Papers of the Strangeways Research Laboratory, c 1901-1988, comprising papers of T S P Strangeways; annual reports including 1929-1950; minutes and correspondence of the Trustees, 1929-1971; account books and ledgers, 1929-1970; papers relating to funding from various bodies, 1929-1975; papers relating to Medical Research Council funding, c.1962-1969; papers relating to grants, c.1963-1970 and c.1967-1980; administrative records, 1931-1971; general correspondence, 1942-1947, 1954-1956, and 1965-1970; assorted files, 1930s-1960s; miscellaneous historical material including research by George Eric Howard Foxon; minutes of the Radium Commission, 1932-1943; and papers relating to C F Robinow, E M Brieger and Michael Abercrombie.

Records of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, 1849-2002, comprising minutes of the Commission, 1850-1993; minutes of the Board of Management, 1872-2002; minutes of Science Scholarships Committee, 1890-2002; reports of the Commissioners to Parliament, 1850s-1960; annual reports of the Board of Management and committees, 1880s-2002;

correspondence, 1850-1855, relating to the Exhibition, including transport and reception of exhibits, site for the building, organisation of activities and visits for overseas visitors, medal design, music for the opening ceremony, appointment of jurors, negotiations with the contractors Fox & Henderson, award of gratuities, removal of the Crystal Palace to Sydenham, use and disposal of the surplus funds, purchase of the South Kensington Estate;

correspondence concerning the South Kensington estate, 1851-2002, including the establishment, building and subsequent development of institutions such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal College of Music, Royal College of Art, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal College of Organists, Imperial Institute (later Commonwealth Institute), Queen Alexandra's House, Royal Horticultural Society and Imperial College; correspondence concerning private properties on the estate, such as Queen's Gate; correspondence with the Royal Geographical Society, 1913-2001;

files relating to science research scholars, research fellows, overseas scholars, industrial fellows, industrial bursars, industrial design students and naval architecture scholars, including some research papers, 1891-2002;

maps, plans, drawings, photographs, including ground plans of the Exhibition, 1851; architectural drawings of the proposed estate, 1850s;

Windsor Archive concerning the 1851 exhibition, 1849-1886.

Papers of Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair of St Andrews, 1795-1910, comprising general correspondence, 1795, 1840-1910, covering a range of subjects relating to Playfair's scientific and political interests, notably with Prince Albert, 1851-[1853], and via Charles Grey, 1850-1861, concerning the Great Exhibition, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, 1865-1886, Matthew Arnold, 1883, Sir Charles Barry, 1795-1860, Thomas Francis Bayard, concerning 'Venezuela dispute', 1896, Queen Victoria, 1883, and via Sir Arthur John Bigge, 1895-1898, Charles Booth, 1895, Sir David Brewster, concerning lighthouses,1851-1868, Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, concerning their research, 1841-1849, Edwin Chadwick, concerning agriculture and politics, 1855-1899, concerning pensions, Joseph Chamberlain, concerning the Aged Poor Commission, Venezuela, 1894-1899, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, concerning the 1851 Commission,1882-1896, Sir Robert Christison, concerning vivisection bill, 1867-1876, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1852-1874, Charles Darwin, concerning vivisection bill, 1875, Sir Thomas Henry De La Beche, concerning the Geological Survey, 1842-1852, Sir James Dewar, 1885-1898, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), 1879-1898, Michael Faraday, 1842-1857, William Ewart Gladstone, 1859-1892, Thomas Graham, 1839-1867, Thomas Henry Huxley, 1854-1891, Henry James, 1898, George Granville Leveson-Gower, [1850]-1889, Justus von Liebig, 1841-1873, Joseph Lister, 1876-1898, David Livingstone, including an account of his exploration in Africa, 1861, John Stuart Mill, 1868, Viscount Horatio Nelson to 'Pollard', 1795, Sir Robert Peel, [1842]-1850, letters of condolence to Lady Playfair on the death of Lord Playfair, 1898.

Family correspondence, comprising letters to various correspondents from Playfair, 1854-1898, notably his son George and daughter-in-law; letters from Edith Playfair (third wife), to her step-son, 1898.

Papers relating to diplomas and appointments, 1840-1892, notably appointment as Professor of Chemistry, Edinburgh University, 1858, Charity Commissioner, 1886, Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria, 1892, Privy Councillor, 1873.

Papers relating to orders and decorations, 1851-1898, notably Order of the Bath, Order of the Legion of Honour and Jubilee Medal.

Papers of Henry Solomon Wellcome, 1800-1985, comprising articles, publications, financial records, legal records, administrative documents, property details, probate records, marriage and divorce records, diaries, microfiche of letter books, details of events, subscription lists, field and geological reports, press cuttings, photographs, ephemera, objects, and family papers dating back to 1800.

Records of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, relating not only to the everyday administration of the Society (Acc/2899/01 and Acc/2899/02), but also to social and educational activities. Acc/2899/03 contains a large quantity of information relating to the latter. In the main the records date from the beginning of the twentieth century to the 1970's, although there is a sizeable amount of earlier material, and a small amount for later years

A collection of exhibition guides, leaflets, and posters, for exhibitions by Kingston Polytechnic Arts and archaeology students dating from 1970s and 1980s.

Papers of Professor Colin Cherry, [1928]-1981, comprising biographical papers, 1935-1981, notably index of reports on experiments at Northampton Polytechnic, 1935-1936; press cuttings, 1961-1974;
work diaries, 1962-1977; scientific notes and diagrams, [1928]-1950, mainly relating to elastic field analogies, periodic structures, transformers, electric and magnetic circuits;
papers whilst with Imperial College Electrical Engineering Department, 1953-1977, comprising papers relating to lectures, tutorials, seminars, symposiums, minutes and correspondence relating to an undergraduate group project scheme; papers relating to postgraduate lectures, 1950-1979, notably concerning circuit theory, communication; correspondence with staff, lectures for the London School of Economics, and Imperial College groups, 1951-1978; correspondence and reports relating to research projects and grants in the Communications Section, 1949-1977, including for stammering, communication developments and population, telephone services; research papers and notes of students, 1968-1978, correspondence with students, 1947-1971, concerning higher degrees, 1957-1967; correspondence and papers, largely concerning outside lectures, conferences and visits, 1948-1979, with professional, technical and educational institutions, societies, clubs, publishers, companies and some individuals; correspondence with the Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1946-1976, including notes and scripts;
unpublished papers, 1952-1962; correspondence relating to book publications, 1952-1978; published scientific papers and articles, 1940-1977; typescript of chapters of The Age of Access: Information Technology and Social Revolution , correspondence with the publishers, 1978-1979; recordings of talks and lectures, 1963-1976.