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GB 0505 RF100-106 · 1786-1885, [1938], 1965

Mrs Reid (EJR)'s papers include material inherited from her husband, Dr John Reid (d.1822), several files of correspondence and legal documents relating to the land inherited by Dr Reid from his brother, which throw light on the development of Glasgow's port in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and letters to and from members of Dr Reid's family, in some of which medical remedies are discussed. Dr Reid's brother, Matthew Reid, appears to have suffered from a condition which caused incontinence or urethral discharge. EJR's own papers largely comprise correspondence. Business correspondence with her solicitor, James Sowton, concerns the lease and purchase of properties in London, including in South Lambeth, Park Square, Cumberland Terrace and Grenville Street; and legal matters relating to Bedford College, such as the lease of the houses in Bedford Square and questions over the need for a licence from the Duke of Bedford for a school on the premises. A valuer's report for fixtures and fittings, 1855, mentioned in a former list of these papers, is now missing. There is one file relating to EJR's sponsorship of pupils at Ockham Industrial School in Surrey and elsewhere, 1859-1862. Personal correspondence, 1832-1865, includes a large number of letters from Eliza Bostock, Henry Crabb Robinson and Mary Clarke (Madame Julius Mohl), a dozen from Anna Brownell Jameson and single letters or small numbers from many other figures in the literary, liberal and feminist circles in which EJR moved, and from Bedford College alumnae. There are typescript extracts from letters from Harriet Martineau; the whereabouts of the originals are unknown. A separate file was found of letters from famous people [not all to EJR] including Florence Nightingale, William Makepeace Thackeray, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Charles Dickens, and there is an autograph book containing parts of letters, 1834-1862. Material collected by Bedford College relating to the foundation of the College includes papers of Sophia Elizabeth de Morgan, Secretary of the Ladies Committee, 1848-9, typescript copies of extracts from the diary, 1840-1866, and correspondence, 1838-1866, of Henry Crabb Robinson, a copy of a letter, [1860], from Mrs Reid to Jane Martineau and Elizabeth Bostock giving instructions regarding the future of the College and the establishment of the Reid Trustees, and correspondence, 1965, about Dr John Reid. A volume relating to the fund for a memorial to EJR, 1884-1885, has also been added to the archive.

Reid , Elizabeth Jesser , 1789-1866 , anti-slavery activist and founder of Bedford College