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Papers of Sir Austin Bradford Hill, 1987-1990, comprise memoirs of his time working at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and correspondence mainly from Bradford Hill to Brian Furner, Librarian at LSHTM.

Memoirs comprise personal recollections of Bradford Hill and discuss individual staff members and the evolving structure of LSHTM.

Correspondence notably includes letters from Bradford Hill to Brian Furner and includes recollections requested by Furner and Bradford Hill's own requests for information held by the library, for his own work, including the obituary of John Fraser Roberts for the JRSS, 1987.

Papers of Norman Lace Corkill, c1939-1965 (mostly undated), consisting of a collection of articles by other authors used by Corkill in his work with particular reference to the geography and health of the Arabian area; articles and notes by Corkill concerning nutrition, diet, vitamin deficiency, and disorders and diseases caused by poor nutrition; detailed surveys and breakdown of nutritional content of the local diet and household expenditure on food; reports and documentation on WHO Project Iran, and the Aden Protectorate Health Service; detailed reports by Corkill on his examination of Prisoner of War camps in the Sudan, World War Two and a study of the Nuba community. Also includes correspondence and research relating to a study of folk medicine in Iran carried out in 1966 and nutrition surveys of Iran.

Papers of Major Greenwood, 1924-1950, comprise correspondence and papers relating to his work as Professor of Epidemiology and Vital Statistics and as Acting Dean of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; speech on the work of the School and some miscellaneous letters.

Papers of Robert Thomson Leiper, [1880-1960] contain material concerning an expedition by Leiper to British Guiana and the West Indies; a commission from the London School of Tropical Medicine to study filariasis and material relating to Leiper, his work at the School and his family including photographs, postcards from West Africa, autograph book, reports as an helminthologist, material on the Peking Union Medical College and family history research.

Papers of W H Russell Lumsden, 1941-1950, comprise material on a Malaria survey of Transjordan in 1941-1942 by No. 3 Malaria Field Laboratory, Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and a subsequent report.

Papers of Sir Philip Henry Manson-Bahr, 1925-1966, comprise correspondence relating to the 17th edition of Manson's Tropical Diseases, an important textbook on the subject, with Charles Wilcocks, President of Royal Society of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine, and relating to various matters including his retirement, the Manson lecture, the memorial to Sir Patrick Manson in Aberdeenshire; personal file including information on his work at the School and retirement and a copy of the publication The story of malaria: the drama and actors.

Papers of John Frederick Marshall, 1920-1965, mainly relating to his establishment of the British Mosquito Control Institute on Hayling Island in 1925 with associated papers concerning its work and administration; programmes, addresses and reports of meetings and conferences concerned with mosquito and malaria research; Reports of the Proceedings of the Institute; articles and pamphlets by Marshall on mosquitoes and malaria; press cuttings relating to mosquitoes and malaria in Britain, and to the malaria outbreak of 1927; sale particulars of the Institute as part of Marshall's estate.

Papers of Sir Shirley Foster Murphy, 1890s-1900s, comprise correspondence and both unpublished and published work in the fields of health and medicine and relate to his work as a medical officer. The collection notably comprises correspondence from Dr Ernest Pfeiffer, 1899-1901 (Murphy/01); handwritten extracts and notes from works concerning slaughterhouses and meat inspection, [1890s-1900s] (Murphy/02); manuscript titled 'Alcohol in relation to the Child and to National Health', [1890s-1900s] (Murphy/03); manuscript notes on topics including 'liberty and authority' and 'alcohol and poverty', [1890s-1900s] (Murphy/04); published paper concerning the sale to the public of tuberculous meat (British Congress on Tuberculosis for the Prevention of Consumption, by Shirley Murphy, Medical Officer of Health of the Administrative County of London), [1890s-1900s] (Murphy/05) and an address, perhaps given to his colleagues at County Council of London on the subject of food supplies, with reference to tuberculosis, [1890s-1900s] (Murphy/06).

Papers of Lionel Everard Napier, 1921-1952, relate to his work within the field of tropical medicine and contain publications, drafts and galley proofs of his work. Publications notably include reprints from the Indian Medical Gazette, many concerning kala-azar and other diseases affecting the Indian population, 1921-1940.

The collection contains drafts and galley proofs of some of Napier's work, including a typewritten draft paper titled 'The Treatment of Malaria' and draft papers on subjects including filariasis, yellow fever and leishmaniasis. Galley proofs include 'The Treatment of Malaria' taken from the Modern Treatment Series and proofs of papers concerning cholera, leishmaniasis and schistomiasis.

The collection also contains correspondence between Napier and Butterworths Medical Publications, 1951-1952, regarding Napier's contribution of a critical survey on tropical medicine for the 1953 annual progress volume to the British Encyclopaedia of Medical Practice.

Publications: Kala azar: a handbook for students and practitioners (Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, London, 1923).

Papers of the Pellagra Investigation Committee, 1910, relate to the establishment of the Committee and resourcing of funds for the facilitation of Dr Louis Sambon's research trip to Italy. The collection notably comprises correspondence between Pietro J Michelli, Secretary of the Seamen's Hospital Society and James Cantlie and other members of the Committee regarding donations and funds, 1910; 'Pellagra Investigation Committee', article including a list of committee members, outlining the intentions of the committee, 1910; printed list of donations received, 1910, and a handwritten list of funds received in cash, guarantees made and funds received from the Colonial Office, [1910].

Papers of Sleeping Sickness Bureau consist of two volumes of press cuttings on sleeping sickness, 1908-1912.

Papers of Sir Graham Selby Wilson, 1922-1931, comprise a collection of reprints used to aid Wilson's research. These reprints are mostly from the Journal of Experimental Medicine and include 'Epidemiological studies on respiratory infections of the rabbit VIII Carriers of bacterium lepiseoticum' by Leslie T Webster, reprinted from the Journal of Experimental Medicine, April 1, 1926, Vol.xliii, No.4 and 'Contribution to the manner of spread of mouse typhoid infection' by Leslie T Webster, reprinted from the Journal of Experimental Medicine, February 1, 1923, Vol.xxxvii, No 2.

The newspaper cuttings follow the development of the postal and telecommunications services from the postal declaration of 1685, and early accounts of the collection of mail from coffee houses in the eighteenth century, through to contemporary reports.

The most complete run of catalogued material covers the period 1843-1903, during which time the cuttings were bound into large volumes, each volume spanning one to two years. These cuttings are largely concerned with the early development of the telegraph and telephone and include details of private telegraph companies (particularly the Electric Telegraph Company, founded in 1846) and their takeover by the state; the relationship between the postal and telegraph services and the railways; international expansion of the system; and, later, the growth of the telephone service, and negotiations which eventually led to the transfer of ownership from the private telephone companies to the state in 1912. Some items are included because the report was received by telegraph and do not have any obvious postal connection. The majority of cuttings were collated centrally, with some early selections marked 'For the information of the Postmaster General', but the collection also includes albums collected by individuals or at a local level.

The twentieth century is not represented as comprehensively, with very little material from the First or Second World Wars, or the interwar period. Wartime reporting restrictions and the rising cost of newsprint, combined with the role of the Post Office on the home front probably contributed to the absence of material during this period. In the second half of the twentieth century, cuttings are more likely to be found arranged by local area or by subject, e.g. the 1971 postal strike. Since 1999, photocopies of selected cuttings, entitled 'What the media are saying', have been received from the Royal Mail Press Office on a weekly basis, and these are arranged chronologically, but have not been catalogued.

During BPMA stocktaking 2005 a quantity of material was transferred from the search room portfolio collection to the archive. These cuttings cover both the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, and have been catalogued by decade or, in a very few cases, by subject. The nineteenth century material includes many engravings and illustrations.

Cuttings have been taken from a variety of sources - national and local newspapers; satirical magazines; government and Post Office publications; and scientific and trade journals; but the volumes also include original items such as share application forms, annual reports, tariffs, technological specifications, photographs, cartoons and illustrations. The cuttings cover many aspects of postal history and legislation which are officially documented in other post classes, but offer alternative perspectives and provide a good indication of both public opinion of the postal administration, and public response to postal innovations, including new issues of stamps, new buildings and the introduction of new uniforms. They also provide an opportunity to gain an overview of developments in the service during a particular period.

In addition to specific postal information, the class provides a record of the influence of the Post Office on British culture, demonstrating its role in the growth of mass communication and technological advances; education; the development of employment opportunities for women; and the trade union movement. Some volumes contain personal stories of the lives of postal workers, which may be of interest to family historians, and many volumes include interviews with employees and accounts of the daily running of the postal service which provide information about the duties attached to particular posts. Obituaries are a particularly good source of personal information relating to senior postal officials.

The catalogue entries include an overview of the material with a list of examples of particular interest, some volumes contain indexes of every item.

This series is comprised of serialised publications produced by, for, or relating to, Post Office staff associations, unions and societies. The publications contain information on all aspects of union and association internal activity and their negotiations with management on wages, recruitment, grading and conditions. They also report on Annual Conferences and convey general staff news, such as appointments and the development and re-structuring of The Post Office and its subsequent effect on workers.

Many of the publication titles have changed, they are listed as a continuous series and details of the change in title is given at the beginning of the series. Details of those that have undergone significant changes are given.

Please note that in some series many of the publications have been numbered incorrectly or inconsistently at publication stage. The volume and issue numbers given in the description are those that appear on the original.

This class relates to the arrangements for circulation of mails in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland between the 18th and 20th centuries. It comprises three major sections: letter copy books of the Inland Office, 1794-1836, order and notice books of the Inland Office and Circulation Department, 1794-1868, and volumes and files relating to the revision of rural posts in the mid-19th century. The rest of the class is made up of a variety of items on the management of inland mails, including a number of London Postal Service order books, records of the Dead Letter Office, Bye and Cross Road Letter Office and Twopenny Post Office. Due to the incorporation of the Foreign Office with the Inland Office in 1840, a number of records in this Class also refer to the circulation of overseas mails, particularly the orders and notices books of the Inland Office and Circulation Office, (14/289-334).

This is an 'artificial' series, as maps have been removed from other POST classes and added to POST 21 in order to group them together by format; in addition, maps from numerous different depositors, both internal and external have been mixed together so that it is difficult to find any strands of original order. It has been possible to impose a loose order on the maps by grouping them together by subject as follows:

circulation maps, county maps, town maps, district maps, postcode maps and overseas mail maps.

The majority of the series consists of maps that were commissioned by the Post Office or maps that have been adapted for use in the daily routine of various post office departments.

It includes Ordnance Survey maps which have been annotated to indicate changes to postal boundaries as well as printed town maps, post office directory maps, road maps and hand drawn sketch maps. The maps have been produced using a variety of different methods including lithography, engraving and printing; many of the maps have ornamental cartouches and many are coloured.

Several of the maps in the collection are black and white copies of originals which have not been retained. Unfortunately it is not possible to discern the significance of lines which were colour coded on the original map.

Many of the maps centre on London and there is a sub-series of maps relating to the different postal districts in London, including maps depicting the official postal districts after they were put in place during the period 1857-1858 (see particularly POST 21/772: a reproduction of a map of the London postal districts produced by Richard Weller in 1858, which gives information on the division process). There is also a set of maps from 1948 showing the routes taken by postmen on their daily rounds in the west end of London, which include buildings damaged by bombs during World War Two.

Other maps include postcode maps for areas in Sheffield, Lincoln, Manchester and London; several nineteenth century District Surveyors' maps, some of which show 'armed and unarmed rides' in the various districts and include letters to Francis Freeling and several maps from 'Atlas Universel' (1757) produced by the Vaugondy family [Father and son], depicting various European postal routes and including ornamental cartouches engraved by the Haussard sisters.

This class comprises reports, papers and correspondence relating to the establishment, development and operation of Britain's Inland Letter Post service, spanning the period from 1635 to 1989. At present, POST 23 is divided into 14 Sub-Series, containing some pieces originally in POST 22. There is a small amount of material that relates to seventeenth and eighteenth century developments (see Sub-Series 1 'Establishment and Introduction of the Inland Letter Post' and Sub-Series 5 'Introduction of the Penny Postage'). However, the majority of the records held in this class relate to developments that occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which was the period in which a great expansion and modernisation of the inland letter service occurred within Britain. For the nineteenth century, there is interesting general information in Sub-Series 2 'Inland Letter Post, General' and, in Sub-Series 3 'Missing Letter Branch Case Papers', there are over 50 files of records created by the Missing Letter Branch, who investigated mail thefts between 1839-1859. The largest group of records within this class for the twentieth century is Sub-Series 8 'Two-Tier Inland Letter Service, Correspondence and Reports' which relates to the substantial changes that occurred from the 1960s that accompanied the introduction of a first class and second class postal service, amongst other changes that further modernised the system. Other than Sub-Series 14 'Seditious, obscene and libellous publications sent through the post' which comprises records for the years 1876-1927, the latter half of this class (Sub-Series 9-13) is filled with reports, business plans and material related to other significant developments that have occurred within Britain's letter post service from the late 1960s to the late 1980s.

This series relates to the introduction and implementation of the registration service, the compulsory registration scheme and compensation for the loss and damage to registered mail.

It also includes items relating to the Recorded Delivery Service and other Special Delivery Services designed for sending valuable items or items required to arrive on a specific date and at a specific time via the postal system.

This POST Class contains the annual accounts of the Accountant General (mainly the income and expenditure of the Post Office) and the general accounts of individual postmasters and agents.

General accounts

POST 3/3-5, 7, 9, 11, 13-17, 20-23 and 26 comprise the Accountant General's annual accounts of the income and expenditure of the General Post Office, based on receipts and payments made by the Receiver General. All of the volumes, except POST 3/23 and 26, contain accounts audited by the Commissioners for Public Accounts. The latter two items contain rough accounts only.

The accounts cover foreign, colonial and inland post offices and services, including salaries paid to deputy postmasters in England and Wales, officers and letter carriers at the Inland and Foreign departments in London, mail guards and overseas agents; money due to deputy postmasters; balances due from deputy postmasters and agents in England and Wales, Edinburgh, Dublin and overseas; old debts of inland postmasters, including those declared irrecoverable; packet boat hire costs, general expenses and passenger revenue; returned letters costs; income and expenditure on express mails; window money receipts; letter carriers' money; money received for postage and conveyance of inland, foreign, cross and bye road, penny/twopenny post and inland packet letters; stamp revenue; riding work allowances; incident payments; ship letter gratuities; franked letter costs; taxes; and expenditure on management of the GPO in Scotland and Ireland.

The lists of individual postmasters' salaries, balances due and old debts provide a valuable source of information for local and family historians, as they give the name and post town of each postmaster. Researchers should, however, note that: a) POST 3/23 and 26 are rough accounts and do not contain these lists; b) volumes are not indexed; c) lists containing similar information on postmasters in Scotland and Ireland are not contained in these volumes.

The general annual accounts in POST 3/27-34, covering 1854-1938, reflect the expansion and increasing complexity of GPO business and services. To an extent, the type of information included, and its arrangement, differs from that in the preceding annual accounts. They do not contain lists of individual postmasters salaries, balances due and old debts. Volumes include GPO accounts with other government departments and foreign post offices; UK, colonial and overseas postage stamp revenue; accounts for returned, refused, missent, redirected and overcharged letters; summaries of salaries, allowances and wages to London Headquarters staff, Surveyors and their clerks, postmasters, agents, sub-postmasters and receivers in the UK, Ireland and abroad, letter carriers and mail guards; compensation payments for loss of fees to postmasters and agents in the UK and abroad; income and expenditure on mail conveyance by railway, mail coach, omnibus, cart, contract packet boats and private ships; cost of sites, buildings, rents, rates, taxes and fuel; pensions and superannuation payments; Money Order, Post Office Savings Bank, Government Annuities and Life Insurance accounts. POST 3/27 also contains the annual accounts of individual colonial, foreign and UK packet station agents and postmasters, arranged alphabetically by location.

POST 3/33-34 comprise general statements of annual income and expenditure, signed by the Comptroller and Accountant General. They contain information similar to that in POST 3/27-32, though in a more summary form.

Postmasters' general annual accounts

POST 3/1, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 19, 24 and 25 contain annual general accounts of individual postmasters and agents. The first five volumes cover England and Wales, Edinburgh, Dublin and some packet stations in Europe, such as Amsterdam, Lisbon, Corunna and Rotterdam. The last four volumes cover only England and Wales. They include payments to the Inland or General Office and Bye and Cross Road Office for letters, and expenditure on salaries and allowances for riding work, office duty, sub postmasters and letter carriers, mail conveyance, returned letters, incidents, mail guards wages, ship letters and express mails.

In volumes POST 3/6, 8, 10 and 12, the general annual account of the GPO precedes the postmasters' accounts. These general annual accounts correspond to the respective account in POST 3/7, 9, 11 and 13, although they are presented in a different format.

This group of records also forms a useful source for family historians, as it gives the names of postmasters and agents at each office. Unfortunately, only POST 3/1 includes a name index. Volumes POST 3/6, 8, 10 and 12 are indexed by place. Volumes POST 3/18-19 and POST 3/24-25 do not contain any indexes, although the accounts are arranged alphabetically by place (within each division for POST 3/18-19).

Postal Divisions

The information in the lists of postmasters' salaries, some lists of balances due, and in the postmasters' accounts, (see POST 3/1-15), is arranged by the six postal roads. However, the roads are not stated at the beginning of each section, one running into another without apparent break. Some reference to the postal roads does however occasionally appear. The six roads, West, North, Bristol, Chester, Yarmouth and Kent, are first named in the account for 1787 (see POST 3/16), the last four not being geographically restricted to the town or county named. In 1788 the six roads system is replaced by nine divisions, apparently of no geographical arrangement, e.g. division 8 includes both Durham and Croydon. Accounts for the West Indies division, including Barbados, Tobago, St Vincent, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua, Trinidad and Bermuda, are entered in POST 3/16-17 and POST 3/20-22. Accounts for the East Indies division, including St Helena, Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Madras, Calcutta and Bombay, are entered in POST 3/21 and POST 3/22.

This POST class consists of volumes containing a précis of, or reference to, every minute submitted to the Postmaster General from the Secretary relating to all aspects of Post Office administration. There are also separate bound indices to the minutes arranged by different subjects. POST 35/1-6 consists of volumes of minutes from the Postmaster General to the Secretary relating to all aspects of Post Office administration.

Much of the actual paperwork referred to in these volumes can be found in the accompanying class POST 30 (England and Wales Minute Papers). For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.

The class is divided into four Sub-Series. The date range for almost all of the records in the class is 1792-1921. However, there are three volumes in Sub-Series 3 'Indices to minutes between the Secretary and the Postmaster General' that contain records that cover the period up to 1969 (see POST 35/1699-1701).

The material is arranged in date order within series. All pieces consist of one volume unless otherwise stated.

This series comprises accounts of British packet services and overseas posts, including records of agents and postmasters, packet stations, and packet boats. The accounts cover income, expenditure, salaries, allowances and disbursements.

The Postmaster General's Report series (POST 40 and POST 42) began in about 1790 and comprise reports on all aspects of Post Office organisation in England, Wales and Scotland; as well as those on the Packet Boat service and overseas postal arrangements up to 1807, when a separate Packet Report series (POST 39 and POST 41) was introduced.

POST 40 consists of those actual Reports which are still in existence, with their enclosures (many of which are sketch maps of local postal routes, petitions from the principal inhabitants of towns and villages throughout the country and detailed reports from heads of departments and the District Surveyors, etc). Although, in this list, some of these Reports are shown as 'wanting', many are, in fact, filed within later Reports on the same subject - a common practice of the day. POST 42 consists of volumes containing copies of reports to, and minutes from, the Postmaster General (including those which have since been destroyed), and is the only guide to the contents of POST 40. POST 42/1-25, 35-42, 59-139 and 141 are indexed. The Postmaster General's decision on each case is also recorded.

Post 40/1-3 consist of indexed reports from Francis Freeling, the Resident Surveyor, addressed to the Joint Postmasters General, mostly to Lord Walsingham. They are supplementary to the main series of reports.

Post 40/4-41 consist of reports from the Resident Surveyor addressed to the Postmaster General.

POST 40/42-652 are a continuation of POST 40/4-41, but these reports were made by Freeling in his capacity as Secretary. Freeling was promoted to the vacancy created by the death of Anthony Todd in June 1798, having been created Joint Secretary since March 1797, owing to Todd's incapacity.

Freeling continued the Reports until his death in 1836, after which they were continued for a time by Lieutenant Colonel William Leader Maberly, his successor. From August 1837 Maberly used only the parallel Minute series for his submissions to the Postmaster General. Reports for the period August 1837-February 1841 are quarterly statements of the gross revenue of the Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds Penny Posts.

In 1794 a parallel service entitled Postmaster General's Minutes (POST 30 and POST 35) was created, followed in 1811 by a Packet Minute series (POST 29 and 34), corresponding with the packet reports. When the Report series came to an end around 1837 the Minutes were continued alone. The Reports seem to have been the more important of the two series, while the early Minutes were concerned mainly with comparatively minor matters relating to personnel, etc.

The Packet Report series (POST 39 and POST 41) comprise reports to the Postmaster General, from the Secretary to the Post Office, on the Packet Boat service and overseas mail arrangements.

POST 41 consists of indexed volumes containing a copy of every report submitted to the Postmaster General (including those which have since been destroyed) and is the only guide to the contents of POST 39 (Packet Service Report Papers). The Postmaster General's decision on each case is also recorded. POST 39 consists of those actual reports which are still in existence, with any enclosures.

In 1811 a parallel series entitled Packet Minutes (POST 29 and POST 34) was created. Cases for the attention of the Postmaster General were sometimes recorded in both series, but at other times in only one of the two series. Upon the cessation of the Report series POST 29 and POST 34 continued alone.

For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.

This class primarily relates to the establishment and organisation of the packet boat and shipping services between the United Kingdom and overseas. There are a small number of records relating to operational procedures between the Post Office and HM Customs and Excise Office. The records mainly consist of Post Office Daily Lists of ship's departure and arrival times, and mail carried. It also contains Packet boat log books, voyage record books and Packet station correspondence relating to personnel, stores held, and armed conflict.

It also includes some later records concerning the general organisation of overseas mail including by air.

Some records have been re-classified from POST 12 and POST 45.

This series consists primarily of 'proof books', that is bound volumes and files containing specimen impressions of new date, machine cancellation or other handstruck stamps (both steel and rubber) for postal use, authorisations and instructions for use, handstamp destruction records and historical summaries of machine cancellations.

These two main collections of proof books have substantial gaps, notably, for steel stamps, for the period after 1821, and, for rubber stamps, after 1831. It is believed that the proof books for these periods were lost in the major fire which occurred in 1957 at the Supplies Department, Mount Pleasant, where these records were once housed. Regrettably, when the surviving volumes in these two collections were rebound in c1960, the original volume numbers were lost, and new artificial numbering sequences were given to the newly-bound volumes. This destroyed the evidence once offered by the original bindings, making it impossible now to determine exactly what has been lost from the original series.

Within this class are volumes and files that contain basic information about established Post Office staff and about the principal Post Office branches in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This class also contains details of Post Office establishments abroad, packet boat services, deceased officers, vacancies and committee reports regarding the Post Office Establishment, amongst much else. There are 24 volumes (POST 59/1-24) covering the period 1691-1798, but the majority of the material consists of lists of salaried officers at various British Establishments for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The class is divided into eight Sub-series, a few of which should be mentioned at the outset. Sub-series 1 is the largest of these and contains the main Establishment books and lists of officers from 1691-1983, published annually from the late eighteenth century (bound copies for this series for the period 1869-1980 can be found in the BPMA search room). Sub-series 3 contains the Establishment books for provincial postal regions across Britain and so is naturally considerable in size, although the period covered for these books tends to be late nineteenth and early twentieth century only. By contrast, Sub-series 4 and 5 contain major and minor Establishment books for the London Postal Region, spanning nearly a 200-year period from 1800. The only series that does not contain lists of basic information (which is the essence of most of the Establishment books) is Sub-series 6, which contains 20 papers and committee reports for the period 1793-1923 that describe changes that have occurred and have been proposed to the Establishment system; a useful starting point for understanding the organisational development of the Establishment structure.

The sort of information included has changed over this 300-year period, but a large proportion of the information found in any particular Establishment book is likely to include an employee's name, their department or location, date of appointment, and yearly salary (or weekly wage). Similarly, the type of employee that has been included in the yearly establishment books has changed over time (and some consideration of the difference between 'established' and 'unestablished' staff will follow), but as a rule of thumb, in the main Establishment books that were published annually (which can be found in Sub-Series 1), it is staff who have been occupied in more senior positions within the Post Office hierarchy who are likely to be found. As a consequence, most of the yearly establishment books within this class will only ever list by name a modest proportion of the entire Post Office workforce for any given year. (It may be helpful for prospective researchers to note that the best starting point in searching for records relating to 'rank and file' employees are the appointments indexes and pensions indexes. A guide to these sources can be downloaded from the BPMA website and a printed version can be found in the BPMA search room, entitled 'Guide to Family History Research'.) POST 59/ 26, 28, 32, 33, 34, 37, 39, 40, 42 and 91 include brief summaries of duties performed by officers. POST 59/ 7, 11, 18 and 20 give complements of Packet Boats.

The records in this class cover a variety of aspects regarding working for the Post Office. The material relating to pay includes volumes detailing salaries and allowances paid to staff, official reports into pay and conditions, comparisons of pay with other companies and papers relating to numerous pay claims. Under allowances can be found copies of correspondence between the Post Office and the Treasury, Committee reports, claims before arbitration for changes to various allowances, schedules showing extra duty rates and special allowances payable and a history of good conduct stripes. Conditions of service includes papers on Sunday labour, promotion, exemption from jury service, hours of working, annual leave, and grade restructuring. There is also a section on Committee/Group reports looking into the way both individual departments and working methods could be changed to allow improvements, and papers from the Tweedmouth, Hobhouse, and Holt Committees to consider improvements in Post Office wages and conditions.

This POST Class comprises material mainly relating to the design, manufacture and distribution of uniform, but also includes some material relating to discipline within the Post Office.

It includes reports on the manufacture and distribution of uniform, papers relating to the Committee of the Joint Working Party on Uniform and Protective Clothing, registers detailing patterns produced, contract statistics and schedules of entitlement, volumes containing decisions made by the Postmaster General which set precedents for the issue of uniform, correspondence relating to all aspects of uniform including the running of the Stores Department and photographic records of uniform garments with pattern numbers, guides to disciplinary procedures, papers relating to disciplinary cases and correspondence and memoranda relating to other aspects of discipline within the Post Office.

This series consists of reports, memoranda and correspondence outlining training activities in The Post Office and considering the training needs of Post Office staff.

This series relates to the provision of medical care for staff through the appointment of medical officers, the monitoring of sick leave and the establishment of the Post Office Ambulance Corps.

This series consists of Royal Letters Patent to Postmasters General and Receiver Generals giving the sovereign's written authority to perform their duties. The series also contains a letters patent for the office of Court Post. The patents give: name of appointee; dates of appointment; salary and duties. All have their seals missing but the original seal attached.

This Post Class comprises reports, minutes, papers, leaflets and newsletters produced by Post Office Advisory Councils. These were external bodies set up to liaise with users of the Post Office, to monitor and review the performance and activities of the business and advise the Post Office on matters of mutual concern to the customer and the business.

This POST class mainly comprises correspondence, committee and other reports, statistics, staff manuals, and training information for new staff, relating to the organisation, development and operation of the Post Office Supplies Department.

It also includes a collection of material on posting boxes, including information relating to the design, development, positioning, installation, painting and repainting, locks and keys, and indicator and notice plates for pillar boxes.

This series consists of annual reports of the Contracts Department, reports, correspondence and papers relating to the organisation, staffing, functions, policy and review of procedure of the Contracts Department and of contracting functions.

This series consists of a collection of arbitration cases between the Postmaster General and private telegraph companies; memoranda by heads of Post Office departments and their correspondence, records of the Central Telegraph Office, lighthouses and lightvessels, circuits and codes, mobile facilities for telegraphs at race meetings and special events; Letters Patent taken out by inventors and specifications of inventions.

This series consists of a few specimen agreements between Britain and other countries for the establishment of an overseas telephone service, and a collection of reports on various overseas telephone systems.

Post Office publications. This series consists of publications produced by the Post Office with the purpose of disseminating news throughout the organisation, and publications intended for the general public. Publications cover annual reports and accounts, the provision of postal services throughout the country, and staff newsletters from across the organisation, lecture notes, philatelic publications, and publications regarding postal history.

Includes: Minutes of Council; Minutes of the General Meetings (the Fellows' AGMs); Minutes of the Gardens Committee (i.e. London Zoo); Minutes of the Whipsnade Committee; Daily Occurrences of London Zoo and Whipsnade (these list the arrivals and departures, births and deaths of animals at London Zoo and Whipsnade); Staff cards; post-mortem books; press-cuttings albums; charters; maps and plans; 19th Century Letter Collection (mainly from Fellows to the Secretary of ZSL. There are no replies. Authors include: Darwin, Abraham Bartlett, the Duke of Bedford, Wallace, and Barnum etc.); Ephemera, e.g. London and Whipsnade Zoo guides, posters and leaflets, Music Hall songsheets, medals, tickets, a keeper's uniform, menus.

Journals of William Baird, 1823-1833, comprising journal of voyages to the West Indies, South America, East Indies and China, Cape of Good Hope and St Helena, from 1823 to 1831, in the Barque Charles and H C Ship Berwickshire and voyage to and from China, in H C Ship Berwickshire, in 1832 and 1833.

Bound manuscript by James Forbes entitled "Bills, Feathers, Eggs, etc., of various Birds in the Torrid Zones", 1818.

"A descriptive catalogue of all the animals that are domesticated at Maraquito", by A W A Page [1923].

Papers of the Buckland family, 1824-1933, including letters from William Buckland; letters to William Buckland from various correspondents, including A Sedgwick, G Stephenson, Mary Anning, WJ Broderip; invitation card from Sir Robert Peel to invite William Buckland to a dinner with the King of Saxony; press cuttings; photographs of William, Mary, and Frank Buckland; portrait of Elizabeth Buckland; invitation to an 'At Home' with Lady Peel; letter from CW Gordon about article in 'Sunday Companion', 1933; letters to Mary Ann Buckland from Bompas; letters to WB from Mary Morland (before her marriage to WB); letters to Frank Buckland, including G von Bunsen about the International Fishery Exhibition in Berlin, 1880.

As at Jan 2009, The Women's Library held approximately 562 badges in the Museum Collection, with c 200 additional badges identified in the archives.

The earliest badges held in The Women's Library were produced by women's suffrage campaigns, organisations represented include: the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, the Women's Social and Political Union, Women's Freedom League, and faith-based organisations such as the Catholic Women's Suffrage Society and the Jewish League for Women's Suffrage.

In addition, the collection contains women's liberation movement and contemporary badges dating from the 1970s to the present day. It includes a selection of badges produced by women's anti-nuclear and peace organisations, campaigns against male violence, pro-choice (abortion) organisations and lesbian support and campaigning groups.

A small number of modern women's campaigning jewellery items, such as earrings and pendants that are currently stored in this collection.

Scrapbook of press cuttings relating to the suffrage campaigns compiled by Mrs Amelia Millward [and pasted into a scrapbook by her son, Alex Sydney.] Also included is a souvenir programme of the unveiling of the statue of Mrs Pankhurst in Mar 1930.

This scrapbook consists of press cuttings and ephemera. The album is subtitled 'The Fight as I saw it' and is subdivided into two sections: 1905-1918 and 1918-1928. In addition to press cuttings, the earlier section includes a rich collection of suffrage ephemera comprising a wide range of material: a paper rosette worn in a procession, tickets, invitation cards, a serviette, pamphlets, programmes, postcards, stamps and fliers. The later section covers subjects such as women's work in the First World War, Scottish Women's Hospitals, women in Parliament and obituaries of Emily Davies. It consists mainly of press cuttings and printed ephemera but also included are postcards of the Bimbo Toy Factory; a postcard of 'The London Suffragist' ambulance; and an original photograph of Emily Davies. Also included are two letters from Millicent Garret Fawcett to Mrs Graves.

This scrapbook consists of press cuttings from the national and regional press relating to the suffrage campaigns, 1908-1909.

Scrapbook of loose pages onto which have been pasted press cuttings, mainly from the national press, concerning women's work during the First World War.

This scrapbook consists of press cuttings relating to concerts, entertainments, recitals, dramatic performances, fetes, bazaars, charitable and fund-raising events, many taken from women's magazines, such as The Lady; also includes profiles of women notable for a wide range of specialisms ranging from botany to tapestry painting.

Scrapbook of press cuttings on a wide range of issues relating to women's position during and immediately subsequent to the First World War, including employment, venereal disease, women in public life and the activities of the Women's Freedom League. Many of the press cuttings came from a press cuttings agency.

Records of the parish of Saint Paul, Hector Street, Plumstead, including registers of baptisms and marriages; registers of church services; and minutes of the Vestry and Parochial Church Council.