Secretary's Department of Royal Holloway College

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0505 RHC AR300-360
Held at	: Royal Holloway, University of London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/archives ›
Full title	: Secretary's Department of Royal Holloway College
Date(s)	: 1886-1963
Level of description	: Subfonds of Royal Holloway College View parent record
Extent	: 19 boxes, 8 volumes
Name of creator(s)	: Royal Holloway College | Secretary's Department
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Secretary acted as the administrative officer of the Governors. Responsibilities of the post included dealing with the College accounts, the ordering of supplies and the maintenance of College buildings and property, as well as taking minutes of meetings and preparing official correspondence. On the death of the first Secretary of the Governors, Mr J L Clifford-Smith, in 1898, the decision was taken that in future a woman should fill the post. The appointment of Dorothy Hustler in 1948 led to the reorganisation of the College accounts, and she was also responsible for ongoing negotiations for the purchase of surrounding properties, in order to facilitate the expansion of the College in the 1950s. 1969 saw the establishment of a separate Accounts Department. Titled the Secretary to the Governors until 1949, the postholder then became known as the College Secretary.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Correspondence of the first Secretary to the Governors, J L Clifford-Smith, 1887-1898, including an outward letter book, and letters relating to an illustrated brochure published in 1895. Files of correspondence and memoranda, 1886-1963, on various, notably the appointment of administrative staff, including the Principal and the College Secretary, 1887-1927; the Constitution of the Board of Governors and the Academic Board and financial matters, 1910-1922; professional salaries, 1900-1924 and 1944-1945; drainage at Royal Holloway College, 1930-1938; the College piggeries, 1935-1946; the College plate, 1886-1887; the College water supply, 1902-1917; the Royal Holloway College Coat of Arms, 1939-1958; the takeover of the east side of Founder's Building by the Auxiliary Territorial Service, 1939-1945; investments, 1890-1936, and insurance valuations, 1950-1963; the Admission of Royal Holloway College as a School of the University of London, 1892-1900; procedures for appointments to Professorships in the University of London, 1907-1909; specifications and estimates for building work on Founder's Building, 1903-1908; staff pensions, 1913-1945. Material relating to the Royal Holloway College Picture Gallery, 1887-1948, including printed catalogues of the pictures compiled by Charles W Carey, 1888, 1890 and 1896; photograph albums containing photographs of the picture collection, taken by Carey, [1897]; letters and memoranda, 1887-1948, mainly relating to the picture collection; petty cash books, 1890-1942, for the care of the Picture Gallery and for drawing and painting classes. Registers and inventories, 1887-1963, notably a register book of the domestic staff, 1887-1927; inventories of household materials, 1887-1897, including glass, china, earthenware, cutlery, linen, blankets, mattresses, brushware, electric lamps, blind cord and tapes; inventories of the garden and grounds, 1901-1921, 1942-1947 and 1957-1962; inventories of the Engine and Boiler House, 1901-1910, and the Superintendent of the Works, 1952-1962; Stationery inventory, 1939-1940; inventories of academic departments, such as Physics, 1903-1960, Chemistry, 1847-1962, Botany, 1957-1963, and Zoology, 1946-1962; Registers of application for admission to academic departments, 1887-1948.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Papers are arranged in bound volumes or files according to subject.

Conditions governing access:

Administrative and Committee papers are closed for 30 years from the last date on file. Papers relating to individuals are usually closed for 100 years from the subject's birth. Users are advised to consult the College Archivist for specific details.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies of open material may be supplied, subject to the condition of the original. Requests to publish original material should be directed to the College Archivist.

Finding aids:

'A guide to Royal Holloway College Archives' by Derryan Paul, Jun 1973.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Papers relating to student records and examinations were removed to the Registrar's Department when it was created in 1944. Financial material was transferred to the Accounts Department upon its creation in 1969-1970.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Allied Materials

Related material:

The Royal Holloway, University of London Archives contain the papers of the Curator of the Picture Gallery (RHC AR500-504).

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

The history of Royal Holloway College, 1886-1986 (Constable, London, 1987), by Caroline Bingham.

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the AIM25 project.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in accordance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Apr 2000