King's College London Secretary's out-letter books

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0100 KCLCA KA/OLB
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	: King's College London Secretary's out-letter books
Date(s)	: 1834-1917
Level of description	: Series of King's College London Archives
Extent	: 55 volumes
Name of creator(s)	: King's College London | College Secretary's Department

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Between 1831 and 1988 the College Secretary rose from Secretary to the Principal and Council to senior administrative officer of the College. Throughout the period the College Secretary had responsibility for servicing the Council, its main standing and special subcommittees, and the Academic Board. In the 1960s, the post of Academic Registrar was reorganised to reflect the coordinated responsibility for student admission and examinations with the Department. Between 1828-1919 King's College enjoyed the services of just four College Secretaries, two of whom served for remarkably long periods, H W Smith, 1829-1848 and J W Cunningham, 1848-1894. The out-letter books form one complete run of copies of letters sent by or on behalf of the Principal and College Secretary for the period 1834-1917. Initially in the form of manuscript copies, by the late nineteenth century experiments (not always entirely successful in terms of legibility) were made with a variety of wet letter processes.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

The out-letter books contain chronologically arranged copies of a number of significant letters written by or on behalf of the Principal and College Secretary, 1834-1917, in relation to a wide variety of College business. The series does not however, include responses to all letters in the parallel series of in-letters (KA/IC).

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The out-letter books are arranged chronologically.

Conditions governing access:

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services, King's College London.

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogues are available in hard copy in the reading room of the College Archives.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

College Secretary's Department.

Allied Materials

Related material:

King's College London Archives holds College Secretary's in-correspondence (KA/IC), College Secretary's files relating to policy, 1828-1992 (KAS/GC) and academic departments and academic initiatives, 1896-1900 (KAS/AC); Library files relating to administration, 1925-1994 (KAL/AD).

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Sources: King's College London catalogues. Compiler: Julie Tancell.

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:
May 2000