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The item comprises a wooden block on which is mounted Sir James Young Simpson's signature, apparently torn from a document. Only the first part of the date, "31st Dec", survives.

Letters written by James Smetham, 1853-1877, mainly to William Davies, concerning his work, schemes to raise money and his religious beliefs. Smetham called his letters "ventilators" and they often took the form of handmade notebooks with their contents resembling diaries or commonplace books. Other correspondents include Rev Thomas Akroyd, Quintin Hogg (1845-1903), Charles Mansford, Charles Gabriel Dante Rossetti (1828-1882), John Ruskin (1819-1900) and Frederic James Shields (1833-1911). Also letters to Sarah Smetham, his widow, from William Davies, 1889-1895.

The collection consists mainly of minutes, financial records, manuscripts of unpublished texts and correspondence. It provides interesting detail on what one section of society thought would provide education for another. There is much useful information on the reading preferences of the public, and on the growth and development of Mechanics' Institutes. Most of those concerned with the founding of the Society as a project in self-education were also involved in the founding of the new University of London (now University College London) and some, like Augustus De Morgan and George Long, actually taught there. There is also considerable information on the work of publishers, illustrators, engravers and booksellers and on writers, whether already established authorities in their field or young hopefuls, like G H Lewes, who sought to establish themselves through the Society's patronage.

Letter from Robert William Speaight of 6 Maze Road, Kew, Richmond, Surrey to Miss [Joan] Gibbs, 20 Dec 1943. Accepting an invitation [to speak at Queen Mary College, University of London].

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Joseph Rayner Stephens of Stalybridge, Lancashire to an unspecified recipient, 6 Aug 1853. 'I am afraid it will not be in my power to comply with your request [to sell or give away some of his father's letters]. Continuing that he will try to obtain an autograph of his father's [John Stephens].

Autograph, with signature.

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.

Papers of Sir Henry Thompson, 1853-1891, comprising papers relating to the attendance and treatment of Napoleon III, 1873-1877; papers relating to the attendance and treatment of Leopold I, 1863-1864; and autograph letters, 1853-1891.

Papers relating to the careers of Kathleen and Geoffrey Tillotson, 1690-2001 comprise Records of Kathleen Tillotson (KT)'s teaching and administration in the English Department at Bedford College 1929-1971, with correspondence with members of staff and former students 1935-1994; records of her research and writing, including relations with publishing houses, 1932-1995; records of her work as specialist adviser to Government, the British Academy, the British Federation of University Women and others on honours and awards, to universities on appointments and promotions, to publishers on proposed works, etc, 1955-1995; correspondence with and references for fellow scholars, 1929-2001; records of her work with literary societies including the Wordsworth Trust and the Tennyson Society, 1961-2000; personal records including diaries, 1920, 1930s, 1961-2001, correspondence with friends and family, [c.1916]-2001; records, memorabilia and reminiscences of her upbringing and education, in Berwick-upon-Tweed and at Quaker Schools in Yorkshire.

Records of Geoffrey Tillotson (GT)'s teaching at University College, London, 1931-1941, and Birkbeck College, London, 1940s-1960s; records of his academic research and writing, 1932-1969, including notes and drafts for his Victorian volume of the 'Oxford History of English Literature'; poems and short stories; personal records including diaries, 1916-1969, correspondence with friends and family, 1930s-1960s; reminiscences and correspondence from the writing of the British Academy memoir of him by Mary Lascelles.

Kathleen Tillotson's 'old family papers', letters, journals and photographs, 1776-1916, inherited from her father's family, the Lambs of Belfast, and her mother's family, the Davidsons of Fritchley, Derbyshire, including copies of documents relating to history of the Society of Friends, such as Joseph Haughton's account of the 'preservation' of Quakers during the 1798 uprising in Ireland.

Papers of Benjamin Travers, c 1816-1868, comprising 4 manuscript case books, 1843-1859; a manuscript titled Annotationes in Re Medica ac Chirurgica, Apr 1850-Sep 1857; a manuscript titled Further Observations on some unusual forms of injury occurring at the hip joint, Nov 1853; a manuscript case book, inscribed with the address '12 Bruton Street, Berkeley Square', 1834-1839; syllabi of Travers' lectures; post-mortem reports, including Travers own by R C Headington; case notes by Benjamin Brodie and William Dalrymple; accounts of hydrophobia by various writers; letters from S Cooper, J R Farre, Samuel Reynolds, John Smith Soden, Edward Stanley etc; and a volume titled An Account of French Practice in 1816 by John Murray.

The archive consists of letters to Mrs Vernon relating to a biography of Philippa Fawcett, the daughter of Millicent, which she wrote in May 1957 and sent in typescript to Miss Douie, the then Librarian of the Fawcett Society and to Miss Philippa Strachey, Secretary of the Fawcett Society for many years, also to Dame Margaret Cole.

Papers of Sir Cecil Pembrey Grey Wakeley, 1915-1965, comprising letters to Sir Cecil Wakeley on relinquishing the Presidency of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1954; register of Sir Cecil Wakeley's publications, 1915-1965; scrapbook, 1924-1965; album of clinical photographs, 1932-1941; signature book of House Surgeons and Registrars working with Sir Cecil Wakeley at King's College Hospital and other hospitals, 1922-1957; and Temporary Surgeon Rear Admiral's Warrant, 1939-1940.

A holograph fair copy of Portraits of the Period by Sir Hugh Walpole, with a letter from the author, 1918-1919.

Papers and correspondence, 1846-1974, of David Meredith Seares Watson and his family, largely comprising biographical material and family papers, scientific correspondence, and photographs, also including a few Exchequer receipts, 1568-1622.

Biographical material, 1886-1974, includes Watson's birth certificate, 1886; documentation, including certificates and correspondence, of Watson's career, honours and awards over a period of forty years, including election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, 1922, the award of its Darwin medal, 1942, and the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society, 1965; correspondence about the Directorship of the British Museum (Natural History), 1937; correspondence about the presentation album on his retirement from the Jodrell Chair, 1951; correspondence and papers relating to his final retirement from research, 1965; obituaries, 1973; F R Parrington and T S Westoll's memoir of Watson from Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1974; an account of Watson's early days and family background by his daughter Janet Vida; recollections by his research assistant Joyce Townsend; Watson's curriculum vita and bibliography.

Family papers include the birth certificate of Watson's father, David, 1846, correspondence with his wife Mary, 1888, and a letter of condolence to Mrs Watson on her husband's death, 1899; diaries of Mary Watson, 1881, 1885; birth certificate of their daughter Constance, 1888, letters from Constance to her brother David Meredith Seares Watson, 1905-1909 and undated; papers relating to Katharine Margarite Watson (née Parker), Watson's wife, including her birth certificate, 1891, marriage certificate, 1917, death certificate, 1969, and various correspondence; papers relating to Watson's daughter Katharine Mary, including letters of congratulation on her birth, 1918, and letters to her parents, 1950, 1955; material relating to Watson's mother's family, including letters of her father Samuel M Seares, 1871, 1879-1882; papers of Charles J B Hutchinson, 1879-1880, who emigrated to Australia after his engagement to Watson's mother was broken off but who remained in correspondence with her aunt, Fanny Rossiter; other Parker family papers, 1929-1972; miscellaneous other personal correspondence, 1896-1965.

Four Exchequer receipts dated 1568, 1580, 1616 and 1622 were found enclosed with a letter to Watson's wife.

Scientific correspondence of Watson, sometimes including photographs of fossil specimens, with leading palaeontologists in Africa, 1947-1953, America, 1915-1964, Australia, 1931-1962, China, 1926-1927, 1935-1964, England, 1913-1914, 1920, 1926-1960, France, 1930-1936, 1945-1956, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, 1920-1962, Russia, 1920-1962, and Scandinavia, 1922-1964, and with the palaeontologist Robert Broom, 1911-1950, and Watson's research assistant Joyce Townshend, 1929-1973, also including a few letters from Watson's wife and scientific colleagues, and an obituary of Watson, 1974; correspondence and papers on bones found at Qau, Egypt, 1930-1957, 1972; miscellaneous other palaeontological correspondence, 1912-1967. There are few copies of Watson's outgoing letters before the end of the Second World War.

Photographic material comprises photographs documenting Watson's career, [1912]-1965 and undated, some including colleagues; photographs of scientific colleagues, 1911-1951 and undated, including Watson's predecessor as Professor at University College London, J P Hill, and Robert Broom; album of photographs and signatures presented to Watson, 1951; undated family photographs, including a photograph of Watson as a boy, photographs of members of the Seares and Parker families, and photographs of Watson's wife, Katharine Margarite, and daughter, Katharine Mary; photographs of unidentified fossil specimens.

Royal Society Darwin Medal Award given to Watson, 1942.

The letterbook is entitled 'Autographs chiefly of my Literary Friends'. As this indicates, the letters were mostly retained for the signatures and many letters have had the text removed, leaving only the signature and perhaps the address. Other letters are incomplete, usually retaining just the last sheet. Most of the letters are written to Weymouth himself, but some are in the form of testimonials for him.

Records of Thomas Whitby, comprising commonplace books, [1804-1844]; scrapbook containing autographs, mostly of people connected with the Corporation of London, [1830-1835]; and catalogue of Whitby's library, 1834-1836.

Records of several generations of the Whitehouse family of Islington. The bulk of the collection comprises a range of family correspondence, including letters from family living or travelling abroad in Pennsylvania and New York, USA; Calcutta, India; Wellington, New Zealand; and France. There are also letters from members of the family serving during the Boer War and the First World War; and letters detailing everyday civilian life in London during the Second World War. Other papers include school reports of Henry Whitehouse junior; papers relating to prizes for artwork; Dramatic Society papers; papers relating to Henry Whitehouse junior acting as Special Constable in Islington; papers relating to property in Hornsey and Islington; financial records and family trees.

Henry Leonard Wilson's papers, 1930-1968, relate to his unpublished paper on the blindness of the poet John Milton, and consist of correspondence relating to the paper, drafts of the paper, notes on Milton, articles by others on Milton, and correspondence between Ruth Wilson, Wilson's widow, and the Royal College of Physicians library about the posthumous publication of the paper.

Papers of Thomas Wormald, 1818-c 1867, comprising a certificate for apprenticeship to John Abernethy, and autobiographical notes, 1818-c 1867; and letters from Sir Richard Owen, 1856-1859.

Papers of Richard Wright, Middlesex County Librarian, 1922-1952, including letters and cards sent to Wright from members of staff serving in the Second World War; newsletters; newspaper cuttings; journal articles; and photographs of libraries.