Chelsea College Registry Records

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0100 KCLCA CA/S/M, CA/S/MP, CAR/RI, CAR/RS, CAR/S, CAR/AR, CAR/STATS, CAR/1986, 1987/CAR, CAR/1990, 1995/CAR
Held at	: King's College London College Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/archivespec/ ›
Full title	: Chelsea College Registry Records
Date(s)	: 1895-1985
Level of description	: Sub-fonds of King's College London Archives
Extent	: 84 boxes and 21 folders
Name of creator(s)	: South Western Polytechnic Chelsea Polytechnic Chelsea College of Science and Technology Chelsea College Registry

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The South-Western Polytechnic was opened at Manresa Road, Chelsea, in 1895, to provide scientific and technical education to Londoners. Day and evening classes for men and women comprised study in domestic economy, mathematics, engineering, natural science, art and music. The Polytechnic taught a growing number of registered students of the University of London, and this relationship was later formally recognised when the renamed Chelsea College of Science and Technology was admitted as a School of the University in 1966. Government of the College was devolved to the so-called Governing Body, supplemented from its inception in 1961 by an Academic Board reflecting the interests of staff and students. These were renamed the Council and Senate when the College was granted its Royal Charter in 1971. The Registry dealt with student and academic affairs including applications, examinations and assessments, and its functions were combined with those of the Registry at King's following the merger.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Chelsea College Registry records, 1895-1985, contain a wide variety of committee, Senate and other governing and administrative material illustrative of the strategic direction, financial status and academic organisation of the institution. They notably include Senate committee membership and overview, 1971-1984 (Ref: CAR/RI, CAR/RS); minutes of the BSc Sub-Boards of Examiners meetings, 1967-1985 (ref: CAR/1986); Committee, Working Party and Faculty Board minutes and papers including of the Fees Committee, Academic Board Planning Committee and Higher Degrees Committee, 1965-1985; staff files, 1967-1985 (Ref: CAR/S); papers concerned with course and academic planning and, in particular, postgraduate degrees, modular courses, 1967-1985, KQC Planning Group for Academic Affairs, 1983-1984, data privacy, 1981-1984, University of London regulations, 1967-1980, strategic planning including the Swinnerton-Dyer report, 1979-1981; Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC), 1976-1985; University Grants Committee, 1973-1984; examinations procedure, 1976-1985; Student Union and services, 1968-1983; overseas and exchange students, 1968-1984; student ratios and statistics, 1972-1982; departmental correspondence and memoranda, 1970-1985 (CAR/AR1-24, CAR/1990); information and reports covering attempted relocation of College and the merger with King's College, 1968-1984 (Ref: 1987/CAR); student correspondence with the Registrar, 1939-1948 (Ref: 1995/CAR) ); volumes of statistics describing teaching, student numbers and class structure, 1934-1979 (Ref: CAR/STATS).

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The records are arranged into the main series as described in the Scope and Content section, and are broadly chronological within each series.

Conditions governing access:

Administrative records are generally subject to a thirty year closure period from the date of leaving except for some published minutes. Staff records are closed for an eighty year period.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, can be supplied to appropriate College staff. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services, King's College London.

Finding aids:

Detailed list is available for consultation in hard-copy in the King's College London Archives Reading Room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

A majority of the records were received from the Chelsea Registry in 1985.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Chelsea Registry material overlaps with the Secretary's Office and Minute Books series (Ref: CAS, CA/M). The majority of personnel records for Chelsea College comprise a distinct series (Ref: CA/FP). See also King's College Secretarial, Principal's Office and Registry records that describe the merger in 1985 and the subsequent history of the Chelsea campus (Ref: KAS, KAP, KAR).

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Sources: H Silver and S J Teague eds, Chelsea College - A History (London, 1977). Entry compiled by Geoff Browell as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Rules or conventions:
National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997; ISAD(G), Second edition, 2000.

Date(s) of descriptions:
March 2002