Administrative records, deeds, financial records, patient records, nursing records and photographs.

Archive, 1754 to date, of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA; formerly the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, or Society of Arts), created by the Society in the course of its activities, and comprising records of its administration (Ref: AD), and records of its activities and events (Ref: PR), also including some printed material dating back to 1634.

Administrative records of the Society include:

Records of Miscellaneous Committees to discuss the programme and administration of the Society, including the Committee of Correspondence and Papers and the Committee of Miscellaneous Matters, 1754-1848 (Ref: AD.MA/104).
Records of the Society from 1754, later the Council (established 1845) (Ref: AD.MA/100).

Records concerning Chairmen of Council (from 1846) and Council membership (Ref: AD.MA/102).

Records of Secretaries (administrative head of the Society), after 1994 known as the Director (Ref: AD.MA/101).

Records of Presidents (Ref: AD.MA/103).

Records of Membership/Fellowship, relating to subscribers to the Society, originally termed 'members', referred to as 'Fellows' from 1908 (Ref: AD.MA/900). (The archive does not include extensive biographical information on RSA Fellows, although dates of membership of Fellows are usually recorded.)
Records concerning the Society's House in John Adam Street from its design and construction by the Adam Brothers, including correspondence, papers, notes, leases and other legal documents, relating to administration, management, alteration and repair of the building (Ref: AD.MA/300).

Records of various House Committees set up at different times to look at the building, its use, function, administration and management (Ref: AD.MA/305).

Accounting and financial records produced by various committees including the Accounts Committee and Finance and General Purposes Committee (Ref: AD.MA/400).

Annual Reports recording the Society's activities over the year, initially within the Journal (from 1852), but later as a separate publication (Ref: AD.MA/701).

Records relating to general lectures (developed from the 1850s when the Society ceased the award of premiums for inventions), with correspondence mainly concerning administrative arrangements for speakers and publication of their texts (in the RSA Journal) and suggestions for topics for discussion (Ref: AD.MA/800).

Records relating to the RSA Silver Medal awarded annually for the most interesting lecture over the preceding year (Ref: AD.MA/803).

Records relating to production of the Journal and other publicity, promotion and communication (Ref: AD.MA/203).

Donations and collections, comprising objects and artefacts donated to or bought by the Society (Ref: AD.MA/204).

Records of the Society's activities (such as award schemes, exhibitions, conferences, seminars and lectures), including joint initiatives with a range of other organisations, include:

Guard Books (30 volumes), 1754-1770, containing correspondence and papers about all Society activities and committees, on a range of subjects (Ref: PR.GE/110).

Manuscript versions of the Society's Transactions, comprising draft versions of the printed Transactions, including drawings, plans and diagrams in support of claims for premiums and awards. Also general correspondence to the Society on various 19th century campaigns, conferences and committees, covering subjects including lectures (arrangements for dates, speakers, chairmen, participants; suggestions for subjects, submission of lecture texts, corrections to texts, requests for tickets/programmes, acceptances, apologies for non-attendance etc), examinations (requests for syllabus, copies of certificates, programmes, rules; complaints, arrangements, agreements with colleges, details of examiners etc), membership (requests for information, applications, replies to circulars, notes accompanying subscriptions, resignations, complaints), Council/committee chairmen (intention to attend meetings, acceptances, general arrangements for meetings, requests for information, dates, times etc), Journal (receipt/non-receipt of copies, reciprocal arrangements with other libraries, requests for extra copies, corrections to proofs, advertising, arrangements for making blocks, photogravures etc), House (letters from freeholders, solicitors, contractors; booking of rooms), staff (applications for employment, testimonials, sick notes etc - a very small number of items), general (invitations, letters from bankers, auditors, business circulars, requests for funding, suggestions for campaigns, policies, events etc), and including artistic copyright, uniform musical pitch, domestic economy, art workmanship, musical training, food committees, patent law reform, prevention of fires in theatres and education exhibitions (Ref: PR.GE/118-19, 121).

Records relating to Premium and Programme committees (Ref: PR.GE/112); Albert Medal (founded 1863) (Ref: PR.GE/101); Memorial Tablet (blue plaque) scheme (founded 1866) (PR.GE/122); War Memorials Advisory Council (established 1944, disbanded 1948), concerning memorials of the Second World War (Ref: PR.GE/117); Exhibition of Exhibitions (1951), concurrent with the Festival of Britain, to commemorate earlier ground-breaking Society exhibitions on contemporary art (1760), industrial design (1847-1850), photography (1852), industry (1761), and the first international exhibition (1851) (Ref: PR.GE/102); R B Bennett Commonwealth Prize (endowed 1944) for outstanding contribution to the promotion of the arts, agriculture, industries and commerce of the Overseas Empire (Ref: PR.GE/116); Commonwealth Committee (Ref: PR.GE/113); proposals and planning for the Festival of Britain (1951) (Ref: PR.GE/103); events for the RSA Bicentenary (1954) (Ref: PR.GE/107); Benjamin Franklin Medal (instituted 1956) (Ref: PR.GE/100); Trusts, bequests, fundraising and development (Ref: PR.GE/111).

Records relating to manufacture and commerce, including the Paris Exhibitions (1844-1900) (Ref: PR.MC/109); Great Exhibition (1851) (Ref: PR.MC/107); International Exhibition (1862) (Ref: PR.MC/108); Chicago Exhibition (World's Columbian Exposition, 1893), British Section (Ref: PR.MC/112); Industry Year/Industry Matters (1986) (Ref: PR.MC/100); Tomorrow's Company (begun 1994), concerning the role of business in a changing world (Ref: PR.MC/115); Redefining Work (launched 1995) (Ref: PR.MC/116); Forum for Ethics in the Workplace (1997) (Ref: PR.MC/117); Manufacturing, Wealth Creation and the Economy (1998) (Ref: PR.MC/118).

Records of subject-based standing committees set up by the Society from 1754 to judge awards and premiums in particular areas, including minutes and correspondence about awards and attendance at and structure of committees: Agriculture (Ref: PR.MC/103), Chemistry (Ref: PR.MC/105), Colonies and Trade (Ref: PR.MC/104), Manufactures (Ref: PR.MC/102), Mechanics (Ref: PR.MC/101), and Polite Arts - including prints, drawings and other artwork submitted for award (Ref: PR.AR/103).

Records relating to fine and applied arts, including exhibition of works of Ancient and Medieval Art (1847-1850) (Ref: PR.AR/105); exhibition of the works of William Etty and William Mulready (1848-1849), including general correspondence, printed matter, catalogues, press cuttings, tickets and notices about mounting of exhibitions, and attendance (Ref: PR.AR/112); British Art in Industry Exhibition (1935) to publicise good design in articles of everyday use (Ref: PR.AR/101); Humorous Art Exhibition (1949-1950) (Ref: PR.AR/100); Art for Architecture scheme (from 1990), aiming to enhance the urban environment by encouraging cross disciplinary approaches to building and landscape projects, and associated with the Jerwood Art for Architecture Award (introduced 1994) (Ref: PR.AR/110); Shakespeare in Schools (begun 1992), a pilot project to introduce Shakespeare to children (Ref: PR.AR/108).

Records relating to promotion of design, including the Design Bursaries Board, Design Committee, the Design Board, Design Advisory Group and Design Section (Ref: PR.DE/106-7); Industrial Art Bursaries Competition (started 1924), succeeded by the Design Bursaries Competition, Competition of Industrial Designs and Student Design Awards (Ref: PR.DE/100); Royal Designers for Industry (RDI) scheme (created 1936) to encourage a high standard of industrial design (Ref: PR.DE/101); Bicentenary Medal (instituted 1954) for exceptional influence in promoting art and design in British industry (Ref: PR.DE/102); Presidential Awards for Design Management (instituted 1964) to recognise outstanding design policy (Ref: PR.DE/105).
Records relating to education, including the RSA Examinations Board (PR.ED/100); the Education for Capability programme (initiated 1979) to counteract academic bias in British education and promote practical, organising and co-operative skills (Ref: PR.ED/107); the future of Technological Higher Education in Britain (1982), a study group to consider the problems facing Britain in the development of technological higher education (Ref: PR.ED/118); Home-School links (from 1988) (Ref: PR.ED/108); Parents in a Learning Society, a development project to involve parents in education and assess home-school work (Ref: PR.ED/104); the National Advisory Council for Careers and Educational Guidance (established 1994), to promote and advise on provision of guidance for learning and work (Ref: PR.ED/103); Education Futures (2000) (Ref: PR.ED/116).

Records relating to the environment, including the Campaign for the Preservation of Ancient Cottages (begun 1926) to protect cottage architecture, establishing a fund which purchased or restored cottages near Worthing, at Bibury, Gloucestershire, West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Chiddingstone, Kent, and elsewhere (Ref: PR.EN/100); three 'Countryside in 1970' Conferences (1963-1970) (Ref: PR.EN/104); Environment Committee (formed 1971) to identify and anticipate major environmental problems and provide a forum for discussion (Ref: PR.EN/107), which began the Pollution Abatement Technology Award Scheme (PATAS) (1983-1986) (Ref: PR.EN/103), succeeded by the Better Environment for Industry/European Better Environment Awards for Industry (BEAFI/EBEAFI) (1987-1991) (Ref: PR.EN/101); the Environment Committee's sub-committee the RSA-Cubitt Trust Panel (to 1991), devoted to the built environment and working with the Cubitt Trust to convene conferences, seminars and an annual Cubitt Lecture (Ref: PR.EN/106); After the Earth Summit - What Next? (1992) (Ref: PR.EN/128); RSA Environmental Management Awards (begun 1993) (Ref: PR.EN/102).

The Early Library (Ref: SC/EL/1-5), comprising c500 printed works collected by the Society before 1830, including journals and periodicals, and c300 pamphlets and tracts covering broad-ranging topics relating to premiums and awards of the various sectional committees (Agriculture, Polite Arts, Chemistry, Manufactures, Mechanics, and Colonies and Trade), and including extracts from proceedings of other societies and learned institutions.

Comprises: Dispensary; Alexandra Hospital School; Administrative records; Financial records; Estate and property records; Drawings and illustrations; Postcards; Nursing records; Medical records; Photographs; Staff records; Operating theatre records; Supplies Department; External publications.

Comprises: administrative records; property and estate records; photographs; medical records; pathology records; staff records; external publications.

Comprises: Engineering Department; Administrative records; Financial records; Estate and property records; Postcards; Photographs; Internal publications; Medical Committee; Nursing records; Medical Photography/Illustration Department; Medical records; Pathology records; League of Friends; Nurses League; Staff records; Operating theatre registers; External Publications.

Comprises: Administrative records; Estate and property records; Matron's office and nursing; Medical records; School of Nursing records.

Comprises: Administrative records; Estate and property records; Nursing records; Medical records; Pathology records; Radiography records; Nurses League records; Staff records; Operating theatre records.

Comprises: memorandum relating to churchwardens' account book and parish ordinances, [1495]; memorandum of expenses for an obit mass 'for the good benefactors and all Christian souls', 1507; ratification regarding the observance of the feast day of St Audoen alias St Ewin, 1533.

Comprises: Bequests, Wills and Probate; Church Fabric; Constable and Scavenger; Certificates; Churchwardens; Finance; Images and Press Cuttings; Militia; Parish Appointments; Parish Boundaries; Poor Law; Printed Material; Plans of the Church; Parish Property; Parish Registers; Parish Maintenance; Loose Rate Assessment Papers; Registers of Services and Preachers; Tithes; Vicar and Hospitaller; Vestry.

Records of St Nicholas Shambles parish, 1253-1526, comprising churchwardens' account book, 1452-1526; indulgence from Walter [Cantilupe], Bishop of Worcester, to the parishioners of St Nicholas Shambles, 22 Jan 1253; indulgence from Nicholas, Bishop of Kildare, to all who say the Lord's Prayer and Ave Maria for the soul of Simon de Finchinfield, buried in the church of St Nicholas, 8 Sep 1280.

Papers of or relating to John Hunter comprising notes of lectures delivered by William Hunter, Donald Monro and John Rutherford, (4 volumes), including 'The operations in surgery of William Hunter with the methods of salivating' (1754), 'A course of lectures on the theory and practice of midwifery' by Dr C Mackenzie, London (22 Oct 1770), 'Gravid Uterus' by Monro (1752), lectures on anatomy and musculature by W Hunter, London (1754), lectures on the 'lues venerea' [syphilis] by Rutherford, Edinburgh (1750) and Monro, London (1751) and on rickets by Monro, Edinburgh (1751), and an undated clinical lecture by Rutherford; lecture notes of W Hunter on the brain, muscles, senses, sleep, digestion, circulation and physiology, undated (2 volumes); letter from John Hunter to Edward Jenner, informing Jenner of his election to the Royal Society, 26 Feb 1789; notes of lectures delivered by John Hunter, undated (2 volumes); notes of lectures delivered by John Hunter, 1779-1780; 'A Rationale of Surgery' collected from the lectures of John Hunter by Charles Brandon Trye, 1783 (3 volumes); notebook containing two fragments of manuscripts in the same hand together, comprising 'notes of twelve gratuitous lectures on the principal operations in surgery, delivered annually to the pupils of St George's' by Sir Everard Home, and abbreviated version of 'A Rationale of Surgery', undated; notes of lectures delivered by Percival Pott, undated.

Note: this collection is currently on loan to the Royal College of Surgeons.

Papers of Sir Austin Bradford Hill, 1987-1990, comprise memoirs of his time working at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and correspondence mainly from Bradford Hill to Brian Furner, Librarian at LSHTM.

Memoirs comprise personal recollections of Bradford Hill and discuss individual staff members and the evolving structure of LSHTM.

Correspondence notably includes letters from Bradford Hill to Brian Furner and includes recollections requested by Furner and Bradford Hill's own requests for information held by the library, for his own work, including the obituary of John Fraser Roberts for the JRSS, 1987.

Papers of Patrick Alfred Buxton, 1908-1957, relate to his employment as Head of Entomology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 1927-1955, and notably include research notes, correspondence, maps, diaries and publications.

Papers of Geoffrey Douglas Hale Carpenter, 1913-1930, comprise a travel diary which records Carpenter and his wife Amy Carpenter née Frances Thomas-Peter's experiences including trips to Uganda for his research on sleeping sickness between 1913 and 1930; diary entries documenting their day to day activities including photographs, pressed flowers, press cuttings, concert programmes and their wedding invitation.

Papers of Percy Cyril Claude Garnham, 1966-1995, relate to the last field research project, by Garnham, to Sabah, Malaysia, in 1972 and his death in 1994. Correspondence and notes regarding the expedition to Sabah include an introduction to the expedition and photographs and scanned images of Garnham at work, undated, (Garnham 01/01); typewritten notes with handwritten corrections concerning the film 'Expedition to Borneo', [1972], (Garnham 01/02); correspondence concerning blood films and a bibliography for protozoa, insects and acoredae, 1972-1973, (Garnham 01/03); correspondence, maps, diagrams, reports and notes related to the study of orang-utans including a draft copy of 'Malaria parasity of the orang-utan (pongo pygmaeus)' by Garnham and others, 1969-1975(Garnham 01/04); notes belonging to Peters including a workbook comprising diagrams of blood cells and notes and charts regarding parasites, 1972, (Garnham 01/05); Garnham's correspondence largely with Peters regarding the continuing work concerning malaria and chimpanzees, 1966-1991,(Garnham 01/06); photographs and diagrams including a photograph of G S de Silva outside the animal clinic in Sabah and a diagram indicating zoogeographic sub regions of the oriental region, c1970, (Garnham 01/07); correspondence largely to Wallace Peters including notes on the orang-utans in Sepilok, 1966-1974 (Garnham 01/08); correspondence notably regarding pongo paper, 1966-1975, (Garnham 01/09); photographs of chimp blood slides, c1970, (Garnham 01/10); correspondence mainly addressed to Peters, including notes and graphs of orang-utan study; correspondence regarding the setting up and funding of the project; and draft paper by Garnham, N Rajapaksa, W Peters, and R Killick-Kendrick 'Malaria parasites of the orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus)', 1969-1973, (Garnham 01/11); photographs of Sepilok, application for Government grant for scientific investigations, correspondence regarding blood films, slides and orang-utans and new buildings in Sepilok, notes and contents of reels of film from Sabah and Borneo, 1969-1977 (Garnham 01/12) and a documentary film entitled 'Expedition to Borneo, 1972', comprising footage of orang-utans in their natural surroundings, transferred to DVD (Garnham 01/13).

Papers also concern the death of Garnham and notably comprise correspondence from Claude Garnham, including a letter of thanks to Peters for writing Garnham's obituary; copies of many obituaries within various journals and newspapers including two in French; programme of service and thanksgiving for the life and work of Garnham and correspondence regarding the founding of an award in Garnham's memory, 1994-1995,(Garnham 02).

Papers of Michael Stewart Rees Hutt, 1962-1991, comprise diaries and papers relating to his work as a pathologist, largely in Uganda and notably include accounts of Uganda Safari, 1990; visit to Uganda, 1981; safari to Western Province, 1962; Uganda trip, 1967. Papers include a report on Makerere University Medical School, 1982 and a paper titled 'Geographical pathology in medical education' by Hutt and I J P A Loefler, 1969.

Papers of Robert Thomson Leiper, [1880-1960] contain material concerning an expedition by Leiper to British Guiana and the West Indies; a commission from the London School of Tropical Medicine to study filariasis and material relating to Leiper, his work at the School and his family including photographs, postcards from West Africa, autograph book, reports as an helminthologist, material on the Peking Union Medical College and family history research.

Papers of George Macdonald consist of a diary and photograph albums of malaria eradication work in Malaysia, Singapore and Ceylon with Sir Malcolm Watson, 1937; diaries of his work in Italy and Sicily during World War Two; photographs of malaria control measures during World War Two in the Middle East, Egypt, Algiers, Crete, Sicily, Cyprus and Greece and a personnel file relating to his appointment to the Ross Institute, his overseas visits and his death.

Papers of Max Joseph von Pettenkofer, [1891], relate to his interest and work concerning sanitation and pollution and comprise a handwritten manuscript titled 'On the self purification of rivers'.

This series of records comprises the private office papers of Rowland Hill including, Rowland Hill's Post Office Journals, extracts from the volumes of Secretary's minutes to the Postmaster General and some original documentation relating to those minutes, volumes of Rowland Hill's minutes to the Postmaster General, correspondence and general material relating particularly to postal reform and including a copy of all volumes of 'History of Penny Postage' by Sir Rowland Hill, KCB (published by William Clowes & Sons).

This series has nine sub-series. These cover Telegrams (general), Greetings Telegrams, Forces Telegrams, the Telemessage Service, Overseas Radio and Telecommunications Branch, the Rules and Procedures, material used for exhibitions, Press cuttings and History.

This series relates to conveyance of mails within the United Kingdom and Ireland by sea. The majority of records are on the Irish and Scottish packet services, with a few contracts for mail services to the Scilly Isles, Lundy Island and the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands, placed at the end of the series.

This series relates to the conveyance of mails by Underground pneumatic tube in London. It comprises reports and papers produced and used by the committee appointed in 1909 by the Postmaster General to consider the introduction of the underground transmission of mails within London and plans of the proposed route for the railway, showing rail levels and junctions. It also contains a copy of the Post Office (London) Railway act and the patent granted to Hosiah Latimer Clark for the invention of apparatus for conveying post by pneumatic tube, (POST 20/30). Papers relating to the construction, maintenance and expansion of the Post Office (London) Railway are also present including specifications, invitations to tender, conditions of contract, estimate of costs and technical plans relating to the construction of new stations, car depots, subways, additions and alterations to stations, including the fitting and maintenance of electrical equipment. This is also demonstrated through numerous plans held within the collection. As well as the Manager's annual reports, there are also numerous files of miscellaneous correspondence, memoranda and reports from the Post Office to various departments and organisations regarding the Post Office (London) Railway, historical accounts. There are also two photograph albums of railway equipment and work being carried out on it.

Some of the plans show properties purchased by the Post Office following the passage of the Post Office (London) Railway Act in 1913. There is a series of signed plans dated 26 October 1914 showing the depth and route of the Post Office (London) railway below ground with details of tunnels, shield chambers, and shafts. There is also a series of plans marking individual and corporate properties along the proposed route of the Post Office Railway.

This series comprises 'minuted' papers relating to Ireland for the period 1841 to 1960. 'Minuted' papers were those papers which had been submitted to the Postmaster General for a decision, and then been retained in the Post Office registry. At first, the papers 'minuted' tended only to be the particular case submitted to the Postmaster General but, as time went on, registry staff followed a practice of continuing to add physically to an existing minuted case all other cases on that subject which came to hand. As a result, the minuted papers frequently consist of quite large bundles of files on a common subject spanning many years. The date range of the files is consequently often much earlier or much later than the date suggested by the 'Former Reference' used by the registry staff and, in many cases, the precise dates covered by the files have not yet been listed. The subject of individual files among the minuted papers can be wide-ranging, from the mundane administrative minutiae to policy decisions on developments of critical importance.

This series comprises 'minuted' papers relating to Post Office services in Scotland, although a proportion developed into cases of general interest. 'Minuted' papers were those papers which had been submitted to the Postmaster General for a decision, and then been retained in the Post Office registry. At first, the papers 'minuted' tended only to be the particular case submitted to the Postmaster General but, as time went on, registry staff followed a practice of continuing to add physically to an existing minuted case all other cases on that subject which came to hand. As a result, the minuted papers frequently consist of quite large bundles of files on a common subject spanning many years. The date range of the files is consequently often much earlier or much later than the date suggested by the 'Former Reference' used by the registry staff and, in many cases, the precise dates covered by the files have not yet been listed.

The subject of individual files among the minuted papers can be wide-ranging, from the mundane administrative minutiae to policy decisions on developments of critical importance.

This series comprises 'minuted' papers relating to all manner of Post Office matters.

'Minuted' papers were those papers which had been submitted to the Postmaster General for a decision, and then been retained in the Post Office registry. At first, the papers 'minuted' tended only to be the particular case submitted to the Postmaster General but, as time went on, registry staff followed a practice of continuing to add physically to an existing minuted case all other cases on that subject which came to hand. As a result, the minuted papers frequently consist of quite large bundles of files on a common subject spanning many years. The date range of the files is consequently often much earlier or much later than the date suggested by the 'Former Reference' used by the registry staff and, in many cases, the precise dates covered by the files have not yet been listed. The subject of individual files among the minuted papers can be wide-ranging, from the mundane administrative minutiae to policy decisions on developments of critical importance.

This series comprises accounts of British packet services and overseas posts, including records of agents and postmasters, packet stations, and packet boats. The accounts cover income, expenditure, salaries, allowances and disbursements.

This record series comprises memoranda, letters and reports on the establishment and operation of the Foreign and Colonial Parcel Post, and agreements between the Post Office of the United Kingdom, and foreign postal authorities and shipping companies. It also includes papers relating to 1970s and 1980s overseas parcel services.

POST 5 comprises a series of quarterly accounts of warrants issued by the Treasury authorising payment, by the Receiver General, of incident bills incurred by the General, Twopenny and London District Post Offices (the Twopenny Post was replaced by the London District Post in 1844).

Accounts cover a wide variety of items and are arranged under general subject headings, such as 'pensions', 'packets', 'tradesmen' and 'rents'. Entries include the date of issue of warrant, what or whom it is for, date payment is due and the amount. Volumes are indexed by person, subject and place. Warrants are mainly for payments of:

· Pensions, salaries and allowances to chief and senior officers, clerks, sorters, messengers and servants working in the London headquarters departments, including offices of the Secretary and Accountant General, and the Foreign, Inland, Express, Mail Coach, Dead Letter and Ship Letter offices; packet agents; surveyors; postmasters; inspectors of mails, letter receivers and carriers and packet ships; commanders and mates of packet ships, or their widows; letter receivers and carriers in London; and mail guards

· Expenses for mail conveyance by sea, including costs incurred by packet ships operating from Falmouth, Harwich, Dover, Whitehaven, Donaghadee, Weymouth, Milford Haven and Holyhead, and in the West and East Indies, notably hire charges, lighting dues, wages and victualling for captains, officers and crew whilst at sea, out of employ or while the ship is undergoing repairs; and ship letter mails

· Expenses for inland mail conveyance, notably for payments to mail coach contractors; road, bridge and ferry tolls; supply and upkeep of fire arms, time pieces, mail bags and mail guards uniforms; mail coach maintenance; and railway and steam packet company charges

· Compensation for abolished offices or duties

· Tradesmen's bills for items supplied or work done

· Legal expenses, notably relating to investigation, detection, capture and trial of felons

· Rents, taxes and rates for offices in London

· stationery printing costs

· Transit postage and tonnage dues to foreign post offices

· Travelling expenses, particularly surveyors'

· Advances or loans (covered by imprest warrants) to employees, particularly seamen.

*There are no indications whether or not POST 5/1-3 include warrants relating to the Twopenny Post Office.

This series consists of a series of quarterly accounts of salaries and allowances due and payable by incidents to the officers, clerks and tradesmen employed by the General, Twopenny and London District Post Offices (the Twopenny Post was replaced by the London District Post in 1844). Items 6/4-6, covering 1794-1799, also include separate quarterly accounts of tradesmen's bills and incidental warrants paid out of the revenue of the Bye and Cross Road Letter Office. Accounts cover a wide variety of items and are arranged under general subject headings, such as 'pensions', 'packets', 'tradesmen' and 'rents'. Entries include what the bill is for, name of person owed and the amount. The date of the Treasury warrant authorising payment is often included at the end of each quarterly account. Volumes are not indexed. The accounts include bills for:

• Pensions, salaries and allowances to chief and senior officers, clerks, sorters, messengers and servants working in London headquarters departments, including offices of the Secretary and Accountant General, and the Foreign, Inland, Express, Mail Coach, Dead Letter, Ship Letter and Bye Letter offices; packet agents; surveyors; postmasters inspectors of mails, letter receivers and carriers and packet ships; commanders and mates of packet ships, or their widows; letter receivers and carriers in London; and mail guards

• Expenses for mail conveyance by sea, including costs incurred by packet ships operating from Falmouth, Harwich, Dover, Whitehaven, Donaghadee, Weymouth, Milford Haven and Holyhead, and in the West and East Indies, notably hire charges, lighting dues, arms and ammunition stores, wages and victualling for captains, officers and crew whilst at sea, out of employ or while the ship is undergoing repairs; and ship letter mails

• Expenses for inland mail conveyance, notably for payments to mail coach contractors; road, bridge and ferry tolls; supply and upkeep of fire arms, time pieces, mail bags and mail guards uniforms; mail coach maintenance; and railway and steam packet company charges

• Compensation for abolished positions or duties

• Items supplied or work done by tradesmen

• Legal expenses notably relating to investigation, detection, capture, and trail of felons

• Rents, taxes and rates for offices in London

• Stationery printing costs

• Transit postage and tonnage dues to foreign post offices

• Travelling expenses, particularly surveyors'

Item 6/11, covering 1805-1809, is different to the rest of the series. It contains certified accounts of the quarterly salaries and allowances paid by incidents upon which the Civil List deduction, or tax, of six pence in the pound is chargeable. Each account lists the 'salaries' and 'incidents' of individual officers and clerks at the General Post Office headquarters in London, including the Postmaster General, Secretary and other senior officers, and the total duty payable each quarter.

These accounts probably originate from the office of the Receiver General, who was in charge of all moneys received and paid out of the revenue of the Post Office.

This series consists of Royal Letters Patent to Postmasters General and Receiver Generals giving the sovereign's written authority to perform their duties. The series also contains a letters patent for the office of Court Post. The patents give: name of appointee; dates of appointment; salary and duties. All have their seals missing but the original seal attached.

This class consists of papers spanning the period from pre-regionalisation, when the country was separated into Districts run by District Surveyors, reporting directly to the Postmaster General, up until the early 1990s.

It includes papers on Regional surveying duties and the stretching of resources in the light of an increase in work load due to rapid expansion of the Post Office in the nineteenth century.

In addition it incorporates papers from various Committees including:

-The Decentralisation Committee, appointed to consider devolution of powers in the light of mounting criticism of centralisation of Post Office administration leading to inefficiency and an inability to concentrate on development of policy.

-The Committee of Enquiry on the Post Office (Bridgeman Committee) appointed to consider change in Post Office administration, which had various wide ranging recommendations, including that of the introduction of a Regional system with powers devolved on Regional Directors.

-The Committee on Metropolitan and Regional organisation (Gardiner Committee), appointed to carry through the recommendations of the Bridgeman Report, culminating in the creation of two experimental Regions in Scotland and the North East.

-The Working Party on Regionalisation appointed to assess the progress of Regionalisation and to recommend further innovations if necessary.

It also includes papers from the experimental Regions and various Regional Conferences, as well as papers from the individual Regions. Subjects covered by this material include papers covering the civil disturbances in Northern Ireland and papers relating to the London Postal Service and the inauguration of the London Postal Region. Also included are papers concerning the input of the London and Midlands Regions into the several reviews of efficiency of the Post Office conducted by McKinsey and Company.

There are also papers relating to the split of the Post Office into two separate divisions: Postal and Telecommunications, and how this might best be carried out across the Regional structure.

The papers incorporate a wide range of material, including annual reports, meeting minutes and papers, financial paperwork, organisational diagrams, Regional Board papers, Regional publications, reviews, strategic plans and photographs of Regional representatives.

This series consists of reports, memoranda and accounts relating to the organisation, structure, functions and operations of Post Office factories and the Factories Department.

This series comprises a wide variety of 18th, 19th and some 20th century account books and schedules relating to Post Office business.

A number of items in this series will be useful to researchers of 19th century family history. POST 9/112-130 contains names of mail conveyance contractors, 1854-1874; POST 9/139 list names of postmasters, 1847- 1848; POST 9/66-76 includes names of postmasters and their date of appointment, 1855-1873; POST 9/146-163 contains names of officers working in the Post Office in London. The volumes do not contain name indexes.

Private papers of John Palmer, Surveyor and Comptroller General of Mails 1786-1792. Palmer was responsible for the introduction of the mail coach service. He submitted his plans for the service and changes in franking and postage to William Pitt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Disputes over the service and over his dismissal of his deputy resulted in his suspension and dismissal from duty in 1792. He received a pension but fought for a claim of the percentage and no settlement was agreed until 1813. The papers include a collection of pamphlets and reports concerning a dispute with his deputy and claims for percentage of revenue, surveyor's and deputy surveyor's minutes for matters of the day; letters, reports and memoranda on foreign posts and packet boat services, postal reforms, mail coach services, staff, establishments, revenue, accounts and various city freedoms awarded to John Palmer. Some of the sources are indexed.

Papers and correspondence, 1939-1981, of Professor Joseph Anthony Charles Thomas concerning his work, comprising manuscript and typescript notes for lectures attended while a student at Cambridge, 1939-1947; typescripts and manuscripts for The Institutes of Justinian; typescripts and manuscripts, including translations, for various articles, lectures and talks, some unpublished; texts for his lectures at Nottingham, 1953-1954, Glasgow, 1955-1961, and University College London, 1965-1980 and undated; general correspondence, 1953-1978, correspondence concerning book reviews, 1962-1980, correspondence concerning articles, 1966-1969, 1975-1981, and correspondence concerning outside talks, A Casebook on Contract, Textbook of Roman Law, and The Institutes of Justinian.

Townsend's journals. Also correspondence, personal files, postcards, art photographs, press cuttings, newspapers, typescripts of poems and articles, and general professional papers concerning colleges and exhibitions in Canada and the UK.

William Hunter Baillie's transcript of the autobiographic memoranda of his father, Matthew Baillie (1761-1823), 1854, copied from the original, with a letter from William Hunter Baillie commenting on the text of the memoranda

Two volumes of medical case notes, 1884-90, apparently of the private practice of Robert Sydenham Fancourt Barnes or possibly of the practice of his father, Robert Barnes.

Bate's medical casebook, 1654-1660. Containing record of prescriptions given to his patients, also includes notes and sketches.

Medical formulary, [1640s]-[1680s]. Includes collection of medical receipts in Bathurst's handwriting, and notes on Homer, Xenophon, and the Bible, mid-late C17th

Batty's medical notebook, c.1846-1854

Bayly's medical casebook, 1762-64

The Brain archive comprises his personal and professional papers together with sampled case notes from his private practice, 1865-1977. As well as medical papers, there is a significant amount of material relating to Brain's philosophical and literary interests, and some papers of Brain's family and of his wife Stella (nee Langdon-Down).

Papers of Charles Edouard Brown-Sequard and his family, 1787-1963. Includes family correspondence and papers, 1787-71, and correspondence and papers of Brown-Sequard's mother, Henrietta Perrine Charlotte Brown, 1838-41, including her marriage certificate, 1813; Correspondence and papers of Brown-Sequard, both personal and professional, spanning his life and career in Mauritius, France, America, and England, 1838-94, including correspondence with well known figures such as Thomas Huxley, Charles Darwin and Louis Pasteur, [1862]-1876, letters to his first wife Ellen, 1852-64, to his second wife Maria, and their marriage certificate, 1872-73, and correspondence with his third wife Elizabeth Emma, 1876-80, poems and literary notes of Brown-Sequard and Elizabeth Emma, 1837, 1883, correspondence regarding his French nationality, 1856-97, his will [1886]-94 and diary entries in his final days, 1894

Correspondence about his experimental work, 1868-1935, and his appointments and awards, 1849-89, with testimonials and letters of introduction, 1852-57; Notes of Brown-Sequard's lectures, mostly in his hand, 1855-93; DM Thesis, 1846; Articles by Brown-Sequard, including published versions of his lectures, 1856-90, articles and newspaper cuttings about his work, 1851-1945, and articles on medical subjects written by his contemporaries, 1844-1935; Case notes and prescriptions, c.1860-91; Photographs of, and relating to, Brown-Sequard, including the unveiling of his bust in Mauritius in 1928, mostly n.d., and cartoon of Brown-Sequard, 1889; Published material relating to Brown-Sequard, including obituaries, 1894 , biographic articles, 1894-1931, and newspaper cuttings, 1894-193

Correspondence and papers of his daughter, Charlotte Maria McCausland (nee Brown-Sequard), his son-in-law, Richard Bolton McCausland, and his grandson, Charles E. McCausland, 1894-1963, including correspondence about Brown-Sequard, 1894-1963, particularly on the subject of biographies and his bibliography, 1909-46, and a notebook and letterbook about Brown-Sequard, in his daughter's hand, c.1846-1926.

Burges' papers, 1767-c.1790s, include records of his medical cases, 1769-75; Printed copy of the St George's Hospital Pharmacopoeia, with annotations by Burges, mid-late 18th century (c.1770s-80s); his lecture notes on various subjects, such as materia medica, Boerhaave's institutes, and the hydraulic and chemical systems, mid-late 18th century (c.1770s-90s); Notes on diseases, and on chemistry and materia medica, mid-late 18th century (c.1770s-90s).

Cheadle's papers, 1877-1934, include his notes on the use of anti-scorbutic treatment for scurvy in young children, includes notes of six cases, with temperature charts, 1877-88. Also includes explanatory notes from J.F. Poynton, 1910; Original paintings and photograph of infantile scurvy by Cheadle, from the cases of Sir Thomas Barlow, to accompany Cheadle's original records of the cases, [1877-79], with letter presenting paintings to the College from Poynton, 1934.

Two journals of Sir James Clark, 1847-68, including notes on Clark's travel with the Royal family to Scotland and Ireland.

Cockayne's professional and personal papers, 1907-46, consist of his casebook, 1913-34, with patient-lists, notes and loose correspondence regarding patients; and his papers, 1907-46, including his medical registration certificates, 1907-9; notes on patients, with accompanying charts, on medical subjects, such as pyloric stenosis, 1934-38, and on entomological specimens; correspondence about his patients at Great Ormond Street, 1935, about his retirement and requests to serve on Committees, 1922-46; and articles and notes on various subjects, such as the medical history of the First World War, 1915-32.

Josiah Colebrook: Commonplace book of prescriptions for diseases, [1700].