Records of the Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers, 1693-1991 (dates given are the dates of compilation of the records, including a late 19th century certified transcript of the 1623 charter). The membership records include registers of freedom admissions and apprentice bindings from 1693. Other records include ordinances and bye-laws; Court minute books; financial accounts and draft history of the Company.

PLEASE NOTE: CLC/L/GF/B/001/MS02451A is subject to a 30 year closure period.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.

Papers of George Arbuthnot concerning currency, as edited by V D[elves?] B[roughton?]; Papers of Lord Welby concerning the organisation of Government departments, gold coinage, Indian currency, bimetallism, coinage, and the Bank of England; Lord Welby's correspondence; and a compendium of information on British administration in the mid 19th century.

Manuscript copy of Reflections on the importation of bar-iron, from our own colonies of North-America, printed in 1757, possibly by Joseph Sykes, in response to The case of the importation of bar-iron (1756), written by the Reverend Josiah Tucker on behalf of the Iron Manufacturers of Great Britain. The volume also includes copies of 2 letters, of 29 April 1765, from Joseph Sykes in Hull to the Master Cutler [Sheffield], and of 1 May 1765 from David Barclay & Sons, London, linen merchants, to Mr [William] Dixon [in Sheffield], both concerning the debate on the import of American as opposed to Swedish iron and proposals for additional duty upon Swedish iron before the Board of Trade.The above items are bound with a printed version of The case of the importation of bar-iron (1756), by Josiah Tucker.

Manuscript volume, 1554-1720, containing nine transcripts relating to the public coinage of France, notably a transcript of letters patent by King Henry IV setting out regulations for the coinage, 3 Mar 1554; a judgment of the Chambre des Comptes, 25 Nov 1690; miscellaneous transcripts giving details of the cost of equipment for minting, possibly for the coinage of Orleans, France; various formularies for the process of casting gold ingots and counterfeit gold coins, drawn up on behalf of Pierre François Guerin, Juge Garde de la Monoye d'Orleans, 30 Apr 1728; memorandum on the establishment of the coinage of Orleans following an edict of Oct 1716, consisting of 24 articles for regulating the work of the officers of the Mint; two treatises on the administration of coinage in France; summaries of judgements concerning coinage, 23 Dec 1719-26 Dec 1720, with a commentary on each; a description of various French coins, [1718-1728].

Letter from Henry Tolcher of Plymouth to 'Most honble. Lord' [Peter King, Chief Justice of Common Pleas], 2 Sep 1720. Suggesting that 'unless a speedy method is taken to prevent the melting of the silver coin of this kingdom it is very likely that its scarcity so much of late complain'd of will be follow'd by a totall consumption of the same ... not less than fifty pounds sterling is to be gott by melting a thousand pounds of English silver coin which is easyly effectected [sic] and with security by almost any person in the space of an hour or two'.

Autograph, with signature.

Manuscript volume containing a paper entitled 'A state of the trade to Sweden before and since the Prohibition', presented to the House of Commons as a petition for the relaxation of restrictions on trade with Sweden, 1717-1718.

Working papers and correspondence of Sir Francis (Franz) Eugene Simon. Scientific notebooks in the collection date from 1919-1934, largely the period of Simon's researches on low temperature physics at the Physikalisch-Chemisches Institut of Berlin University, and subsequently at Breslau. Other notes and manuscripts for lectures and articles are post 1930, while a large group of correspondence files are from the years 1922-1956, providing a full account of Simon's dealings with many fellow scientists and scientific organisations. Individual letter files concern V.M. Goldsmidt, Max Born, Gwyn Owain Jones and Nevill Mott among many other notable figures. Details of Simon's involvement in atomic energy development are to be found in papers on uranium isotope separation (MAUD Committee notes) and UK Atomic Energy Authority correspondence. Simon's professional appointments as head of the Clarendon Laboratory and as science correspondent to the Financial Times are represented by substantial groups of letters. There are twelve notebooks with some associated papers; the series also includes files of lectures, articles, cuttings and souvenirs, including photographs, with files of correspondence. Two later additions to the collection consist of correspondence and files highlighting Simon's contacts with industrial firms, universities and international organisations.

Papers of Augustus Sauerbeck, 1893 and 1895, comprise two letters to Sir Guilford Molesworth; the first thanks him for a letter and two tables of production figures and discusses his own work: 'If you examine the real reduction in cost - not by opening up new countries - but by real scientific improvement, there is probably no important article in which the reduction has been so great as in the case of gold, where it pays now if you get 1/2oz or even less out of a ton of ore', 28 August 1893. The second letter refers to a forthcoming article on prices, to be published in the March issue of the Journal of the Statistical Society, 5 April 1895.

Papers of Georges Marc Marie Sagnac including holograph papers relating to Roentgen Rays, experiments on sulphur, on optics, light- and sound-waves, and on the ether, 1897-1921.

Papers of John Urpeth Rastrick, 1800-1855, comprising a miscellany of correspondence (including drafts of copies of outgoing letters), with notes, engineering drawings, etc. Many of the notes and calculations are written in Rastrick's private cipher. Major correspondents include the London shipping iron merchants Henckell and Du Buisson; the 2nd Earl of Powis; John (later Sir John) Gladstone [father of W E Gladstone]; the lawyer, estate manager and politician James Loch and [?his son] George Loch; and Rastrick's sons and employees. Topics covered include the canal and railway interests of Rastrick and the other correspondents, as well as the iron industry. Most of the letters were dispatched to or from London or the industrial areas of South Wales and the West Midlands.

Papers of Sir Edward Eric Pochin, 1940-1989. The collection in no way reflects the entirety of Sir Edward's life's work; he may have discarded much himself when he retired officially. For the most part, the papers suggest that he had decided to keep only those of personal value, a relatively few relating to his clinical research on iodine isotopes and the thyroid gland, and those concerning his current working interest at the time of retirment. This was the 'Index of Harm': in the last ten or so years of his life he was primarily engaged in amassing vast amounts of data and statistics for the purposes of quantifying the risks and harm resulting from exposure to radiation as well as from occupational injuries. Also present are correspondence with Sir Thomas Lewis, 1940-1945, and records of research and treatments in the Medical Research Council Clinical Research Department at University College Hospital, London, 1947-1970s.

Papers of J.M. Woodburn Morison, mainly covering his work in Edinburgh and Egypt. They comprise a miscellaneous assortment of documents, including: abstracts; case notes; lecture notes on radiology and cancer and on James Gregory (1753-1822); report on radium, 1929; correspondence and reports as visiting professor in Egypt, 1948-1951 and lantern slides.

Papers of the Medical Research Council Medical Cyclotron Unit (MRCMCU), 1934-1961, comprising records relating to the Radium Beam Therapy Research Committee, 1933-1945; and records, including case registers, of treatment carried out using the radium beam and linear accelerator, 1934-1960.

Papers of Alexander John Gaspard Marcet, 1804-1817, comprising a volume containing case notes and observations on topics such as herpes, aneurisms, apoplexy, and typhus. Including manuscript copies of papers Marcet read at the Medico Chirurgical Society, which were not published, titled Two cases of visceral disease, with dissection, and Account of a case in which death was preceeded by a dose of arsenic and corrosive sublimate, with dissection, 1806.

Papers relating to gold mines in Tomsk, Russia, 1911, including; permission for Daniel F Keating to explore certain locations for one year and translation giving numbers and dates on the Tomsk mining records of locations; plan showing Petro-Pavlov River, houses, workshops and domestic accomodation and translation; plan of Petropavlovsky gold bearing alluvial mine; translations of leaseholds deeds and plans of the Petro Pavlovski, Veliki-Nicolaefski, Stephano-Tikvinski, Bolshe-Ivanofski and Nijni-Tooloyul gold bearing mines.

Correspondence to John Bradley & Co., mostly being very detailed orders for iron, except for a few letters addressed to James Foster himself.

31-page typescript foolscap volume with photographs and plans pasted onto and between the pages.

This volume is one of a set of seven that records the damage caused by the Independent Force’s bombing raids during 1918 and the enemy counter-measures that were encountered. This volume records attacks and their affect on blast furnaces in iron and steel works situated at Burbach, Maizieres, Karlshutte, Hagendingen, Rombach, Dillingen and Volklingen. Many of the photographs show bomb damage caused by specific raids and many of the site plans are marked to show where bombs exploded. A statistical appendix records loss of production ascribed to the air raids.

Papers of Samuel Holland, 1740, comprising four volumes of manuscript notes from Charles Alston's lectures on 'Materia Medica'. The first volume is titled Dr Alston's Lectures, 1740. The other volumes are: Volume 1 containing notes on minerals, lead, silver, copper, iron, tin, alumen, borax and vitriolum, 1740; Volume 3 containing notes on vegetables, roots, bark, leaves and flowers, 1740; Volume 4 containing notes on fruits, seeds, juices, and animals, 1740.

Papers, 1865-1891, of Charles Stephen Hill, comprising share certificates and related documents for 20 companies (mostly mining companies - gold, silver, copper, lead and tin) in Latin America, the United States, Australia, India and the United Kingdom.

This collection consists of correspondence to and from Lord Farrer, manuscript notes and papers on Indian trade and currency, press cuttings, and printed papers concerning currency problems in India.

Manuscript volume containing papers relating to coinage and the Royal Mint, 1722-1774, including a table of the gold and silver minted in the reigns of kings and queens of England from Queen Elizabeth I up to 1772, with a value in sterling for the total in each reign; a table of gold and silver minted from 20 Jul 1660-31 Dec 1751, with a value in sterling for the amount minted in each reign within this period; table of the weight of gold brought to the Mint for 20 years [1751-1770], with columns showing by whom it was brought and in what species it was coined; a table of 'gold at the Mint before the diminished guineas were sent', with a monthly account of gold coined from Aug 1773 to May 1774 and a statement of all gold coined from 1760-1774; an account of cut guineas imported into the Mint between 25 Aug 1773 and 9 Aug 1774, and delivered out between 13 Oct 1773 and 5 Oct 1774; tables giving the costs of coining various metals; a calculation table [for measuring fineness]; details of rises in salaries for officers of the Mint; details of salary scales for officers of the Mint, [Aug 1772].

Manuscript volume, [1580], containing instruction for all (Dutch) Exchangers for the alteration of coinage books and manuals following a proclamation that the fortieth part of all golden moneys is to be reserved for their salaries. The manuscript gives translations of the mottoes on various coins in place of the engravings of the coins found in the printed book.

This collection consists predominantly of notes, correspondence, press cuttings and printed matter on subjects such as British industries (including aviation, tin, steel, cotton and coal), prices and wages, restrictive practices, and economic development overseas. The collection also contains some personal papers including bank books and university notebooks.

Notebooks of Marie and Pierre Curie comprising holograph note-book containing notes of experiments, etc on radio-active substances, with rough pen-drawings of apparatus, 27 May 1899-4 Dec 1902, produced in Paris and notebook incomplete entitled 'Les rayons, a,b,g des corps radioactifs en relation avec la structure nucléaire' illustrated with a few rough pen-drawn diagrams, produced in Paris.

Licence allowing Joseph Corbetta to sell gold plate.

Letter from Thomas A Cook of Newcastle upon Tyne to H B Jordan, Esq of the Alkali Works, Bristol, 8 Dec 1845. Acknowledging Jordan's letter of 4 Dec 1845. Discussing at length the relative efficiency of stone stills [for manufacturing alkalis] used by Cook [at Walker, Newcastle], by Jordan and by Lee and Co; advising Jordan to visit Lee and Co and copy their stills exactly. Mentioning a Mr Bell's patent, the surprising cheapness of coal, and a meeting of masters [i.e. factory owners] which he was unable to attend. Noting that the returns show an increase of stock.

Autograph, with signature. A note [in Jordan's hand] on page 3 states: 'Ansd. 5 Jany'.

Notes from lectures of Nicolaus Cirillus, 1699-1735.

(1) Letter from James Bridgnell to H W I Wood, 28 Apr 1857. Relating to the introduction of a gold currency into India. (2) Reply from H W I Wood to James Bridgnell, 4 Jun 1857. Both letters with signatures.

Papers, 1955-1977, of Walter Barr Birmingham, comprising bibliographies and publications relating to economics in West Africa including Migrations into the Gold Coast (1955) and The State and Labour Migration in the South African Political Economy, with Particular Respect to Gold Mining (1977). It also contains the Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Conference of the West African Institute of Social and Economic Research (1956).

Two volumes of notes, on medical and chemical books, and on diseases and their treatment, c 1800-1823.

Pay books of Bell Brothers South Brancepeth Colliery (South Durham, Brockwell seam and Busty seam) and Clarence Iron Works.

Papers of Hyman Basner comprise manuscripts of the biography "H.M. Basner - 20 Years in South African Politics" by his wife Miriam, the autobiography of A.S. Mopeli-Paulus co-authored with Miriam Basner, Basner's book "The Black Price of Gold in South Africa from 1870-1960" and random chapters from his unpublished autobiography and books on Ghana and "The Union of Smuts and Strydom"; research notes on his time in Ghana and his legal work involving Basutoland/Lesotho and Harrismith; transcripts of an interview of Basner by Brian Willan on South African politics between 1930-1950 and an interview with David Wilcox Bopape; correspondence including those relating to the publication of articles by Basner, political refugees in Swaziland, Connor Cruise O'Brien and Brian Willan and correspondence between Miriam Basner and various others; copies of published articles by Basner and seminar papers by Baruch Hirson and others; bound reports by various departments of the South African government; letters and pamphlets for his election campaign for the Senate and legal and court papers relating to cases Basner was working on (SOME ARE CLOSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT) and his imprisonment.