SOURCES IN BRITISH POLITICAL HISTORY 1900-1951 Also by Chris Cook ELECTION '70 (with David McKie) THE DECADE OF DISILLUSION (editor, with David McKie) EUROPEAN POLITICAL FACTS 1918-73 (with John Paxton) BY-ELECTIONS IN BRITISH POLITICS (with John Ramsden) BRITISH HISTORICAL FACTS 1830-1900 (with Brendan Keith) THE AGE OF ALIGNMENT: ELECTORAL POLITICS IN BRITAIN, 1922-29 Sources in British Political History 1900-1951 compiled for the British Library of Political and Economic Science by CHRIS COOK with Philip Jones Josephine Sinclair Jeffrey Weeks Volume I A Guide to the Archives of Selected Organisations and Societies Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978-1-349-15565-1 ISBN 978-1-349-15563-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-15563-7 Copyright © 1975 British Library of Political and Economic Science Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1975 978-0-333-15036-8 All rights reserved. For information, write: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 75-4012 First published in the United States of America in 1975 AFFILIATED PUBLISHERS: Palgrave Macmillan also at Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Melbourne Contents Foreword vu Members of the Political Archives Investigation Committee VIU Acknowledgements IX Introduction x1 A Guide to the archives of selected organisations and societies 1 Appendix I: Archives in Ireland 293 Appendix II: Archives in Wales 306 Appendix III: Archives in Scotland 308 Appendix IV: Selected Libraries and Record Repositories 310 Index of Organisations and Societies 317 v Foreword This is the first of three volumes reporting the results of a survey of twentieth century British political archives. It has been undertaken by the British Library of Political and Economic Science with the support of the Social Science Research Council. The project originated from a meeting of archivists, historians and librarians, held in October 196 7 on the initiative of Nuffield College, Oxford, which appointed a Political Archives Investigation Committee {whose membership is listed on p. ix) to explore the possibility of making a major effort to locate and list modern British political manuscripts and encourage their preservation. With the assistance of a grant from the Social Science Research Council a two-year pilot project, directed by Dr Cameron Hazlehurst, was begun at Nuffield College in 1968, with the object of locating the papers of Cabinet Ministers who held office between 1900 and 1951. The same Committee acted as a steering committee for the project. This enquiry was an undoubted success; and Dr Hazlehurst's guide to the papers of Cabinet Ministers was published in 1974. * In view of the favourable outcome of the pilot project, the Committee had no hesitation in recommending that a more comprehensive survey should be under taken; and particularly bearing in mind the bibliographical facilities and geographical convenience of London, as well as the number of scholars active in relevant fields working in the London School of Economics, it proposed that this phase of the investigation should be carried out under the auspices of the British Library of Political and Economic Science. A generous grant was accordingly made to the British Library of Political and Economic Science by the Social Science Research Council; and on 1 October 1970, a research team directed by Dr C. P. Cook began work on a five-year project intended to locate the papers of all persons and organisations influential in British politics between 1900 and 19 51, encourage their preservation, and publish a guide. In carrying out a project which has such very wide terms of reference combined with a fixed time-limit, priorities have inevitably had to be established. Whilst a comprehensive search is being made for the papers of all members of the House of Commons, the papers of individual members of other categories are being sought more selectively, on the basis either of their rank or of their known political activity. These categories include civil servants of, or above, the rank of Under Secretary; diplomats; and field commanders and chiefs of staff of the armed services. The records of political parties, societies, institutions and pressure groups, with which this first volume is concerned, have similarly, of necessity, been treated with some degree of selectivity. D. A. CLARKE British Library of Political and Economic Science ------------------------------------ *Hazlehurst, C. and Woodland, C. A Guide to the papers of British Cabinet Ministers 1900-1951 (Royal Historical Society, 1974). vii Members of the Political Archives Investigation Committee Mr John Brooke, Historical Manuscripts Commission (1967-) (Chairman, 1972-) Mr D. A. Clarke, British Library of Political and Economic Science (1967-) Dr C. P. Cook, British Library of Political and Economic Science (1970-) Mr Martin Gilbert, Merton College, Oxford (1967-70) Dr R. M. Hartwell, Nuffield College, Oxford (Chairman, 1967-72) Dr Cameron Hazlehurst, Nuffield College, Oxford (1967-70) Professor A. Marwick, the Open University (1972-) Dr H. M. Pelling, Stjohn's College, Cambridge (1967-) Mrs Felicity Strong, Historical Manuscripts Commission (1967-) Dr John Roberts, Merton College, Oxford (1973-) Mr A. J.P. Taylor, The Beaverbrook Library (1972-) Professor D. C. Watt, London School of Economics and Political Science (1967-) Dr Edwin Welch, Churchill College, Cambridge (1967-71) viii Acknowledgements This book could not have been compiled without a large grant from the Social Science Research Council and the help and guidance of Derek Clarke, the Librarian of the British Library of Political and Economic Science, and of his staff, among whom particular mention should be made of Geoffry Allen and David Bovey. It would be impossible to thank by name all the people without whose help this volume either would not have appeared or would have looked very different. I am, however, especially indebted to the following: Maurice Bond, OBE, Clerk of the Records at the House of Lords; D. S. Porter of the Bodleian Library, Oxford; Christine Kennedy of Nuffield College, Oxford; Irene Wagner, Librarian to the Labour Party; Roy Garratt, Librarian of the Co-operative Union; A. E. B. Owen of Cambridge University Library; Daniel Waley, Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Library; A. J. P. Taylor at the Beaverbrook Library; J. K. Bates, Secretary of the National Register of Archives (Scotland); J. S. Ritchie at the National Library of Scotland; Sir John Ainsworth, Bt, at the National Library of Ireland; and B. G. Owens at the National Library of Wales. The section on Ireland received enormous help from Philip Bull of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Ian MacDougall and Miss W. Schroeder supplied invaluable information about Scottish sources for labour history and the holdings of the International Institute of Social History at Amsterdam respectively. I have relied heavily on suggestions, advice and information supplied by colleagues and friends, both at the London School of Economics and elsewhere. I should like to thank especially Joyce Bellamy and John Saville of the University of Hull, together with Paul Addison, John Barnes, George Bergstrom, Geoffrey Block, Martin Ceadel, Maurice Cowling, Roy Douglas, Catharine Hodges, Barry Hollingsworth, George Jones, Elie Kedourie, Stephen Koss, Mrs P. Larby, lain Maclean, Ross McKibbin, Ted Milligan, Kenneth Morgan, Ian Nish, Gillian Peele, John Ramsden, David Rolf, Leonard Schapiro, Paul Shorter, Martin Sieff, D. H. Simpson, Richard Storey, Paul Sturges, Brenda Swann, Maureen Turnbull, Paul Wilkinson, Philip Woods and Ken Young. Warm thanks are due to the officers of the organisations covered by this book. A particular debt is owed to Lord Fraser of Kilmorack at the Conservative Central Office, and to the Director of Organisation there, Sir Richard Webster. Although this volume is relatively independent of the work done by Cameron Hazlehurst and Christine Woodland, their work complements it and their help has been greatly appreciated. I have also received continuous help and advice from members of the steering committee, both past and present, and especially from Mrs Strong and the staff of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, whose work is so closely associated with our own. Last but by no means least, the compilation of this book has been a team effort, and my very warm thanks are due to my colleagues and co-authors, Philip Jones, Josephine Sinclair and Jeffrey Weeks. Most of the typing for the survey was done with unfailing energy and kindness by Eileen Pattison, with additional secretarial help from Jean Ali and Wendi Momen. The index was compiled by Beryl McKie. CHRIS COOK ix Introduction 1. Contents This volume deals with the archives of organisations and societies active and influential in British politics between 1900 and 1951. Subsequent volumes will deal successively with the private political papers of senior public servants and Members of Parliament. The great majority of entries in this volume relate to the archives of political parties, trade unions and other organisations directly involved in politics and political controversy. Also included are a number of other organisations whose activities are or were only marginally political. For example, many of the religious societies included, and the associations involved in the temperance movement and social work, were not primarily, or even partly, political organisations, yet their archives can be of value to the historian in putting political facts into context and tracing the interaction between politics and the people. For this reason, where information is available they have been included. The period covered by the survey is 1900 to 1951, but many of the organisations included had a continuous existence from long before 1900, and others continued after 1951. Many, indeed, are still active. To mention only those archives which fall into the period of the survey would be misleading, and a brief account of pre-1900 material has therefore been given where appropriate. In a few instances organisations (such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), founded and active after 1951, have deposited their records. It was decided to include these organisations, although strictly speaking they fall outside the scope of the survey. Every effort has been made to secure information about as wide and representative a range of organisations as possible. For a number of reasons, however, the records of certain organisations are omitted. Occasionally the organisation has been unwilling for an entry to appear, perhaps because of lack of facilities for students or because the records are confidential and are therefore necessarily closed at present. More often it reflects the difficulty of tracing the extant archives of long since defunct or disbanded organisations and pressure groups. Where the archives of an organisation have been lost or destroyed, and no records survive, the volume includes references to private papers which may to a limited extent constitute an alternative source of information. For example, under the Liberal League the user is referred to the papers of the 5th Earl of Rosebery in the National Library of Scotland. References to such private papers are given, however, only where all other information is lacking. xi