Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [1970-1990] (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
44 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born in 1920; educated at Taunton School and Jesus College, Cambridge University; served World War Two, 1939-1945, in India and Burma with the Royal Signal Corps; research assistant to Charles Wilson during the writing of Wilson's history of Unilever, 1947-1954; worked for Unilever, 1950-1964, in advertising, market research and public relations; began career as a historical writer; left Unilever in 1964 to write a history of ICI, which was published in 1970 and 1795; wrote a series of business histories; Texaco Visiting Fellow, Business History Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1979-1985; died 1990. Publications: Birds Eye: the early years (Walton on Thames, 1963); Imperial Chemical Industries: a history (Oxford University Press, London, 1970, 1975); Architect of air power: the life of the first Viscount Weir of Eastwood (Collins, London, 1968); Life in Victorian England (Batsford, London, 1964); Professional men: the rise of the professional classes in nineteenth-century Europe (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1966); Hard roads and highways: S.P.D. Ltd, 1918-1968 (Batsford, London, 1969); Unilever plantations (Unilever Ltd, London, 1961); The Weir Group: a centenary history (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1971).
Archival history
Given by the family in 1998.
GB 0097 READER [1970-1990] Collection (fonds) 44 boxes Reader , William Joseph , 1920-1990 , Dr , historian
Born in 1920; educated at Taunton School and Jesus College, Cambridge University; served World War Two, 1939-1945, in India and Burma with the Royal Signal Corps; research assistant to Charles Wilson during the writing of Wilson's history of Unilever, 1947-1954; worked for Unilever, 1950-1964, in advertising, market research and public relations; began career as a historical writer; left Unilever in 1964 to write a history of ICI, which was published in 1970 and 1795; wrote a series of business histories; Texaco Visiting Fellow, Business History Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1979-1985; died 1990. Publications: Birds Eye: the early years (Walton on Thames, 1963); Imperial Chemical Industries: a history (Oxford University Press, London, 1970, 1975); Architect of air power: the life of the first Viscount Weir of Eastwood (Collins, London, 1968); Life in Victorian England (Batsford, London, 1964); Professional men: the rise of the professional classes in nineteenth-century Europe (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1966); Hard roads and highways: S.P.D. Ltd, 1918-1968 (Batsford, London, 1969); Unilever plantations (Unilever Ltd, London, 1961); The Weir Group: a centenary history (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1971).
Given by the family in 1998.
Papers of William Joseph Reader, [1970-1990], including research material for business histories written by Reader, notably notebooks containing references, files of notes relating to the company and the themes of the history, and printed company material for businesses including Grand Metropolitan, Philips and Drew, Macadam, Napier and Son, Huntingate, Bowater, the Institute of Electrical Engineers, Metal Box, Unilever, the Weir Group, Foster Braithwaite and ICI; notes for history books on the First World War and the Victorian era; audio cassettes of interviews for business histories; lecture notes, seminar papers and correspondence regarding Reader's work for the Business History Unit, LSE.
Unsorted.
Closed until listed.
Copyright is held by the donor and their heirs.
English
Unlisted.
Sources: Who's Who 1897-1996 (A & C Black, 1996); British Library On-Line Public Access Catalogue 97. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Apr 2001 Bowater Business history Foster Braithwaite Grand Metroplitan History Huntingate ICI , Imperial Chemical Industries x Imperial Chemical Industries Institute of Electrical Engineers LSE , Business History Unit Macadam Metal Box Napier and Son Philips and Drew Reader , William Joseph , 1920-1990 , Dr , historian Unilever Weir Group
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of William Joseph Reader, [1970-1990], including research material for business histories written by Reader, notably notebooks containing references, files of notes relating to the company and the themes of the history, and printed company material for businesses including Grand Metropolitan, Philips and Drew, Macadam, Napier and Son, Huntingate, Bowater, the Institute of Electrical Engineers, Metal Box, Unilever, the Weir Group, Foster Braithwaite and ICI; notes for history books on the First World War and the Victorian era; audio cassettes of interviews for business histories; lecture notes, seminar papers and correspondence regarding Reader's work for the Business History Unit, LSE.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Unsorted.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Closed until listed.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright is held by the donor and their heirs.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Unlisted.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English