[This document can be acquired from a sub-directory coombspapers via anonymous FTP or COOMBSQUEST gopher at the Australian National University, Canberra on the node COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU or from the ANU Soc.Sci.WWW Server at http://coombs.anu.edu.au/CoombsHome.html] The document's ftp filename and the full directory path are given in the coombspapers top level INDEX files] [This version: 20 June 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- UK NATIONAL REGISTER OF ARCHIVES - information leaflets ----------------------------------------------------------------------- National register of archives information sheet no 1 sources for labour history ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This information sheet describes briefly the unpublished sources noted in the National Register of Archives (NRA), the principal specialist repositories that may be contacted and the most useful general works of reference. Among the other subjects to be covered in this series are women's history, social reform and business history. 1. NRA INDEXES All three indexes contain information of interest to labour historians. The numerical NRA references are to lists received by the NRA from libraries, record offices and other sources which may be consulted in the NRA's public searchroom. Personal index Indexes the papers of individuals who can be traced in standard works of reference like the Dictionary of National Biography, Who's Who and the Dictionary of Labour Biography. Individual and descriptive searches are available and a thesaurus of descriptions used can be accessed on line. The index is designed to notice only groups of ten or more items of correspondence; to trace smaller quantities will normally require personal search of likely NRA reports. A database of papers of individuals not easily traced in reference works is in preparation. Consult the Search room Officer about the 'Diaries & Papers Index'. Business index May be trawled by name or type of business (a list of business codes and a business index vocabulary are available on line), town, county, document dates or any combination of these. Co-operative society records are noted under code 18, sub-code 10. Subject index This index is arranged archivally rather than thematically, comprising references to the institutions which generate records rather than the places and events to which the records relate. It may be trawled by any word in an institution's title, type of institution, town, county, document dates or any combination of these. A list of codes can be consulted on line. Code 23 denotes political parties; code 26, sub-code 9 denotes pressure groups, and code 28 with its 25 sub-codes covers trade union and related records. 2. SPECIALIST REPOSITORIES The following repositories hold major collections relating to labour history. Each repository has its own numerical location code. This can be used on the register screen to identify lists received from the repository by the NRA and on the location file to check opening times and other essential information. Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4QH (location code 372). Holds papers of George Howell (NRA 10204) and Charles Bradlaugh (NRA 29894) together with extensive printed materials relating to nineteenth-century labour and radicalism. British Library of Political and Economic Science, 10 Portugal Street, London WC2A 2HD (97). Has collections relating particularly to Fabian and Labour Party thinkers including Hugh Dalton (NRA 16530), George Lansbury (NRA 7528), RH Tawney (NRA 30259), Graham Wallas (NRA 7537), Sidney and Beatrice Webb (NRA 7533-4). Communist Party Library, Picture Library and Archives, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN (1470). Holds the records of the Communist Party, individual Communists and associated organisations. NRA 35722 is a summary listing. Co-operative Union Library, Holyoake House, Hanover Street, Manchester M60 0AS (1499). Central library of Co-operative movement. Has papers of Robert Owen (NRA 16003), GJ Holyoake (NRA 16403) and Edward Greening (NRA 35440) and extensive printed collections. A national survey of Co-operative archives is being organised from the library. Hull University Library, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX (50). The labour archive includes papers of prominent left-wing individuals and several national organisations: the Co-operative Women's Guild (NRA 20163) and International Women's Co-operative Guild (NRA 20164), the National Council for Civil Liberties (NRA 16198), the Socialist Medical Association (NRA 17257) and the Union of Democratic Control (NRA 13535). See The Labour Archive at the University of Hull (1989) by John Saville, available in the searchroom. National Library of Scotland, Department of Manuscripts, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW (233). Has extensive Scottish trade union collections of which NRA 19290 is a summary listing. National Museum of Labour History, 103 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DD (394). Holds the archives of the Labour Party, of which a detailed listing is available as NRA 14863, and papers of national Labour figures; also materials relating to Chartism, the Labour and Socialist International etc. Sussex University Library, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QL (181). Houses the Mass-Observation Archive, one of the major sources for twentieth-century social history including topic collections relating to elections, education, housing, industry, political attitudes and many other subjects. There is a published guide and a fuller listing forms NRA 24301. Some of the journals have been noted on the new NRA Diaries & Papers Index. University College of Swansea Library, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP (217). Houses the South Wales Coalfield Archive. The published guide (1980; supplement, 1983) constitutes NRA 14694. Warwick University Modern Records Centre, University Library, Coventry CV4 7AL (152). Holds records of the Trades Union Congress (NRA 35037), numerous national trade union collections and papers of leading trade unionists. Also has collections relating to the Communist Party and Marxist left. See its published guide (1977), guide supplement (1981) and consolidated guide (1986). Working Class Movement Library, 51 The Crescent, Salford, M5 4WX (1008). Holds records particularly of trade unions and shop stewards in the North West of England and in the engineering industry; also extensive printed collections. NRA 31932 provides a summary listing of manuscript holdings. 3. OTHER USEFUL ADDRESSES In many cases records of local Labour movement organisations will be held by the appropriate local record office, details of which can be found on the NRA repositories file or in the Historical Manuscripts Commission publication Record Repositories in Great Britain. For information about public records, which will not normally be found on the NRA indexes, you should contact the Public Record Office, Kew TW9 4DU or consult the PRO's published guide. For advice about oral history and information as to existing oral history resources, you should first approach the National Sound Archive, 29 Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AS. 4. SURVEYS AND WORKS OF REFERENCE [Items marked * are available in the search room or from the Search room Officer.] *J. Bellamy and J. Saville (eds), Dictionary of Labour Biography (Macmillan, 8 vols, 1972-87). Continuing project covering both national figures and those active at a local or regional level. Each entry provides a detailed list of sources. The eighth volume has a consolidated index to the entries. *C. Cook (ed.), Sources in British Political History 1900-1951 (Macmillan, 6 vols). The series covers societies and organisations (vol. 1, 1975), public servants (vol. 2, 1975), MPs (vols 3-4, 1977) and selected writers, journalists and publicists (vol. 5, 1978). The sixth volume (1985) is a supplement and two further volumes covering the period from 1945 are in preparation. *J. Foster and J. Sheppard, British Archives (Macmillan, 2nd edn, 1989). Gives details of over a thousand archives with subject and collection indexes. J.F.C. Harrison and D. Thompson, Bibliography of the Chartist Movement, 1837-1976 (Harvester, 1978). Includes a section on manuscript sources. A new edition is in preparation. R. Harrison et al. (eds), The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals 1790-1970: a checklist (Humanities, 1977). *C. Hazlehurst and C. Woodland, A Guide to the Papers of British Cabinet Ministers 1900-1951 (Royal Historical Society, 1974). Very out of date now, but does sometimes provide details not available elsewhere. D James, 'Researching the history of the ILP' in D James et al (eds), The Centennial History of the Independent Labour Party (Ryburn, 1993). Includes list of deposited ILP records. Labour History Review (formerly the Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History). Since 1974 the second issue each year has included a list of archives deposited in record offices and libraries during the previous year. (Since 1991, this list has been provided by the HMC.) The Review also publishes an annual bibliography and list of theses and occasionally more specialised surveys. *I. MacDougall, A Catalogue of Some Labour Records in Scotland and Some Scots Records Outside Scotland (Scottish Labour History History, 1978). The fruits of an exhaustive survey of both manuscript and printed materials. Not yet fully indexed for the NRA. *A. Marsh and V. Ryan, Historical Directory of Trade Unions (Gower, 3 vols, 1980-87). Some sectors not yet covered, including textiles, publishing and printing and general unions, will be the subject of a final volume. Please note: the NRA is very much dependent on the archivists and researchers who voluntarily contribute to it lists and other forms of information. If you know of any library or archive, group of papers, survey or finding aid of which we appear to be unaware, please do let us know in writing so that this information can be made available to others. Enquiries about any matter relating to manuscript sources can be directed to the Historical Manuscripts Commission, Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP. The public searchroom is open 9-30 to 5-00, Monday to Friday, and no appointment is necessary. Limited enquiries can be dealt with by post or e-mail (sargent@uk.ac.ulcc.clus1). Alternatively you may wish to contact the archives sub-committee of the Society for the Study of Labour History. The secretary is Stephen Bird, National Museum of Labour History, 103 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DD. February 1994 (2nd revision) c The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts 1994 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- end of file