioptric Review from 1896 which continued with breaks and with minor changes of title until 1961 when it was replaced by The Ophthalmic Optician a journal jointly sponsored by the BOA and the AOP. A learned clinical journal, the British Journal of Physiological Optics was produced from 1925, on the Association's own in-house printing press.

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