The papers of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman comprise three classes of material: the private papers of the sisters and the Coleman family, 1842-1957; records relating to the National Children's Home, 1935-1981; and the Pestalozzi Village Trust, 1948-1989. Personal papers include a diary and pharmacopoeias, correspondence, examination certificates, photographs and printed books, 1842-1957, notably including a detailed manuscript medical diary describing life on board ship and a medical practice in Africa, 1842-1844, probably compiled by John Albert Sidney Coleman, grandfather of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman; pharmacopoeias containing remedies and prescriptions, with printed pharmacopoeias, compiled by Mark Coleman and others, reflecting the transition of the Coleman family business from patent remedies to modern pharmacy, 1851-1894; correspondence with Kathleen and Millicent Coleman, mainly descriptions of daily life in the National Children's Home and describing psychological testing of the children, 1927-1948; family correspondence and legal documents including letting agreements and deeds of partnership, the will of Mathew Coleman, the sisters' great uncle, and relating to their father and his career, letters containing family news and gossip, 1845-1928; examination certificates and prize lists relating to the education of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman, 1922-1933; photographs of the Coleman family during the 1890s, during World War One and of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman on holiday, [1928], of Lady Eleanor Holles School, 1921-1933, group photographs of students and staff in King's College London Department of History, 1929-1955, photographs of various National Children's Home establishments, 1934-1957; a small collection of printed books concerned with the history, customs and government of London and the Home Counties, [1945-1985] (Boxes 70-74, now on open access in the Archive reading room).

The records of the National Children's Home, 1935-1981, notably comprising Vocational Guidance Record Sheets, consisting of files on individual children that included intelligence test results, memory tests and individual comments, arranged in alphabetical order, 1938-1964 (Boxes 1-23); test results and evaluations of named children for tests organised by the National Institute of Industrial Psychology including the Porteus Maze Test and scoring sheets, 1957-1960 (Boxes 24-28); psychological evaluations of children at different branches of the children's home, notably in Cardiff, Harpenden, Nottingham and Glasgow, including individual test results and assessments with broad statistics and educational recommendations by visitors, 1942-1963 (Boxes 29-40); pupil record cards containing biographical information, aptitude tests and psychological test results for children at various homes, [1948-1960] (Boxes 41-42); material relating to the Brentwood College of Education including a working party on syllabuses, staff lists, the relationship with the University of London Institute of Education, manuscript notes and some psychological test results of children engaged in the so-called Gifted Child Study, 1971-1974 (Boxes 43-44); material relating to vocational aptitude and the placement of older children in trades and professions such as the armed forces and Civil Service, notably including psychologists' reports, 1935-1965 (Boxes 45-56); questionnaires of 18 year-old former residents conducted in 1954-1956 (Box 57); material relating to European refugees resident in the NCH including named children and correspondence with the Central Committee for Refugees, 1942-1949 (Boxes 58-59); general correspondence with Millicent Coleman relating to local authorities, staff and the emigration of children to Australia, 1951-1962; manuscript visitation report book assessing particular homes, 1946-1949; report on the incidence of enuresis (incontinence) in homes, 1946-1950; publicity material mainly created at the time of the centenary and on other children's charities, 1951-1981; careers and apprenticeship literature, 1938-1954; photographs and negatives of students and buildings, 1938-1939 (Boxes 60-62); psychological testing materials including test cards displaying words and pictures, [1958] (Boxes 63-69).

The records of the Pestalozzi Village Trust, 1948-1989, comprise typescript notes compiled by Millicent Coleman, who served on its governing Council. These consist mainly of Council minutes and supporting material, 1948-1989; Committee minutes including Finance and Management Committees, 1953-1985; Annual Reports and Accounts, 1961-1974; policy reports on the development and strategic direction of the Village, 1959-1973; correspondence with Millicent Coleman regarding Trust business and liaison with the National Children's Home, 1953-1985.

Papers of Harold Johann Thomas Ellingham, 1913-1970, comprising lecture notes made whilst a student at the Royal College of Science (Imperial College), 1914-1916, relating to chemistry, geology, mechanics and mathematics; biographical papers, 1945-1969; personal papers, 1914-1944, including letters of appointment; membership of societies, 1938-1970; technical assignments, 1940-1954; diary of journeys in Mesopotamia, 1917-1918; reprints of papers, 1932-1954; papers concerning the Royal School of Mines Murchison medal, 1914-1915; Ellingham's illness, 1956-1957; award of OBE, 1962; retirement from the Royal Institute of Chemistry, 1962-1963; general correspondence, including letters from Sir Henry Tizard, 1944-1963; papers and correspondence relating to Professor James Charles Philip, 1931-1946; election as Fellow of Imperial College, 1949; histories of Imperial College, 1946-1958; appointment as Special Assistant, Imperial College, 1963-1970; Imperial College Charter and internal government, 1962-1968.

Files of correspondence, 1907-1968, notably from Elsie Butler; Henry Handel Richardson; Professor Lizzie Susan Stebbing, Professor of Philosophy, Bedford College; Mary Bosquanet; Mona MacDonald; Margaret E Atkinson; Professor James Gibson, Emeritus Professor of Logic and Philosophy, University College of North Wales; Dame Lillian Margery Penson, Professor of Modern History, Bedford College; Elizabeth Mary Middleton; Margaret Deanesly, Professor of History at (successively) Royal Holloway College and Bedford College; Phyllis Hartnoll; George Bing [rel to Prof Gertrud, Director of Warburg Institute?]; Professor Herbert Norman Howells, Emeritus Professor of Music, University of London; Dr Thomas Cecil Hunt, Consulting Physician at St Mary's Hospital Paddington; Hannah Margaret Mary Closs; JE Dobson; and Elizabeth Kydd. This section also contains correspondence relating to the Reichel Concert Trust, 1949-1966, Purdie's retirement, 1962, the decision to admit men to Bedford College, 1963-1964, and the death of Professor Dame Lillian Margery Penson, 1963-1967. Diaries, 1930-1953 and address book, 1962; testimonials, 1907-1933; newspaper cutting, 1914-1967; photographs of Purdie, her family and friends, [1890-1968]; papers relating to Purdie's memorial service, 1968; miscellaneous publications, 1939-1964, including a copy of German life and letters, vol XVI, 1963, a special edition presented to Purdie.