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Correspondence, 1892-1943, between Benson and various academic colleagues, mainly on subjects relating to botany, and the reading and publication of papers by women to scientific societies, notably with Professor Francis Wall Oliver, Professor of Botany at University College London, Professor Sir Albert Charles Seward, Professor of Botany at Cambridge University, and Dukinfield Henry Scott, President of the Linnean Society. Papers, 1871, 1906 and [1936] relating to Benson's death, including her childhood exercise book, 1897, given to Professor Elizabeth Marianne Blackwell, Head of Botany at Royal Holloway College, various copies of the obituary notice written by Blackwell, [1936], and material relating to a bequest by Benson to the Botanical Laboratory at Royal Holloway College, [1936]. Photographs, [1893-1922] of staff and student life at Royal Holloway College, including boating scenes, costume tableaux in the College quad, formal portraits of Benson in academic dress, and laboratories in the College.

Deeds, Acts of Parliament, Statutes and Regulations relating to Royal Holloway College, 1883-1962, including a printed copy Deed of Foundation, 11 Oct 1883, and amendments, 26 Apr 1906; printed 'Rules and Regulations...in the Deed of Foundation, with amendments', Apr 1912, and further printed and manuscript amendments, 1925, 1939, 1940 and 1946; charter of a Grant of Arms to Royal Holloway College, May 1944; Royal Holloway College Act, 30 Jul 1949, and amended Act, Apr 1962. Records of meetings, including bound volumes containing Minutes of Governors' (Council) Meetings, 1886-1971, with indexes; Chairman's Agenda books relating to meetings of the Board of Governors, the Council and their Committees, 1887-1965; bound Attendance Registers for the Board, Council and Committees, 1889-1965. Reports and papers of the Board of Governors (Council), notably printed Governors' Reports, 1888-1891; termly Principal's Reports to the Governing Body, 1887-1969; report of a conference on University degrees for women, convened by the Governors of Royal Holloway College, 1898; printed report of a Committee appointed by the Governors to consider the question of instruction in the College, 1901. Printed annual accounts, 1896-[1985]. Registers of the use of the College Seal, 1949-1970.

Minute books of the Finance Committee, 1887-1973; Minute book of the Garden Committee, 1890-1912; Minute books of the Library Committee, 1892-1965; Minute and Agenda books of the Education Council, 1898-1921; Minute books of the Staff and Appointments Committee, 1929-1963; Minute book of the Investment Committee, 1950-1976; Minute book of the Planning Committee, 1959-1965; Minute book of the House Committee, 1887; reports, memoranda and letters relating to the Committee on Chapel Services, 1887, 1896-1898; minutes, reports and memoranda of the Post-War Policy Committee, 1943-1947; Minutes of the Publicity Committee, 1967-1969; Minutes of the Halls of Residence Sub-Committee, 1964-1965; Minutes of the Residential Costs Sub-Committee, 1965-1967; Minutes, Annual Reports and catalogues of the University of London Botanical Supply Unit Sub-Committee, 1950-1982; Minute books containing minutes of ad hoc committees, 1892-1965, on subjects including Chapel services, building, College curriculum, College Constitution, staff salaries and pensions, appointments and publicity.

Bound and unbound Minutes of Bedford College Council, 1849-1984; Agenda Book for the Council and its Committees, 1896-1954; bound list of papers presented to Council, 1971-1985; Attendance Register for the Council and its Committees, 1908-1939; Committee Signature Books, 1929-1933 and 1973-1985, including the Academic Board; alphabetical list of the Members of the College and the Council, 1872-1904; Register of the Members of the College, 1869-1888, including name, occupation and date of entry; List of members of temporary Committees, 1928-1934; Bound volumes and pamphlets containing the Annual Reports of the Council, 1888-1983; outward Letter Books of the Council, 1881-1895, with indexes; Notebook of Lucy Russell, Honorary Secretary of the Council, 1888-1902, including names and addresses of Professors and teachers, Members of the College, Associates, students previous to 1871, auditors, Visitors and tradesmen, as well as lists of the membership of the Council and Committees; material relating to the use of the College Seal, notably Seal Books of the Council, 1909-1948, the College Seal, 1965, and correspondence relating the need for a new Seal following changes of name, 1956, 1965 and 1984; legal documents, 1865-1983, relating to premises used by Bedford College, including deeds of property for the Shaen Wing, 1896-1899, 35-37 Dorset Square, 10 Dorset Square, 299a Edgware Road, 43 New Cavendish Street, 51 Harley Street, The Holme, Hanover Lodge, Headstone Lane Sports Centre, Sussex Lodge, York Place, East Street and Broadhurst Gardens. Legal documents relating to benefactors of the College, notably Deeds of Gift under the Pious Benefactors, 1926, and by the Marquess of Crewe, 1930. Correspondence and papers relating to the financing, construction and upkeep of the Busk Memorial Gates, 1931-1936. Minutes of the Committee of Management, 1868.

Papers of Professor Sir William Hunter McCrea, 1890-2004, comprise 10 sections, A-J. Section A: Biographical, presents significant material relating to McCrea's education and career, honours and awards. There are obituaries, interviews and biographical and autobiographical writings. The autobiographical writings consider some of his principal areas of research activity such as 'statistical physics', 'quantum physics', 'Dirac's Large Number hypothesis (LNh) and cosmology', 'solar system problems' and 'Relativity'. Of especial interest for the beginning of his career are the folders of notes made and the 37 notebooks kept by him as an undergraduate and research student at Trinity College Cambridge, 1923-1929, including the period at Göttingen in 1928-1929. Amongst the lecturers and topics represented are P.A.M. Dirac (Modern Quantum Mechanics), A.S. Eddington (Stellar Astronomy), R.H. Fowler (Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory of Gases), D.R. Hartree (Physics of the Quantum Theory), H. Jeffreys (Operational Methods), J.E. Littlewood (Analysis Theory of Series) and F.J.M. Stratton (Stellar Physics). Also presented here are a series of 'personal' scrapbooks beginning with no. 3 '1960-1967 with a few earlier items' and continuing to the end of his life with no.17 '1993-1997'. The scrapbooks document McCrea's career in photographs, newspaper cuttings, programmes of meetings, invitation cards, table plans, etc. A series of seven 'general' scrapbooks cover the period 1960-1997 and contain principally press-cuttings, especially obituaries. There is also a great deal of other personal memorabilia in the form of invitation cards, programmes, menu cards, seating plans and similar. Many relate to academic occasions, especially in the University of London or scientific occasions, for example at the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. Section B, University Career, documents a succession of university positions at Edinburgh, Imperial College London, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Holloway University of London and University of Sussex. There is correspondence relating to his early career at Imperial and Belfast, 1934-1944, correspondence and papers relating to Royal Holloway including the Mathematics Department and continuing after his departure for Sussex, 1945-1984, while the Sussex material documents, amongst other matters, aspects of the work of the Astronomy Centre, 1966-1989. However, the largest group of university material relates to McCrea's teaching which is a particularly valuable record for the earlier part of his career at Edinburgh, Imperial and Belfast and continues at Royal Holloway. There is also teaching material for a number of his Visiting Professorships: University of California, Berkeley in 1956 and 1967 and Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, Ohio in 1964. Also presented here are McCrea's notes on the university teaching of others (subsequent to his own undergraduate and postgraduate education), including E.T. Whittaker and C.G. Darwin at Edinburgh and J. Todd at Belfast.

Section C, Research, is predominantly the contents of McCrea's titled folders which may include manuscript working, drafts, correspondence and off-prints. The folders cover an extended period from 1928 to the 1980s and are presented in chronological order as far as possible. Folder topics include, amongst many others, relativity, 'Milne Theory', stellar models, interstellar molecules and continual creation. Folder titles may also indicate an association with the work of collaborators, for example 'Kermack - McCrea Problems' in the 1930s, and with that of research students, especially at Royal Holloway. Some of the folders contained drafts for identifiable publications and lectures and assignment amongst the sections of the catalogue was not straightforward. Section D, Publications, presents a major chronological sequence of drafts and related material for McCrea's publications, covering the exceptionally long period of seventy years, 1928-1997. The non-availability of a reliable bibliography of McCrea's publications, especially for the period after 1970, meant that the designation of drafts as intended for publication was sometimes tentative. A separate sequence of reviews by McCrea covers the period 1949-1995. Publications correspondence documents McCrea in a number of advisory roles including journal editor. The largest group of papers relates to the Cambridge University Press, 1964-1991 where McCrea was an editor of the Press's General Relativity series and of the Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics from the conception of the series in 1972. Correspondents include fellow editor D.W. Sciama. Of particular interest is a much shorter sequence of correspondence and papers relating to The Observatory Magazine. McCrea became an editor in 1935 and is referred to as a former editor in 1939. Correspondents include fellow editor R.v.d.R. Woolley and contributors S. Chandrasekhar, T.G. Cowling and E.A. Milne, and offering a paper 'as an outsider' J.B.S. Haldane. Section E, Lectures, presents a major chronological sequence of drafts and related material for McCrea's public and invitation lectures, 1931-1993. The sequence documents the great variety of topics on which McCrea talked and the range of his audiences in Britain and overseas from Oslo in 1936 to Brioni, Croatia in 1990. Also presented here are a small group of lectures by other scientists including a notebook used for McCrea's notes of lectures by A.C. Aitkin, W.O. Kermack and E.T. Whittaker, possibly at an occasion at Queen's University Belfast while McCrea was professor there, and a duplicated typescript copy of a lecture on the meaning of wave mechanics given by Erwin Schrödinger in Dublin in 1952.

Section F, Societies and organisations, presents records of McCrea's association with twenty-five UK and international organisations including the British Association, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, a proposed UK Institute for Theoretical Astronomy, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO), Royal Society and the UK Science Research Council (SRC) / Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC). McCrea's British Association papers cover an extended period 1934-1983 including an early period from 1934 to the beginning of the Second World War when he was involved in various capacities with the work of the Committee of Section A (Mathematical and Physical Sciences). Although the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies material covers a very short period 1940-1942, this represents the founding of the Institute. McCrea was a member of the Governing Board of the School of Theoretical Physics from 31 October 1940. There is significant documentation of the proposed UK Institute for Theoretical Astronomy, 1960-1966, possible locations being Cambridge (its eventual home) and Brighton. McCrea was a member (later Chairman) of the Subcommittee of the British National Committee for Astronomy which considered the proposed Institute. IAU papers principally relate to its general assemblies and symposia, 1955-1988, the 1935 Paris General Assembly being represented by historical reflections written by McCrea in 1988. McCrea's long association with the Royal Astronomical Society is documented by one of the largest components of the archive. There is a good record in correspondence and other papers of his Presidency, 1961-1963 and of the RAS Club, of which McCrea was President for many years. The most substantial group of RAS papers relates to the history of the Society, McCrea contributing a chapter on the 1930s in the second volume of its history (published 1987) covering the period, 1920-1980. McCrea also had a very long association with the Royal Greenwich Observatory which is extensively documented. There are records of the Admiralty Board of Visitors and its successor, the SRC RGO Committee and of the celebrations of the RGO Tercentenary (1675-1975) in which McCrea took a leading role. He prepared an historical review of the Observatory which was published by the HMSO in 1975, gave a number of papers on the RGO's history and wrote an article for the tercentenary exhibition catalogue. The most significant of his RGO papers, however, are probably those which relate to the decision of the SERC to move the RGO from Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex. McCrea was a very active campaigner against the move. He corresponded with politicians and colleagues and a number of colleagues copied their letters to him. He also wrote on a number of occasions to The Times which published an article by him on 23 April 1986. He attended a meeting of Fellows at the Royal Society, 23 May 1986, and a meeting convened by Patrick Moore, 6 June 1986, to express and to co-ordinate opinions that opposed the SERC's decision. Records of McCrea's Royal Society committee service illuminate developments in British astronomy and space science in the decades following the Second World War. There are also papers relating to two discussion meetings he helped organise: the origin and early evolution of the galaxies in 1979 and the constants of physics in 1983. Finally, McCrea's SRC / SERC material, 1966-1985, provides further documentation relating to British astronomy and space science and the future of the RGO.

Section G, Visits and conferences, provides a useful but incomplete record of McCrea's travel in the UK and overseas to attend all kinds of scientific meetings and conferences. The papers cover the period 1954-1989 and include his Visiting Professorships at University of California, Berkeley in 1956 and 1967, University of Cairo in 1973 and University of Otago, Dunedin, in 1979 and his visits as Royal Society Exchange Visitor to the USSR in 1960 and 1968 and to Egypt in 1981. He was a regular visitor to the University of Liege, Belgium to attend international astrophysical symposia and to the USA to attend Texas Symposia on relativistic astrophysics. Meetings held under IAU and Royal Society auspices are also to be found in Section F. Section H, History of science and scientific biography, represents a major interest and commitment of McCrea. He wrote and lectured on historical and biographical aspects of areas of his scientific interest, especially associated with major anniversaries. He also wrote many obituaries and the Royal Society biographical memoirs of H.H. Plaskett and R.v.d.R. Woolley. There are particularly large accumulations of material relating to Einstein, R.H. Fowler, E.A. Milne, Plaskett, E. Schrödinger and Woolley. Records of his principal historical writing on the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Greenwich Observatory are to be found in Section F.

Section J, Correspondence, is extensive and important and is presented in a number of alphabetical and chronological series suggested by McCrea's own arrangement. It covers the period 1942-1996. There is correspondence with colleagues and others relating to all aspects of his work including research, publications, lectures and visits and conferences. There are many examples of correspondence and papers from members of the public and amateur scientists on such topics as cosmology and relativity theory. Furthermore, there is significant correspondence in other parts of the archive, for example in association with his publications work and his professional affiliations with scientific societies and organisations. Taking the archive as a whole, there is correspondence of note with most of the major scientific figures in his areas of interest and the following list of principal correspondents is therefore highly selective: H. Bondi, S. Chandrasekhar, T.G. Cowling, H. Dingle, J.A. Jacobs, A.C.B. Lovell, R.A. Lyttleton, S.K. Runcorn, D.W. Sciama, J.L. Synge, R.J. Tayler, A. Unsöld, G.J. Whitrow, A.W. Wolfendale and R. v.d.R. Woolley.

Correspondence, 1907-1911, relating to joint meetings of the three women's colleges, mainly to select candidates for election to the Senate of the University of London, with correspondents including Beatrice Edgell, Head of the Psychology Department at Bedford College, Constance Parker, Westfield College, Dr Catherine Alice Raisin, Head of the Geology Department at Bedford College, and Margaret Janson Tuke, Principal of Bedford College; correspondence, 1909-1910, relating to the publication of student dissertations and scholarship recommendations. Many of the letters in the collection are annotated by Hilda Murray.

Legal documents relating to the Reid Trust, 1860-1931, including a Declaration of Trust, 1860, between Mrs Reid, Bostock, Martineau and Smith, and deeds and correspondence relating to the appointment of new trustees, 1896-1931. Financial papers for the Reid Trust, 1859-1955, including details of the Reid Scholarship Fund, a Reid Scholarship Account Book, 1859-1906, bank books and share certificates. Papers relating to the Rachel Notcutt Travelling Scholarship, 1913-1939, including letters to Miss Lee from Bertha Tilley and D Bains describing their travels, 1931-[1936], letters of application and recommendation, 1919-1938, correspondence relating to the establishment and funding of the scholarship, 1918-1919, including correspondence from Rachel Notcutt, 1913-1918. Papers relating to the administration of the Reid Trust, 1867-1954, notably early material concerning the Trust, 1867-1939, including papers relating to the Bedford College School, 1867, the appointment of a Mistress of Studies in 1892, the removal of Reid Trust funding for higher education, 1895 and a grant for new buildings at Bedford College, 1903-1907; legal papers relating to the Scholarship Fund, 1871-1872; correspondence, 1898-1921, relating to the Bostock Medical Scholarship at the London School of Medicine for Women. Notebook for the Reid Trustees Memorial Fund, 1884-1885, to commemorate the work of Mrs Reid, including letters from Henrietta Busk to the Bedford College Council; book plate printing block for the Reid Trust, [1894]. Papers relating to the Reid Scholarships, 1871-1992, including correspondence concerning recommendations of scholars by the Staff and Council of Bedford College, [1901]-1922; official papers and correspondence, 1867-1984, including correspondence with Bedford Council announcing the decision of the Trust to end the Reid Scholarships in 1984; correspondence between the Trustees and Bedford College concerning the Reid Trustees Scholarship in Arts, 1967-1992.

Records of the Royal Holloway College Association, 1887-1972, comprising publications, 1890-1972, mainly comprising copies of the College Letter. Subscription records, 1903-1960, including lists of life members of the RHCA, 1903-1960, and the annual membership, 1914-1926. Records of the RHCA Committee, 1914-1947, notably minute books, 1914-1947, and returns and letters supplied for a survey of the occupations of old students between 1939 and 1942. Minute book of the Principal's Portrait Committee, 1925-1926.

Collection of papers relating to Royal Holloway College, University of London, 1874-1985, namely papers of the Board of Governors (1886-1949) and the Council (1949-1985), 1883-1985, including deeds, Acts of Parliament, Statutes and regulations of the College, minutes, agendas and reports of the meetings of the Governors and Council, and printed annual accounts; records of Thomas Holloway, the founder of the College, 1874-1884, notably letter book, ledger and journal relating to the foundation of Royal Holloway College, and pamphlets on the organisation of schools and colleges; papers of the Trustees, 1874-1969, including legal papers relating to the foundation and construction of the College, minute books of Trustees' meetings, financial material such as accounts and cash books, and records concerning the opening ceremony of the College; papers of the Committees of the Governors and Council, 1887-1982, mainly comprising minutes, reports and memoranda; papers of the Royal Holloway College Staff Meeting, 1889-1985, notably minute books, memoranda, letters and circulars, and reports of the London University Committee on Academic Orgnaisation, 1965-1967; minute books of the Faculties, 1897-1967; papers of the Academic Departments, [1901]-1972, including brochures and syllabuses, student lists, departmental files, and minute books, especially relating to the Department of Music; papers of the Royal Holloway College Library, 1889-1984, notably reports and publications, Library working files, material relating to Library committees, and account books; papers created by the Principal's Office, 1887-1966, notably material concerning College functions, staff records, 1888-1956, papers of the Senior Student, 1909-1962, material concerning the College Chapel, papers relating to the University of London Constitution, 1895-1927, and other correspondence and memoranda on matters including scholarships, prizes, student societies, student fees and wartime activities; papers of the Registrar's Department, 1887-[1985], mainly comprising student records such as registers, scholarship details, teaching statistics, examination and prize records, college publication including calendars, prospectuses and brochures, and reports, letters and memoranda concerning University of London Visitations; papers of the Secretary's Department, 1886-1963, including correspondence and memoranda on subjects including the appointment of staff, financial matters, constitutional decisions, specifications and estimates for building work, the contents of the Royal Holloway Picture Gallery, with registers and inventories relating to the domestic, academic and administrative staff; papers of the Accountant's Department, 1887-1970, notably the main accounts of Royal Holloway College, 1887-1970, accounts for scholarships and prizes, 1887-1954, material relating to salaries and wages, and accounts relating to household supplies, 1887-1910 and 1961-1969; papers of the Residence Officers, 1886-1940 and 1970-1972, including records of the Lady Housekeeper, 1899-1939, the Chief Engineer, 1886-[1927], notably specifications and plans relating to the maintenance of the College, diaries of the Night Porter, 1888-1908, and records of the Catering Manager, 1970-1972; papers of the Curator of the Picture Gallery, 1881-1977, notably correspondence and papers relating to the collection, visitor books, sale and exhibition catalogues and press cuttings; records of the Royal Holloway College Association, 1887-1972, comprising copies of the College Letter, subscription records, minute books, and correspondence; records of the staff and student bodies of Royal Holloway College, 1889-1975, including minute books of the College Meeting, 1890-1925, the Library Committee, 1889-1892, and various war work committees; records of the Royal Holloway College Student's Meeting (later Union), 1895-1973, notably constitutional papers and handbooks, minute books, reports and memoranda, accounts, papers of the Student's Union Committees, and records of the Senior Student, 1906-1944; Royal Holloway College magazines, 1938-1972; papers of the clubs and societies of Royal Holloway College, 1889-1971, mainly comprising minutes and correspondence; various unofficial records relating to the College, 1863-1971, namely material relating to Thomas Holloway and his family, reminiscences, memoirs, press cuttings, drawings and sketches; photographs, 1886-[1969], of Royal Holloway College, its staff and students.

Papers, [1967-1970], relating to the research for and writing of an [unpublished] book 'The great game: Britain and Russia in Asia and Arabia, 1865-1970' by Verrier, mainly comprising manuscript and typescript drafts of the book. The collection also includes the papers, [1890-1952], of Capt Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker, an officer in the Corps of Guides in India and Turkistan during World War One, 1914-1918, which were used by Verrier in his writing of the book, and mainly comprise army notebooks and other military material, manuscript drafts of 'Turkistan bedevilled' by Blacker, offprints of 'From India to Russia in 1914' and 'Travels in Turkistan 1918-1920' from the Geographical Journal of 1917 and 1921, and maps of Asia and Persia.