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Papers and correspondence of the British Maritime Law Association (BMLA), dating largely from 1947-c1971, with a few related items dating back to 1921, and comprising adminstrative papers and correspondence of the BMLA and its papers on issues in maritime law; papers and correspondence relating to the Comité Maritime International (CMI) and to overseas maritime law associations in Europe and America; and papers and correspondence on international conferences concerning issues of maritime law, held in Europe, the USA, and elsewhere, including conference documents, amendments, proceedings, and papers of the British delegation. The papers relate to issues in maritime law including limitations of shipowners' liability; bills of lading (issued by the carrier to the shipper on delivery of goods for shipment); the Hague Rules (defining the rights and liabilities of a carrier, introduced in Brussels in 1921 and adopted first as clauses in bills of lading and after 1923 as the Brussels Convention on Limitation of Liability); the 'gold clause' concerning contradictions in international conventions regarding the extent of liability; carriage of nuclear material by sea and the liability of operators, including the OEEC (Organisation for European Economic Co-operation) convention; and issues relating to oil pollution in the wake of the Torrey Canyon incident (1967).

Papers of Sir Gavin Rylands De Beer, the majority c1939-1972, consisting of: notes and drafts for publications and lectures on the history of science and literary topics; correspondence concerning literature and De Beer's scientific work; papers from De Beer's work during the First and Second World Wars; financial and legal papers; and some personal correspondence.

Autograph album, 1802-1805, with verses and notes from fellow students at Jena University.

Collection of autograph letters, 1756-1849, brought together by Lord Odo Russell. The correspondents are mainly European scientists, including Nikolaus Joseph and his son Joseph Franz Freiherr von Jacquin, both Professor of Chemistry and Botany at Vienna University; the zoologist Leopold Joseph Franz Johann Fitzinger; and the botanist István Laszló Endlicher. The letters concern the natural sciences, the medical sciences, the physical sciences, the arts, theology, dealers, diplomats and statesmen, and others. There is also a note from Beethoven (post 1824) and a letter from Goethe (1807).

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.

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.