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.

Letters to Arthur Smith Woodward and related papers.

Records of the Geological Society of London, 1807-current, notably comprising:

Minutes and papers of Annual General Meetings, 1840-current; minutes, correspondence and papers relating to meetings of the Council, 1810-current; minutes and papers of Ordinary Meetings, 1807-1998; minutes and papers of Special General Meetings; 1834-2001; Minutes and papers of Standing and Ad Hoc committees of Council, [1810-current] [section is currently undergoing revision]; Charter and Bye-laws, 1810-1993;

Correspondence and other administrative papers relating to the running of the Geological Society, including: Presidents' Papers, 1977-1997; Elected Officers' papers, 1956-1995; Executive Secretary's papers, 1950-2013; Financial records, including bequests, trust funds, 1820-2011; Letterbooks of the Assistant Secretary and other Officers, [1807]-1960;

Administrative records of departments, including: Membership, 1807-current; Conferences and scientific meetings, 1932-2006; Library, 1835-current; Archives and conservation, 1971-2004; Education Department, 1993-1998; Society's Museum, 1808-1911; Publications, 1906-2009;

Portraits and photographs of Fellows, 1792-2011; Images of the interior and exterior of Burlington House, 1873-[1995]; Plans of the Society's apartments at Somerset House and Burlington House, 1828-[1982]; Obituaries and biographical information on Fellows, [1895]-current; Records of the Society's Centenary celebrations, 1907-1908; and Bicentenary celebrations, 1994-1998;

Records of the Geological Society Club, 1824-2006; Records of the Society's Specialist Groups and Joint Associations, 1964-[2009].

Papers of Miss Etheldred BENETT, comprising:

Large ink drawing of a fossil alcyonium, [1814-1817]; Bound volume, 'Sketches of fossil Alcyonia from the Green Sand Formation at Warminster Common and in the immediate vicinity of Wiltshire', 1816; Watercolour painting of a meteorite that fell in County Limerick in September 1813, [1825].

Correspondence, mainly to Martin Folkes on a large variety of subjects, including administrative matters for the Royal Society.

Letters addressed to William Buckland (DD, FRS, Dean of Westminster and Reader in Mineralogy and Geology in University of Oxford) and other posthumous correspondence relating to his work.

Papers of Department of Palaeontology comprising:

DF100 Palaeontology Departmental Correspondence;
DF101 Registers of Palaeontology Departmental Correspondence;
DF102 Palaeontology Departmental Finance and Accounts;
DF103 Palaeontology Reports to Trustees and other Official Documents;
DF104 Palaeontology Reports of Progress, Monthly and Annual;
DF105 Palaeontology Acquisition, Loan and Exchange Correspondence and Papers;
DF106 Staff Files and Diaries;
DF107 Keeper of Palaeontology's subject files;
DF108 Palaeontology Departmental visitors books;
DF109 Publications correspondence and artwork;
DF110 Parcel books;
DF116 Correspondence and papers on Piltdown Man;
DF117 Palaeontology loan registers;
DF120 Early members of staff, correspondence and papers;
DF121 Fossil Reptilia Section: correspondence and papers;
DF122 Fossil Mollusca Section: correspondence and papers;
DF123 Fossil Echinodermata Section: correspondence and papers;
DF124 Fossil Brachiopoda Section: correspondence and papers;
DF125 Fossil and Recent Protozoa Section: correspondence and papers;
DF140 Anthropology Sub-Department correspondence;
DF141 Anthropology Sub-Department subject files;
DF142 Anthropology Sub-Department visitors books;
DF160 Palaeontology Library accessions;
DF161 Palaeontology Librarian's correspondence.

The collection comprises material on medical history and notes on scatological remedies used in Mexico, and biographical notes on Dr. Miguel Francisco Jiménez (1813-1876).

Papers and correspondence, 1860-1944 and undated, of and relating to Sir George Dancer Thane, largely concerning his career, comprising papers on lectures, 1879-1918, including drafts and newspaper reports of his introductory address at the opening of the Medical School at University College London, 1879, and various lectures on anatomy, 1899-1918; notes, 1872-[1911], 1923-1929, on various subjects including dissection, racial characteristics, and other aspects of anatomy, and a list of books to the Anatomical Library of University College London; ten scrapbooks of anatomical drawings, 1867-1913, and undated loose anatomical drawings and medical photographs; other medical papers, 1878-[1926] and undated, including scrapbooks of medical press cuttings, 1878-1914, dates and subjects of dissection classes, 1885-1900, printed papers of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1887-1897, announcements of lectures, including some by Francis Galton, 1873-1912, papers on University reform in London, 1919, and miscellaneous others; correspondence, 1880-1930 and undated, from over 110 correspondents; personalia and ephemera, 1860-1930 and undated, including certificates, invitations and programmes, papers concerning honours including Thane's knighthood, papers relating to his death, and genealogical notes relating to the Thanes and others, and also papers concerning Lady Thane, 1884-1944; photographs, 1883-1920 and undated, including eleven photographs of Thane, 1883-1920, an undated photograph of Lady Thane, an album of photographs of their honeymoon, 1884, and a photograph of the dissecting room of University College London [1918]; box of bones and fossils.

Legal Records: Charters and Bylaws (1462) - date

Court and Council : Court of Assistants 1745-1827; Council 1827-date; Council in Committee 1963-1989; Revision committee 1981-1987; Nomination Committee 1934-1970; Annual Reports of Council 1884-date

Secretariat: Correspondence, arranged by subject c.1880-1983; Letterbooks 1810-1866, 1900-1925; General Purposes Committee 1808-1962; Joint Secretariat Committee 1961-1974

President: Committee of President and Vice President 1836-1855; Presidential Committee on Examinations 1985; Presidential Committee on the College's Educational Policies for the Future 1981-1982; Presidential Correspondence 1945-1948; President's Conversazione 1899-1934; President's newsletter 1967-1991

Museum: Board of Curators 1800-1844; Museum & Building Committee 1799-1814; Museum Committee 1844-1988; Hunterian Trustees 1805-present; Letter books 1800-1883; Museum Accounts 1800-1832; Annual Reports 1827-1946; Correspondence 1845-date; Special Collections Committee 1989; Donations Registers and Correspondence 1802-1967; Human Remains [archaeological Finds} 1907-1937; Visitors 1805-1989; Odontological Museum correspondence 1943-1989;

Building: Building Committee 1844-1966; Committee on Accommodation 1982; Committee on the Extension of the College Buildings 1885-1891; Furniture & Building 1966-1992; Hospitality & Catering Committee 1956-1988; House Committee 1944-1961; Building Estates Committee 1989-1992; Property Committee 1978-1982; Rebuilding of College 1946-1955; Plans for rebuilding 1957; Correspondence 1910-date, photographs 1880-date.

Examinations: Court of Examiners 1796 -1832; Registers 1745-1983; Committee of Management Conjoint Board 1884-1929; Letters books 1832-1865; Committee on Courses 1981-2; Working Party on Future of Examining Board In England 1972-1981

Membership: Signature books 1800-1970; Apprentices 1800-1846; Death Registers 1800-1889; Membership lists 1788-1970; Discipline Committee 1915-1955; Licentiate registers 1885-1898; Certificates 1850-1870; Register of Certificates 1821-1835

Fellowship; Fellowship Election Committee 1943-1975; Fellows Committee 1988-1999; Overseas Fellows Committee 1986-1989; Honorary Fellows 1900-1978; Fellows & Honorary Fellows photo albums 1840-1968;

Lectureships & Awards: Lectures & Orations 1810-1842; Erasmus Wilson Committee 1879; Jacksonian Lectureship Committee 1800-date; Prize & Medal Committee 1956-1987; Macloghlin Scholarship committee 1965-1975; Joseph Toynbee Memorial Lecture Committee 1988; Lionel College Memorial Fellowship Committee minutes 1982-1985; Norman Capener Travelling Fellowship Advisory Board 1981-1988; Ratanji Dalal Research Scholarship Committee 1963-1990; Tudor Edwards Memorial Fund Committee 1989; Walker Prize Committee 1956-1980; Windsor Prize Committee 1982

Publications: Transactions Committee 1841-1842; Annals Committee 1947-1989; Almanacks 1903-date

Annual Meetings: Annual & Provincial Meetings Committee 1965-1966;

External Affairs: External Affairs Board Minutes 1989-1992; International Relations Committee 1983;

Finance: Accounts 1745-1974 ; Committee of Auditors 1811-1888; Finance Committee 1888- 1977; Cashbooks 1887-1959; Finance & General Appeal Committee 1967-1972; Building Committee Accounts 1806-1838; College Chest 1978-1982; Committee on Income & Expenditure 1868

Fundraising: Appeals Committee 1956-1978; Restoration funds records 1945-1956

Library: Library Committee 1833-1989; Acquisitions 1833-1850; Letter book 1828-1851; Correspondence 1935-1965; Donations 1868-1957; Purchases 1887-1952; Visitors 1889-1946;Binding 1856-1951; Books Received 1839-1951; Periodicals Received 1881-1938; Binding 1951-1964

Media: Audio Visual Techniques Committee 1980-1982;

Surgical Specialities & Training: Examiners in Anatomy & Physiology Minutes 1880-1918 ; Examiners in Midwifery minutes 1852-1857; Board of Examiners In Dental Surgery 1860-1909; Board of Surgical Specialities 1976-1988; Committee on Higher Specialist Assessment in General Surgery 1984; Committee on Training of Surgeons later Surgical Training Board minutes 1959-1971; Courses & Lectureship Committee 1982; Committee on Courses 1981-1982; Special Advisory Committee on General Surgery 1978-1981; Surgical Teaching Films Committee 1985-1986; Joint Committee for Plastic Surgery, Postgraduate Orthopaedic Training 1948-1959; Postgraduate Education Committee 1947-1959

Research Laboratories Committee 1890-1905; Ethical or Research Ethics Committee 1974-1983; Hunterian Institute Board Minutes 1986-1989; Hunterian Institute Academic Advisory Committee 1986-1989; Institute of Basic Medical Research Correspondence & Minutes 1946-1983; Joint General Board 1966-1983; Joint Research Board 1975-1979; Museum & Research Committee 1937-1974; Research Establishment at Downe Management Committee minutes 1974-1977; Research Grants & Development Committee 1979-1985; Research Ethics Committee 1985-1992; Streatfield & MacKenzie Mackinnon Research Fund Committee 1989; Anatomy Correspondence 1948-1980

Club College Council Club minutes, photographs, correspondence 1931-date

Dinner: Hunterian Festival programmes 1881-1975; Buckston Browne 1928-1956

War: Committee of Reference 1916-1919

Papers of Sir Richard Owen, [1831-1873], comprising papers relating to his scientific research and as Curator of the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Papers largely relating to Owens' research and publications, including work on specimens of the Hunterian Museum and other institutions, namely original illustrations for plates published in his works and proof sheets; notes of dissections performed at the Zoological Society; report of preparations in comparative anatomy from animals which have died at the Zoological Gardens, 1831; report on the dugong received by the Zoological Society, 1831; paper on metamorphosis of insects; notes and sketch on python and boa; papers relating to a variety of subjects, including temporal mastoid-mammals; viscera and muscles of the myrmecophaga jubata (anteater); distinction of an animal from a vegetable; animal kingdom; order ophidia; serpents from British Fossil Reptiles, [c1850s]; list of 'Mr Cumming's Mollusca'; notes on birds closest in structure to mammalia; classified list of D Bennet esq's specimens of natural history, [1836]; notes on the hyoid, with sketches on the salamander; illustrations of cetacea; notes on the fore-foot, megatherium (giant sloth); loose notes on generation; notes on homologies; plates and notes on histology of animals; description of a malformed foetal heart; notes on composition of vertebral segments; notes on the dermo-skeleton, operculum and of a lecture on digestion; notes on belemites; memoranda on various subjects, including harpa ventricosa and Ehrenberg's classification with letters from naturalists; description of the skeleton of an extinct gigantic sloth, [c1842], and megatherium; report of preparations in comparative anatomy from animals which have died at the Zoological Gardens; report on the dugong received by the Zoological Society, 1831; notes on the giraffe, 1837; notes and sketches on a dugong, 1838; notes on the incubation and development of the chick; notes and plates on odontography, 1844; printed papers on Dinornis maximus (moa), with annotations by Owen, 1848-1851; memoir of William Clift, [c1850]; report on the dissection of the chimpanzee, 1844; notes taken at the Garden of Plants, Paris, 1847;

papers largely relating to the administration of the museum collection, namely lists of specimens, additions to the collection from other collections and reports to the Board of Curators of the Museum, including list of Hunterian documents handed by Owen to the Museum Committee; list of duplicate specimens in the College; selection from the collection of M Verraux; report to the Board of Curators, 1833; report on the present state of the museum, 1833; list of second selection of specimens from Mr Langstaff's collection, 1835; list of preparations in spirit presented by F D Bennett, 1836; donations from the Army Medical Departments; donations since July [1843]; report on duties of officers and servants of the Museum, 1852; plans for additional museum space, 1831; report to the Board of Curators on the Museum of Comparative Anatomy in the Garden of Plants, Paris, 1831; observations on the state of the College Museum, 1833; general account of specimens of comparative anatomy and natural history presented to the Museum by George Bennett, 1834; list of specimens proposed to be transferred to the British Museum and specimens of osteology proposed in place of the transfers, 1833-1834; report to the Committee on the chimpanzee, and copies of related correspondence, 1840; report on the physiological catalogue, 1840; list of duplicate preparations from the museum of Sir Astley Cooper not desirable for the College Museum, 1843; list of specimens selected for the College from Dr Buckland's series of bones of dinornis, 1844; report on additional space required for the collection, 1845; list of osteological specimens purchased at Steven's Auction Room, 1847; list of donations from Sir Thomas W Wilson, 1852;

papers relating to catalogues of the Hunterian Museum, including sketches and notes for an osteological catalogue, [?1840s]; notes and classifications referring to specimens in the Museum, [1827-1856]; Catalogue of Hunterian Osteological specimens, [?1853]; notes made whilst producing the catalogue of comparative anatomy, ?1831; printed histological catalogue of the Museum, with annotations, 1850; papers prepared for publication of descriptive catalogue of the fossil organic remains of invertebrata in the museum, 1856;

papers relating to the Hunterian lectures delivered by Owen at the College, including museum lectures on the animal kingdom, (Owen's first course of Museum lectures) c1837; notes for lectures delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons, 1830s-1850s; memorandum concerning Museum lectures, 1823-1833; lecture on the comparative anatomy and physiology of the vertebrate animals, 1844; notes, plates and drawings relating to mammalia and Owen's lecture, 1844;

notes taken by William W Cooper on lectures on comparative anatomy delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1838-1839, revised and corrected by Owen; notes on lectures on comparative anatomy delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1837, in Clift's hand; notes taken by T E Bryant on Owen's lectures on comparative anatomy, 1839; notes taken by Frederick Hoare Colt on lectures on physiology and morbid anatomy by Owen, 1845; Lady Owen's common-place book, [c1835-1873].

Papers of Thomas Henry Huxley, 1839-1931, comprising scientific and general correspondence, 1846-1911; Huxley family letters, 1842-1931; personal papers, 1839-1891; working papers, 1846-1900, largely comprising notes, drawings, lectures and unfinished essays, relating to anthropology and ethnology, 1866-1890, biology, 1846-1900, including voyage of HMS RATTLESNAKE, 1846-1850, education, 1861-1893, geology and palaeontology, 1854-1891, philosophy and ethics, 1871-[1893], theology and biblical criticism, [1859-1895]; papers of the Fisheries Commissions and Scottish Fishery Board, 1858-1864; appointment diaries, 1857-1894; drawings, [1849-1872]; caricatures and cartoons, [1852-1883]; photographs and engravings, [1846-1890]; posthumous papers, [1895-1925];

scientific papers, 1846-1898, comprising notebooks made whilst with HMS RATTLESNAKE, 1846-1850; scientific notebooks, containing drawings, notes, correspondence and lectures, [1855-1888], principally relating to zoology and largely organised by zoological classification; drawings, [1847-1895], many relating to the notebooks;

correspondence between Huxley and Henrietta Anne Heathorn, 1847-1854.

Records of the Museum of the Geological Society of London, 1808-1911, comprising:

Letters, lists and notes relating to the contents of the Geological Society's Museum, 1808-1897; Annotated mineralogy and palaeontology publications for use in the Museum, 1837-1855; Museum visitors' register, 1899-1911; Records relating to the disposal of the Museum collections, 1896-1911.

Large, conte and pencil drawing of a Cruziana semiplicata fossil by John Lucas Tupper, Rugby School, Rugby, [1875].

Papers of Sir George Duncan Gibb, comprising:

Manuscript volume entitled 'Geological Rambles around Montreal and its Vicinity. With an account of the history, physical geography and geology of the island. Illustrated with a coloured geological map and numerous wood engravings, by Sir George Duncan Gibb, Bart, MA, MD, LLD, FGS, London 1868'. According to the letter of transmissal (pasted into the front of the volume) and the preface, Gibb's intention was for the work to be published but it was never financially viable to do so. The volume is set out as if it were a published work, with chapters and 'woodcut' illustrations (mostly of fossils) which are in fact original ink drawings by Gibb. The descriptions contained in the volume were compiled between 1851-1853 (although at least one of the illustrations is dated 1855), before the Victoria Bridge and the Grand Trunk Railway were constructed, and prior to the area being covered by the Geological Survey of Canada.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
History of Montreal
Physical Geography of Montreal
Geology of Montreal

Chapter 1 - To Mount Royal to examine the Trap of which is is composed

Chapter 2 - To Côte-des-Neiges and McGill College to examine the Leda clay and Trap Dykes

Chapter 3 - To Pampinean Road, to examine a broad band of intercalated trap and Ice grooves

Chapter 4 - To Cadiuex Village to see Tertiary deposits in which were found bones of whales and seals

Chapter 5 - To the Mile End quarries to see the limestones at the base of the Trenton formation

Chapter 6 - To the Second Mile End quarries and La Chapelles Bridge, to examine the Chazy limestone

Chapter 7 - To the Tanneries of St Henri and Lac St Pierre to see the Alluvial deposits

Chapter 8 - To Côte St Michel, to explain Gibb's Cavern

Chapter 9 - To Mount Royal to examine a Fissure in the Limestone Rock

Chapter 10 - To Bouchette's Cavern, Kildare in the Laurentian limestones

Chapter 11 - To St Anne's to examine the Potsdam sandstone

Chapter 12 - To Beauharnois to examine the various beds of Foot-tracks

Chapter 13 - To Pointe Cavagnol, Vaudreiul, to examine the locality of the broadest Protichnites or Foot-tracks

Chapter 14 - To Lachute, Riviere du Nord, to examine the Track bed and its relations

Chapter 15 - To Mont Calvaire, Lake of Two Mountains to examine the gneiss of which it is composed; and also sand hills

Chapter 16 - To the Trap Mountain of Rigaud on the Ottawa River, with a multitude of small rounded boulders of trap on its summit

Chapter 17 - To Montarville, to see the Boucherville Mountain and its two little crater lakes

Chapter 18 - To Mount Rouville, otherwise called Chambly or Beloeil Mountain, and its crater lake

Chapter 19 - To Rougemont, composed of Dolerite Trap

Chapter 20 - To Yamaska Mountain, to see micaceous trachyte and diorite of which it is composed

Chapter 21 - To Monnoir to visit Mount Johnson, formed of feldspathic diorite

Chapter 22 - To Lachine and Caughnawaga [Kahnawake], to see multitudes of Boulders, Trap dykes, and limestones of the Chazy formation

Chapter 23 - To Pointe Claire to examine the quarries of limestone and marble

Chapter 24 - To Isle Bizard and White Horse Rapids to see two outliers of Dolomite conglomerate of the Upper Silurian Division

Chapter 25 - To the Village and Seigniory of Terrebonne to examine the Upper Laurentian Rocks

Chapter 26 - To St Helen's Island to examine the Dolomitic Conglomerate and its relations

Chapter 27 - To the Fort and Basin of Chambly on the River Richelieu

Chapter 28 - To the Pinnacle Mountain of St Armand formed of the Quebec group of rocks

Chapter 29 - To Varennes to see the Mineral Springs arising from the Utica Shales

Chapter 30 - To Grenville on the Ottawa River, to examine the serpentine and other Eozoic rocks

Chapter 31 - To Chatham on the Ottawa to see the beds of syenite and enromous accumulation of boulders

Chapter 32 - To Perth, to examine the Potsdam beds, containing Climactichnites associated with Protichnites

Drawings and watercolour paintings of fossil fish by Joseph Dinkel, J C Weber, Cécilie Agassiz, Jacques Bourkhardt, G A H Köppel and Sixtus Heinrich Jarwart and others, commissioned by Jean Louis Rudolphe Agassiz for his publications 'Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles' (1833-1844) and the follow up 'Monographie des Poissons Fossiles du Vieux Grès Rouge' (1844-1845). Also includes drawings commissioned by Lord William Willoughby Cole (1807-1886), later the Earl of Enniskillen, and Sir Philip de Malpas Egerton (1806-1881) of their own fossil cabinets.

Papers of Nathaniel John Winch, [1808]-1820, comprising:

Drawing of a plan of the dykes in Montagu Main Colliery, [1808]; Sketches of sections showing dykes in Whitley Quarry and Walbottle Dean, [c 1814]; Letter to Thomas Webster describing a fossil plant found near Whitby, 1820.

The collection is divided into four main groups: The first group contains papers relating to William Clift's work as conservator of the Hunterian Museum. This is the largest of the four groups and contains a number of sub divisions such as explanation and display of specimens, expanding the collections, administration of the museum, and correspondence. This group also contains the transcripts made by Clift and others of the Hunterian manuscripts. The second group contains work carried out by William Clift as an illustrator for publications. The third group contains a small amount of personal material that is in the collection. The fourth group contains transcripts and copies of manuscript material by William Clift that is held in other repositories such as the Natural History Museum.

Volume containing 32 letters from John Hunter to Edward Jenner, 1773-1793. The letters were written whilst Jenner practiced medicine at Berkeley, Gloucestershire, having been a pupil of Hunters in London from 1770 to 1772. The letters record Hunter's encouragement of Jenner in his botanical, ornithological and medical observations and experiments, and include requests for Jenner to send him animal specimens, including fossils.

Papers of Thomas Henry Huxley, 1839-1931, comprising scientific and general correspondence, 1846-1911, notably from Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, 1874-1895; Matthew Arnold, [1870]-1880; William George Armstrong, 1874-1900; Charles Robert Darwin, [1851]-1882; Anton Dohrn, 1867-1900; John Fretchfield Dykes Donnelly, 1870-1897; Frederick Daniel Dyster, [1854-1892]; Michael Foster, 1865-1902; Edward Frankland, 1857-1895; Ernst Haeckel, 1862-[1907]; Albany Hancock, 1852-1870; Joseph Dalton Hooker, [1853]-[1900]; James Hunt, 1866-1868; Benjamin Jowett, [1870]-1893; Charles Kingsley, 1859-1871; James Thomas Knowles, 1871-1908; Edwin Ray Lankester, [1872]-[1907]; Joseph Norman Lockyer, [1863]-1894; Charles Lyell, 1853-1873; John Morley, 1867-1892; Herbert Spencer, 1852-1900; John Tyndall, 1851-1894; Edward Perceval Wright, 1860-1874; supplementary letters, 1842-1931, principally Huxley family letters, 1842-1886; letters to Mrs Huxley and Dr Leonard Huxley, 1868-1931; letters by T H Huxley, principally drafts or copies, 1850-1895; copies of correspondence of Joseph Dalton Hooker, 1856-1897;
personal papers, 1839-1891, comprising miscellaneous papers, 1839-1911, including sketches and bills; diplomas and appointments, 1850-1893;
papers relating to anthropology and ethnology, 1866-1890, including lecture course on ethnology; papers relating to biology, 1846-1900, including notes and drawings relating to published papers on marine invertebrates, zoological papers sent to the Royal and Linnean Societies from HMS RATTLESNAKE; papers relating to lectures and essays, Darwin's works; papers relating to education, 1861-1893, concerning scientific and technical education, reform of the University of London, press cuttings; papers of the Fisheries Commissions and Scottish Fishery Board, 1858-1864; reports, notes, drawings and lectures relating to geology and palaeontology, 1854-1891; papers relating to philosophy and ethics, 1871-[1893], including material for a history of philosophy and human thought; theology and biblical criticism, [1859-1895] principally notes and unfinished essays; papers relating to the British Museum, sociology and politics, spiritulism, [1858-1894]; notebooks,1846-1894, some containing drawings, relating to philosophy, lectures at the Royal Institution, London Institution, Royal College of Surgeons, biology, zoology, publications, religion; appointment diaries, 1857-1894;
drawings, [1849-1872], mainly of landscapes and some specimens; caricatures and cartoons, [1852-1883];
photographs and engravings, [1846-1890], mainly of people and houses; posthumous papers, [1895-1925], including obituaries and reminiscences.

Notebooks of David Watson, [1864-1867], containing notes on lectures by Professor Andrew Ramsay concerning geology; lectures by August Wilhelm von Hofmann, 1865; lectures by Professor Edward Frankland concerning organic chemistry; lectures by T H Huxley concerning natural history, 1865; palaeontological demonstrations by Robert Etheridge, 1867; notes on mining, metallurgy and physics.

Typescript draft, with corrections, of paper 'The Piltdown Problem Reconsidered' by Dr Kenneth Page Oakley, [1972]. Paper describes the circumstances of the original Piltdown discovery by Charles Dawson and recounts Oakley's involvement in proving that the affair was a fraud.

Papers of William Hutton, [1827-1831], comprising:

Two ink drawings of Coal Measure plants, by William Hutton, from the Northumberland and Durham coal-field, [1827]; draft of paper 'On the Stratiform Basalt associated with the Carboniferous formation of the North of England' by William Hutton, accompanied by 12 ink sketches of sections, [1831].

Manuscript map 'Geological outlines of the country in the vicinity of the Swan River, Western Australia, compiled at the request of his Excellency John Hutt, Esq' and an accompanying geological memoir with list of fossils by Joshua William Gregory and Francis Thomas Gregory, 1846.

Correspondence between D M S Watson and others; memorabilia; sketches and drawings; photographs; and newspaper cuttings.

Manuscript and typescript research papers of Marie Stopes, including journal articles on botany, and photographs.

Scientific papers of T H Huxley, 1846-1898, comprising notebooks made whilst Assistant Surgeon to HMS RATTLESNAKE, 1846-1850, containing his observations, sketches of specimens, notably oceanic hydrozoa, mollusca and crustacea, related notes;

scientific notebooks, papers and correspondence, [1855-1888], relating to botany and principally zoology, bound in volumes largely according to zoological classification, including invertebrata, crustacea, vertebrata, teleostei, amphibia, reptilia, aves, mammalia, carnivora, primates, anthropology, mycological, bacteria, hirudinea, mollusca, petromyzon, ganoidei, sturiones, dipnoi, teleostei, salmonidae, insectivora, rodentia, lepus, canidae, fossil fishes, dinosauria, ethnology, origins of biology, gentiana; correspondence concerning deep sea soundings, 1857; syllabus and notes for lectures, [1860-1886], for the Government (later Royal) School of Mines, Royal Institution, working men, London Institution, University of Edinburgh, notably on natural history, zoology, ethnology, elementary geography, physiography; correspondence, 1851-1894; notebooks, [1847-1884], concerning visits to Switzerland, Tenby, Italy, notes on anatomy and vertebrae;

drawings, [1847-1895] many illustrating laboratory work, and relating to observations in his notebooks, relating to protozoa and botany; coelenterata, brachiostomata, echinodermata, mollusca; vermes and arthropoda with peripatus; pisces with tunicata and amphioxus; mammalia; anthropological photographs, [1868-1898].

Papers of Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay, 1812-1933, comprising notebooks and diaries, 1841-1882, recording both professional and personal details, including geological observations and drawings from field work in Britain, the Rhine, Canada, Switzerland, North Africa, France; sketches of landscapes, details of personal and official expenses, principally for travelling and accommodation; verses; inserted copies of correspondence; notices of deaths;
rough notes for lectures at the Royal School of Mines, Royal Institution, [1850-1880]; miscellaneous notes and printed papers, 1840-1889, principally relating to his book on Arran, 1841; appointment to University College London, 1847-1849; articles by Ramsay in the 'Saturday Review', 1858-1873; Bedfordshire palaeontology; examination papers, 1858-1875, for various institutions including the Geological Survey and Royal School of Mines, London University and University College, Cambridge University; sketch books and drawings of scenery, geological sections, portraits, [1840-1880]; miscellaneous printed papers, 1836-1892, notably papers relating to the Metropolitan Red Lion Association, 1836-1854; obituary notices for Ramsay, 1892;
family correspondence, 1812-1933, comprising letters of family members, including Ramsay's parents, wife, and daughters; correspondence with Sir Henry de la Beche, 1841-1854; general correspondence, 1833-1895, comprising letters from various correspondents, including Charles Robert Darwin, 1846-1864, Edward Forbes, 1844-1854, the Geological Survey, 1844-1876, Thomas Henry Huxley, 1854-1855, Joseph Beete Jukes, 1846-1867, Charles Kingsley, 1864, Sir Charles Lyell, 1841-1872, Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1848-1869, John Phillips, 1842-1867, Lyon Playfair, 1837-1854, Adam Sedgwick, [1865], Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, 1846-1881, James Sharpe, 1840-1851, Sir Warrington Wilkinson Smyth, [1840-1890], Joshua Trimmer, [1840-1857], Anna Maria Williams, 1842-1852.

Papers of Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, 1946-1994, including lists of fossils, rocks and minerals collected in Arabia, 1947; copies of letters from Thesiger to various correspondents; route notebook from Kachu to Jalalabad, Nuristan, 28 Jul-4 Sep 1956; meteorological observations Rub al Khali, Arabia, 1947; tabulated traverse by draftsman for the 1949 expedition from Muwaiqih; loose notes and notebooks, 1947-1948; seating plan for Thesiger's 80th birthday dinner at the Royal Geographical Society, 6 Jun 1990; transcript of an interview with Thesiger for a Channel 4 television documentary, Heart of a Nomad, Aug 1994; appendices to an article by Thesiger, 'A New Journey in Southern Arabia' published in The Geographical Journal, Vol. 108, No. 4/6 (Oct-Dec, 1946), pp 129-145 and envelope containing notes of payments for camels and servants, South Arabia.