The papers cover the period, 1879-1916, and include papers on Howell's service as a correspondent for The Times in the Balkans, including photographs and newspaper cuttings, 1903; papers on Howell's training at Staff College, Quetta, India, and Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, including notes on Cavalry organization and tactics and on the establishment of FrontierIntelligence organization in India, 1904-1914; papers on service as Officer Commanding 4 Hussars, including Operational orders, accounts of Allied operations on Western Front, personal diaries and manuscript maps of Western Front trenches, 1914-1915; Operational orders from service as Brig Gen, General Staff Cavalry Corps, Western Front, 1915; official and semi-official correspondencefrom service as Chief of Staff, Salonika, including personal diaries, correspondence relating to attempts to secure Bulgarian entry in World War One on the Allied side, and correspondence relating to allegations of Howell leaking memoranda to a Suffragete newspaper called Britannia, 1915-1916. The collection also includes Howell family correspondence, 1879-1889, mostly between Howell's father and grandfather, and from 1909-16 between Howell and his wife Mrs Rosalind 'Linnett' Howell [nee Buxton]. The papers of Howell's wife, Mrs Rosalind 'Linnett' Howell [nee Buxton], 1910-1966, include an account of Howell's life entitled, Philip Howell. A Memoir By His Wife(1942, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd) and letters from Capt (Edward) Hugh Buxton and Maj (Abbot) Redmond Buxton [Rosalind 'Linnett' Howell's brothers], concerning Allied withdrawal from Anzac Cove and Sulva Bay, Gallipoli, Turkey, 1915-1916.

The collection contains family diaries and appointment books of Thomas Humphry Ward and Mary Augusta Ward, 1871-1926; personal diaries of Dorothy Ward, 1889-1955; family letters of Arnold Ward, 1890-1915; newspaper cuttings, 1891-1920.

Papers of Beatrice and Sidney Webb, 1835-[1985], comprising the following: Diaries of Beatrice Webb, 1873-1943, including the original manuscript volumes and various typed transcripts, comprising a detailed account of her life and work, notably relating to the history of socialism in Great Britain. The volumes include entries concerning Charles Booth, the Fabian Society, the Labour Party, trade unionism, the suffrage movement, the LSE, local government, and communism, as well as descriptions of friends, colleagues and acquaintances. The diaries also include entries by Sidney Webb, mainly during their 'world tours' in 1898 and 1911 and a visit to the USSR in 1932. Correspondence, 1853-1947, including correspondence of the Potter family before Beatrice's marriage, 1862-1892, including letters of her parents, Richard and Lawrencina Potter, and her sisters, as well as correspondence between Beatrice and Herbert Spencer, Joseph Chamberlain, Charles and Mary Booth, Professor Alfred Marshall, and Auberon (Edward William Molyneux) Herbert; early correspondence of Sidney Webb, 1885-1892, notably with Graham Wallas and George Bernard Shaw; letters between Beatrice and Sidney Webb, 1890-1940, including material relating to their courtship, marriage, work and life together; general correspondence of the Webbs following their marriage, 1892-1947, with a wide range of correspondents including politicians, Fabians, historians, social scientists, and staff of the London School of Economics and Political Science; additional letters and photocopies of letters given to the Library after the deposit of the Passfield papers in 1949, 1888-1944, including correspondence with Edward Reynolds Pease, Charlotte Payne-Townshend (later Shaw), Professor William Alexander Robson, Mrs Lucia Turin, Herbert George Wells, Richard Burdon Haldane, Viscount Haldane, and Hubert Hall; later correspondence relating to the Webbs, [1970-1985], collated by Norman MacKenzie. Material concerning personal and private affairs, 1865-1948, including financial and legal papers of the Webbs and their families, 1873-1945, such as wills, probates, birth and marriage certificates and insurance policies; material relating to educational awards of Sidney and Beatrice, 1876-1945, as well as papers concerning his Barony; correspondence, legal and business papers concerning property, 1893-1948, including Passfield Corner; financial material, 1902-1947, notably banking correspondence and dividend vouchers; photographs, 1865-1947, mainly of the Potter family and Beatrice and Sidney Webb, and including several of George Bernard Shaw and his wife Charlotte. Material relating to political and public work, 1892-1948, including material relating to the London County Council, 1892-1907; papers concerning the Poor Law, 1909-1948, including the foundation of the National Committee for the Prevention of Destitution, and papers of the National Poor Law Reform Association; memoranda by Beatrice Webb on the administration of the Prince of Wales's Fund, 1914; documents from the International Socialist Congress of Vienna, 1914; material concerning Beatrice Webb's work on the Reconstruction Committee, 1917-1918, including letters from William Henry Beveridge, David Lloyd George and Christopher Addison, and committee papers; memoranda on war aims for the Inter-Allied Labour and Socialist Conference, 1918; political papers regarding Sidney Webb's candidature for the University of London in the general election of 1918, and his role as Labour MP for Seaham Harbour, 1920-1931; prospectus and notices of the Half-Circle Club, 1921; notes by Sidney Webb on the Labour Government of 1924; material concerning the living wage policy of the Independent Labour Party, 1926; political papers of Sidney Webb, 1929-1931, mainly concerning his role as Secretary of State for the Colonies in the Labour Government of 1929, and including a report on the legislative programme of the Parliamentary Labour Party, correspondence with Sir Edward William Macleay Grigg, Governor of Kenya, and notes on the political crises of 1931 and Webb's resignation; notes and drafts of an article by Beatrice Webb on the 1929 Labour Government, 1929-1931; memoranda by Beatrice Webb on Employment Insurance, 1931. Business papers concerning publications, 1890-1947, notably general correspondence between the Webbs and their actual and prospective publishers, 1890-1947; printed prospectuses, advertisements, book jackets, 1898-1941, for Industrial democracy, A constitution for the socialist commonwealth of Great Britain, The History of Trade Unionism, various volumes of English local government, The decay of capitalist civilisation, Methods of social study, and Soviet communism; manuscript notebooks, 1920-1947, mainly in Sidney Webb's hand, containing details of subscribers to English local government, and accounts connected with Webb publications. Printed, typescript and manuscript copies of lectures, interviews, speeches and talks by the Webbs, [1870]-1942, notably texts of lectures given by Sidney Webb at venues including the Working Men's College, the Argosy Society, the Sunday Lecture Society, the Fabian Society, the City of London College, and South Place Institute, 1883-1891, mainly relating to political economy and economic history; printed reports of interviews with Sidney and Beatrice Webb, and speeches and lectures by them, 1889-1942, on subjects including political economy, socialism, the London County Council, education, the USSR and trade unions; reprints and texts of lectures and talks by Beatrice Webb, 1906-1932, and Sidney Webb, 1900-1936, on the poor law, Herbert Spencer, social research, politics, and soviet communism; an album of press cuttings relating to Sidney Webb, 1887-1891. Articles, essays, published letters and reviews by the Webbs, 1877-1945, notably manuscript and typescript essays, 1877-1887, on marxism, economic theory, and social research; typescript copies of articles, 1912-1933, mainly relating to the Labour Party, politics and Soviet Russia; printed copies of articles by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, 1887-1942; published letters, 1897-1910, on trade unions, and destitution; notes and diary entries made by the Webbs during and after a visit to the Soviet Union, 1932; drafts and proofs of books by the Webbs, 1913-[1940]. Bibliographical material and research notes gathered by Beatrice and Sidney Webb during the production of some of their books, 1881-1948, including printed material, scrap books, biographical notes and index cards on subjects such as political economy, social conditions and local government in London, poor law, socialism, trade unionism, and the co-operative movement. Material relating to the Webbs' involvement with the Fabian Society, 1886-1947, including general material and lectures, 1888-1947; papers of the Fabian Research Department and the Labour Research Department, 1912-1929; papers of the New Fabian Research Bureau, 1936-1938; material regarding the Fabian Summer School, 1913-1926; papers concerning the Fabian Women's Group, 1914-1915; and material relating to the Fabian Colonial Bureau, 1946. Papers relating to the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1893-1924, comprising early material concerning the Hutchinson Bequest and Trust, 1893-1924, namely legal documents, correspondence and financial papers; correspondence, legal documents, accounts and maps regarding the foundation, early history and administration of LSE, 1895-1945, including letters from Sir William Henry Beveridge, Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders, William Albert Samuel Hewins and others; correspondence regarding library acquisitions, 1934-1935; material concerning LSE buildings, 1898-1903, including correspondence with architects and builders, accounts, maps and plans. Material concerning the New Statesman and the Statesman Publishing Company, 1912-1943, comprising papers relating to the foundation, financing and planned format of the journal, 1912-1913; correspondence with William Pember Reeves, Professor Charles Mostyn Lloyd, (Basil) Kingsley Martin, George Bernard Shaw, Edward Whitley and Ernest Darwin Simon, 1912-1943; financial material, 1913-1943, including banking correspondence, share statements, loan certificates, and circulation figures; material concerning the takeover of the Nation by the New Statesman, 1923; correspondence with Clifford Dyce Sharp relating to his resignation as Editor, 1924; transcripts of Beatrice Webb's diary relating to the journal, 1912-1928. Material published about Beatrice and Sidney Webb and the Potter family, 1869-1960, including press cuttings and short published reviews of published works by the Webbs, 1889-1960; photographs and notes relating to the Potter family, 1869-1947, including Richard Potter, Lady Kate Courtney, Sir Richard Durning Holt and Sir (Richard) Stafford Cripps. Papers of the Beatrice Webb relating to the government Reconstruction Committee, 1916-1918, mainly comprising memoranda, reports and letters concerning the work of the Machinery of Government Committee, with proposals concerning the reorganisation of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Board of Trade, the Department of Justice, the Board of Education, the Home Office and the civil service, as well as methods of controlling national expenditure; memoranda and reports of the Sub-Committee on Functions of Government Departments; and material created by the Control of Industry and Commerce Panel. Miscellaneous material, 1835-[1950], including items found loose in Beatrice Webb's diary, including the passport of Richard Potter, reports on trade unionism, conscientious objectors, wage regulation in World War One; a letter from Sir Oswald Ernald Mosely to Sidney Webb, enclosing a paper on unemployment and reconstruction, [1930]; cabinet papers on national expenditure and national insurance and pensions, [1930-1931]; material concerning agriculture in the Soviet Union; photographs, [1850]-1932, comprising a photograph album of Sidney Webb's parents, and pictures removed from Beatrice Webb's diary.