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This collection largely consists of correspondence to and from Stanley Spencer and his writings on himself, his paintings, religion and his relationships. The correspondence dates from the late 1930s, with the majority coming from the 1940s and 1950s. Important correspondents include: the British Broadcasting Corporation, Mary and Louis Behrend (patrons and founders of Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere), Spencer's sister Florence Image, his first wife Hilda, his children Unity and Shirin, John and Elizabeth Rothenstein and the Tate, and Arthur Tooth and Sons (his agents). The collection also contains Spencer's writings, notebooks and diaries. Spencer was a prolific writer who appeared to use his writings as an opportunity to expand or refine his ideas for paintings, and his personal thoughts. Along with his letters, the continuous writings, notebooks and diaries often contain detailed descriptions of his paintings, compositions and schemes; his opinions on art, life, philosophy, religion and sex; and his autobiography and preparation for a proposed book. The collection is completed by a number of sketches and drawings by Spencer, the majority of which relate to larger, painted works; and some printed ephemera including press cuttings, photographs, postcards, private view cards and exhibition catalogues.

Includes Peace News, 1940; Action, 1939; Peace Pledge Union pamphlets and leaflets including Peace Service Handbook, Can We Make Peace with the Dictators, A Call to Women to Resist War by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Conscripting Christianity, God or the Nation by John Middleton Murry, The Meaning of Rearmament by Max Plowman, The Human Person and Society by Eric Gill; War Resisters' International, British Union, Friends' Home Service Committee, National Peace Council, Independent Labour Party Women's Peace Campaign leaflets. Typescript of questions asked at Tribunal. Defence that is no defence by C. Joad, The Crime of conscription by E. I. Watkin, Common Sense Christianity and War by Gerald Vann; The Church and War by Evelyn Underhill, Law in War-Time by D. N. Pritt, Bombs Babies and Beatitudes by Donald Attwater, A review of the proceedings of the Appellate Tribunal (December 1939); The Phantom Broadcast by James Avery Joyce. Christian pamphlets include A Christian Substitute for Armaments by Leyton Richards. Also includes The London Tribunal Questions the C.O., War and the Colonies: a policy for socialists and pacifists (Pacifist Research Bureau), This Way Lies Peace! by George Hartley and Joseph Rowntree (Northern Friends Peace Board), Blessed are the Peacemakers (Council of Christian Pacifist Groups). To Conscientious Objectors placed on the military service register, leaflet by Central Board for Conscientious Objectors; other leaflets include Vera Brittain's Letter to Peace Lovers.

Letter from Vincent McNabb of St Dominic's Priory, Southampton Road, London to Dr G K A Bell, Bishop of Chichester, 14 Dec 1941. Covering note enclosing a copy of his book Some mysteries of Jesus Christ (1941); 'I am venturing to give myself the undeserved Christmas joy of offering you a few words about the Word'; praises Bell's moral courage 'whose purpose of peace has been a dedication'.

Autograph, with signature.

Three Archiepiscopal letters making appointments to the Chaplainship of Nuestra Senora de Atocha de Madrid.

Letter from Thomas Babington Macaulay to Augustus De Morgan, 2 Jan [1853]. Answering an enquiry about Bishop Burnet. '... whoever wishes to obtain full information must read volume after volume of squibs, and controversial pamphlets. I have myself sermons, tracts and lampoons relating to the honest bishop which would fill a book-shelf.'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Thomas Babington Macaulay of Holly Lodge, Kensington to[Augustus De Morgan], 14 Aug 1858. Referring to his interpretation of 'P M A C F' [apparently: 'Père Mansuete, A Cordelier (or Capuchin) Friar', Confessor to the Duke of York (afterwards King James II) and author of a broadside account of the death of King Charles II].

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Thomas Babington Macaulay of Holly Lodge, Kensington to Augustus De Morgan, 12 Aug 1858. Inviting him to discuss the meaning of the initials 'P M A C F' [apparently: 'Père Mansuete, A Cordelier (or Capuchin) Friar', Confessor to the Duke of York (afterwards King James II) and author of a broadside account of the death of King Charles II].

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Jean Gribomont of Pontificia Abbazia de San Girolamo in Urbe, Via di Torre Rossa 1, Roma to Canon Donald Rea, 21 Jan 1958. Discussing a proposed visit by G K A Bell, [Anglican] Bishop of Chichester, to Rome; the discussion principally concerns the World Council of Churches and persons Bell might like to meet.

Typescript, signed by Gribomont.

Papers of the Robert Fellowes, 1798-1845, comprising manuscripts of his autobiography, 'Common Sense Truths', 1844 (MS255); A Picture of Christian Philosophy, 1798 (MS256); and notes for a projected work on religion or philosophy, written by Robert Fellows, circa 1845 (MS257).

Notes, correspondence, press-cuttings and ephemera found in the Burns library. Correspondents include Charles Booth (1903). Press-cuttings cover subjects such as unemployment, local government, religion, and trades unions. Also includes a scrapbook of William Cobbett letters (1831-1832) and minutes of Liverpool branch of Association of All Classes of All Nations (1837-1839).

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.