Tapes and transcripts of interviews with leading British civil servants and administrators collected for the purposes of the British Oral Archive of Political and Administrative History (BOAPAH) project, 1980. The subject matter of the interviews covers the period from 1920 to 1980, and includes details of the lives and work of the interviewees, namely Philip Allen, Baron Allen of Abbeydale; Derick Heathcote Amory, Viscount Amory; Edward Charles Gurney Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth; Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor; Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden; Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley; Douglas Albert Vivian Allen, Baron Croham; Sir Charles Cunningham; Sir Goronwy Hopkin Daniel; Thomas Dunlop Galbraith, 1st Baron Strathclyde of Barskimming; Dr Sir George Edward Godber; William David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech; Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of The Hirsel; Frederick Robert Hoyer Millar, 1st Baron Inchyra; Lt Gen Sir Edward Ian Claud Jacob; John Scott Maclay, 1st Viscount Muirshiel; Sir Frank Cyril Musgrave; Sir Anthony Alexander Part; Sir Arthur William Peterson; Sir Edward Wilder Playfair; John Enoch Powell; Sir Richard Royle Powell; Sir Arthur Hilton Poynton; Robert Lowe Roberthall, Baron Roberthall; Sir Robert Heatlie Scott; Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, Baron Shackleton; Roger Mellor Makins, 1st Baron Sherfield; Sir John Walley; and Sir Richard George Kitchener Way.

Papers relating to the life and career of Professor Thomas Burton Bottomore, including material relating to his early life, 1930s-1949, such as his Phd thesis; working and research materials, 1950s-1992, comprising notes, articles, press cuttings, translations and offprints of material on subjects including socialist theory, modernism, world systems, radical movements, and Rudolf Herferding; material on the French civil service and students at the École Nationale d'Administration, [1952-1969], possibly for a thesis by Bottomore on the subject; correspondence, 1953-1992, with students, publishers, colleagues and friends, as well as contacts in Greece, Spain, the USA, Canada, India, China, Japan, Africa, Australia, Latin America, and Pakistan; papers concerning conferences, 1960-1981, including correspondence, programmes and texts of lectures and seminars; material relating to campaigns, 1972-1989, notably against Cruise missiles; teaching papers, 1968-1992, mainly comprising course outlines, references, material relating to Sussex University and Sussex Sociology Group; correspondence, committee papers and circulars relating to organisations, 1950-1977, including the Praxis Educational Board, the International Sociological Association (ISA), and the International Society for Socialist Studies (ISSS); material relating to his time in Canada, 1963-1987, including papers concerning work at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver; papers relating to writings and publications, 1957-1992, including correspondence, royalty statements and notes concerning books written by Bottomore, copies of articles on sociological subjects, texts of interviews and radio talks, and reviews; material concerning journals, 1956-1992, such as Current Sociology, Socialism of the Future, and Praxis; transcript of Bottomore's personal diary, 1949-1992.

Papers, 1800-1964, assembled by Wilfred Lawson Blythe for his research on secret societies in Malaya, used in his subsequent publication Secret Societies in Malaya (1969), comprising official departmental annual reports, intelligence reports, despatches, photographs and other reference material.

The archive consists of historical and contemporary notes, statistics, press cuttings and correspondence on women's wages including specific classes of trades (1914-1919); printed reports on conditions of juvenile employment (1912), of the sub-committee of the Women's Industrial Council (1917), on women's employment in industry (c 1910-1915); press cuttings, articles and reviews, on women and their welfare (1912-1917); papers, reports and typescript of articles on women's wages and conditions (1912-1919); notes on the employment of women in the Civil Service (1914-1916); questionnaire of the Fabian Society's Women's Group and other organisations (undated).

Correspondence of William Evans to his wife and family (1883-1905), giving anecdotal experiences of his time in Singapore and China. Also the correspondence of his son-in-law, Alan Baker, primarily to his mother (1905-1922) giving news and accounts of his experiences in Oxford (Keble College) and in Malaya.