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.

Papers of John Thomas Quekett, [1840-1854], relating to his work as Conservator of the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, comprising diaries, 1840-1848, which include references to prominent microscopists of the time, such as Carpenter, West, Ross, Sowerby, and Smith of Smith and Beck; notebook, containing some sketches and including notes on experiments on frogs, 1841; ?draft catalogues of the Histological Series in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and catalogue of Pathology, [c1840-1860]; catalogue of Hewson's Preparations, [c1840-1860]; unpublished part of Quekett's catalogue of histological series; Lectures on Histology delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons 1852-1854 with annotations by Quekett; notes for lectures on histology delivered in the session 1853-1853, on the structure on the skeleton of vertebrate animals, with original drawings.

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].

MSS.3356-3382 comprise journals and memorandum books documenting the various phases of McCormick's career, as follows: MS.3356, sketchbook relating to West Indies and South America voyages, 1824-1825; MS.3357, journal of voyage north of Spitsbergen in the Hecla, 1827; MS.3358, notes of lectures on natural philosophy by Robert Jameson (1774-1854) at Edinburgh University, 1830-1831; MS.3359, diary of voyages to West Indies and South America, 1830-1832; MS.3360, half-pay diaries (7 volumes), 1830-1838; MS.3361, diaries covering 1823-1830, fair copy; MS.3362, sketch book covering voyages in North Sea and West Indies, 1832-1833; MS.3363, diary covering blockade of Dutch coast and voyage to West Indies, 1832-1834; MS.3364, diary of a walking tour in Devon (apparently part of a longer journey of which the other journal volumes are not extant), 1834-1835; MS.3365, diary while fitting out the Antarctic expedition of the Erebus, 1839; MSS.3366-3368, diaries written during the Erebus Antarctic expedition (15 volumes), 1839-1843; MSS.3369-3370, meteorological and ornithological logs respectively of the Erebus Antarctic expedition, 1839-1843; MS.3371, half-pay diaries (4 volumes), 1843-1845; MS.3372, memorandum book on Arctic discovery, chiefly compiled during the voyage of the North Star as part of the search for Sir John Franklin, 1848-1852; MS.3373, diary while fitting out the North Star as part of the search for Sir John Franklin, 1852; MSS.3374-3380, diaries written during the voyage of the North Star as part of the search for Sir John Franklin, 1852-1853; MSS.3381-3382, meteorological tables and sketches respectively, made during the voyage of the North Star as part of the search for Sir John Franklin, 1852-1853. MS.8682 comprises loose miscellaneous material, chiefly printed, relating to various phases of McCormick's career: evolving versions of his Narrative of a Boat-Expedition up the Wellington Channel in the Year 1852 (London: Eyre and Spotteswoode, 1854), plus testimonials, printed items by other authors including the Arctic traveller Dr. Richard King, publisher's advertisements and newspapers.

Correspondence and papers of [Marie] Eugène [Alexandre] Maillot, 1841-1908.

Papers of Professor John Stodart Kennedy, 1915-1993, comprising biographical and autobiographical papers, 1915-1992, including Kennedy's autobiographical notes, family and personal papers, diaries;
papers relating to research, 1939-1992, documenting most stages of his scientific career from the 1930s, including wartime service; his periods at Cambridge, Imperial College and Oxford, categorised alphabetically by topic including aphids, behaviour/behaviourism, ethology, locusts, mosquitoes and motivation; photographs and observations in Albania, 1939; drafts and exchanges of ideas for his book of 1992;
papers and correspondence relating to Imperial College, 1963-1987; papers relating to lectures, papers and broadcasts, 1935-1987; publications, 1939-1992; societies and organisations, 1937-1991, including the Anti-Locust Research Centre; scientific and general correspondence, 1937-1992, with friends and colleagues such as Donald Livingston Gunn, Vincent Brian Wigglesworth, many overseas correspondents including scientific exchanges; papers relating to references and recommendations, 1954-1991, including correspondence with editors, authors and publishing houses; photographs, 1942-1985, notably of the work of the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit, 1942-1944, wind-tunnels, group photographs of meetings and symposia.

Jenner's diary, 1787-1806, containing his observations on the natural history of the cuckoo, and notes on his dissections of other birds and various domestic animals.

Much of the collection is made up of diaries and notebooks relating to expeditions sent to Africa by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to study diseases such as malaria and trypanosomiasis. From Todd's subsequent career there is also material on journeys to Western Canada to study Swamp Fever in horses and to Poland to study Typhus, some general notes on tropical diseases, a laboratory notebook on experiments with fever ticks and a paper on the Congo Free State as a political unit. The dates covered are 1901-1920. A final block of material consists of letters and loose papers including sketches, covering 1890-1949.

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.

Papers of Patrick Alfred Buxton, 1908-1957, relate to his employment as Head of Entomology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 1927-1955, and notably include research notes, correspondence, maps, diaries and publications.

Manuscript diaries, 1939-1946, notably covering his command of 2 Corps, BEF, France and Belgium, 1939-1940, his service as Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, 1940-1941, and as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1941-1946, with detailed accounts of meetings and conversations, and comments on personalities. Detailed unpublished memoirs, 1883-1946, written in [1946-1960]. Personal files, 1940-1946, principally comprising copies of official and semi-official correspondence with FM Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, 1942-1945, relating to his commands of 8 Army, Middle East, 1942-1943, and 21 Army Group, North West Europe, 1944-1945; with FM Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Viscount of Cyrenaica and of Winchester, 1940-1945, relating to his commands in the Middle East, 1940-1941, and India, 1941-1945; with FM Sir (Henry) Maitland Wilson, 1943-1945, relating to his commands in the Middle East, 1943-1944, and as head of British Joint Staff Mission, Washington, 1944-1945; with FM Hon Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1942-1945, relating to his commands in the Middle East, 1942-1943, and Italy, 1943-1944, and the Mediterranean, 1944-1945; with Lt Gen Sir Kenneth Arthur Noel Anderson, 1942-1945, relating to his commands in North Africa, 1942-1944, and East Africa, 1945; with Adm Lord Louis (Francis Arthur Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, 1943-1945; with FM Sir John Greer Dill, head of British Joint Staff Mission, Washington, 1941-1944; with Lt Gen Frederick Arthur Montagu Browning, Chief of Staff, South East Asia Command, 1944-1945; with Lt Gen Herbert Lumsden, South West Pacific Area, 1944; with Lt Gen Sir Frank Noel Mason-Macfarlane, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Gibraltar, 1942; and with Gen Wladyslaw Sikorski, Polish Forces, 1941-1943. Papers relating to his role as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1941-1946, dated 1940-1951, notably including conference papers for Combined Chiefs of Staff meetings, 1943-1945; semi-official correspondence with Lt Gen Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, 1940-1945, relating to Auchinleck's commands in Norway, India and the Middle East, 1940-1945. Other papers relating to his life and career, 1897-1963, dated 1897-1966, 1992-1993, including letters to his mother, 1906-1920, notably covering his service in India, 1906-1914 and France and Belgium, 1914-1918; texts of his lectures on artillery given at Staff College, Camberley, 1923-[1926]; papers relating to his post-war activities, notably his role as Chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast, 1949-1963, dated 1949-1968; papers relating to ornithology, 1950-1963; published and unpublished articles collected by Alanbrooke and his wife, 1929-1967; texts of his speeches and broadcasts, 1944-1962; photographs, [1902-1963], 1978, 1992, mainly official photographs of Alanbrooke as Chief of Imperial General Staff, 1941-1942. Papers collected by Mrs M C Long in preparation for the writing of Alanbrooke's biography, dated 1954-1958, notably including texts of interviews with friends and colleagues, 1954-1958. Correspondence relating to Alanbrooke's papers and Sir Arthur Wynne Morgan Bryant's books Turn of the tide (Collins, London, 1957) and Triumph in the West (Collins, London, 1959) (both based on Alanbrooke's diaries), dated 1951-1968. Correspondence of FM (Richard) Michael (Power) Carver, Baron Carver, relating to erection of Alanbrooke statue in Whitehall in 1993, dated 1991-1993