Not known
Arthur John Evans (1851-1941) had recently graduated from Oxford University and was travelling in Bosnia with his brother Lewis in 1874 when a Christian peasant rebellion against Ottoman rule began. On his return to Britain, Evans published an account of his experiences and as a result of his knowledge of the Balkans which were at that moment in crisis, he immediately became known as an authority on the region. His involvement deepened as he became secretary of the British Fund for Balkan refugees and special correspondent for the "Manchester Guardian" in the Balkans, based in Ragusa (now Dubrovnik), Croatia. His reports however raised suspicions of spying among the Austrian authorities and as a result in 1882 he was arrested for high treason, imprisoned and expelled. Evans retained a concern for the area for the rest of his life.
The papers in this collection relate to Evans' journalistic and political activities in the Balkans, however the career for which he achieved most reknown wasarchaeology. Whilst working as a journalist in Ragusa 1876-1882 and on later visits, he was a pioneer in identifying sites of Roman cities and roads in Bosnia andMacedonia. In 1884 he became keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, a post he held until 1908, after which time he became honorary keeper. In 1894 hebegan travels in Crete. It was here that he made his most famous archaological find with the escavation of the Palace of Minos in Crete 1899-1907, in Greekmythology home of the Minotaur. Evans was also a founder member of the British Academy in 1902 and was knighted in 1911. He married Margaret Freeman in 1878, she shared in his work but died in 1893.
Viktor Semonovich Frank (1909-1972) was born in St Petersburg, Russia. He left with his family to settle in Germany where he attended the Frederick Wilhelm University, Berlin.
Dorothy Galton (1901-1992) became secretary in 1928 to Sir Bernard Pares, the director of what was then the School of Slavonic Studies, King's College London. In 1932 she became Secretary of the School as it was newly established as a self governing department of London University. She remained in this post until her retirement in 1961, seeing the School expand in the post war period. In 1945 she visited the United States and Canada to report on Slavonic studies there. During her long retirement DG devoted herself to the study of beekeeping and published several works on the subject.
Sir Stephen Gaselee: b 1882; Educated at Eton College and King's College Cambridge; Fellow of Magdalen College Cambridge, 1908-1943 and Librarian, 1908-1919; Librarian and Keeper of the Papers at the Foreign Office, 1920-1943; author of several books on Latin and the early printing press. He was a member of the Committee on the Relations of the Church of England with the Eastern Churches; died 1943
Orest Golovin (1853-1920) published a number of books under the alias of Roman Fedorovich Brandt.
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Griboyedov: (1795-1829): Russian dramatic author, was born in 1795 at Moscow, where he studied at the university from 1810 to 18I2. He obtained a commission in a hussar regiment, but resigned it in 1816. Next year he entered the civil service, and in 1818 was appointed secretary of the Russian legation in Persia, whence he was transferred to Georgia. He had commenced writing early, and had produced on the stage at St Petersburg in 1816 a comedy in verse, translated from the French, called The Young Spouses, which was followed by other pieces of the same kind. But neither these nor ,the essays and verses which he wrote would have been long remembered but for the immense success gained by his comedy in verse, Gore ot uma, or Misfortune from Intelligence (Eng. trans. by N. Benardaky, 1857). A satire upon Russian society, or, as a high official styled it, "A pasquinade on Moscow," its plot is slight, its merits consisting in its accurate representation of certain social and official types-such as Famousoff, the lover of old abuses, the hater of reforms; his secretary, Molchanin, servile fawner upon all in office; the aristocratic young liberal and Anglomaniac, Repetiloff; contrasted with whom is the hero of the piece, Tchatsky, the ironical satirist, just returned from the west of Europe, who exposes and ridicules the weaknesses of the rest, his words echoing that outcry of the young generation of 1820 which reached its climax in the military insurrection of 1825, and was then sternly silenced by Nicholas. Griboyedov spent the summer of 1823 in Russia, completed his play and took it to St Petersburg. There it was rejected by the censorship. Many copies were made and privately circulated, but Griboyedov never saw it published. The first edition was printed in 1833, four years after his death. Only once did he see it on the stage, when it was acted by the officers of the garrison at Erivan. Soured by disappointment he returned to Georgia, made himself useful by his linguistic knowledge to his relative Count Paskievitch-Erivansky during a campaign against Persia, and was sent to St Petersburg with the treaty of 1828. Brilliantly received there, he thought of devoting himself to literature, and commenced a romantic drama, A Georgian Night. But he was suddenly sent to Persia as minister plenipotentiary. Soon after his arrival at Teheran there was an uprising, caused by the anger of the populace against some Georgian and Armenian captives--Russian subjects, who were Russian subjects, who had taken refuge in the Russian embassy. It was stormed and Griboyedov was killed on 11 February 1829.
Mary Hobson was a research student at SSEES, 1995.
Naham Haham (1899-1971) was born in Bessarabia and later moved to Russia. Bessarabia was part of the Russian Empire until 1919 when it was recognised as a Romanian territory by the Paris Peace Conference. After the Second World War, Bessarabia was reclaimed by the Soviet Union and amalgamated in the Soviet Republic of Moldavia. Since 1991 Moldavia has been independent but remains a disputed area). Haham married Sifra San-meer (1901-1984) at the Romanian Legation in Berlin in 1924 and they moved to Britain where they adopted the name Newman.
Professor Richard Gilbert Hare (1907-1966) entered the Diplomatic Service in 1930 and served in the British Embassy in Paris and the Foreign Office. During the Second World War Hare worked for the Ministry of Information and became deputy director and later director of the Anglo-Soviet Relations Division. After the war he held teaching positions at various American universities until 1962 when he was appointed to the Chair of Russian Literature at SSEES. Hare wrote a number of books and many articles for specialist periodicals and the Encyclopedia Britannica. He was an expert on Russian art as well as Russian literature.
Mano Konyi (1842-1917) developed with Adolf Fenvessy a Hungarian shorthand system which he used for the reporting of debates in the Hungarian Parliament in the 1860s. From 1867 to 1885 he was joint chief of its Reporting Office with Fenvessy. In retirement after 1885 he edited the speeches of Ferencz Deak, an architect of Hungary's 1867 constitutional agreement and also acted as secretary for Count Julius Andrassy the younger (1860-1929) (last foreign minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Oct-Nov 1918).
At some point in the 1880s Konyi acquired Count Menyhert Lonyay's papers for his editorial work. Lonyay (1822-1884) was a prominent Hungarian politician.
Along with Ferencz Deak and Josef von Eotvos, he was an architect of the 1867 constitutional agreement. This created a dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in place of the unitary Austrian Empire, thereby giving Hungary more independence from Hapsburg rule. Lonyay served as Hungarian Finance Minister 1868-1870 and Hungarian Prime Minister 1870-1873.
Carl Lettau was a postgratuate student at Kiel University.
Jan Garrigue Masaryk (1886-1948), politician and diplomat, was the son of the first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk. He was Czechoslovak Minister in London 1925-1938 and Foreign Minister in both the Czech émigré Government in London during World War Two and the first Czech post-war Government 1940-1948. He remained in his post after the Communist takeover in February 1948 but died soon afterwards in unclear circumstances as the result of a fall from the window of the Foreign Office.
Margaret Stevenson Miller (1896-?1979) obtained her first degree from Edinburgh University before going on to study at SSEES where in 1925 she became the first student to gain a PhD there. She went on to work as a lecturer in the Department of Commerce, University of Liverpool. During World War Two she worked as a research strategist in Soviet affairs firstly in Britain at the Foreign Office's Foreign Research and Press Service in Oxford and later at the Office of Strategic Studies in Washington. Whilst in Washington she also lectured on Soviet economics at George Washington University. After the war she continued her work at the Foreign Office for a brief period in the Economic Intelligence Department. She spent the remainder of her career as an administrative officer for the Central Electricity Authority and also broadcast, wrote and lectured on Soviet economics. Margaret Miller visited the Soviet Union a number of times and wrote several books on the Soviet economy.
Bruce Mitchell was an undergraduate student at the University of East Anglia, 1991.
The National Book League was founded in 1944 and later became the National Book Council.
K A Papmehl received his PhD from SSEES in 1965. He later went to work in Canada. This collection consists of Papmehl's writings on Matthew Guthrie (1732-1807). Guthrie was a Scottish physician who worked in Edinburgh and wrote on Russian ethnography, folklore and early history as well as on science and medicine.
These materials were collected by the Research Department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Some of the materials were obtained for the Department by staff at the British Embassy in Warsaw.
S W Pring (?-1954) was a translator of Russian literature and writings on music.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (1799-1837) is one of Russia's major writers and poets.
George Hugh Nicholas Seton-Watson (known as Hugh) (1916-1984) was the elder son of Robert William Seton-Watson, the first holder of the chair of Central European history at SSEES. On graduating from Oxford University, he travelled in Central and South Eastern Europe, studying the conditions of these countries and learning the languages. After World War Two and war service including three years with Special Forces in Cairo and Istanbul, he was able to embark on an academic career at Oxford University. Seton-Watson was appointed to the chair of Russian history at SSEES in 1951 and held this post until his retirement in 1983. He was also head of the History Department at SSEES from 1961 to 1976. Seton-Watson's interests extended beyond Russian history to also cover Eastern and Central Europe. He published twelve books and over 275 articles.
Eric Ditmar Tappe (-1992) was sent as a serviceman to study Romanian at SSEES during the Second World War. From 1944-1946 he was posted to Bucharest. In 1948 he returned to SSEES to teach and remained there, retiring as Professor of Romanian Studies in 1978.:
Publications:
Tappe, Eric D. "Rumanian in Britain" (University of London, SSEES, 1975)
Tappe, Eric D. "Rumanian Prose and Verse. A selection with an introductory essay" by E. D. Tappe (London: Athlone Press, 1956)
Garth Terry was a postgraguate student at the University of Nottingham, 1974.
The Polish city of Torun is a port on the river Vistula. During 1655-1660 it was invaded by Swedish forces.
Peter Unwin (1933-) joined the Foreign Office in 1956. In 1958 his first overseas posting was to Hungary. He left in 1961 but returned in 1983-1986 to serve as British Ambassador. His involvement with Hungarian affairs led to an interest in the Hungarian leader Imre Nagy (1896-1958). Nagy was a member of the Hungarian Government after 1944 and in 1953 became Prime Minister. He was driven from power in 1955 after adopting revisionist policies which angered the Soviet Government and communist hardliners in Hungary. After the 1956 revolution broke out, Nagy sympathised with the rebels, and returned to power, withdrawing hungary from the Warsaw Pact and agreeing to free elections. After the revolution was crushed by the Soviet invasion, Nagy sought asylum in the Yugoslav Embassy but as he left on safe conduct he was seized by the Soviets and executed in 1958. In 1989 he was given a state reburial in Budapest.
Jacques M Vergotti (1915-) was one time equerry to King Michael of Romania (1920-) (reigned 1926-1947).
André de Vincenz was a postgraduate student at the University of Paris, 1961.
Leonard C Wharton (1877-1943) became an assistant at the British Museum in 1902. He became interested in the languages and literature of Eastern Europe and eventually became the Museum's Slavonic expert. From 1924 to 1934 Wharton was associated with SSEES as honorary librarian and honorary lecturer in Polish.
Lucien Wolf (1857-1930) was the British born son of Bohemian Jewish refugees. He had a career as journalist and diplomat for the Jewish cause. He wrote for a number of publications in the Jewish and national press. He was an early exponent of Anglo-Jewish history. Between 1912-1914 he was the editor of "Darkest Russia: a weekly record of the struggle for freedom". This was a propaganda paper directed against the Russian Government and concerned particularly with Jewish rights. As well as reporting on international affairs, Wolf had an advisory role as he had many diplomatic contacts. He was a leading member of the Conjoint Foreign Committee of British Jews. He was an exponent of the Balfour declaration of 1917 and a co-architect of the Minorities Treaties after the First World War which set the framework for the rights of European Jewry.
Ann Carlton (fl 1965-2018) attended school in Liverpool and later studied at the London School of Economics. She undertook various roles for the Labour Party including work in the research department (1965-1966), Local Government Officer (1967-1974) and Special Adviser in the Department of the Environment (from 1974). In her capacity as Local Government Officer she was Secretary to the Home Policy Committee's Regional and Local Government Advisory Committee (later the Regional and Local Government Sub-Committee) and the Association of Municipal Corporations Labour Group.
Alfred Abraham Bernard Rubenstein was born 3 Apr 1911, and registered as an undergraduate of East London College in Sep 1930 to study Chemistry. He graduated with 2nd Class Hons in 1933, and then began studying towards an MSc in Chemistry. Between Jun 1935 and Jun 1936, the time of submitting his Thesis, he had changed his name to Alfred Arthur Bernard Harvey. Whilst attending East London College, Alfred Rubenstein was president of the Students' Union and was present when Queen Mary College received its Charter in 1935. Following his graduation from Queen Mary College, Alfred Harvey continued to be involved with the College. At one point, when Mile End Hospital was expected to close he argued that it should be retained and that the College should become involved in the training of doctors.
Joyce Elizabeth Harvey, nee Gale, was born 24 Aug 1914 in Dorset, and entered as a student of East London College in Oct 1933 to study English. She shared a room at Forest Lodge, the Women's Hall of Residence, with Josephine Tooke, nee Hampson, and Beatrice Worthing. Joyce Gale graduated with 2nd Class Hons in English in 1936. Whilst at East London College and Queen Mary College she was a member of the swimming club, hockey club, lawn tennis club, women's badminton club, table tennis club, and the Union Committee.
Constance Lousia Maynard was born on 9 February 1849 in Middlesex, one of four daughters and two sons of Henry Maynard (1880-1888) South African merchant, and his wife Louisa Maynard née Hillyard (1806-1878). She grew up in Hawkhurst, Kent, in the house of Oakfield. She was educated at home, before studying for one year at Belstead School in Suffolk. After her education was completed she, alongside her sisters, helped in the community. In 1872, Constance Maynard left to study at Hitchin College, and moved with the college to Cambridge to become Girton College, in 1873. She was the first Girton student to study the Moral Sciences tripos and in 1875 received a second class honours degree. Whilst at Girton she established a group called Girton Prayer Group.
After leaving Girton, due to problems in the family business, Constance Maynard was allowed to accept an invitation from Frances Dove to join the staff of Cheltenham Ladies' College. In 1877 she left with her colleague and friend Louisa Lumsden to establish St Leonard's School, at St Andrews, where Lumsden was head. During her three years (1877-1880) here, she rejected offers of headships, including that of her former school Belstead. She also hesitatingly refused a marriage proposal from Scottish Minister Dr James Robertson. In 1880 she moved to London with her brother and studied part time at the Slade School of Art. Whilst studying here she became involved with a group of individuals including Major Charles Hamilton Malan, Ann Dudin Brown and and Caroline Cavendish, with the shared aim of establishing a ladies' college. All with varying ideas of how the college should proceed, Constance Maynard was an integral part of forming the plans for her ideal college - to prepare ladies for the London degree, based on Christian principles. The group first met for discussions in February 1882, and in May Constance Maynard was offered the position of Mistress (a title borrowed from Girton), and in October of that year, Westfield College opened in two private houses in Hampstead.
She remained Mistress of Westfield for thirty-three years, retiring in 1913, leaving Westfield as a securely established school of the University of London. She had taught around five hundred students, and many were successful working in schools, colleges and for missionary organisations. She kept in close contact with her old students through letters and visits, and maintained strong relationships with them. . The money they collected as a parting gift she donated to the college; some was used as a hardship fund, the remainder as endowment for the Maynard divinity lectures. In 1888 Maynard adopted a child of Italian extraction, through a friend in the Salvation Army. At the time of her adoption Stephanë Anthon, known as Effie, was eight years old, and the relationship between them was a tumultuous one. Whilst Constance continued to support Effie until her death in 1915, from tuberculosis, it is detailed in her diaries as a period of disappoint.
Religious movements, from the Salvation Army to the Modern Churchmen's Union, figure prominently in the life of Constance Maynard. She was elected as old students' representative to the governing body of Girton and served from 1897 to about 1905 on the council of the Church Schools' Society. She also traveled extensively around the world; to South Africa, the Holy Land, Canada, Europe, and by bicycle throughout the British Isles. After her retirement, Constance Maynard spent her time travelling, receiving visitors, reading and writing. She wrote poetry, including four volumes of War poems, lectures, particularly Divinity lectures, and pamphlets of a moral nature on subjects such as temperance. Her published works include 'Between College Terms (1910); 'The Life of Dora Greenwell' (1926); 'From an early Victorian schoolroom to the university', Nineteenth Century, November 1914; contributions to The Hibbert Journal and other religious periodicals; and numerous tracts and pamphlets. Her unpublished writings include an unfinished autobiography, composed at intervals between 1915 and 1927.
Constance Maynard died at her home, The Sundial, Marsham Way, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, on 26 March 1935, and was buried at Gerrards Cross parish church on 29 March. Under her will the college received £1500 to fund an entrance scholarship.
Born, 1923; educated at King Edward VI School, Birmingham; London School of Economics; worked for National Fire Service and Royal Air Force, 1939-1945; stood as an unsuccessful Labour candidate in Warwick and Leamington, 1945, Bromsgrove, 1950, 1951; life member of the Labour party; Student and Overseas Secretary, International Union of Socialist Youth, 1947-1951; Chairman, National Association of Labour Student Organisations, 1947; Whip and Member of the Policy Committee, London County Council, 1952-1965; involved with investigation of the slum landlord Perec (Peter) Rachman in Notting Hill, after rent protests and demonstrations, [1950s]; Member, Board of Visitors, Hewell Grange Borstal, 1950-1952; Chairman, Managers of Mayford Home Office Approved School, 1952-1958; Labour Adviser, Tanganyika Government and Chairman, Territorial Minimum Wages Board, 1961-1962; Labour Adviser, Mauritius Government and Chairman, Sugar Wages Councils, 1962-1965; Council member, 1965-1976 and Chairman, 1967, 1968, 1970-1974, War on Want; Director, Notting Hill Social Council, 1968-1977; National Committee, UK Freedom from Hunger Campaigns, 1969-1976; Executive Board, Voluntary Committee on Overseas Aid and Development, 1969-1976; Member, ILEA Education Committee, 1970-1977; Chairman, World Development Political Action Trust, 1971-1975; Alderman, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, 1971-1977; Chairman, Mauritius Salaries Commission, 1973-1977; Member, Court of Governors, London School of Economics, 1973-1978; South Metropolitan Conciliation Committee, Race Relations Board, 1975-1977; Warden, Toynbee Hall, 1977-1987; Vice-Chairman, Toynbee Housing Association, 1977-1986; Governor, Tower Hamlets Adult Education Institute, 1978-1991; Governor, City and East London College, 1978-1991; Chairman, Mauritius Government Enquiry into position of families without wage earners, 1981; OBE, 1987; Government Salaries Commissioner, Mauritius, 1987-1988; Chairman, Tower Hamlets ILEA Tertiary Education Council, and Member Tertiary Education Board, 1987-1991; Asha East London Education Project, 1986-1991; Advisory Committee member, Queen Mary College project to expand further and higher education taken up by East London youth, 1987-1991, Chairman, Spitalfields Heritage Centre, 1987-1991; Executive Member, Tower Hamlets Training Forum and Workshops, 1986-1991 and Tower Hamlets Education and Careers Centre, 1986-1991; Member, Education Committee, Tower Hamlets Association for Racial Equality, 1986-1991; Social Affairs Consultant, Kumagai Gumi UK, 1987-1991; OBE, 1987; died, 1991.
Publications: contributor to Statutory Wage Fixing in Developing Countries (ILO), 1968; contributor to International Labour Review.
Gerry Moss graduated from Imperial College, London and studied for his PhD at the University of Cambridge. After postdoctoral work at Colombia University, New York and Imperial College he was appointed a lecturer in Organic Chemistry at Queen Mary College in 1966. His research work focussed on the chemistry of carotenoids, vitamin A and related compounds. He later became Senior Lecturer, and is now an Associate Academic in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences.
His specialism is in chemical nomenclature, especially organic and biochemical nomenclature. He is a consultant for the World Health Organisation which names all new International Non-Proprietary Names (all new drugs), Chairman of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. He is a former chairman of the IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry and was President of IUPAC Division VIII.
Moss worked on the official pictorial history of the college, ‘From Palace to College’, with Mike Saville in the mid-1980s for the College’s one hundredth anniversary. Moss’s interest in the history of the college, particularly the chemistry department, dates back to the late 1960s and creating pictorial displays for visitors to the college. He also acted as the Chemistry department’s archivist, acquiring information particularly in relation to former staff and students.
Ian Hinchliffe (1942-2010) was born in 1942 in Huddersfield, and many of his early influences of music hall, vaudeville and jazz originate from this time.
Following a move to London, Hinchliffe enjoyed his most productive years in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1971, Hinchliffe founded the Matchbox Purveyors, a performance group based at Oval House, whose first show took the form of Hinchliffe and Mark Long (of the People’s Show) selling boxes of matches. Jude Morris joined the same year, and left in 1975, and this set the stage for a combination of solo performances and a sequence of guest performers collaborating with Hinchliffe under the Matchbox Purveyors name, including Dave Stephens, Laura Gilbert and Derek Wilson (Jail Warehouse Co), Lol Coxhill, Rob Con, Diz Willis, Rose Maguire, Jeff Nuttall, Chris and Tim Britton, Phil Minton, Emil Wok, and Alan Porter. His performance work took place in a variety of locations, including art galleries, clubs, pubs, festivals and the street. Hinchliffe also undertook film work, acting in ‘Walter’ (1982), ‘Stormy Monday’ (1988), and ‘Diary of a Sane Man’ (1989).
Hinchliffe's later career, from the 1990s onwards, represented a distinct phase in his creative output, with a focus on durational performance via projects such as Woodwork and Gargantua. The culmination of this approach came in the form of the 4 week exhibition at Beaconsfield, 'Estate - the Ian Hinchliffe Retrospective' (1998), with an installation that developed through daily performances during gallery hours. Regular collaborators during this time included Tony Green, Hugh Metcalfe and David Crawforth. The venues most commonly frequented in this period were The Water Rats, Nosepaint and Beaconsfield.
Alongside his performance work, Hinchliffe was also a visual artist, whose sculptures, paintings and collages form part of his artistic output. Further contributions came in the form of his writing, with Hinchliffe's columns 'HINCHLIFFE LASHES OUT' appearing in Performance Magazine.
John Morris was born in London in 1872. He married Annie Elizabeth Frances MacGregor in 1917. Educated privately and at University College London. He became an assistant to Professor Fleming at University College London, 1894-1898; specialising in subjects connected with illumination and cathode ray oscillographs.
Joined East London College in 1898; became head of the Department of Electrical Engineering some time between 1899-1900; College Professor 1903; University Professor 1924; Fellow Queen Mary College 1938 and of University College London. During the First World War he co-operated with a research student, A F Sykes, in the development of a design for a directional hydrophone which was taken up by the Admiralty. He contributed to the establishment of the high voltage laboratory at East London College (opened 1936). This included a study tour to the USA in 1928 to visit laboratories.
MacGregor-Morris engaged with university clubs, societies, sports and concerts, and helped to establish the Students' Union Society in 1908.
He was Honorary Research Associate in Electrical Engineering at University College London from 1939, and Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at the University of London from 1938.
Publications include 'Cathode Ray Oscillography' with J A Henley (1936); 'Sir Ambrose Fleming and the birth of the valve' (1954); and numerous papers in scientific journals.
Died on 18 March 1959.
Employee Queen Mary College 1951-1982, Lecturer in Modern Languages, Warden of Linden Hall, Tutor to Women Students.
Born, 1947; educated, St John's College Cambridge, 1969; reporter: Times Higher Education Supplement, 1972-1974; The Times, 1974-1976; Lobby Correspondent, Financial Times, 1976; Whitehall Correspondent, The Times, 1976-1982; journalist, The Economist, 1982; home leader, writer and columnist, The Times, 1982-1984; co-founder of the Institute of Contemporary British History, 1986; columnist: New Statesman, 1986-1987; The Independent, 1987-1991; Director, 1989-1993; The Tablet, 2003-; regular presenter of the BBC Radio 4 Analysis programme, 1987-1992; Professor of Contemporary History, Queen Mary, University of London, 1992-2000; Atlee Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London, since 2001.
Publications: Cabinet (1986),
Whitehall (1989),
Never Again: Britain 1945-51 (1992),
The Hidden Wiring: Unearthing the British Constitution (1995),
The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders since 1945 (2000)
The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War (2002)
Having It So good: Britain In The Fifties (2006)
The People's Palace began in 1886, with the purpose of providing an educational and cultural centre for the local community. It was financed by the Beaumont Trust, established under the will of John Barber Beaumont to support the Philosophical Institution that he had founded, and occupied the site of the former Bancroft's School acquired from the Drapers' Company. The Palace was to comprise the Queen's Hall, a library modelled on that of the British Museum, a swimming bath, a gymnasium, and a winter garden as well as schools. The foundation stone of the Queen's Hall was laid by the Prince of Wales in June 1886, and it was opened by Queen Victoria in the following year. The Queen's Hall was used for lectures, concerts and organ recitals, shows of birds and flowers, exhibitions of animals and pictures, fetes and other entertainments which, reportedly, were attended by thousands of people. The library and swimming bath were completed in 1888 as were the technical and trade schools which later developed into Queen Mary College. The Bow and Bromley Institute amalgamated with the People's Palace as a branch of East London College in 1898. The winter garden, begun in 1890 and completed in 1892, was also used for concerts and refreshments. The gymnasium, constructed in 1891, had a roller-skating rink in the basement. However, the financial management of the Palace soon ran into difficulties. It was saved by the Drapers' Company which committed a subsidy of £70,000 over ten years.
In 1889 a separate students' library had been established and by 1902 the Governors agreed that the original library should be transferred to the Borough of Stepney to form the basis for the first public library in Mile End. In 1911 the Visiting Committee of the Palace Governors was split into two to form a Palace Committee and a College Committee albeit still under the umbrella of the Palace Governors. This was the beginning of a final administrative separation of the Palace from the College which was formalised in 1913.
In 1931 a fire completely destroyed the Queen's Hall and it was decided to resite the People's Palace in St Helen's Terrace. This gave the whole of the original site to the College and finally achieved the physical separation of Palace and College. The new People's Palace was opened in 1937, providing a concert and dance hall. However, postwar conditions meant that the People's Palace was no longer financially sustainable, and in 1953 it came on the market. In 1954 it was acquired by Queen Mary College. Then in 1956 it was renamed the Queen's Building by HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and became an integral part of Queen Mary College.
Born 1872; Entered Westfield College in 1894 and left to study a Degree Course in Modern Languages at Oxford University; obtained a Doctorate from University of Paris in 1905 with thesis on 'Une source francaise des poèmes de Gower'; served as a nurse for two years in Paris during the First World War; later went on to lecture on art and history at Oxford; committed suicide in old age. Daughter of Sir Robert Nicholas Fowler, first baronet (1828-1891), banker and politician.
Born, Shropshire, 1892; suffered poor health and as a child travelled to Switzerland and the West Indies; worked briefly with the suffragette movement, 1914; during the war involved in social work for eighteen months in Hoxton, London, later on the land; went to California, 1918; sailed for England via the Far East, 1920; married James Carew Gorman Anderson of the Chinese customs service, 1921; based in Hong Kong after her marriage and campaigned against licensed prostitution; published novels, short stories and articles, 1915-1931, including Tobit Transplanted (1931) awarded Femina Vie Heureuse Prize, 1932; died, 1933.
Publications: include: I Pose (Macmillan and Co, London, 1915); This is the End (Macmillan and Co, London, 1917); Twenty [Poems] (Macmillan and Co, London, 1918); Living Alone (Macmillan and Co, London, 1919); The Poor Man (Macmillan and Co, London, 1922); The Awakening. A fantasy (Printed by Edwin and Robert Grabhorn for the Lantern Press, San Francisco, 1925); The Little World (Macmillan and Co, London, 1925); Goodbye, Stranger (Macmillan and Co, London, 1926); The Man who Missed the 'Bus (Mathews and Marrot, London, 1928); Worlds within Worlds [Sketches of travel] (Macmillan and Co, London, 1928); The Far-away Bride [With an appendix containing the Book of Tobit, from the Apocrypha] (Harper and Bros, New York and London, 1930); Tobit Transplanted (Macmillan and Co, London, 1931); Christmas Formula, and other stories (William Jackson [Joiner and Steele], London, 1932); Collected Short Stories (Macmillan and Co, London, 1936.