Records of the Society for the Relief of Persons Confined for Small Debts, including minutes; extracts of proceedings; Acts of Parliament; papers concerning J C Neild; financial accounts including legacy books, income books, general expenditure books, annual accounts and auditor's reports; papers regarding the disposal of surplus funds; bequests; press cuttings; correspondence; and histories of the Society.

The minutes contain reports of visits of inspection as well as names and numbers of prisoners assisted. A number of the papers relate to the destruction of the book containing the minutes and accounts of the Society 4 Mar 1818 to 5 Apr 1826 by John Camden Neild, treasurer 1814-1827.

Posters relating to the 'Free George Davis' campaign and campaigns by Islington Tenants against estate agents Prebble and Company.

Records of the Middlesex Victoria Fund, a charity for the aid of discharged prisoners, including minutes; rules of the fund; reports of the Trustees; papers relating to grants to individuals and organisations; correspondence; and financial records.

Pardon for prisoners at Millbank Prison, 1828.

Records of the prison Supervisors comprising: "Act of Parliament to explain and amend the Laws relating to the Transportation, Imprisonment, and other Punishment, of certain offenders, authorising building of two penitentiaries", 1779; order by King appointing John Howard, George Whatley and Dr John Fothergill Supervisors of the penitentiaries to be erected under above Act, 1779; minutes of meetings of the Supervisors to discuss possible sites near London and a plan for the male penitentiary, 1779; draft letter from George Whatley to John Howard, acknowledging receipt of letter, overestimate of savings expected from convicts' labour, and difficulties ahead, 1780; memorial by Supervisors recommending site between Grays Inn Road and Bagnigge Wells Road read out at meeting with Lord Chancellor, Speaker, Judges and Lord Mayor, 1780; proposal by John Howard and John Fothergill for a new site for the Penitentiary near the White Conduit, marked on a map now missing, 1780.

Records relating to Holloway Prison, 1869-2009, including administrative, medical, staff records, records of the chaplain, records relating to prisoners' employment. Prisoners' records include registers of prisoners and some files on individual prisoners (Edith Thompson and Styllou Christofi, both executed at Holloway, Helen Kroger, Cynthia Payne and Caroline Richardson). Related documentation includes photographs of the prison and staff, registers relating to predecessor prisons and printed material.

Records of Whitecross Street Prison, 1812-1876, including financial accounts, papers relating to the construction of the prison, lists of prisoners, committee minutes and rules and regulations.

Records of the City of London Coroner's Court, 1300-1995, including coroner's accounts; inquests; depositions; inquisitions; fire inquests; fire brigade daily fire reports and police reports sent to the City Coroner to inform him about City of London Fires under the provisions of the London Fire Inquests Act, 1888, and prison inquests for Bridewell, Newgate, Fleet and Ludgate Prisons and Whitecross Street, Poultry, Giltspur Street and Southwark (Borough) Compters.

Records relating to City of London Prisons, comprising calendar of prisoners in Wood Street Compter and Poultry Compter, 1747; and affidavit concerning the removal of a prisoner from Wood Street Compter to the King's Bench Prison, 1691.

Records of the Quarter Sessions for London and Middlesex, including certificate of conviction; examination book of vagabonds apprehended in the City of London; Newgate gaol calendars; and petition for victualling licence.

The collection covers both Pettigrew's medical and antiquarian activities, which are intermingled in the material's arrangement. The medical items include correspondence with many medical figures, medical jurisprudence (an Anniversary Oration delivered to the Medical Society of London), corpulence, hydrophobia, medical observations by army officers in India, and an autobiographical memoir of the philanthropist and prison-reformer James Neild (1744-1814), transcribed by Pettigrew and incorporated into his life of John Coakley Lettsom M.D. The antiquarian items include material on Kett's Rebellion, Hindu deities, the library of the Duke of Sussex and correspondence with the Italian antiquary Giovanni Spano (1803-1878) and Gaetano Cara, as part of Pettigrew's role as Vice-President of the British Archaeological Society. Types of material held include notebooks, loose papers, correspondence and diplomas.

Minutes of The Committe and Council, General Committee and Finance Committee (1897-1987); balance sheets (1927-1947), accounts and investments (1926-1975), registers of legacies (1897-1951) left to the The Mission, some salaries and wages registers (1934-1978) and registers of donations and subscriptions (1927-1967). The Central Administration of The Mission covers Governance including Memorandum and Articles of Association and change of registered name in 1956; Membership registers (1928-2000); Annual Reports (1861, 1895-2009); Property covering deeds, agreements, rentals and inventories for property owned or rented by The Mission (1863-1962); Committee papers (1929-1983) including speeches given at annual meetings and reports and reviews of the work of The Mission; Correspondence (1883-1979); Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials held at The Mission (1943-1986) and Plans (1967-1988).

The records of the individual Mission churches Little Wild Street Chapel (1859-1962) and Arundel Square Chapel 1859-1948); Individual homes and hostels included are Wheatley Homes and Pemberton Gardens (1922-1947); 'The Retreat', Maldon (1928-1963); Eastlea Court, Frimlea (1945-1963); 'Fairlawn' Herne Bay (1939-1952); Chatfield House, Whetstone (1937-1940).

Printed material incldues fundraising and appeals (1898-1963); services (1944-1949) scrap books, cuttings and ephemera (1922-1973); histories and articles (1877-2010) and drawings and art work (1899-1948).

Records of the Middlesex Quarter Sessions relating to local administration, 1590-1930. The number of series in MA reveals the wide scope of county administration dealt with at the sessions. A lot of the records date from the nineteenth century when there was an increase in central attempts at the regulation of many aspects of everyday life. MA/W deals with silk weavers' wage rates; MA/MW covers the work of Inspectors of Weights and Measures; MA/RS are reports from county committees and officers; MA/MS deal with military carriage rates; MA/S is concerned with the building and maintenance of the county's sessions houses; MA/MD covers the work of Inspectors of Animal Diseases; MA/C covers the work of the sessions' committees; MA/G is concerned with the building and maintenance of the county's prisons; MA/GS, likewise for Feltham Industrial School; MA/DCP are plans of county properties; MA/D and MA/DC contain deeds and contracts for county properties; MA/B are Bridge Committee papers; MA/A is concerned with the building and maintenance of the county's lunatic asylums; and MA/MN deals with military and naval recruitment in the county.

Papers and photographs of Fred Bramley, Secretary, Trades Union Congress (TUC), relating to trade unionism in the Soviet Union, 1915, 1924-1925, comprising:
resolution of the National Amalgamated Furnishng Trades' Association, protesting against the alleged brutal treatment of trade unionists by the Russian Government, 1915; papers on visit of TUC delegation to the Soviet Union, Nov-Dec 1924 [Bramley was Secretary], including itinerary; diary notes on visits to Moscow Military Barracks and the principal prison in Moscow, the Leningrad Electricity Scheme, and the Palace of Labour, Lenningrad, note on the English Department of the Marx-Engels Instutute, Moscow; draft of official report; pamphlets, mainly in Russian, 1924-1925; ephemera including menus and railway tickets; papers on Anglo-Russian Trade Union Conference held at the TUC, Apr 1925

The Runnymede Collection comprises books, pamphlets, journals, newsletters, bulletins, press cuttings and working files. The Trust's original working research files contain correspondence, press releases, reports, journal articles and other documents. Subject areas include immigration, deportation, citizenship and nationality, race and racism, politics and race relations, far-right political groups in Britain and abroad, employment, housing, inner cities, social services, health and the National Health Service, education, policing, crime and racially motivated crime, prisons, ethnic minorities and the legal system, demography and the ethnic population in Britain, migrants and ethnic issues in Europe and the European Community, women from ethnic groups in Britain, the media and ethnic minorities, human rights.

Letter from John Fisher of Weymouth to Patrick Colquhoun, LLD, 18 Sep 1816. Regarding plans for the provision of a female penitentiary and lock hospital [i.e. hospital for treating sexually-transmitted infections] in Bath; accompanying a copy of the institution's prospectus.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from William Wilberforce of Iver, Buckinghamshire to the [? Home Office], 2 Aug 1823. Asking for 'Mr. Peele' [i.e. the Home Secretary, Robert Peel, later Sir Robert Peel] to consider 'the application of several highly respectable people in favour of Geo. Fish [convicted at Hull] ... that instead of being transported for 7 years according to his sentence, he may be placed in the Penitentiary in the not unreasonable hope that the principles which were instilled into him in his childhood may there be reviv'd'. Requesting that any decision be communicated to him at Elmdon House near Coventry.

Autograph, with signature.

Papers of John Gunn, 1926-2002, including extensive correspondence, notes, memoranda, funding applications, lecture presentations and press cuttings. The collection includes: files concerning the administration of the Institute of Psychiatry and its Department of Forensic Psychiatry, 1975-2000 (including policy, planning, funding, assessments and staffing), and the running of the Denis Hill Unit forensic in-patient service, Bethlem Royal Hospital, 1985-1998; published articles, book, chapters and book reviews by Gunn, 1966-2001, on topics including epilepsy, aggression, sex offenders, mental health legislation and suicide prevention in prison; research and research applications, 1966-2001, on topics including epileptic offenders, violence, and the discharge and subsequent care of Special Hospital patients; psychiatric questionnaires and assessments, 1967-1988; files relating to the Home Office, chiefly 1966-2000, and relating to the treatment of mentally disordered offenders, also copy medical evidence given to the Wolfenden Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, 1954, and papers relating to the May enquiry, 1989-1992, into the convictions for IRA bombings in Guildford and Woolwich, 1974.

Prison Service correspondence and reports, 1975-2000, covering the provision of secure psychiatric units and psychiatric care of the general prison population; papers, 1975-2000, relating to the UK Special Hospitals (high security psychiatric hospitals), and to Grendon experimental prison for offenders with antisocial personality disorders; correspondence, meeting papers and background information on the impact of amendments and proposed amendments to UK mental health legislation, 1972-2000, including the Floud Committee on dangerous offenders, 1976-1981, and the work of the Parliamentary Mental Health Group in formulating policy to restrict the spread of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), 1987-1988; reports and correspondence, 1972-2001, relating to the conduct of psychiatry, psychiatric facilities and prison welfare in countries including Australia, China, Egypt, Greece, Ireland and Turkey; papers, 1967-1999, relating to the Effra Trust, founded by Gunn in 1974 to provide accommodation and support to homeless male ex-offenders suffering from physical or mental disability.

Records, 1935-1992, of the League for Democracy in Greece and associated bodies. Pre-1945 material includes a set of the Balkan Herald, 1935-1940, and surviving papers, 1943-1945, of the League's predecessor, the Greek United Committee, and one of its supporters, E Athanassoglou. Notably there are proofs of Sir Compton Mackenzie's The Wind of Freedom (published in London, 1944) and a photocopy of a telegram from Winston Churchill prohibiting favourable mention of EAM-ELAS by the BBC, 1944. The papers of the League itself date from 1945 to 1975 and include a large collection of press cuttings covering all British and some foreign press references to Greece during the period of the League's activity, with some later cuttings concerning Greece to 1992; material produced by the Greek News Agency including the Weekly Survey of Greek News and later monthly surveys, covering Greek and foreign press output and the Free Greek Radio Broadcasts, complete from November 1946 to September 1953 and January 1969 to January 1974 but otherwise incomplete, the contents of particular value for the period of the Civil War, 1947-1949, as they form a rare source for the broadcasts of Radio Free Greece; and eight volumes of the League's own duplicated information and organizational circulars. There are copies of all official British reports on Greece: TUC (Citrine), Legal Mission, March 1946 Election Observers, All-Party Parliamentary Delegation (1946); a fairly complete collection of Hansard for parliamentary references to Greece; reports of the UN Commission for observing the Balkans (1947-1950); daily broadcasts of the Greek refugee radio at Bucharest, 1970-1974; a large collection of pamphlets, leaflets and news bulletins, British and foreign; a large collection of material from similar organisations in other countries and from Greek refugee committees; and specialist journals. Over 280 files of the League's correspondence and information material cover its various campaigns. Over 23 files represent other organisations which donated material to the League's archives: British Branch of the Patriotic Anti-Dictatorial Front (PAM), Campaign for the Release of All Political Prisoners in Greece, European-Atlantic Action Committee on Greece, Greek Committee against Dictatorship. The papers include an important collection of archive material, arising from the League's work to stimulate British parliamentary action, particularly regarding persecution, on Greek government repression, Law 375/1936, the Emergency Measures Act of June 1946, Law 509/1947 on 'subversion', the operation of the special courts-material and the security committee, and the conditions in prisons and concentration camps, including dossiers on the cases of individual prisoners, supplemented by thesis material on Greek political legislation since 1921. There is a card index of junta detainees; material from the prisons and concentration camps, including two volumes of smuggled appeals (some in microscopic writing); and personal files on individual political prisoners and concentration camps detainees, 1945-1964, 1967-1974. A small library contains unusual publications of the Greek left. Other material comprises a photographic collection, in 18 albums, on occupation, resistance, liberation, civil war, prisons, prisoners, concentration camps, Greek refugee children, and activities abroad; loose photographic items; four reels of film including a Czech film of evacuated Greek children, c1949; and a collection of organisational stamps. Post-1975 material relates to the League's successor, the Friends of Democracy in Greece. Subjects covered by the Archive include the day-to-day evolution of the Civil War, 1947-1949; Greek political legislative and administrative measures; conditions in the prisons and concentration camps; the Greek trade unions; the 'kidnapped' or 'evacuated' children; the Greek political refugees in Eastern Europe; the operations of Greek anti-junta groups in Western Europe and the United States, 1967-1974; attitudes and action of the British Labour movement (Labour Party and trade unions) in regard to Greece, 1945-1974; individual political prisoners and concentration camp detainees; action regarding Greece in Western European countries, Australia, Canada, and the United States; and the operation of pressure groups (from the League's organisational material and correspondence with Members of Parliament and trade unionists).

Papers of 'Breda' war criminals comprise transcript of a radio interview, which deals with misunderstandings concerning the Germans still imprisoned in Breda, 1955; press release of the Dutch embassy (in Germany) regarding the Breda prisoners including lists of the following categories of prisoners: those originally sentenced to death and later commuted to life (with details of their offences); those sentenced to death (with details of their offences); those sentenced to 20 years (with details of their offences); those released in 1952 after serving two thirds of their sentences.

Papers relating to the camps Stalag VIII B Lamsdorf and Teschen Camp, 1942-1944, including statistics on inmates; deaths/discharges; executions; health statistics; organisational changes. Also other documents including weapons handling procedure; reports on escapes; arrest warrants; POW statements and correspondence with the Swiss legation in Germany.

Personal papers of Siegfried Rotholz, 1907-1977, including papers documenting his experiences as a refugee who travelled to Australia on the HMT DUNERA. Comprising exercise book entitled 'Memorandum re Dunera' addressed to the UK High Commission in Australia from the inmates of Hay Camp, Western Australia, written under the following sub-headings: 'Treatment during Voyage'; 'Searches and Confiscation'; 'Handling and Loss of Luggage' and 'Treatment of Internees by Military', 2 Dec 1940; detailed inventory of Rotholz's possessions prior to departure from Germany; travel permit describing Rotholz's place of birth and current address; two Australian shillings from Hay internment camp, Australia; a revocation of the detention order, 7 Dec 1943; correspondence on compensation for personal possessions lost en route and restitution claim from the German government; registration certificates; job references; visa applications; family correspondence; birth register extract and official documents regarding financial and residency status.

Papers of historian Ephraim John (E.J.) Burford, including the following: Typescript and galley proofs, original index and corrections of In the Clink by Burford (June 1974); Printer's copy and original typescript of Hollands Leaguer with suggested illustrations (March 1973); Original typescript of book, Orrible Synne by Burford, with suggested illustrations and correspondence with publishers Caldar and Boyers (March 1973); File of research correspondence and removed typescript draft pages for Bankside Stews: Bawds and Lodgings (January 1973- August 1975).

This collection is divided into two sections. Section one contains material on capital punishment and the death penalty, against which Hewitt campaigned. Section two covers material concerned with obscene publications and other forms of media, including censorship, Obscene Publications Acts and other allied topics. The papers contain many printed examples of C H Rolph's articles and materials by organisation such as the Howard League for Penal Reform and the National League for the Abolition of the Death Penalty. Infamous legal cases such as the obscenity trials in the 1960s relating to 'Oz' magazine and Hubert Selby's novel 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' are discussed.

Records of the Prisons Committee, Court of Common Council, including minutes, 1848-1853; committee papers, 1842-1853 and Parliamentary reports, 1845-1847.

Papers of Grundey Hooper, solicitors, including copy of Act for improving navigation of River Lee from Town of Hertford to River Thames; and for extending said navigation to floodgates belonging to Town Mill in Town of Hertford, 1767; legal papers relating to a case, the proprietors of Water of River Lee against Thomas Gates for unlawful fishing at Hackney, 1780; legal documents relating to The King against John Marks (indicted in the name of James) on the prosecution of William Sharpe, for assault, 1781; legal documents relating to The King against Joseph White and William Sharp, both of Hendon, for assault against Henry Copland, 1778-1781; legal papers relating to The King against Robert Davis alias Gaby and Thomas Diter, on the prosecution of John Etheridge for a robbery near the Swan, Hendon, 1781; statements of costs for various cases, 1781-1784; legal papers relating to James Ebenezer Mosely versus George Denton, Chief Beadle of Whitecross Street Liberty and John Evans, Headboro' of Whitecross Street Liberty in Manor of Finsbury, for assault and false imprisonment, 1780-1781; legal papers relating to an Appeal for release from "pressed" service in Navy by James Gray of Highgate, apprentice to Benjamin Pawley, of Jewin Street, baker, who made a voyage on board a Privateer with his master's consent and was impressed from the privateer into the Navy, 1779-1780; legal papers relating to case brought by John Ketcher Watchman of Liberty of Moorfields in Shoreditch, who discovered Joseph Lee and John Cox stealing lead from empty house in Crown Alley, in consequence of which they were committed to Newgate, 1785; legal papers relating to petition of John Seager of Swinton Street, Saint Pancras, builder and others regarding the notice of intention by the Trustees of Turnpike Road leading to Highgate Gatehouse and Hampstead and their lessee, John Evans, to apply for Writ of Certiorari to remove into Kings Bench an order made by Justices of Peace for Middlesex at Quarter Sessions on 22 October 1778 to remove the Turnpike at the end of Grays Inn Lane, 1778; legal papers relating to case of Charles Greentree, indebted to William Montagu in sum of £67 on promissory note payable to Thomas Worraker, 1777; draft agreements; will of Susanna Mole of Isleworth, 1893 and declaration by Middlesex Magistrates, setting out chief items of expenditure, in answer to a petition, 1811.

Reminiscences of John Burt, prison warder at H.M. Prison Wormwood Scrubs. Includes newspaper cuttings relating to the prison, 1890-1936.

Records of Giltspur Street Compter, 1785-1850, including administrative papers, rules and regulations, warrants for arrests and papers relating to the rebuilding of the compter, 1785-1794.

Records of Southwark Compter, also known as Borough Compter, 1608-1842, including lists of prisoners, charge books, warrants for arrest, accounts of deliveries of bread and meat and various administrative papers. Also papers relating to the revived magistracy in Southwark, 1814, when it was decided that one of the Aldermen who had passed the chair would sit daily for justiciary business, receiving an annual salary and assisted by a clerk, until c 1840.

Records relating to the London prison system, 1487-1975. Prisons mentioned include the Houses of Correction at Westminster and Cold Bath Fields, the Debtor's Prison, Newgate, Ludgate, King's Bench, Fleet, Marshalsea, Clerkenwell, Bridewell, Holloway, Whitecross Street, Middlesex and Wandsworth as well as various Compters.

The records include accounts and financial papers; statutes and bills relating to gaols and prisons; Acts of the Court of Common Council and the Court of Aldermen; contracts; indentures; various committee minutes and papers, including reports of the Gaol Committee; petitions; regulations; papers relating to prisoner health; reports of the Commissioners of Prisons; papers relating to Compters, particularly the Committee for the rebuilding of Poultry and Wood Street compters, 1783-89 and papers relating to prison charities. Also a PhD thesis by Wayne Joseph Sheehan entitled The London Prison System 1666-1795, submitted to the University of Maryland in 1975.

Records of Ludgate Prison, 1637-1815, including petitions, lists of prisoners, committee papers, writs, orders for payment and bills.

Records of the Gaol Committee, Court of Aldermen, comprising minutes, 1817-1857; rough minutes, 1794-1795 and 1815-1816; committee papers, 1812-1866; reports, 1843-1878; orders, 1867 and 1871-1878; financial accounts, 1859-1878 and testimonials, 1849-1865.

Papers of the Westminster Quarter Sessions of the Peace relating to administration, 1713-1883. Records relate to the House of Correction, Tothill Fields (also known as Westminster Bridewell and the Westminster House of Correction), including reports, letter book and minute books of the Visiting Justices; papers relating to the Governor of the House of Correction and other staff, including bonds, financial accounts and petitions; bills for maintenance and repair works; inventories; reports; returns of the number of prisoners; lists of prisoners; regulations; warrants and orders; correspondence and plans of the building.

Also minute book of the Committee of Accounts for City and Liberty of Westminster, 1839-1844.

Note on the Quarter Sessions records: Although Westminster has fewer surviving records than Middlesex, the City's sessions would have produced similar records to those of the County, but they would have been smaller in quantity, and have included less administrative material. Also, as with all Quarter Sessions records, "seeing that the Custos Rotulorum was a private gentleman or nobleman and the Clerk of the Peace an attorney with a private practice it is likely that many county records were (if not lost or destroyed) handed down to their families or their professional successors" and many may still remain to be found in private hands (Emmison and Gray, County Records, 1987). Those records that have survived are often difficult to read or understand because of the handwriting, use of Latin (until 1733), or legal jargon and abbreviations; although standardised legal formats were used and printed pro formas introduced by the nineteenth century.

For the Middlesex and Westminster records there may also be confusion over the records' arrangement resulting from the attempts at classification by previous generations of archivists which have left many records split up into unnatural groupings. Originally they would not have been sorted into any cohesive arrangement. These were records that were "kept for administrative convenience rather than as sources for future generations" (G. Jones, Quarter Sessions records in the Leicestershire Record Office).

Because of this overlapping between many classes of record, any study of the Westminster records should include consultation of those for Middlesex. There was in any case a lot of co-operation between the two courts during the period covered by the records. Judicial (Gaol Delivery Sessions for example) and administrative functions were shared, as were court personnel (including justices). Westminster prisoners could elect to be tried at the Middlesex sessions, as these were held more frequently than their own.

The sessions records are a very useful source for family history, studying trends in law and order, and the life of the City and its inhabitants over a relatively long period of time. The capital was an area with high levels of crime, the natural place for riot and conspiracy, and attracted a wide variety of people from the whole country and abroad. The main record of proceedings at the sessions will be found in the sessions rolls (MJ/SR and the uncatalogued WJ/SR - index in WJ/CB); the (partially uncatalogued) sessions books (WJ/SB, MJ/SB); and the (partially uncatalogued) sessions papers (WJ/SP, MJ/SP). City administrative work is in the records of the County Day sessions (WJ/O), and for one particular type, in the records of the street surveyors (WJ/SS). Records of judicial procedure are in the records of court fines (WJ/E), writs to summon juries (WJ/W), and the trial process (WJ/Y); Lists of prisoners made at various times during the trial process are in WJ/CC and WJ/CP.

Statistics relating to crime, licensing and prisons, generated by various courts in Middlesex, 1891-1966. Also some Chairman's notebooks.

Archive of the British Humanist Association, including: papers of the British Humanist Association and it's predecessors bodies, The Union of Ethical Societies, The Ethical Union and the Humanist Association,1887 - c.2001; papers of the Humanist Trust, 1958 - 1996; papers of groups affiliated to the British Humanist Association and it's predecessor bodies, The Union of Ethical Societies and The Ethical Union, 1892 - 2007; Uncatalogued material of the British Humanist Association, c.2000-2014. (1887-2014)

Bundle of receipts, [1813-1847], for what appear to be payments out of the estate of Richard Jacobs to the debtors of various gaols, including the Fleet Prison, Marshalsea and Horne Monger Lane Gaol, London. A number relate to school fees or other educational requirements, possibly for the children of the poor.

Papers of Baruch Hirson chiefly comprising thirty six boxes of research notes including manuscript notes, typescript drafts and photocopies, arranged by subject on topics including South African politics, trade unions, racism, imperialism, industry and economics. The collection also includes seminar papers by Hirson given at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies; photocopies of correspondence on Hirson's appointment as a Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand, 1960; photocopy of memoranda written by Dennis Goldberg to the South African Commission of Inquiry into the Penal System from political prisoners in Pretoria Local prison, [1974]; photocopies of material on the Soweto riots, 1976, collected by Hirson while working on his book Year of Fire, year of Ash: the Soweto revolt; roots of a revolution (1979), including press cuttings, published and unpublished papers on the riots, and material produced by the Soweto Students' Representative Council and other groups including the African National Congress (ANC), Black Peoples Convention, Cape Town University Students' Representative Council, the Black Parents Association, the University of Natal Medical Students' Representative Council and the National Union of South African Students. Also archives on South African politics, history, trade unions and social conditions; also comprising papers and correspondence used in Hirson's research. Topics include Workers' International League, Communist Party of South Africa, Workers' Party, Trotskyism in South Africa, Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania, Ruth and Amy Schechter, Cecil Frank Glass, David Ivon Jones, African Peoples Organisation, Workers Dreadnought, women's suffrage movement in South Africa, South Africa and the First World War, Mary Fitzgerald, miners in South Africa (especially strike of 1946), migrant labour in South Africa, University of Bradford School of Peace Studies, South African Coloured Peoples Congress, Searchlight South Africa correspondence and accounts (c1988-c1992), Jack Halpern draft articles and correspondence (1956-1960). Also transcripts of interviews including James Philips, Lewis Nkosi, Louis Kreel, E. J. Burford, Eli Wienberg, Sam and Sarah Woolf, Dan Mokanyana, Pauline Podbury, Anne Bloch, M. B. Yengwa, Eileen Jaffe, John Gaetsewe, Jack Hodgson (June 1977), Guy Routh, and Joan Robinson/Schedrin.

Papers of Peter Hjul on the Liberal Party of South Africa and civil rights, 1954-1968; comprising papers of the Civil Rights Defence Committee, 1962; papers of the Defence and Aid Fund, 1961-1965, including report on prison conditions relating to, and medical treatment of detainees in the Transvaal; papers of the Liberal Party of South Africa, 1954-1962, including election posters and leaflets, papers on Cape Provincial Congress, 1962, undated open letter to Alan Paton and copies of publications Liberal News and Contact.

Papers of Jeremy Bentham, 1750-1885, consist of drafts and notes for published and unpublished works, and cover many subjects including: Bentham's codification proposal, a plan to replace existing law with a codified system, an idea which manifested itself in Constitutional Code (London, 1830), a blueprint for representative democracy and an entirely open and fully accountable government, 1815-1832; penal code, which involved penal law giving effect to the rights and duties of civil law, [1773]-1831; punishment, to certain actions which, on account of their tendency to diminish the greatest happiness, would be classified as offences, [1773-1826]; Bentham's Panopticon, a way of maintaining and employing convicts in a new invented building, 1785-1813; Chrestomathia, the secondary school designed by Bentham, 1815-1826; evidence in law, [1780]-1823; religion, and the Church, 1800-1830; logic, ethics, deontology (the science of morality), morals, utilitarianism and the greatest happiness principle, 1794-1834; political economy, [1790]-1819; Supply without burthen or Escheat vice taxation, a proposal for saving taxes, 1793-1795; legislation, including law amendment and law reform, [1770-1843]; procedure, and procedure codes, [1780]-1830; law and issues in other countries, including Greece, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium and Tripoli, 1810-1830; A Comment on the Commentaries, being a criticism of William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, also Bentham's and Blackstone's views on civil code, [1774]-1830; sexual nonconformity, [1774]-1816; Scotch reform, 1804-1809; Court of Lords delegates, 1807-1821; parliamentary papers, and parliamentary reform, [1790]-1831; poor law, and poor plan, 1796-[1845]; correspondence, 1761-1866, including a corrected draft letter to James Madison, President of the United States of America, in which Bentham made an offer to draw up a complete code of laws for the USA, 1811.

"A history of Newgate with an account of some notorious criminals", [1910]: manuscript volume, which includes press-cuttings on prisons policy and pamphlets by the Penal Reform League.

Comprising research files containing press cuttings, correspondence and notes regarding incest, illegitimacy, sexual literature, censorship, homosexuality, banned books, prison reform, the Royal Family, separation, witchcraft, sexual behaviour and venereal disease, possibly for use in his works Sex and Revolution (1934), The Banned Books of England (1937), Above All Liberties (1942) and other publications (1922-1942); typescripts for submission to the 'Encyclopedia of Sexual Behaviour' (n.d.); issues of nudist and health periodicals and offprints of articles by Alec Craig and others (1936-1953).

Papers of Rudolf Hess, 1939-1985, comprise copies of correspondence and papers regarding the imprisonment of Rudolf Hess at Spandau Prison.

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.

The majority of this collection consists of correspondence between Vyvyan Adams other politicians, his constituents and letters regarding his candidacy. The collection is divided into eight sections: Section 1: Correspondence, 1924-1951; Section 2: Miscellaneous papers, 1895-1941; Section 3: Articles and transcripts, 1912-1944; Section 4: Speeches, 1933-1939; Section 5: Pamphlets and printed materials, 1914-1953; Section 6: Capital punishment, 1929-1949; Section 7: Press cuttings, 1933-1950; Section 8: Coronation souvenirs, 1937. The political correspondence and the ordered files correspondence reflects his opposition to appeasment policies and the general themes of the time. Articles and transcripts relate to political figures of the time and the publication of Right Honourable Gentlemen. Speeches cover miscellaneous topics. Pamphlets and printed material cover international issues. The capital punishment file contains miscellaneous material relating to capital punishment. Press cuttings relate to political affairs. Coronation souvenirs contain miscellaneous items relating to the 1936 coronation of Edward VIII.

Records of Wood Street Compter, later Giltspur Street Compter, 1667-1829, including lists of prisoners; ducie books recording prisoner transfers; care of sick prisoners and apothecaries bills, accounts and other administrative papers.

Records of the Administration of Justice Committee, Common Council, 1836-1840, comprising minute books and committee papers.

Papers relating to Gibbs' early career, 1917-1927, including typescript copies [1972] of combat reports written by Gibbs, 17 Sqn, Macedonia, 1917-1918; typescript notes by Gibbs entitled 'Service experiences', 1926; typescript Staff College essay entitled 'Leadership and morale', 1927. Nine typescript texts of lectures by Gibbs, 1948-1972, on the RAF in World War Two, post war airpower, India and the Indian Air Force and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), also 'Air power in modern war', by MRAF Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder of Glenguin, 1947. Papers relating to Gibbs' career in the RAF, 1945-1954, including correspondence and typescript notes by Gp Capt I C Bird on the war efforts of India, South Africa and the Colonies [1948]; letter andgraph by Wg Cdr J D Warne, dated 1949, on numbers of sorties flown and losses suffered by the Luftwaffe and the RAF during the Battle of Britain, 1940; typescript copies of correspondence between Gibbs and Adm Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, 1953; typescript report by Gibbs entitled 'Report on the progressand the policy problems of the Indian Air Force', 1954. Papers and correspondence, 1955-1984, including typescript article by Gibbs entitled 'The lessons of Skybolt, Britain's new defence plans', with letter from Sir Hugh (Nicholas) Linstead MP, 1963; typescript memorandum by MRAF Sir John Cotesworth Slessor entitled 'Integration of the Services within the new defence organisation', 1964;correspondence with Dr G Vincent Orange, History Department, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, dated 1982, concerning research for A biography of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park GCB, KBE, MC, DFC, DCL (Methuen, London, 1984), with copy of letter from ACM Sir Keith Rodney Park, Air Commander-in-Chief, South East Asia to MRAF Sir Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, relating to the possible replacement of Gibbs as Chief Air Staff Officer, Supreme Headquarters South East Asia Command [1945]. Copies of Gibbs' letters to the press, 1955-1982, relating chiefly to defence issues, service pensions, capital punishment, immigration and Rhodesia. Publications and articles, 1928-1961, including copy of Air Ministry Air Publication 1308 entitled 'A selection of lectures and essays from the work of officers attending the fifth course at the Royal Air Force Staff College, 1926-1927', (HMSO, London, 1928), including article by Gibbs 'Lecture on fighter squadrons in air defence'; article by Gibbs 'Aircraft types and strategical mobility', Journal of the Royal Air Force College, 1930; booklet by Gen Sir Archibald Percival Wavell entitled 'Generals and Generalship' (reprinted from The Times, London, 1941); three editions of Impact magazine, subtitled 'US Tactical air power in Europe', May 1945, 'Strategic air victory in Europe', Jul 1945, and 'Air victory over Japan', Sep-Oct 1945; restricted pamphlet by MRAF Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard of Wolfeton, entitled 'Air power', 1946; restricted pamphlet by US Gen Carl A Spaatz entitled 'American views on air power', 1947; article by ACM Sir Keith Rodney Park entitled 'Background to the Blitz, from Hawker Siddeley Review, Dec 1951; article by Gibbs 'The development of defence in NATO's second decade', The British Survey, Feb 1959; article entitled 'Maintaining the deterrent in the future', by Gibbs, The Aeroplane, Mar 1961.

Papers of Sir George Cockburn, relating largely to Napoleon's transportation and imprisonment in St. Helena and there is also a very detailed personal diary, 1797 to 1818. There are no papers for his later career.

Collected archive relating to the Tower of London (ToL) comprising: General Documents including Act of Parliament for regulating the nightly watch, 1756; newspaper containing account of fire at the ToL, 1774; newspaper containing account of fire at the ToL, 1788; newspapers containing accounts of the fire in the Grand Storehouse, 1841; report describing the removal of the Regalia from the Jewel House during the fire in the Grand Storehouse, 1841; report that the Public Records had not been affected by the fire in the Grand Storehouse, 1841; regulations for HM Royal Palace and Fortress of the ToL, 1878; regulations for HM Royal Place and Fortress of the ToL, 1882; account of the fire bomb raid on the ToL, 1940; regulations for HM ToL, 1946;

General maps and plans including map of London, 1560 (mid 19th century copy); map of London, 1862 (copy); plan of the ToL, 1597 (reduced 19th century copy); plan of the ToL, 1597 (18th century copy); plan of the ToL, 1660 showing suggested alterations (copy); plan of the ToL, c.1680 (copy); plan of the ToL, 1681-1689; plan of the ToL, c.1682 (copy); plan of the area occupied by the Royal Mint, 1701 (copy); map of the Tower Liberty, 1720; map of the Tower Liberty, 1754; plans of the White Tower, 1754; plan of the ToL and St. Catherines, 1754; plan of the ToL, 1760; plans of the White Tower, early 19th century; plans of the White Tower, 1815; Ordnance Survey plan of the ToL and Tower Hill, c.1900; various plans of works carried out at the ToL, 1960-present; plan showing the re-arrangement of the area to the south of the White Tower, c.1965; plan of the ToL, 1966; elevations of the White Tower, 1966;

General photographs of the ToL, c.1850, c.1890, c.1898; ToL and the Royal Mint, c.1850-60; ToL from the Wharf, c.1870, 1888; c.1890, c.1899, c.1910; the Cradle Tower after the reinstatement of the first floor, c.1878; interior views of the ToL, c.1880; the demolition of the Horse Armoury, 1883; ToL from the river Thames, 1888, late 19th century; the Byward Tower from the west, c.1890; the Byward Tower from the east, late 19th century; ToL from the west, late 19th century; the Grand Storehouse pediment, late 19th century; ToL from the north west, late 19th century; the Beauchamp Tower, late 19th century; photograph of the Byward Tower, late 19th century; the Middle Drawbridge soon after construction, c.1910; the White Tower, 1914; Tower Green, 1922; the entrance to the ToL, mid 20th century; the second floor of the White Tower, c.1939; Aerial photos of the ToL, 1949, c.1960, 1970, 1987;
and stereoscopic photographs of the Bell Tower, and the Byward Tower, mid 19th century; ToL from Tower Hill, c.1870; ToL from the west, late 19th century; and the Waterloo Barracks, late 19th century;

General guidebooks to the Tower including An historical description of the Tower of London and its curiosities, David Henry (published from 1757-1803); A new history and description of the Tower of London, David Henry (published from 1810-1834); The Tower: its histories, armories and antiquities, John Hewitt (published from 1841-1854); A short history of the Tower of London, Joseph Wheeler (published from 1842-52); The Tower of London; its armouries and regalia, H G Clarke (c.1855); A sketch of the Tower of London, A. Harman (published from 1859-1884); 1The people's history of the Tower of London and visitor's guide (c.1875); Authorised guide to the Tower of London, W J Loftie (published from 1886-1897); Authorised guide to the Tower of London, W J Loftie [much abridged version (published from 1885-1920); The Tower of London - a guide for catholics, C L Jones (published from 1913-1931); Authorised guide to the Tower of London (Ministry of Works, published from 1923-46); The Tower of London (Ministry of Works, published from 1953-1967); The Tower of London (Department of the Environment, 1974); The pictorial story of the Tower of London [title varies slightly] (Pitkin Pictorials, published from 1950-1969); Her Majesty's Tower of London (Pitkin, published from 1973-1996); Royal fortress : the Tower of London (Department of the Environment, 1978); The Tower of London: a young visitors guide, P Hammond (1981); Tower of London (Department of the Environment, 1984); Her Majesty's fortress of the Tower of London (Department of the Environment, 1987); Inside the Tower: the alternative guide, James Bartholomew (1990); The Tower of London: the official guidebook (Historic Royal Palaces, 1996); as well as a number of foreign language guides;

documents and photographs relating to Officers of the Tower, including Report on the state of the ToL by Sir John Peyton, 1597; expenses of Sir John Peyton, Lt. of the Tower, 1598; Commission signed by Oliver Cromwell appointing John Miller, Captain and Major of the company of foot appointed to garrison the ToL, 1652; letter from Col. John Berkstead, Governor of the ToL to the Commissioners of the Navy, 1653; warrant signed by John, Lord Berkeley to Col. William Legg, Lt. Governor of the Tower, authorizing the issue and replacement of weapons, 1668; Muster roll of the ToL garrison, 1691; journal kept by George, Earl of Northampton, as Constable of the Tower, 1712-15; two letters from Viscount Falmouth to Earl Cornwallis, Constable of the ToL, 1760; warrant appointing Louis Grauze to be yeoman or under porter to the ToL, 1787; letters patent appointing Francis, Earl of Moira, to be Constable of the ToL, 1806; warrant granting William Kinchin the right to collect duty on goods landed at Iron-Gate stairs, 1808; ticket and order of service for the funeral of the Duke of Wellington, 1852; photos of nine yeoman warders with the Resident Governor, (undated); photographs of eight yeomen warders (undated).; photograph of the Officers of the Tower and the Yeomen Warders, about 1890; photogravure of yeomen warders practicing with partisans, late 19th century; photograph of 12 yeomen warders in undress uniform, late 19th century; photograph of the changing of the guard, late 19th century; photograph of the Kings House, 1914; photos of the King's House, c.1920; photograph of the ToL from the west with the signatures of the Officers of the Tower on the mount, 1917; photograph of the Officers of the Tower, 1917; photos of the handing over of the colours of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, 1923; blueprints for the sealed pattern yeomen warder's partisan, 1985;

Documents, and photographs relating to the prison and prisoners, including Warrant signed by Henry VII for the provision of clothing and bedding to Lord Willam of Devon and William de la Pole, 1506; documents relating to the trial and execution of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, 1601; warrant relating to the detention of Robert Johnstone, 1662; regulations relating to the opening, guarding and closing of the gates of the Tower, c.1680; list of inscriptions in the Salt Tower, 1856; Guidebook - A short sketch of the Beauchamp Tower, Tower of London, W.R. Dick (c.1860); Ferdinand Buschmann papers, early 20th century ; Prisoners of the Tower compiled by A.H. Cook, 1959; inscriptions in the ToL; Guidebook - Prisoners in the Tower (Pitkin, 1972-94); guide to the inscriptions in the Beauchamp Tower, c.1985; Condensed summary of prisoners at the Tower originally compiled by A.H. Cook and revised by B.A. Harrison, 1986; the first prisoner of the 20th century [Hans Lody], 1987; stereographic photographs of the block and axe, mid 19th century; stereographic photograph of the block and axe, about 1890; photographs of the interior and exterior of the Bloody Tower, late 19th century; and interiors of the Bell Tower and the Beauchamp Tower, late 19th century;

newspaper articles relating to the prison and prisoners including the execution of James Radcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater, and William Gordon, Viscount Kenmure, 1715; the imprisonment and execution of Charles Radcliffe, 1746; the imprisonment of Lord Lovat, 1747; the release of John Wilkes from the Tower, 1763; the imprisonment and release of Brass Crosby, Lord Mayor, and Alderman Oliver from the Tower, 1771; the Gordon Riots, 1780; the imprisonment of Lord George, 1780; the imprisonment and release of Henry Laurens, 1780-82; the imprisonment and release of state prisoners, 1794; the imprisonment of Francis Burdett, 1810; the escape of Lord Nithsdale, 1816;

material relating to the Crown Jewels including newspaper account of Margaret Moore's attempt to steal the crown, 1815; photographs of the Crown Jewels, late 19th century, and the Crown Jewels on display in the Wakefield Tower, about 1900; stereographic photograph of the new Jewel House, late 19th century; and guidebooks: The Crown Jewels (Ministry of Works, 1949-67); The Crown Jewels at the Tower of London (Ministry of Works, 1968); The Crown Jewels of England (Department of the Environment, 1986);

material relating to the Menagerie, including broadsheets containing verses on the deaths of three lions at the Tower, 1681, and one entitled `the she lyon's speech in the Tower', early 18th century; newspaper account of a fight between a lion and two tigers, 1830; and documents relating to the presentation of animals to the Prince Regent, 1816-20;

material relating to the Tower Record Office including letter and receipted bill from Robert Lemon, Tower Record Office, 1806; and notes of the Keeper of the Record Office, John Bayley, c.1820;

material relating to the Tower and the Church including printed Act of Parliament granting a piece of land with the ToL for use as an additional burial ground, 1811; plan of the Church of St. Peter ad Vincula, 1842; photograph of the interior of St. John's Chapel, late 19th century; and guidebooks titled The chapels royal of St. Peter ad Vincula and St. John the Evangelist, HM Tower of London (Pitkin, 1971); and The chapels of the Tower of London (Department of the Environment, 1987); Notices of the Historic Persons buried in the Chapel of St. Pete ad Vincula in the Tower of London D C Bell (London, 1877)

material relating to Tower Bridge including photographs of the official opening of Tower Bridge, 1894; and of Tower Bridge, late 19th century; tickets and programme for the opening of Tower Bridge (1894); Welch's A Short Account of London Bridge Welch, (1894); copy of the Act empowering the corporation of London to build a bridge over the River Thames near the Tower of London (August 1885);

there is also a collection of prints and engravings depicting people, events, external and internal view of the tower and plans;

collection of photocopied material from the National Archives (Public Record Office) relating to the Tower, including copies and transcripts of Exchequer records, 1425-1508; Chancery records, 1455-1655; State Papers, 1569-1585; War Office records, 1681-1752; Office of Works plans; records of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory, 1739-1832; and manuscripts held in the British Library, c.1485-1715.

Records of the Archive of the Irish in Britain, c1930-2002, comprising:
Special Collections: including the Paul Hill Prison Letters, 1974-1989; correspondence related to the Commission for Racial Equality funded research programme into the Irish in Britain in the mid 1990s; correspondence between Irish Community Groups and the Greater London Council Irish Liaison Unit, in the 1980s, and individual accounts of experiences of migrating to, and settling in Britain during the 20th Century.
Community Collection: including community organisation reports, information sheets and publicity material.
Photographic collections: including prints by Joanne O'Brien of Irish community events in the 1980s, and a collection of photographs of activities of the London Irish Womens Centre.
Audio recordings: including oral history interviews with Irish people in Britain, recorded in the 1980s; recordings of lectures given to the Irish in Britain History Group, 1980s; recordings of radio broadcasts on the Irish in Britain, 1980-1990s, and recordings of UNL Irish Studies Centre public lectures, 1991-2001.
Ephemera including posters publicising political, cultural and social events; Irish step-dance medals, sporting medals and shields, rosettes and banners; exhibition panels relating to the Guildford Four Campaign, and about the activities of the Camden Irish Pensioners Group.
Researchers should note that the archive contains no genealogical material.