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Records of the headquarters of the Mothers' Union, Mary Sumner House, Westminster. The majority of the archive dates from when the Mothers' Union established a centralised structure in the 1890s, and contains a small number of papers from members who, although not always based at Mary Sumner House, played important roles within the MU (see MU/MSS/2). Although some files run into the 1990s, many of the series stop in the early 1980s, which coincides with a survey undertaken of the archive in Mary Sumner House (see MU/CO/1/127).

The foundation of the Mothers' Union is dated to the publication of the first membership card in 1876. The society was established by Mary Sumner, wife of the Rector of Old Alresford in the Diocese of Winchester, to defend the institution of marriage and promote Christian family life. This concern broadened over time to consider all factors affecting the morality of society, within the home and without.

Initially a network of meetings in parishes in the Diocese of Winchester, by the mid 1890s, the MU had established a centralised governing body in London, and had a number of branches overseas; from the early twentieth century, departments were established to deal with specialised tasks in the society's work. Although the society was primarily concerned with the role of the mother and the upbringing of children, married women without children and unmarried women were allowed to join as Associate Members from the outset. Throughout the twentieth century the MU addressed a variety of contemporary social issues (such as runaway children, drug dependence, venereal disease, housing conditions and birth control), but reserved particular efforts for campaigning against divorce and marriage breakdown.

Faced with a need to address a liberalisation in both society and the Church in the decades following the Second World War, the Mothers' Union revised its constitution in 1974 giving greater autonomy to the MU overseas and no longer excluding divorcées. Further reassessment took place in the early 1990s when the need to comply with charity regulations prompted a restructuring of the organisation.

Letter from E Clavering of Newcastle upon Tyne to Mrs Dorothy Fenwick, [Nether] Burows, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland, 23 Feb 1752. Containing news about friends and relations.

Autograph, with signature.

The archive consists of Minutes of the Executive Committee (1952-1959, 1969) and Annual General Meeting (1957-1964, 1967), Chairperson's reports (1953, 1956-9), papers related to the formation of the Council of Married Women, correspondence files including papers and press cuttings (1944-1970), Bills, Acts and Parliamentary file (1956-1971) and file of evidence to the Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce (1952-1956), financial papers (1961-1969) and publications including the Bulletin.

The archive consists of a Douie family photograph album and a photocopied pamphlet and notes relating to Douie family history.

Letter from Joseph Deacon Fetch of Cambridge [District Poor Law] Union, Cambridge to [Edward Brent] Prest, [auditor for the Union], 6 Jul 1870. Asking for an opinion on the legality, if they appeared in the accounts of the [Board] of Guardians, of pecuniary awards made for the apprehension of men that had abandoned their families. 'At the present time there are not less than seven men in the Borough Gaol convicted as Rogues & Vagabonds for deserting their families'.

Written in another hand and signed by Fetch.

The archive consists of papers and correspondence about 'Jobs for Mothers', papers about widows, working mothers and others, press cuttings, working notes, replies to questionnaires and lists of publications on careers.

Letter from Samuel Heywood of Lancaster to [Dr] Richard Bright, 17 Aug 1795. On family matters: 'My wife has been far from well', etc.

Autograph, with signature.

3 letters addressed to Lady Charlotte [full name unidentified], 1844-1869. (1) From Henry Pelham, Earl of Chichester, 23 Mar 1867. Relating to lectures on prophecy and the apocalypse. (2) From George Villiers, Earl of Clarendon, 25 Jan 1869. Relating to consular posts in China. (3) From Queen Adelaide (widow of William IV), [1844]. Congratulating Lady Charlotte on her daughter's wedding to a Mr Turner.

Both letters are autograph, with signatures.

The archive consists of minutes, agendas, constitutions, circulars, working papers, publications, reports, correspondence, newsletters, and source material for publications including press cuttings and printed works from other organisations.

The archive was transferred to The Women's Library by two members of the group, both active in the late 1960s to mid 1970s. As a result, survival of records is not uniform and reflects their interests, rather than being representative of MIA as a whole. Some non-MIA material was also present: this has been catalogued as 5MIA/13.

Records of the National Council of One Parent Families including proof of status and policy documents; minutes of committees and working parties, 1918-1995; annual reports, 1918-1989, ledgers and associated accounts; case books and related papers, 1918-1947; fundraising and appeals, 1925-1993; correspondence, including with government and associated bodies (1918-1995); publications, draft bills, acts and legislation, details of Friends and Members.

34 letters from Francis William Newman, 1864-1894. 32 letters addressed to Newman's nephew John Rickards Mozley; 1 letter addressed to Newman's sister Jemima Mozley; 1 letter addressed to J R Mozley's father-in-law Bonamy Price. Topics covered include: domestic and family affairs; Newman's brother John Henry Newman (Cardinal Newman); education (including Augustus De Morgan and University College London); New Testament criticism; religion and morality; classical literature; mathematics; wealth; current affairs (including Irish Home Rule and the American Civil War); William Ewart Gladstone; and John Ruskin.

All items are autograph, with signatures.

W North collection, 1874-[1926], comprising a Leeds parliamentary election poster titled "Reaction versus Disunion", 1874; a report on potato disease by Robert Veitch and Son with sketches of vegetables, possibly by Veitch, 1892; and a children's poster titled "A Pageant of London", c 1926.

The archive consists of a typescript autobiography, covering the years 1886-1975. The typescript is a transcript of a tape recording dictated by Dorothy Foster Place to her four children. The autobiography includes accounts of her early life and education in New Brighton; her studies in Chemistry at the University of Liverpool and King's College, London; her studies in Agriculture at Studley Agricultural College, Warwickshire; her agricultural work during the First World War and eventually work on her own farm in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. It covers her interest and activities in the suffrage movement; her marriage; the birth of her children and her extensive holiday travels in Europe and North Africa.

This scrapbook consists of press cuttings and typescript notes on the position relating to family allowances in different countries including America, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany and Luxembourg, 1930-1934.

The archive consists of correspondence between Eva Stephenson and her fiance Maurice Wilkins, covering the period 1910-1914. The letters describe Stephenson's experiences in Holloway prison for suffrage activism in 1910 (some letters are written on prison regulation notepaper), her life as an office worker and her family relationships. Subjects covered include: relationships with other suffragettes in prison; trials of the prison regime; Christmas in Holloway; her relationship with her mother who disapproved of her suffrage campaigning; reflections on her upbringing; employment in an office and enjoyment of her independence; her relationship with her future husband.

With typescript transcriptions of the letters by William Paul Wilkins, son of Eva and Maurice Wilkins (produced in 1998). The transcriptions include a name and place index.

The archive consists of the papers of Mary Berenson, her daughter Ray Strachey and her granddaughter Barbara Strachey Halpern. It comprises letters and correspondence mainly concerned with personal and family news, typescripts and manuscript notes, press cuttings mainly relating to suffrage and equal pay activities, photographs of Ray Strachey and other members of the Strachey family, and some material relating to Ray's grandmother, Hannah Whitall Smith. Also a manuscript recipe book owned by members of the Strachey family and a file of material relating to Kathleen Halpin.

Printed papers relating to The Women and Socialism Conference 1973, and the Leeds Conference on The Family 1973, from a left-wing Women's Liberation Movement perspective. Includes papers from International Feminist Collective and Gay Liberation. Collator unknown.

Letter from John Yates of Liverpool to his son, Reverend James Yates, 30 Apr 1810. Congratulating him on coming of age.

Autograph, with signature.