Ephemeral material relating to gay, lesbian and bisexual issues, has been collected by the Hall-Carpenter Archive since its inception in 1982.
The Gay Monitoring and Archive Project was established by the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) in 1980 with the purpose of scrutinising the media for evidence of discrimination and caring for material deposited with CHE by earlier gay rights organisations. The Gay Monitoring and Archive Project later became separate from CHE, and spent some time in the care of one of its founders, Julian Meldrum, who was employed on a part-time basis by a Manpower Services Commission grant. It was incorporated in 1982 as a limited company under the name of the Hall-Carpenter Memorial Archive Ltd, forming the basis for the Hall-Carpenter Archives
Antony Grey is the pseudonym of Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright. After taking a degree in history at Magdalene College, Cambridge (1945-1948), he worked as a journalist on The Yorkshire Post, Leeds, before moving to London in 1949 where he was employed in the Secretary's Department of the British Iron and Steel Federation and (from 1961) as a public relations executive with the London Press Exchange. One of the earliest voluntary helpers since 1958 of the newly-formed Homosexual Law Reform Society, he joined the Society's executive committee (using the name 'Antony Grey') as Honorary Treasurer in 1960 and became Secretary of the HLRS and also of its sister counselling and research charity, the Albany Trust, at the end of 1962, at first on a part-time basis and full-time from 1964. Grey campaigned tirelessly for the law reforms advocated by the Government-appointed Wolfenden Committee's report (1957), writing many articles, making numerous speeches to interested groups, lobbying MPs, and organising action to promote the passage of the (Arran/Abse) Sexual Offences Bill through Parliament until it became law in 1967. He resigned in 1970, but again became Secretary of the Sexual Law Reform Society - successor to the HLRS - and Director of the Albany Trust from 1971 to 1977, continuing to press for further liberalisation of the law and social attitudes. He was invited to become Chairman of the National Federation of Homophile Organisations (NFHO), 1971-72. Following his retirement from the Albany Trust in 1977, he was involved in counselling and training work and was for some years a member of the executive committee of the British Association for Counselling. In 1998 Antony Grey was awarded the Pink Paper Lifetime Achievement Award. He has published Quest for Justice: Towards Homosexual Emancipation (1992), Speaking of Sex (1993), and Speaking Out (1997)(Collected articles). Histories of the HLRS/SLRS and of the Albany Trust/Albany Society may be found in the description for the Albany Trust papers.
Kenric was formed from the nucleus of the old Surrey and south-west London section of the Minorities Research Group, the name being an abbreviation of Kensington and Richmond. The aim of the association was to 'remedy the sense of isolation experienced by many lesbians, by arranging meetings, discussions and other activities' and 'to educate public opinion and improve knowledge on the subject of lesbianism'. It was established as a purely social group with no campaigning remit or political affiliations though charitable work for other gay organisations was to be occasionally undertaken. A management committee was formed by the first five members in November 1965 which set about drafting the application form, establishing the British Monomark address for receipt of correspondence and drawing up the Kenric constitution. By January 1966 when the first newsletter was issued and the first social event took place, membership had grown to 45. The monthly newsletter provided a calendar of social events open to members mainly consisting of debates and talks held in central London on subjects such as 'Is there any such a thing as a lesbian?' by Mary McIntosh in Kenric's first year and 'Writing 'The Microcosm'' by Maureen Duffy in 1967. A wide variety of activities were organised by Kenric included social evenings at members' homes and visits to theatres, art galleries, restaurants and the seaside, rambling, barbeques, bring-and-buy sales, camping trips and play readings. Regular Kenric socials were also held at the Gateways club in west London. A library of publications of interest to Kenric members was established. Membership in 1968 had increased to 223 and women were joining from as far afield as County Durham and Yorkshire, though the majority were from the Home Counties. Initially members had to be over 21 to join (though this was reduced to 18 in 1970 and to 16 in the 1999). In 1970, Kenric membership reached 508 after a year with no paid advertising at all and the chair reported that 'we have clearly established ourselves as the largest specifcally homosexual organisation in the United Kingdom'.
In 1984 the constitution was re-drafted as the organisation sought to change with the times, cater for the organisation's younger membership and encourage new women to join. As the organisation became truly national and with a wider age range, subgroups developed around commonalities of location, age and status (the Over 40s group, the Kenric Mothers' Group, Kent & District Subgroup) rather than shared hobbies, and the 1980s saw the demise of the literary, music and dramatic groups which had been so popular in Kenric's early days. In 1992 a charter for subgroups was drawn up and added to the Kenric constitution in order to ensure that subgroups complied with Kenric aims and objectives and to counter the risk that they might develop into separate organisations; in return for this loyalty subsidies were offered.
The late 1980s saw an increase in membership to over 1000 in 1989, over 2000 in 1993, dropping to around 1700 in 1995, a level which the committees sought to maintain for the rest of the decade. The 2000s saw membership fall to around 1300 members and as a result the decrease in revenues led the organisation to deregister for VAT in 2004. The organisation continues in its present structure with membership at around 1200.
Lewisham Friend was founded in 1976 as a voluntary organisation to run a telephone helpline providing in confidence information and advice to lesbian, gay and bisexual people on issues they may have in connection with their sexuality and others who may be worried about issues concerning the sexuality of a relative or friend. Lewisham Friend was affiliated to National Friend. The organisation folded in 2006.
Robert (Bob) Mellors was born in 1950. He was a student at the London School of Economics, following which he travelled to New York, where he became involved with the Gay Liberation Front. On his return to London, Mellors became the co-founder of the British Gay Liberation Front in 1970. When the GLF foundered in 1974, Mellors helped in the formation of more specialised lesbian and gay community groups. He was killed in 1996. Publications: editor of An outline of human ethnology: extracts from an unpublished work by Charlotte Bach (London, 1981); We are all androgynous yellow (Another-Orbit Press, London, 1980); Clint Eastwood loves Jeff Bridges - true! 'homosexuality', androgyny & evolution : a simple introduction (Another Orbit Press, London, 1978). Charlotte/Carl Bach, a man who lived the second half of his life as a woman, developed a number of philosophical theories relating to gender and sexuality.
The 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised adult homosexual relationships, did not apply in Scotland. The first meeting of the Scottish Minorities Group took place in Jan 1969 in the drawing room of Ian Dunn's parents house in Glasgow, and consisted of only 6 people. The group was officially founded on 9 May 1969 as a self-help organisation working for the rights of homosexual men and women which aimed to provide counselling, work for law reform and provide meeting places for lesbians and gay men. Meetings were initially held in Glasgow; they moved to Edinburgh in August 1969.
During the early 1970s, SMG began to develop its organisation with a central address, a monthly newsletter (SMG News, begun in 1971), an Annual General Meeting, and coordination of the whole by a National Executive Committee. It also organised annual conferences and regular national forums, and established local branches. SMG was involved in campaigning against legal and social discrimination, providing venues for social activities, and running a befriending service. Amongst other things the group organised the Cobweb disco, Scotland's first gay disco, set up the SMG Glasgow and Edinburgh Women's Groups, established the Edinburgh Gay Switchboard, and held the first International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh. In 1977 the Glasgow Gay Centre was opened (it closed in 1982).
In 1978 SMG changed its name to the Scottish Homosexual Rights Group, and the name of the newsletter was changed to Gay Scotland. In 1980, an amendment to the 1980 Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill partially decriminalised gay sex between men under 21. At its peak, SHRG had 1200 members. SHRG changed its name to Outright Scotland.
Michael Hellman came to the UK from Austria in 1938. In 1950 he underwent a surgical procedure to cure a fissure and the resultant problems led to his referral to a psychiatrist and his sectioning and detention in Horton Hospital, Epsom in 1955. There he was treated for an alleged serious mental illness including the use of insulin comas and ECT. Michael Hellman was released from Horton Hospital in January 1956. In 1958 he applied for a copy of his certificate and reception order from Horton Hospital which confirmed that his original medical condition had been ignored by the Hospital. Hellman later attempted to bring his case to court and sue the doctor involved. However, having been refused legal aid and conducting his own case he was refused leave to bring proceedings. All subsequent attempts to have the case reviewed by the Department of Health were refused. In 1997, Glenda Jackson, MP for Hampstead, took up the case with the Ministry of Health, but to date no enquiry has ever been held.
Born 1900; educated at Mount School in York, and Bedford College, University of London, where she graduated in modern languages; prospective parliamentary candidate for St Albans, 1936-1941; admitted to the Inner Temple, 1941, and called to the Bar, 1943; practised as a barrister in London and on the Midland Circuit; during World war Two, lectured on current events to troops under the War Office Scheme for Education; stood as Liberal candidate for Barnet, 1945, Lincoln, 1950, and Luton, 1955; prospective parliamentary candidate for Watford, 1953; contested Hendon Borough Council elections (Garden Suburb Ward), 1949 and 1953; Honorary Secretary, Women's Liberal Federation, [1941-1949]; served on the Executive of the Liberal Candidates Association; President, Hampstead Garden Suburb Ward Liberal Association; independent member of five Industrial Wages Councils; Head of Chambers, 5 Pump Court, Temple, [1970-1979]; Member, Management Board, Gladstone Benevolent Fund for Liberal Agents, [1973-1988]; died 1997.
Lena May Jeger (nee Chivers) was born in Yorkley, Gloucestershire on 19 November 1915, the daughter of Charles Chivers and Eugenie Alice James. She was educated at Southgate County School and Birkbeck College London where she gained a BA. In 1948 Lena Chivers married Dr Santo Jeger, Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras South. After her husband's death in 1953, Jeger stood for, and won, her late husband's seat which she held between 1953-1959 and again between 1964-1979. As a member of local government she served on St. Pancras Borough Council between 1945-1959 and the London County Council between 1952-1955.
Jeger's career began in the Civil Service where she worked in HM Customs and Excise, the Ministry of Information and the Foreign Office between 1936-1949. In 1947 she worked at the British Embassy in Moscow as assistant editor of the British Ally, a newspaper published by the British Government for distribution in the Soviet Union. As a journalist, she was on the London staff of the Guardian and regularly contributed to other national newspapers. Her political career also included membership of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party betwwen 1968-1980, serving as Vice-Chairman between 1978-1979 and Chairman between 1979-1980. She was the UK representative on the United Nations Status of Women Commission in 1967; a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and Western European Union 1969-1971; a member of the Chairman's Panel in the House of Commons between 1971-1979; Opposition spokesman (Lords) on Social Security 1983-1989 and made an honorary fellow of Birkbeck College London in 1994. She retired from politics in 1979 and was created Baroness Jeger of St Pancras in Greater London.
Hugh Gater Jenkins was born in 1908 in Enfield, and in 1941 was commissioned into the RAF, serving as a Flight Lieutenant. He spent the latter part of his time in the RAF in the Far East on secondment as Head of English programmes at Rangoon Radio. After demobilisation in 1946 he became Research and Publicity Officer for the National Union of Bank Employees and editor of 'The Bank Officer'. In 1950 he joined the staff of Actors Equity as Assistant General Secretary. Jenkins stood as Labour Parliamentary candidate in Enfield in 1950 and in Mitcham in 1955. It was in Mitcham that he helped to found the Anti-H Bomb Committee, which later became the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, serving as Chairman from 1979 to 1981, and later becoming Vice-President. He was also chairman of Victory for Socialism from 1956 until shortly before it merged into the Tribune Group in 1960. He was County Councillor on the London County Council and Greater London Council for Stoke Newington and Hackney North from 1958 until his election as the Labour Member of Parliament for Putney, a position he held from 1964 to 1979. He was Chairman of the Standing Advisory Committee on Authorities and the Theatre, Vice-Chairman and later Vice-president of the Theatres Advisory Council, and Director and later consultant to the Theatres Trust. He was also a member of the Arts Council, 1968-1971, and Minister for the Arts, 1974-1976.
The Journal of Public Economics commenced publication in 1972. Its aim is to encourage original scientific contributions on the problems of public economics, with particular emphasis on the application of modern economic theory and methods of quantitative analysis. It provides a forum for discussion of public policy of interest to an international readership.
Phyllis Mary Kaberry, 1910-1977, was educated at the University of Sydney. Her first fieldwork was conducted in the early 1930s in North West Australia on the social status of aboriginal women. In 1936 she moved to London to work in the Anthropology Department of the London School of Economics as a research assistant to Audrey Richards. After obtaining her doctorate in 1939 she received a fellowship from the Australian National Research Council to undertake fieldwork among the Abelam tribe in New Guinea. From 1941 to 1943, Kaberry lectured at Yale on Australia and New Guinea and edited Malinowski's unpublished material on culture change. In 1945 she made the first of five field trips to Cameroon, first under the auspices of the International African Institute and later with the support of the Wenner-Gren Foundation. In 1949, she joined the Department of Anthropology at University College London, where she remained a Reader in Social Anthropology for 26 years.
Born 1900; educated at Goethe-Gymnasium, Frankfurt-am-Main, the University of Frankfurt, the University of Heidelberg, the University of Leipzig, and the University of London; Judge in German Courts, 1928-1933; Barrister-at-Law (Middle Temple), 1936-; Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer, and Reader in Law, London School of Economics, 1935-1961; Professor of Law, LSE, 1951-1964; Honorary Bencher, Middle Temple, 1969; Professor of Comparative Law, University of Oxford, 1964-1971; Emeritus Fellow, Brasenose College, 1971; Arthur Goodhart Professor of Legal Science, and Professorial Fellow, Cambridge University, 1975-1976; Honorary Fellow, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 1977; Co-editor, Modern Law Review; Hon. President, International Society for Labour Law and Social Legislation; Member, Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations, 1965-1968; died 1979. Publications: A source-book on French law (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1973); Comparative Law as an academic subject (Clarendon Press, London, 1965); Labour and the law (Stevens, London, 1972); Labour law: old traditions and new developments (Clarke, Irwin and Co, Toronto/Vancouver, 1968); editor of Labour relations and the law (Stevens and Sons, London, 1965); Matrimonial property: where do we go from here? (University of Birmingham, 1971); The growth of internationalism in English private international law (Magnes Press, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1960); The law of carriage by inland transport (Stevens and Sons, London, 1939); editor of The institutions of private law and their social functions (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1949); Laws against strikes (Fabian Society, London, 1972); editor of Labour law and politics in the Weimar Republic (Blackwell, Oxford, 1981); Labour relations: heritage and adjustment (Oxford University Press, 1979).
Born 1869; educated at City of London School; trained as an accountant, qualifying in 1892; gained law degree, 1897; called to Bar, Middle temple, 1897; practiced as barrister at the Parliamentary Bar, [1897]-1954; one of the founders of the League of Nations Society, 1915; Member of Executive, League of Nations Society, 1915-1918; Member of Executive, League of Nations Union, 1918-1928; retired, 1954; died 1957. Publications: A better League of Nations (Allen and Unwin, London, 1934); A guide to the Liabilities War Time Adjustment Act (Stevens and Sons, London, 1941); A League of Nations with large powers (Allen and Unwin, London, 1918); Crossing the Rubicon, or the passage from the rule of force to the rule of law among nations (Cornish Bros., Birmingham, 1939); Hammering out details (Fifield, London, 1917); compiler of Local legislation, 1909-1911 (Walter Southwood and Co, London, 1912-14); Markets, fairs and slaughter-houses (King and Son, Westminster, 1904); Parliamentary companies (Gee and Co, London, 1906); Real security against war (Williams and Norgate, London, 1929); The abolition of war (David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies: London, 1956); The law relating to public service undertakings (King and Son, London, 1925); The permanent court of international justice (League of Nations Union, 1922); The world in alliance: a plan for preventing future wars (Southwood and Co, London, 1915); Towards international justice (Allen and Unwin, London, 1923); Tramway companies and local authorities (Merritt and Hatchers, London, 1902); Urban police and sanitary legislation (King and Son, Westminster, 1905); A guide to the Public Works Facilities Act, 1930 (Stevens and Sons, London, 1931); Bankruptcy (Gee and Co, London, 1891).
Born 1910; educated Hayes Court and Girton College, Cambridge University; Souschargé, Department of Pre-History, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, 1934-1939; Mixed Youth Club Leader, Young Women's Christian Association, 1939-1942; Welfare Officer, Admiralty, Bath, 1942-47; served in the prison service, 1947-1974; Governor, HM Prison, Holloway, 1959-1966; Assistant Director of Prisons (Women), 1967-1974; Member of Council, St George's House, Windsor, 1971-1977; OBE 1973; Member, Redundant Churches Committee, 1974-1979; Member, Scott Holland Trust, 1978-1986; Sponsor, YWCA of Great Britain, 1979-present. Publications: When the Gates Shut (Longmans, London, 1967; Who Casts the First Stone? (Epworth, London, 1978).
The Kibbo Kift Kindred was founded in 1920 by John Hargrave and some of his fellow scoutmasters as an alternative to Scouting. Their emphasis on woodcraft training and recapitulation theories of education had the support of a number of radical thinkers. John Hargrave's growing interest in social credit resulted in the gradual development of the Kibbo Kift into a political party. From 1932 it became known as the Green Shirt Movement of Social Credit and in 1935 it became the Social Credit Party. The Party was badly affected by the Public Order Act of 1936, which prohibited the wearing of uniforms by political movements. It carried on after World War Two but was dissolved in 1951. The Kibbo Kift Foundation was formed by John Hargrave in 1977, with the primary task of acting as permanent owner of the archives and regalia of the Kindred of the Kibbo Kift and its successors, The Green Shirt Movement for Social Credit and The Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The general aim and purpose of the Foundation is to revive and publicise the political, social, educational and cultural principles first laid down by John Hargrave (White Fox) when he founded the Kindred of the Kibbo Kift in 1920.
Sir Arthur Knight began his working life as a clerk at Sainsbury's, taking evening classes at the London School of Economics and graduating with a first class degree in commerce. He spent a year in the Department of Business Administration before joining Courtaulds as a junior economist in 1938. During World War Two, Knight served in the Army, returning to Courtaulds after his service and becoming finance director in 1961. He was a key player in the opposition to ICI's takeover of Courtaulds during the 1960s. Knight became deputy chairman in 1970 and Chairman in 1974. After leaving Courtaulds, Knight became Chairman of the National Enterprise Board but resigned in 1980 after only one year. During his career Knight took a keen interest in management education and helped to set up the Manchester Business School, serving on its council for several years.
After retirement Knight served on several Government committees and the executive committee of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. He was a member of the LSE Court of Governors from 1971-1994 and became an honorary fellow in 1984 and pursued his interests in business history, management education and industrial policy.
The Labour Campaign for Criminal Justice was founded in 1978 by Alex Lyon MP to promote more extended discussion of criminal justice issues within the Labour Party and elsewhere. The group met monthly at Westminster and at its height had 400 members. It published quarterly newsletters along with reports and pamphlets on key issues in crime and criminal justice. The group publishes policy papers and organises seminars. In 1997 the LCCJ changed its name to the Labour Criminal Justice Forum to mark a move from a campaigning to a discussion group.
Member of the Sociology Department, London School of Economics.
The Liberal Party was re-launched in 1989 by those Liberals who opposed the merger of the Liberal and Social Democrat Parties in 1988. The party is run by a National Executive Committee (NEC), elected in a postal ballot of all members. It holds an Annual Assembly where motions are debated and, if passed, become party policy. The party publishes a journal, Liberal News, which contains articles on policy matters as well as news of campaigns and other events. In 2005, the Liberal Party had around 1300 members, and in that year's general election it won 19,068 votes. In 2007, it had 30 local councillors.
The London and Cambridge Economic Service was a joint venture between the London School of Economics and Cambridge University established in 1923. In the period before many of the official statistics series, the LCES aimed to support business by providing existing statistics in a usable form and developing new indicators such as share prices, money wages and industrial production. Longer 'Special Memoranda' were produced on particular subjects. The LCES was directed by an Executive Committee consisting of William Beveridge and Arthur Bowley from LSE and John Maynard Keynes and Hubert Henderson from Cambridge.
The Hutchinson Trust (1894-1904) administered the funds bequeathed by Henry Hunt Hutchinson to advance the objectives of the Fabian Society, which were used to establish and maintain the London School of Economics.
The Constance Hutchinson Trust left money for similar purposes (1896-1922).
The Trustees of the School met during 1896 to oversee the running of the School.
The Administrative Committee was the ruling body of the School from 1896-1901. It then became the Governors (1901-present).
The Finance and General Purposes Committee (1904-1908) prepared proposals on general policy to present to the Governors. It became known as the Council of Management (1908-1921), and was replaced by the Emergency Committee (1921-1937) was largely responsible for deciding and implementing the general policy of the School. It was renamed the Standing Committee in 1937.
The Faculty of Economics of the University of London was created when the School was admitted to the University in 1901.
The Professorial Council (1903-1950) discussed matters concerning the curriculum and academic affairs. It changed its name to the Academic Board in 1950. The Office Committee (1919-1921) was set up to advise the Council on administrative matters with an academic bearing. The General Purposes Committee (founded 1928) was a sub-committee of the Council for facilitating the discussion of academic policy. The Appointments Committee (formed 1921) was a committee of the Council that advised the Director on academic appointments.
The Rockefeller Research Fund Committee (1924- [1938]) administered individual applications from staff for funds for research projects provided by the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund.
The Ratan Tata Benefaction Committee (1917-1922) administered funds donated by Sir Ratan Tata for a Department of Social Science at LSE.
Further details of these and other LSE committees may be found in the printed handlist for the London School of Economics and Political Science Archives.
This section comprises important documents which were not incorporated into the LSE Central Filing System, and mainly comprises minutes and papers of smaller or short-lived committees, and printed material.
Born 1884; parentage on both sides Polish szlachta (landed gentry and nobility); educated at the King Jan Sobieski Public School and the Jagiellonian University Cracow, where he gained a PhD in Philosophy, Physics and Mathematics,1908; received the Barczewski stipend for training as a university teacher, and studied for four years in London, undertaking research at the British Museum and the London School of Economics; Lecturer at the LSE, 1913, where he gained a PhD in Science, 1916; part of the Robert Mond Anthropological Expedition to New Guinea and North-West Melanesia, 1914-1916 and 1917-1918, returning in 1918 to Australia, and in 1920 to Europe; Reader in Social Anthropology, University of London, 1924-1927; journeyed to the USA and Mexico by invitation of Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, visiting Universities and Pueblo Indians (1926); Professor of Anthropology, London School of Economics, 1927-1942; undertook a trip to South and East Africa, doing survey work among Bantu tribes (Swazi, Bemba, Chagga, and Bantu Kavirondo), 1934; Delegate of London University to Harvard Tercentenary; Lecturer, Oslo Instituttet for Kulturforsknung, 1936; Corresponding Member, Polish Academy of Science, 1930; Correspondent, Italian Committee for Study of Population Problems, 1932; Member, Royal Academy of Science of Netherlands, 1933; Messenger Lecturer, Cornell University, 1933; Honorary Member, Royal Society of New Zealand, 1936; Correspondent, Institute for Comparative Study of Cultures, Oslo, 1936; Visiting Professor of Anthropology, Yale University, 1939; Fieldwork in Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, 1940-1941; died 1942. Publications: The economic aspect of the Intichiuma ceremonies (Helsingfors, 1912); The family among the Australian aborigines (University of London Press, 1913); Baloma: the spirits of the dead in the Trobriand Islands (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, 1916); Argonauts of the Western Pacific; native enterprise and adventure in Melanesian New Guinea (Routledge, London, 1922); 'The problem of meaning in primitive languages' in The meaning of meaning (Kegan Paul, London, 1923); Crime and custom in savage society (Kegan Paul, London, 1926); Myth in primitive psychology (Kegan Paul, London, 1926); Sex and repression in savage society (Kegan Paul, London, 1927); The father in primitive psychology (Kegan Paul, London, 1927); The sexual life of savages in North-West Melanesia (Routledge and Sons, London, 1929); Coral gardens and their magic (G Allen and Unwin, London, 1935); The foundations of faith and morals (Oxford University Press, London, 1936); A scientific theory of culture and other essays (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1944); Freedom and civilisation (Roy Publisher, New York, 1944); The dynamics of cultural change: an inquiry into race relations in Africa (Yale University Press, New Haven, 1945); Magic, science and religion and other essays (The Free Press, New York, 1948); Sex, culture and myth (Harcourt, Brace and World, New York, 1962); A Diary in the strict sense of the term (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London; printed in U.S.A., 1967).
Born 1893; educated at Rugby School, and Trinity College, Cambridge University; civilian prisoner in Germany during World War One, 1914-18; Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1919-25; Lecturer, London School of Economics, 1925; Reader in Sociology, London University, 1930; Head of German Section, Research Dept of Foreign Office; Deputy Director, Research Department of Foreign Office, 1939-44; Head of the Social Science Department, London School of Economics, 1944-50; Member, Lord Chancellor's Committee on the Practice and Procedure of Supreme Court, 1947-53; Educational Adviser in the British Zone of Germany, 1949-50; Member, UK Committee for Unesco; Member, UK Delegation to Unesco General Conference, 1952; Martin White Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics, London University, 1954-56; Director, Social Sciences Department, Unesco, 1956-60; President, International Sociological Association, 1959-62; Professor Emeritus, University of London; died 1981. Publications: Sociology at the crossroads (Longmans, Green and Co, London, 1947); Citizenship and social class (University Press, Cambridge, 1950); International comprehension in and through social science (Oxford University Press, London, 1960); Social policy (Hutchinson and Co, London, 1965); Sociology at the crossroads (Heinemann, London, 1963); The approach of the utopians; Training for social work (Oxford University Press, London, 1946); Citizenship and social class (Pluto press, London, 1992); The right to welfare and other essays (Heinemann, London, 1981).
George Elton Mayo (1880-1949) was born in Adelaide, Australia. He was educated at Queen's School and the Collegiate School of St. Peter and began training in medicine. This was never completed and between 1903 and 1905 he spent time in West Africa and London where he taught English at the Working Men's College. In 1907 he returned to university in Adelaide, studying philosophy and psychology. He was appointed foundation lecturer in mental amd moral philosophy at the new University of Queensland in Brisbane and held its first Chair of Philosophy, 1919-1923.
Elton Mayo married Dorothea McConnel in 1913 and their daughters, Patricia and Gael were born in 1915 and 1921. Throughout their marriage they corresponded during their frequent and lengthy separations and a correpondence was also maintained with Patricia, while she was in England.
While at Brisbane, Mayo studied nervous breakdown and with T H Mathewson, and pioneered the treatment of shell-shock. Mayo's observation of the high level of industrial strife and political conflict in Australia led him to formulate an analogy between war neurosis and the psychological causes of industrial unrest. Arguing that the worker's morale depended on his perception of the social function of his work, Mayo believed that the solution to industrial unrest lay in sociological research and industrial management, not radical politics. Mayo travelled to the USA in 1922 where a Rockefeller grant enabled him as a research associate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School to investigate high labour turnover at a textile mill. The results of the work led to his appointment as associate professor at the Harvard School of Business Administration in 1926. Mayo became Professor of Industrial Research in 1929. While at Harvard Mayo was closely involved with the investigations into the personal and social factors determining work output at the Western Electric Company's Chicago Plant (the Hawthorne experiments). The results were groundbreaking studies in modern social research.
Mayo retired from Harvard in 1947 and retired to England were he died in 1949 in Guildford, Surrey.
Born 1936; educated High Wycombe School and St Anne's College, Oxford University; graduate student in sociology, University of California at Berkeley; Assistant Research Officer, Home Office Research Unit, 1961-1963; Assistant Lecturer, 1963-1965 and Lecturer, 1965-1968, in Sociology, University of Leicester; founded Leicester Campaign for Racial Equality; Member, Executive Committee, British Sociological Association, 1967-1971 (Teaching Committee, 1975-1977); Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Borough Polytechnic (now South Bank University), 1968-1972; Founder Member, National Deviancy Conference, 1968-1975; Research Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford University, 1972-1975; active member of Women's Liberation Movement; Founding Member of Editorial Board and first Editor, Economy and Society, 1972-1978; active member of the Gay Liberation Front, [1970-1973]; Lecturer, 1975-1980, and Senior Lecturer, 1980-1996, in Sociology, University of Essex; Head of Sociology Department, 1986-1989, and member of Senate, 1977-1980 and 1994, University of Essex; Member, Policy Advisory Committee to the Criminal Law Revision Committee, 1976-1985, on matters relating to sexual offences; Founding Member, Editorial Collective, Feminist Review, 1978-1994; Member, Board of Directors, Lawrence and Wishart (Publishers), 1981-1985; Visiting Professor, Carleton University, Ottowa, Canada, 1985; Visiting Lecturer, University of Kuopi, Finland, 1993. Publications: editor of Deviance and social control (Tavistock, London, 1974); editor of Sex exposed: sexuality and the pornography debate (Virago, London, 1992); co-writer of The anti-social family (NLB, London, 1982); The organisation of crime (Macmillan, London, 1975);
James Edward Meade (1907-1995) was educated at Malvern College and Oriel College, Oxford, graduating in 1930. 1930. He was immediately appointed to a teaching post at Hertford College Oxford. He spent a postgraduate year at Trinity College, Cambridge (1930-1931) where he became deeply involved with the Cambridge 'circus' around John Maynard Keynes and his first work, 'An Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy', appeared just two years after Keynes' 'General Theory'. In 1938 Meade left teaching for the League of Nations in Geneva where he edited the World Economic Survey. He returned to Britain in 1940 to serve in the Economic Section of the Cabinet Office under Lionel Robbins. In 1945, he succeeded Robbins as Director of the secretariat and during this time worked with Richard Stone on the first Keynesian-style national income accounts for Britain, later published as 'National Income and Expenditure'. In 1947, he accepted the post of Professor of Commerce at the London School of Economics and during this time expanded his lectures into his major work, 'The Theory of Economic Policy', published in two volumes-'Balance of Payments' in 1951 and 'Trade and Welfare' in 1955. Meade became Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge in 1957, a post in which he stayed for the next ten years. He found himself involved in the controversies between American and British economists, which led to his work 'A Neo-Classical Theory of Economic Growth'. Healso pursued his concerns over income distribution with his 'Efficiency, Equality and the Ownership of Property'. Meade and Bertil Ohlin were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1977 for 'pathbreaking contributions to the theory of trade and international capital movements.' #10,000 of the prize money was donated to the appeal for the Lionel Robbins Building at the London School of Economics, which was to house the British Library of Political and Economic Science. In 1978, he chaired the influential British committee of inquiry into the 'Structure and Reform of Direct Taxation' whose recommendations bore Meade's characteristic approach and continued concern over unemployment. During the 1980s, Meade continued to produce a large amount of scientific work and worked in an advisory role with the newly formed Social Democratic Party regarding their economic policy. His work during this period, revolved around two of his concerns and interests: unemployment, which he considered comparable to the 1930s, and profit-sharing schemes, producer co-operatives and labour-managed firms, exemplified in his work 'Different Forms of Share Economy'. In 1995, Meade completed his last major work, 'Agathiotopia: Full Employment Regained?', which was published shortly before his death.. Meade was also President of Section F of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1957, Honorary Member of the American Economic Association, Treasurere of the British Eugencis Society from 1963-1966 and President of the Royal Economic Society from 1964 to 1966.In 1971 he became an honorary foreign member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Born 1942; educated King George V School in Southport and Bradford University; Chairman, Merseyside Regional Young Liberal Organisation, 1961; Liberal Party Local Government Officer, 1962-1967; Secretary, Yorkshire Liberal Federation, 1967-1970; Assistant Secretary, Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust, 1970-1978; General Secretary, Bradford Metropolitan Council for Voluntary Service, 1978-1983; Senior Visiting Fellow, PSI, 1989; Director, Electoral Reform Consultancy Services, 1992-1994; Member, Leeds City Council, 1968-1983; West Yorkshire MCC, 1973-1976, 1981-1983; Director, Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House, 1971-1983; Chairman, Liberal Party Assembly Committee, 1977-1981; President Elect, 1987-1988, and President, 1993-, Liberal Party; Liberal candidate for Leeds West, February and October 1974, 1987, and 1992; Liberal MP for Leeds West, 1983-1987; Chairman, Electoral Reform Society, 1989-1993; has undertaken 33 missions to new and emerging democracies; Co-ordinator, UN Electoral Assistance Secretariat, Malawi, 1994, OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) International Observer Mission, Russian Presidential election, 1996, Bulgaria, 1996, and the Bosnia Refugee Vote, 1996; Advisor on Jerusalem, EU Electoral Unit, Palestinian Assembly elections, 1995-1996; Consultant, Committee for Free and Fair Elections, Cambodia, 1997; European Co-Director, EC Support to Democratic Electoral Process in Cambodia, 1998. Publications: Liberalism and social democracy (Liberal Publication Department, London, [1981]); Liberal values for a new decade (Liberal Publication Department, London, [1980]); The bluffer's guide to politics: research and reference for councillors and community activists (North West Community Newspapers Ltd, Manchester, 1976).
Born in 1879; worked as Professor of History previous to the Russian Revolution; founded an anti-Bolshevik socialist party (Popular Socialist Party), 1919; sentenced to death, then reprieved, with the sentence commuted to imprisonment; expelled from the Soviet Union, 1920; settled in Prague, Berlin and Paris, where he continued his historical researches and published works on Russian history; became editor of several émigré journals; died 1956. Publications: The Red Terror in Russia (JM Dent and Sons, London and Toronto, 1925); numerous publications in Russian.
Merlyn Rees was born into a mining family in Cilfynydd, South Wales, on 18 December 1920. In the 1920s his family moved to London. From 1933 to 1939, he attended Harrow Weald County Grammar School and later went on to Goldsmiths College (where he was President of the Students' Union) to train as a teacher. During the Second World War he joined the RAF, with the Desert Air Force. He served in campaigns in Italy, France and Austria. By demobilisation he had risen to the rank of Squadron Leader. Following the war, Rees studied economics and history at the London School of Economics. In 1949 he became a teacher at his old school in Harrow. Also in 1949, he married Colleen Cleveley, a former pupil of Harrow Weald County Grammar School. In 1955, he was awarded an MSc (Econ.) from London University for a thesis entitled, 'The economic and social development of extra-metropolitan Middlesex in the nineteenth century'. In 1960, Rees was the organiser of the Festival of Labour (held on 15-17 June 1962). From 1962-1963, he was Lecturer in Economics at Luton College of Technology. In the 1950s, Rees had a run of unsuccessful attempts as Labour parliamentary candidate for Harrow East. However, in June 1963, he successfully fought the by-election in Leeds South which had been called following the unexpected death of Hugh Gaitskell. He served as Member of Parliament for the constituency until 1992 (the seat changed its name to Morley and Leeds South in 1983). On becoming an MP, Rees became Principal Private Secretary to James Callaghan. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Army, 1965-1966; for the RAF, 1966-1968; and, at the Home Office (where he was responsible for immigration and the fire service), 1968-1970. In October 1971, Rees became opposition spokesman on Northern Ireland. The role involved shadowing Willie Whitelaw when he became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland following the announcement of direct rule from Westminster in March 1972. In opposition, Rees adopted a bipartisan approach to Northern Ireland policies, especially in support of the Government's white paper, 'Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals' (Cmnd 5259), published in March 1973. The paper proposed an elected Assembly, a power sharing executive and the establishment of 'institutional arrangements for consultations and co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland'. He also supported the Sunningdale Agreement (December 1973) which, amongst other points, agreed the formation of a Council of Ireland. When Labour regained power in March 1974, Rees became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Much of his time in this role was spent on security matters, at a time of intense terrorist activity in the province. His immediate political priority was to support the power sharing executive and implement the Sunningdale Agreement. However, Unionist opposition to Sunningdale was growing, as was evident by the fact that in the UK General Election of February 1974, 11 of the 12 Northern Ireland seats were won by anti-Sunningdale unionists. In May 1974, the Ulster Workers' Council organised a strike against the Sunningdale Agreement which crippled power supplies to the province. This led to the collapse of the executive and the restoration of direct rule from Westminster. In July 1974, the government published a white paper, 'The Northern Ireland Constitution' (Cmnd 5675). This proposed the establishment of an elected constitutional convention which, it was hoped, would enable Northern Ireland's political parties to create a workable constitution for the province. Elections were held on 1 May 1975, with Unionist parties opposed to power sharing in the majority. By the end of November 1975, the Convention recommended a return to majority rule - a position which was not acceptable to the Nationalists. Rees tried to break the deadlock by holding a series of talks with all the parties involved in the Convention. The talks failed and the Convention was dissolved in March 1976.
Other aspects of his time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland include: a ceasefire by the Provisional IRA; the end of internment (December 1975); and, ending of special category status for paramilitary prisoners (March 1976). For more details about his time as Secretary of State, see Merlyn Rees' own book, Northern Ireland: a personal perspective (1985). Following Harold Wilson's resignation as Prime Minister in 1976, Rees was manager of the successful campaign for Jim Callaghan to be the next leader of the Labour Party. In September 1976, he was appointed Home Secretary. He was Shadow Home Secretary, 1979-1981 and Opposition spokesman on energy, 1981-1983. In 1982, he served on the Falkland Islands Review Committee (Franks Committee). In 1987, he joined a deputation with Cardinal Basil Hume, Lord Devlin, Lord Scarman, and Roy Jenkins to campaign for the release of the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven. In 1992, he was created a life peer as Baron Merlyn-Rees. He died in London on 5 January 2006.
Munich 1938 is a documentary produced by Brook Lapping Associates.
National Family Mediation was founded in 1981. It co-ordinates the work of voluntary sector family mediation services in England and Wales to assist couples who are in the process of separation and divorce. NFM encourages the take-up of family mediation; promotes professional standards; carries out research, consultancy and training; organises conferences; liaises with government, the legal profession, advice agencies and other voluntary organisations; and provides information to the public.
The New Survey of London was begun in 1928 and concluded in 1933 as a deliberate attempt to update Charles Booth's Survey of Life and Labour in London. It was directed by Sir Hubert Llewellyn Smith who had been one of Booth's assistants. The Survey was based at the London School of Economics and was financed by the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Trust and by donations raised by Beveridge from London organisations. Llewellyn Smith published his findings in 1930-1934 as The new survey of London life and labour (London, 1930-1935).
The Overseas Student Trust was a pressure group formed in the 1960s to campaign for the interests of overseas students at British universities. It was dissolved in 1992 and its functions transferred to the Centre for Educational Research at LSE.
John Parker was born 15 July 1906 and educated at Marlborough and St John's College Oxford. He became General Secretary of the New Fabian Research Bureau in 1933 and by 1980 had been made President of the Fabian Society, emphasising his life long association with the Fabians.
He was elected as a Labour MP for Romford in 1935 and when that consituency was divided after the Second World War he held Dagenham until 1983. John Parker showed great interest in his constituency, being particularly involved with the Ford factory there and its relationship with the community. John Parker was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Dominions Office during the Government of Clement Attlee in 1945, his Parliamentary private secretary being James Callaghan. He was, however, dismissed from his position in 1946 over his views concerning South African Protectorates. This loss of office enabled John Parker to exert an influence from the back benches, serving on several Speaker's Conferences and also the Procedure Committee 1966-1973.
John Parker drew an early place in the ballot for Private Members' Bills on two occassions, being defeated in his attempt to bring in a Sunday observance measure, initiating an inquiry, and with his second bill producing the Legitimacy Act of 1959. This second bill legitimised the offspring of bigamous marriges, where one of the partners was ignorant of the situation, and also the children born while one of the partners was still married to someone else by subsequent marriage. A Bill was also introduced by John Parker, under the ten minute rule, which eventually became the Nationality (Number 2) Act of 1964, implementing the UN Convention on Statelessness. He was also a member of the Arts and Amenities Committee of the Labour Party, maintaining a particular interest in forestry and ancient buildings.
Parker frequently travelled overseas, being a member of the British-Yugoslav Parliamentary group, editing a series of Yugoslav novels in English and meeting Stalin in the Soviet Union. He also produced a selection of books which included 42 Days in the Soviet Union (1946), Labour Marches On (1947) and his memoirs entitled Father of the House, reflecting his postion as the House of Commons' longest serving, active member.
John Parker retired in 1983 and died 24 November 1987. He was married in 1943 to Zena Mimardiere, and had one son, Michael.
Political and Economic Planning was founded in 1931 at the height of the Great Depression to plan for British recovery in the widest sense. During the thirties it carried out a series of investigations into the operation of the British economy, and into education and health. During and after World War Two it extended its interests into policy issues in other countries and carried out many detailed investigations of social problems. In 1978 PEP merged with the Centre for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), and became the Policy Studies Institute (PSI). The present collection consists of the archives of the PEP/PSI together with the PEP papers of Leonard Elmhirst and Max Nicholson.
Playing the China Card was made in 1999 by Brook Lapping Productions Ltd in conjunction with Channel 4 and PBS.
The Population Panel was set up by the government in 1971 to investigate signs of population growth. Professor Eugene Grebenik was a member of the Panel. Its report was published in 1973.
Raymond William Postgate was born in Cambridge, 6 November, 1896, the eldest son of Professor J P Postgate, a classical scholar. He was educated at Perse School Cambridge and Liverpool College and attended St John's College, Oxford. During World War One he sought exemption from military service as a conscientious objector but without the defence of a religious objection, was jailed for two weeks during 1916. In 1918, he married Daisy Lansbury, daughter of Labour politician George Lansbury. They later had two sons John and Oliver. Postgate formed socialist connections through the Lansbury family and also through his sister Margaret, who married the Socialist economist and historian G D H Cole. Postgate became a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1920, but broke from the party in 1922 to join the Labour Party. Postgate started his career in 1918 as a journalist and writer, working on the Daily Herald, and Lansbury's Weekly, where he covered the General Strike of 1926. He became department editor for Encyclopaedia Britannica from 1927-1928, was a European representative for Alfred A Knopf publishers from 1929-1949 and edited Tribune from 1940-1942. He used his socialist beliefs to write mystery novels within a social and economic context, and his crime novel Verdict of Twelve became a best-seller in 1940. Among Postgate's other works were three detective stories, a novel, short stories, many articles about labour and radical history and biographies including one of his father-in-law George Lansbury. From 1942 to 1949, Postgate worked at the Board of Trade and Ministry of Supply. In 1949, due to his life-long passion for good food and wine, Postgate decided to make an effort to raise standards by editing the reports of a band of volunteers on their visits to British hotels and restaurants. The highly influential Good Food Club was born as a result, of which he was president. He became editor of the Good Food Guide and wrote many articles and books as a food critic and wine writer. He was awarded the OBE in 1966. Raymond Postgate died on March 29, 1971.
Thomas Thornely, 1781-1862, was educated in 'mercantile pursuits' and continued in commerce until later life, when he became a Liberal MP. He represented the borough of Wolverhampton for twenty-four years, from 1835.
Charles Pelham Villiers, 1802-1898, was educated at Haileybury and St John's College, Cambridge, becoming a barrister of Lincoln's Inn in 1827. He held Benthamite political views, and enjoyed a long career in public service and Parliament. In 1832, he was a Poor Law Commissioner, and from 1833 to 1852, an official of the court of Chancery. He served as an MP for Wolverhampton from 1835 to 1898, during which time he worked towards free trade and opposed the Corn Law and home rule for Ireland. He also served as Judge-Advocate General, 1852-1858, Privy Councillor, 1853, and President of the Poor Law board, 1859-1866.
Margaret Helen Read, 1889-1991, was educated at Roedean and Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1919, she travelled to India, where she was involved in social work in hill villages and developed an interest in social anthropology. After her return to England in 1924, she embarked upon a career lecturing in international affairs in both Britain and America, and entered the London School of Economics to study anthropology in 1930. She studied under Malinowski and was influenced by his theories of functional anthropology. She embarked on ethnographic fieldwork in east central Africa and was appointed as assistant lecturer at LSE in 1937. In 1940 she left the LSE to join the staff at the Colonial Department of the Institute of Education where her main interest was the effect of Western education in Africa. In 1949, Read was appointed as the first Professor of Education "with special reference to colonial areas" at the Institute of Education. Here she played an important role in shaping post war attitudes in Whitehall towards colonial education policy. She retired in 1955 and was appointed to the University of Nigeria at Ibadan as a Visiting Professor of Education. She became a consultant to the World Health Organisation in 1956, and chairman of the World Health Organisation committee of experts on the training of medical and auxiliary staffs.
Born in 1920; educated at Taunton School and Jesus College, Cambridge University; served World War Two, 1939-1945, in India and Burma with the Royal Signal Corps; research assistant to Charles Wilson during the writing of Wilson's history of Unilever, 1947-1954; worked for Unilever, 1950-1964, in advertising, market research and public relations; began career as a historical writer; left Unilever in 1964 to write a history of ICI, which was published in 1970 and 1795; wrote a series of business histories; Texaco Visiting Fellow, Business History Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1979-1985; died 1990. Publications: Birds Eye: the early years (Walton on Thames, 1963); Imperial Chemical Industries: a history (Oxford University Press, London, 1970, 1975); Architect of air power: the life of the first Viscount Weir of Eastwood (Collins, London, 1968); Life in Victorian England (Batsford, London, 1964); Professional men: the rise of the professional classes in nineteenth-century Europe (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1966); Hard roads and highways: S.P.D. Ltd, 1918-1968 (Batsford, London, 1969); Unilever plantations (Unilever Ltd, London, 1961); The Weir Group: a centenary history (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1971).
William Rees Jeffreys was born in London in 1871. He worked for the Board of Trade until 1903, when he became Administrative Secretary to the Royal Automobile Club and Secretary to the Motor Union. In the same year, Rees-Jeffreys secured the appointment of a Departmental Committee to inquire into Highway Administration in England and Wales. From 1910, to its demise in 1918, he was Secretary of the Road Board. Rees Jeffreys also wrote and campaigned extensively on road transport and motoring in the United Kingdom, Europe and many other countries. He died in 1954.
Born 1898; educated Southall County School, University College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science; served World War One, 1916-1919, in the Royal Field Artillery; Lecturer, New College Oxford University, 1924; Lecturer, LSE, 1925-1927; Fellow and Lecturer, New College, Oxford University, 1927-1929; Professor of Economics, LSE, 1929-1961; Director, Economic Section, Offices of the War Cabinet, 1941-1945; President, Royal Economic Society, 1954-1955; Trustee, National Gallery, 1952-1974, and Tate Gallery, 1953-1967; Director, Royal Opera House, 1955-1981; Chairman, Financial Times, 1961-1970; Chairman, Committee on Higher Education (Robbins Committee), 1961-1964; President, British Academy, 1962-1967; Member, Court of Governors, LSE, 1968-1974; First Chancellor of Stirling University, 1968-1978; died 1984. Publications: Liberty and equality (1977); Political economy past and present (1976); Against inflation (1979); Higher education revisited (1980); (ed) Studies in Economics and Commerce (London, 1933-1948); Aspects of post-war economy (Institute of economic Affairs, London, 1974); Autobiography of an economist (Macmillan, London, 1971); The balance of payments (Athlone Press, London, 1951); Bentham in the twentieth century (Athlone Press, London, 1965); Economic aspects of federation (Macmillan, London, 1941); The economic basis of class conflict (Macmillan, London, 1939); The economic causes of war (Jonathan Cape, London, 1939); Economic planning and international order (Macmillan, London, 1937); The economic problem in peace and war (Macmillan, London, 1947); The economist in the twentieth century (Macmillan, London, 1954); An essay on the nature and significance of economic science (Macmillan, London, 1932); The evolution of modern economic theory (Macmillan, London, 1970); The Great Depression (Macmillan, London, 1934); The international monetary problem (Oxford University Press, London, 1973); Money, trade and international relations (Macmillan, London, 1971); Politics and economics (Macmillan, London, 1963); Robert Torrens and the evolution of classical economics (Macmillan, London, 1958); The theory of economic policy in English classical political economy (Macmillan, London, 1952); The university in the modern world, and other papers on education (Macmillan, London, 1966); Wages (Jarrolds, London, 1926).
William Alexander Robson, 1895-1980, was a student at the London School of Economics, gaining his BSC (Economics) First Class Honours in 1922, PhD in 1924 and LLM in 1928. He saw active service as a Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps and RAF during World War One and was called to the Bar in 1922. He did not practice law for long, however, becoming a lecturer at LSE in 1926 and then a Reader in Administrative Law from 1933 to 1946. He was made a professor in 1947 and continued at the school until his retirement in 1962. From 1940 to 1942, Robson was Principal of the Mines Department before becoming Principal of the Ministry of Fuel and Power, 1942 to 1943. He was Assistant Secretary to the Air Ministry 1943 to 1945 and to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 1945. He was also a member of the Council of the Town and Country Planning Association, the Committee on Training in Public Administration for Overseas Countries. From 1950 to 1953 he was chairman of the Greater London Group. In 1930 he helped to found the 'Political Quarterly' and went on to be its joint editor, 1930 to 1975 and chairman of the editorial board from 1975 to his death in 1980.
Cecil Rolph Hewitt, 1901-1994, had two careers. He was a member of the City of London Police Force from 1921 to 1946, rising to become Chief Inspector. After leaving the Police Force he became involved in journalism. He was a member of the editorial staff of The New Statesman, 1947-1970, and editor of The Author, 1956-1960. He was also involved in the publishing of many books and articles. Hewitt worked under the professional name of C H Rolph.
Born in 1901; educated in London state schools; officer in the City of London Police, 1921-1946 (reaching Chief-Inspector); Editorial Staff, The New Statesman, 1947-1970; Editor, The Author, 1956-1960; Director, The New Statesman, 1965-1980; Member of the Parole Board, 1967-1969, and the Council of the Society of Authors; contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Chambers Encyclopedia, Punch, The Week-End Book, The New Law Journal, the Times Literary Supplement, The Author, and The Nation. Hewitt wrote under the professional name of Cecil Hewitt Rolph, and was well-known as a crusading journalist on issues such as censorship and capital punishment. Publications: Police Duties. 200 points in police law with an appendix of examination questions (Police Review Publishing Co, London, 1936); A Licensing Handbook (Police Review Publishing Co, London, 1947); editor of Women of the Streets. A sociological study of the common prostitute (Secker & Warburg, London, 1955); Hanged by the Neck: an exposure of capital punishment in England (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1961); The Trial of Lady Chatterley: Regina v. Penguin Books Limited. The transcript of the trial (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1961); Before the Beak (Newman Neame Take Home Books, London, 1958); Believe what you like. What happened between the Scientologists and the National Association for Mental Health (Andre Deutsch, London, 1973); Books in the dock (André Deutsch, London, 1969); Common Sense about Crime and Punishment (Victor Gollancz, London, 1961); editor of Does Pornography matter? (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1961); Kingsley: The life, letters and diaries of Kingsley Martin (London, Gollancz, 1973); Living twice: an autobiography (Victor Gollancz, London, 1974); Mental Disorder: A brief examination of the Report of the Royal Commission on the Law relating to Mental Illness and Mental Deficiency, 1954-1957 (National Association for Mental Health, London, 1958); Personal Identity (Michael Joseph: London, 1957); The Law is yours (Daily Mirror, London, 1964); The Police and the Public (Heinemann, London, 1962); Letters to both women (Wilton 65, Bishop Wilton, 1990); As I was saying (Police Review, London, 1985); The Police (Wayland, Hove, 1980); The Queen's pardon (Cassell, London, 1978); London particulars (Oxford University Press, 1980); Further particulars (Oxford University Press, 1987); Mr Prone: a week in the life of an ignorant man (Oxford University Press, 1977). AEGIS (Aid to the Elderly in Government Institutions) was a pressure group set up by Barbara Robb (d 1976) in 1965 to campaign about the treatment of elderly people in the psychiatric and geriatric wards of British hospitals.
The Romney Street Group is a small London-based luncheon club, with no political or religious alignment, which has met regularly since 1917 for the discussion of public affairs. It has maintained a membership of working and retired professionals with a range of backgrounds in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Its discussions are open to members and their guests, and are conducted according to so-called 'Chatham House rules' - that is, on the understanding that all contributions to the discussion remain confidential to the participants, except with express permission to the contrary. Women were first admitted as guests in 1926, and as members in 1959 or 1960. The Group was founded by Joseph Peter Thorp, then dramatic critic of Punch magazine. Its first Chairman was Thomas Jones, Deputy Secretary to Lloyd George's Cabinet. Its immediate purpose was to provide a forum in which to discuss, and a means by which to influence, the conduct of post-war public affairs. It met in a house in Romney Street, Westminster, for the first year of its existence only. Meetings have since taken place in many venues, mostly in London.. At first, topics for discussion were taken up on an 'ad hoc' basis, depending upon the interests of members and guests present, and the immediate events of the day. Since the 1950s, however, a formal programme of speakers and topics for discussion has been drawn up and circulated in advance by the Group Secretary. Administration has been informal for most of the Group's history.