Papers relating to the activity and operation of the Chelmsford Star Industrial Co-operative Society, including: reports and balance sheets, 1884-1920; correspondence with various national societies regarding credit trading, 1915-1916; report by the Co-operative Union on the office, organisation and method of the Chelmsford Star Industrial Co-operative Society, 1964; miscellaneous papers, correspondence and ephemera regarding the Chelmsford Star Industrial Co-operative Society, the Good Samaritan Optical Fund, Braintree Co-operative Society, Maldon and Heybridge Co-operative Society, the Essex and Suffolk Hours and Wages Board, the Essex Co-operative Funeral Furnishing Society, the Essex Co-operative Boot and Shoe Repairing Society, the Essex Co-operative Ice Cream Society, the Joint Advisory Committee of East Anglican Co-operative Societies, 1893-1975; delegate pack, including handwritten notes for the Chelmsford Star Industrial Co-operative Society delegate at the Co-operative Congress, Eastbourne, 1971.

Papers of Caroline Selena Ganley, 1916-1966, including typescript autobiography, c1955; miscellaneous papers concerning her career and work, including desk diary and miscellaneous papers and correspondence, 1916-1966.

Papers of the London Co-operative Society, c 1870-1995, including papers and correspondence relating to all areas of LCS political, educational, trading and financial activity, and material relating to the Co-operative Retail Society, c1920-1995; minutes of all LCS Committees, including its Political Committee, Education Committee, General Manager, Chief Accountant and Secretary's reports on accounts and other matters, c1920-1975; minutes and reports of LCS Sub Committees, 1920-c1975; minutes, papers, accounts and balance sheets of the following local societies: Aylesbury Co-operative Society, Barking Co-operative Society, Berkhamsted Co-operative Society, Brentwood Co-operative Society, Canterbury and District Co-operative Society, Chadwell Heath Co-operative Society, Chesham Equitable Co-operative Society, Croxley Co-operative Society, Edmonton Co-operative Society, Epping Forest/Longton Branch of the National Guild of Co-operators, Grays Co-operative Society, Harrow Road and Queen's Park Co-operative Society, Hendon Co-operative Society, High Wycombe Co-operative Society, Hitchin Co-operative Society, Kingston and District Co-operative Society, Newmarket Co-operative Society, North Battersea Co-operative Party, North Ilford Co-operative Party, North West London Co-operative Society, Radlett Industrial Society, Seven Kings Co-operative Party, South Western Industrial Co-operative Society, Southend Co-operative Party, Staines Co-operative Society, Stratford Co-operative Society, Tring Co-operative Industrial and Provident Society, Upminster Men's Co-operative Guild, Watford Co-operative Society, West London Industrial Co-operative Society, Willesden and District Co-operative Society and Wood Green Co-operative Society, c1870-1970; photographs of LCS and individual branch activities, retail outlets, personalities and educational and cultural events, c1875-1990.

Two way bills of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company, 1862, one dated 10 Feb from Adelaide Colliery, Bishop Auckland; the other dated 13 Feb from North Bitchburn Colliery, Witton-le-Wear, Durham.

Certificates, 1838-1841, of Bolanos Mining Company [Mexico?].

Archives of the Peruvian Corporation, 1849-1967, comprising the surviving records accumulated at the London Office of the Peruvian Corporation. The bulk of the collection is an accumulation of files, most of which are dated after 1930, with a large proportion dating from the last ten years of the Corporation's history. Of more special note is the unusual series of photograph albums, with photographs of railways, scenery, locomotives and rolling stock dating from the early years of the 20th century. It is clear that the Corporation regularly destroyed groups of non-current records, and further papers were destroyed just before the collection reached the Library, so many expected series do not appear (for example, there are very few financial records). Apart from a full series of Annual Reports and some legal documents, there is very little material relating to the Peruvian Bondholders' Committee or to the early days of the Corporation.

Legal, financial and liquidation papers of the Santa Rosa Milling Company Ltd, 1913-1975. There are also papers of the following associated companies: Cia Molinera De Concepcion, Cia Molinera Santa Rosa, Cia Molinera San Cristobal, Sociedad Molinera De Osorno, and Sociedad Arrocera 'Selecta' Limitada.

Minute book, 1920-1921, of the Tlahualilo Agricultural Company and the Mexican Cotton Estates of Tlahualilo Ltd Holding Company, Trustees.

Records relating to the Polytechnic tours, 1894-1957, comprise: deed regulating tenancy of the Halti Mollis in Glarus, Switzerland, 1894;

Correspondence of Frank Short relating to his employment by the Polytechnic and the organisation of the tours, 1895-1899; correspondence relating to a complaint from John Mason Cook, tourist agent, about the holiday-arranging activities of the Polytechnic, 1896-1897;

Financial records: correspondence relating to the PTA's finances, 1919, 1927-1928, 1930-1941; correspondence relating to arrangements for the sale of The Holiday Story by Commander R G Studd which was published on 9 February 1950; balance sheets and accounts 1895-1896, 1902-1911;

Annual brochures: 1905, 1908 (photocopy); Spring and Summer Tours, continental edition 1923; Algeria 1923-1924; Summer Programmes 1929-1930, 1935-1937; Jubilee Programme 1938; 1939-1949

Guide books: Gossip of the Lake of Lucerne by J Hunt Cooke c.1908; A Guide to Lovely Lucerne and Surroundings by Basil Mitchell 1923; Polytechnic Swiss Tours: A Souvenir by Basil Mitchell 1925; A Souvenir of a Week in Paris compiled by Alfred Bossy 1927; Belgium: descriptive accounts of daily excursions, historical notes and useful information in connection with the Polytechnic Tours to Belgium by Basil Mitchell 1931; The Bernese Oberland: descriptive accounts of daily excursions, historical notes and useful information in connection with the Polytechnic Tours to the Bernese Oberland by Basil Mitchell 1931; The Holiday Story by Commander R G Studd 1950; A Fortnight in the Italian Lakes by Commander R G Studd 1952; Poly Holiday News: an illustrated magazine 1953; A Fortnight in Switzerland by Commander R G Studd 1957

Memorabilia: programmes for Polytechnic Tour Reunions, 1938, 1947; Swiss tours posters, 1930s; itinerary and related documents for a tour of Interlaken in July 1938 booked by Miss M C Heiron; souvenirs from the first escorted tour by air to Switzerland arranged by the PTA on May 14th 1932- includes brochure, newspaper cuttings and photographs; tickets and timetables for trip to Oberammergau, Germany in August 1950; postcards of the Polytechnic chalets at Seeburg, Lake Lucerne 1898-1937; postcard of the Polytechnic chalets at Interlaken, n.d.; photograph of Polytechnic chalets at Seeburg c.1900; photographs of Polytechnic party in Norway in May 1907; photographs of a Polytechnic party at Andermatt, Switzerland in June 1922.

Business papers, articles of agreement, correspondence, tax assessments etc.

Handbills advertising socialist, radical, trade union and co-operative meetings, mainly addressed by Fabian Society speakers.

Correspondence and memoranda, including letters to Ignaz Jastrow; 1896-1934; letters relating to British and Irish rail companies 1889-1910; letters concerning the grain trade, 1795; letters to Albany Fonblanque from Jeremy Bentham, Francis Place and Charles Pelham Villiers, 1827-1834; letters to Henry Dunning Mcleod relating to his Dictionary of Political Economy, 1862; letters to Graham Wallas 1898-1903; letters from Arthur Young, Claude Henri de Rouvroy and William Boyne 1814-1866; letters concerned with the families of John Frederick Denison Hare and John Sterling 1836-1913; letters to Sir William Mitchell Acworth 1889-1899; and letters to Henry William Macrosty 1934-1939.

Records, 1869-1967, of John Swire & Sons Ltd, comprising the bulk of known surviving material stored in the London Office, covering the development of the firm from about 1870 to 1947, and including series of correspondence coming in and out of the London Office; legal material including original deeds and leases; accounts; organisation papers; and photographs. The importance of the collection lies in the comprehensiveness of the nineteenth and twentieth century correspondence in illustrating the development of the firm and its subsidiaries from the London side where policies were decided, and from the Eastern side where they were implemented. It also gives a good picture of leading figures and firms involved in the Far Eastern trade at that time such as Jardine, Matheson & Company, the China Merchants Company and Holt's, and reveals aspects of Chinese trade and British business philosophy at the end of the Victorian era.

Records, 1909-1932, of Serdang Central Plantations Ltd, comprising Articles of Association, correspondence, annual reports and agreements relating to the voluntary liquidation and reconstruction.

Papers, 1954-[1982], relating to the banana industry in Cameroon and in particular to organisations representing banana growers, comprising microfiche copies, undated, of papers relating to companies including Elders and Fyffes Ltd and United Fruit Shippers Ltd; meteorological statistics (1929-1982) for Tiko, Loum, Mbanga and Nkongsamba [1982]; British Cameroons Co-operative Department printed reports, 1954-1958, including statistics relating to bananas and other products, and related issues; BCUF (Bakweri Co-operative Union of Farmers) and Contracts file, 1957-1965, comprising typescript and printed papers and contracts with Elders and Fyffes Ltd relating to banana production and sales; typescript papers by David Philip on Sigatoka disease and the BCUF, 1958, and Cameroon Banana Industry, c1980; selected typescript minutes and papers of SDIBC (Syndicat de Defense de Interêts Bananier du Cameroon), 1959-1980; selected typescript minutes, 1962-1965, of FEBACAM (Federation Bananiers du Cameroon) and UGECOBAM; typescript extracts from IFAC (Institut Français de Recherches Fruitières) Programme de Reconversion Bananiere and agreements with smallholders, 1967; typescript papers on land tenure, 1967-1976.