IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/198
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: SION COLLEGE
Date(s): 1631-1996
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 255 production units.
Name of creator(s): Sion College
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Sion College was a society of Anglican clergy rather than an educational establishment. It was established in 1624 out of the bequest of Dr Thomas White, rector of Saint Dunstan in the West, who left £3000 to found a college for City clergy and an almshouse. The charter was recieved in 1630, constituting all "Rectors, Vicars, Lecturers and Clergy in or close to the City" as Fellows of the College. Management of the College lay with a President, two Deans and their assistants. The addition of a library was the suggestion of John Simpson, rector of Saint Olave Hart Street and executor of White's bequest. The reason for the name of the College is unknown. The original site was at London Wall. The buildings and all the books were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, but rebuilding took place by 1678. The Library continued to expand and by 1850 was estimated to hold 40,000 volumes. In 1879 the College bought land on Victoria Embankment and constructed a new building, opened in 1886. The almshouses were separated and renamed Sion Hospital. By the 1980s the Library was thought to hold 100,000 volumes. The College was closed in 1996.
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of Sion College, a society of Anglican clergy. The majority of the collection dates from 1631, with deeds from 1611. The records include notes on the history of the College; constitution, rules and bye-laws; Court of Governor's minutes and other Committee minutes; annual reports; financial accounts; lists of Fellows and subscription books; letter books and correspondence; papers of the Secretary; legal papers; menus and invitations to events; newsletters and promotional material; press cuttings; papers relating to properties and estates owned by the College; papers relating to the library including committee minutes, inventories, lists of borrowed books and registers of rebinding; photographs of past Presidents and Fellows; and photographs of the Library and College.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
As the archive is large and complex, and to assist the user, the catalogue has been arranged in sections, each with an archival classification code as follows:
SICA Constitutional records;
SICB Financial records;
SICC Correspondence and papers;
SICD Charities and estates;
SICE Library;
SICF Photographs.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Deposited in 1960 and 1996 in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library. In addition Mss 9208 and 9251-6 were donated to the Library by Beaumont and Son in 1955. The archive has been catalogued at various dates from 1955 by members of Guildhall Library staff. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
Records of the City Clerical Society and City Lay Agency Association, which were deposited by Sion College, have been catalogued separately as CLC/046. Sion Hospital records have been catalogued as CLC/127.
The Library contents were dispersed in 1996. Pre 1850 printed books and manuscripts were passed to Lambeth Palace Library; post 1850 items to King's College, London. The charters of 1626 and 1630 were retained by the College.
Publication note:
For further information on the College's early history see Richard Palmer's unpublished lecture of 2002, a copy of which is held at the Information Desk, as well as Sion College and Library by E H Pearce, 1913.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: August to October 2010.