Papers and administrative archive of the Bishopsgate Institute, 1891-2005, including: minute books and papers of Board of Governors meetings, Institute Committee and Sub-Committee meetings, 1891-1980; ephemera, press cuttings, correspondence, press releases, deeds, promotional material and other papers relating to all aspects of the Institute's activities, property and work, including its foundation, public events, educational courses, Institute structure and staffing, internal events, the Library and other departments, 1891-2005; photographs, illustrations, maps and plans of the Bishopsgate Institute and covering all areas of the Institute's activity, 1895-2005; personal papers, certificates, obituaries and other ephemera and other material concerning Institute founder and Rector of St Botolph's, William Rogers, c1860-1896; papers of Institute librarian, Charles Frederick Goss, including material relating to his work at the Institute, publications and minute books and other material concerning the Society of Public Librarians, c1897-1941; papers of Institute Governor Geoffrey Ince concerning his work at the Institute and his own research into his family umbrella manufacture business, James Ince and Sons, 1993-1997.

The collection comprises material and memorabilia of Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, including:
Papers from 1832 to 1903, including pastoral letters and correspondence relating to his acquisition of The Tablet and his notebooks and sermon notes.
Material relating to Vaughan and his family including books by, relating to and about Vaughan, books by and about the Vaughan family, biographical material, books of cuttings from local and national newspapers, collected by Vaughan's Mill Hill neighbour Caroline Hanmer and relating to Vaughan and his work, and other newspaper cuttings.
Artefacts and personal effects such as Vaughan's bishop's hat.
Other material such as material relating to the 1966 centenary of the founding of St Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart for Foreign Missions, and miscellaneous material such as publications on Westminster Cathedral, and information on 18th and 19th century English Catholics.

Publications include bound volumes of mission magazines left by Vaughan, such as: Annals of the Propagation of the Faith (1838-1902) and Illustrated Catholic Missions (a monthly publication that Vaughan helped to found in 1885; incomplete).

Archives of the Central Labour College comprising minute book, 1909-1918, and legal papers relating to a dispute between the warden and the Governors, 1918.

Papers of Fred Dunston, 1939-2002, relate to Youth Aliyah and comprise correspondence and papers between the those responsible for the management of the refugee centres at Great Engeham Farm, Kent and Bydown and Braunton, Devon, relating to the management of the institutions; also some letters from the child refugees.

Records of the Working Women's College, later known as the Frances Martin College for Women. The records listed here cover the history of the college from its foundation in 1874 until 1957, a period of 88 years. Minutes of council and AGMs from 1874 onwards, kept in the hand of Miss Frances Martin until 1920 almost without a break, annual prospectuses and an almost complete series of annual reports exist. These, together with college magazines and scrapbooks give a very full picture of the life and activities of the college since its foundation, and reveal the remarkable enthusiasm and dedicated service of all those who have been connected with it which have carried it forward successfully over the years through good times and bad.

Records, 1884-1970, of Holborn College of Law, Languages and Commerce and its predecessors, comprising Bowling Green Lane Night School/Hugh Myddleton Institute log books, 1884-1929, 1938-1961; Hugh Myddleton Institute/Princeton Street School of Modern Languages typescript account, mainly 1930s-1940s; Holborn College programme for opening of new buildings, 1962; annual report, 1969-1970; prospectus for language courses, 1969-1970.

Records of the Lady Margaret Hall Settlement, including minutes, agendas and financial records.

The collection comprises lectures on scientific subjects delivered by Lillie at the Mechanics' Institutes of Launceston and Hobart, Tasmania.

Records of the Mary Ward Centre, formerly known as the Mary Ward Settlement and the Passmore Edwards Settlement. Also some records of predecessor institutions University Hall Settlement and Marchmont Hall; and associated organisations such as the Holborn Community Centre and the Association of Principals of Literary Institutes and Colleges.

The records include papers relating to the foundation of the Settlement, particularly correspondence of Mary Ward with supporters and benefactors; minutes of the Council, the Finance and General Purposes Committee and other Committees; administrative and financial files relating to the daily running of the Settlement and the maintenance of Settlement property; papers of the Chairman and Wardens which relate to the management of the Settlement and reflect the interests of individual wardens, particularly relating to adult education provision in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s; papers relating to various appeals to raise funds to prevent the closure of the Settlement; and papers relating to grant applications.

Also papers relating to the activities of the Settlement including prospectuses and syllabi outlining adult education courses; papers of youth clubs, vacation schools, evening play centres, clubs for the elderly and clubs for women; papers relating to the School for Invalid Children; papers relating to the provision of financial and legal advice; papers regarding the introduction of computing services in the early 1990s; press cuttings and photographs. The collection also includes some personal papers of Mary Ward and her daughter Dorothy Ward.

Correspondence and papers, 1814-1958, of and relating to Robert Morrison and his missionary work, translations, and life in China and Malacca, comprising letters of Morrison to various correspondents, 1820-1830; three letter books of Thomas Fisher, 1824-1836, largely comprising copy letters from Fisher in Hoxton to Morrison in Canton and Morrison's replies, and also including correspondence between Fisher and John Robert Morrison, Fisher's papers relating to memoirs of Robert Morrison, and various cuttings and inserts; manuscript translation by William Milne, 1814, of a Chinese catechism compiled and printed at Canton by Morrison (1811-1812); manuscripts of and relating to Morrison and his translations and missionary work, 1824-1826; undated [early 19th century] copy of Morrison's domestic memoir, written in 1824, including references to his family; Morrison's grant of power of attorney, 1826; manuscript containing copies [1832] of various letters from Morrison, 1809-1832; examples of texts printed at Morrison's press, 1831 and undated; publications of Morrison, comprising a printed list of his publications [after 1822], discourse given at Hoxton Academy (1825), pamphlet on Chinese language and literature, Chinese Miscellany (1825), and manuscript of the same; printed report on missionary work in China, 1832; papers relating to the Anglo-Chinese College, Malacca, comprising a deed, 1820, printed prospectus, c1820, and reports, 1823-1836 (incomplete series); copies of The Indo-Chinese Gleaner, 1821, and The Evangelist and Miscellanea Sinica, 1833; printed report on China and Canton, 1823; papers relating to Morrison, 1934-1958, including correspondence, typescripts and press cuttings.

Administrative records of the North Western Polytechnic, 1896-1971, comprising: Governing Body minutes, 1896-1971; Annual Reports, 1929-1957; Souvenir Brochure for Official Opening, 1929; student record cards, 1934-1935; Joint Working Party with Northern Polytechnic [on merger] minutes 1967-1970; Training College for Technical Teachers Governing Body minutes and papers, 1946-1951.

Administrative records of the Northern Polytechnic (NP) (formerly the Northern Polytechnic Institution), 1896-1971, including:
Governing Body minutes 1911-1971; agendas 1907-1971; Governor's correspondence, 1907-1938; General Purposes Committee minutes 1906-1935; Finance Committee minutes and agendas, 1906-1912, 1922-1970; records of HMI Inspections, 1899-1950; Principal's correspondence on extension of site and buildings, 1919-1937; Heads of Department meetings minutes 1931-1965; minutes of meetings of Principals of Polytechnic Instututions in London, 1902-1927; Joint Working Party with Northern Polytechnic [on merger] minutes 1967-1970;
Printed papers including Annual Reports 1942-1961, general prospectuses 1924-1929, 1965-1972; Architectural and Building Trades Department prospects 1906; Engineering Department prospectuses, 1909-1910; Commercial Day School prospectus, 1910; Chemistry Department - Rubber Technology prospectus 1914; Chemistry Department prospectus, 1924; Music Trades School prospectus, 1927 and reviews, 1936-1938; ; School of Architecture prospectus 1939; Catering and Domestic Science Department prospectus c 1950;
Student Records: Student Career Cards, 1910-1971, giving details of name, address, date of birth, education, occupation, courses and marks/grades; Chemistry Department list of students 1919; Department of Architecture, Surveying and Building student record cards, 1943-1947; record cards for University of London General Degree Students, 1969-1975;
Records of Clubs and Societies, including: Old Students Association rules and programmes, 1909-1914; Repertory Company programmes, 1942-1961; Operatic Society programmes 1911-1914, 1955-1966; Sporting Clubs: correspondence and papers, 1963-1975;
Papers relating to Golden Jubilee celebrations, 1946
National College of Rubber Technology: Board of Governors minutes, 1958-1969, agendas, 1948-1969; Finance Committee minutes 1949-1967; papers on new building, 1950-1951;
Presscuttings on the history of the NP, 1899-1971

Records of the Royal Polytechnic Institution (RPI), 1837-1881 and undated, comprising:

Leases of premises, 1838-1876, including no 5 Cavendish Square; prospectus, 1837; correspondence and papers concerning the foundation of the Institution, its provisional committee, shares, status and affairs, 1837-1839 and undated, including its charter, 1839, and papers on arbitration on a dispute between W M Nurse and the Institution; correspondence and papers relating to activities and affairs of the Institution, 1838-1842 and undated, including documents on the alleged infringement by the Institution of a patent for a diving dress, 1838, and an agreement with W H F Talbot permitting the use of his patented photographic process, 1841; photocopy of a letter from Robert Longbottom, RPI Secretary, to Samuel Morse, 1846; copy of charter, 1852; letter concerning a school visit to the RPI, 1858;

Catalogues of the Polytechnic Institution (copies), 1838-1840, and Royal Polytechnic Institution, 1844-1845; programmes for 1861, 1876, 1878 and 1881; bound volumes of RPI programmes, 1873-1878; reports, 1879-1880; particulars and conditions of sale of the RPI premises, 1881;

Books by authors associated with the RPI, including various publications by John Henry Pepper: The Boy's Playbook of Science, 2nd edition, 1860.; Popular Lectures for Young People and Half Hours with the Alchemists, 1st edition, 1855; The Playbook of Metals, 1st edition, 1869 and Cyclopaedic Science Simplified, 1st edition, 1869; The Book of The Lantern by T C Hepworth, 2nd edition, 1889; Memory by William Stokes, 2nd edition, 1888 and Rapid Writing by William Stokes, 4th edition, 1873; issues of various contemporary journals containing information on or advertisements for the Institution [1839]-1845, some with illustrations, among them scientific equipment, including four parts of the London Polytechnic Magazine, 1844, six parts of its continuation, The Polytechnic Review and Magazine, 1844, and five parts, 1845; advertising poster, 1840;

Book of press cuttings relating to the Institution from 1842, many lacking details of their source; five tokens bearing the name of the Institution, 1840; photogenic transfer made at the Institution, 1840; a ceramic plate fired at the RPI, 1866;

Illustrations and photographs of illustrations from 1840, some undated, including the great hall and other shots of the interior and exterior, 1843, and demonstrations, including the diving bell.

The collection consists mainly of minutes, financial records, manuscripts of unpublished texts and correspondence. It provides interesting detail on what one section of society thought would provide education for another. There is much useful information on the reading preferences of the public, and on the growth and development of Mechanics' Institutes. Most of those concerned with the founding of the Society as a project in self-education were also involved in the founding of the new University of London (now University College London) and some, like Augustus De Morgan and George Long, actually taught there. There is also considerable information on the work of publishers, illustrators, engravers and booksellers and on writers, whether already established authorities in their field or young hopefuls, like G H Lewes, who sought to establish themselves through the Society's patronage.

Records of Toynbee Hall university settlement, including Education Committee minutes; Residents Meetings minutes; correspondence; annual reports; financial reports; memorandum and articles of association; educational syllabuses and evening courses; papers of clubs and societies; visitors' books; press cuttings; magazines; pamphlets; plans; photographs and slides.

Records of the West Ham College of Technology and its predecessors, 1898-1970, comprising:

Minutes of the Board of Governors, 1959-1965; Minutes of the Board of Studies, 1924-1960; Minutes of the Academic Board, 1964-1969; minutes and report of the University Board, 1933-1958; Board of Education circulars, 1911-1919;

Correspondence and general administration, 1911-1970, notably the establishment of the new Polytechnic, 1968-1970;Annual Report, 1966-1967;

Day student lists (incomplete),1914-1961; Sessional reports for evening and part-time courses (incomplete), 1905-1957; Fee Registers, 1949-1955; Exam results (incomplete), [1914]-1957;

Exam papers, 1951-1956; Prospectuses and Course Handbooks (incomplete), 1899-1970;

Records of the Engineering Department, 1904-1962; Financial records (incomplete), 1948-1970; Records of the Students' Union and its Clubs (incomplete), 1930-1970; Staff and student publications, 1963-1970; Student Laboratory Reports, 1955-1964;

Minutes of the Technical Instruction Committee of the County Borough of West Ham, 1898-1918; Minutes of Council and Reports of Committees of the County Borough of West Ham, 1946-1964; Minutes of Education Committee of the County Borough of West Ham, 1954-1963.