UK archives of post-war science – notes towards a list
By Jon Agar, on 17 December 2013
I’m working my way fairly systematically through the catalogues of UK archives relating to post-war science, and thought it would be useful to me, and perhaps others, to keep a running list of scientists’ collections. Here’s the list so far, with links via Access to Archives, Janus and other pages. Let me know, via the comments, if you know more …
- Edward ABRAHAM at Oxford, Bodleian (2450 items)
- John Frank ADAMS at Cambridge, Trinity College (1211 files)
- Edgar Douglas ADRIAN at Cambridge, Trinity College
- L. Bruce ARCHER at the Royal College of Art (34 boxes)
- William Thomas ASTBURY at Leeds (378 files)
- Francis Thomas BACON at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (2041 files)
- Ralph Alger BAGNOLD at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (12 boxes)
- John Fleetwood BAKER at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (200 boxes)
- John Randal BAKER at Oxford, Bodleian (110 files)
- Ernest Hubert Francis BALDWIN at UCL (425 files)
- Geoffrey Cecil BARKER at Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College
- Harold BARLOW at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (19 boxes)
- Leslie Fleetwood BATES at Nottingham
- Geoffrey BEALE at Edinburgh (43 boxes)
- Richard Alan BEATTY at Edinburgh (9 boxes)
- Hugh BEAVER at LSE
- George Douglas Hutton BELL at John Innes Centre
- Thomas Brooke BENJAMIN at Oxford Bodleian (275 files)
- John Desmond BERNAL at Cambridge UL (118 boxes)
- Joseph BLACK at University of Bath (4 boxes)
- Carlos Paton BLACKER at Wellcome Library (29 boxes and online)
- Patrick Maynard Stuart BLACKETT at Royal Society (1362 files)
- Geoffrey Emett BLACKMAN at Oxford Bodleian (286 files)
- Jack BLEARS at Manchester MSIM (28 boxes)
- Walter BODMER at Oxford, Bodleian (2216 boxes)
- David BOHM at Birkbeck (10 boxes)
- Hermann BONDI at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (147 boxes)
- Henry Albert BOOT at IEE (124 files)
- Andrew BOOTH at National Archive for the History of Computing, Manchester
- Max BORN at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (84 boxes)
- Keith Frederick BOWDEN at Essex (96 files)
- Vivian BOWDEN at Manchester (293 items)
- Edward George BOWEN at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (11 boxes)
- Lawrence BRAGG at Royal Institution (93 boxes)
- Sydney BRENNER at Cold Spring Harbor and Wellcome Library online
- Mark BRETSCHER at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (11 boxes)
- Jacob BRONOWSKI at Jesus College, Cambridge (in process of cataloguing)
- George Lindor BROWN at the Royal Society
- Frederick BRUNDRETT at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (2 boxes)
- Edward Crisp BULLARD at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (117 boxes)
- Eric Henry Stoneley BURHOP at UCL (49 files)
- George Norman BURKHARDT at Manchester (39 items)
- Joshua Harold BURN at Oxford, History of Neuroscience Library (20 files)
- Roy CAMERON at UCL (12 files)
- James CASSELS at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (5 boxes)
- James CHADWICK at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (73 boxes)
- Ernst Boris CHAIN at Wellcome Library (65 boxes)
- Colin CHERRY at Imperial College (350 files)
- Douglas Richard CHICK at IEE (23 boxes)
- Carol CHURCHER at Wellcome Library (2 boxes)
- Cyril Astley CLARKE at Liverpool (16 boxes)
- Patricia Hannah CLARKE at UCL (9 boxes)
- Robert COCKBURN at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (6 boxes)
- John COCKCROFT at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (124 boxes)
- David Edwin COOMBE at University of Bath (74 boxes)
- Charles Alfred COULSON at Oxford, Bodleian
- Keith Gordon COX at Oxford MNH (500 items)
- Francis CRICK at Wellcome Library (331 boxes and online)
- Frederick Sydney DAINTON at Sheffield (156 boxes)
- Henry Hallett DALE at Royal Society (1077 files)
- Cyril Dean DARLINGTON at Oxford Bodleian (247 boxes)
- Cyril Dean DARLINGTON at John Innes Centre
- John Grant DAVIES (at Jodrell Bank Archive), Manchester
- Peter DAWSON at Manchester MSIM (276 files)
- George DEACON at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
- Herbert DINGLE at Imperial College (20 boxes)
- Robert William DITCHBURN at Reading (4 boxes)
- Wilfrid Hogarth DOWDESWELL at Bath (9 boxes)
- Ian DUNHAM at Wellcome Library (17 boxes, 1 oversize box)
- Richard DURBIN at Wellcome Library (34 boxes)
- Eric EASTWOOD at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (66 boxes)
- James Marmaduke EDMONDS at Oxford MNH (400 items)
- Alfred Charles Glyn EGERTON at Royal Society (34 boxes)
- Alfred Charles Glyn EGERTON at Imperial College (12 boxes)
- Charles ELTON at Oxford, Bodleian (276 files)
- George Clifford EVANS at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (5 boxes)
- Ulick Richardson EVANS at Cambridge UL
- Norman FEATHER at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (72 boxes)
- Honor Bridget FELL at Wellcome Library (11 boxes, 3 large boxes and online)
- Malcolm FERGUSON-SMITH at Glasgow and Wellcome Library online
- James FISHER at Natural History Museum
- Harold Walter FLOREY at Royal Society (539 files)
- Edmund Brisco FORD at Oxford Bodleian (38 boxes)
- Peter Howard FOWLER at Bristol (33 boxes)
- Harold Munro FOX at Imperial College (7 boxes)
- Frederick Charles FRANK at Bristol (45 boxes)
- Rosalind FRANKLIN at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (24 boxes) and Wellcome Library online
- Albert FREEDMAN at University of Bath (35 boxes)
- Otto Robert FRISCH at Cambridge, Trinity College (70 boxes)
- Dennis GABOR at Imperial College
- Stanley GILL at Science Museum Library (244 files)
- Harry GODWIN at Cambridge, Clare College (6 boxes)
- Thomas GOLD at the Royal Society (28 boxes)
- Charles Frederick GOODEVE at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (40 boxes)
- Alan William GREENWOOD at Edinburgh (6 boxes)
- Hans GRUNEBERG at Wellcome Library (18 boxes and online)
- John Alan GULLAND at Imperial College
- John Burdon Sanderson HALDANE at UCL and Wellcome Library online
- William Donald Hamilton at the British Library (no electronic record, but handlist available at BL)
- Alister Clavering HARDY at Oxford Bodleian (444 files)
- John Laker HARLEY at Oxford Bodleian
- Geoffrey Wingfield HARRIS at Oxford, Bodleian (24 boxes)
- Douglas HARTREE at Cambridge, Christ’s College (4 boxes)
- Douglas HARTREE at National Archive for the History of Computing, Manchester
- Harold HARTLEY at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (285 boxes)
- William HAWTHORNE at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (241 boxes)
- Humphrey HEWER at Imperial College (198 items)
- Anthony HEWISH at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (9 boxes)
- Harold HEYWOOD at Imperial College (7 boxes)
- Archibald Vivian HILL at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (71 boxes)
- John McGregor HILL at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (15 boxes)
- Robert HILL at Cambridge UL (45 boxes)
- Christopher HINTON at IME Library (93 boxes)
- Christopher HINTON at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (6 boxes)
- Dorothy Mary Crowfoot HODGKIN at Oxford Bodleian (232 boxes)
- Lancelot HOGBEN at Birmingham (82 items)
- Fred HOYLE at Cambridge, St John’s College
- William HUME-ROTHERY at Oxford, Bodleian (11 boxes)
- Kenneth HUTCHISON at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (11 boxes)
- Willis JACKSON at Imperial College
- Bertha JEFFERYS at Cambridge, St John’s College (55 boxes)
- Harold JEFFRYS at Cambridge, St John’s College (69 boxes)
- John Leonard JINKS a Birmingham (68 folders)
- Matthew JONES at Wellcome Library (2 boxes)
- Reginald Victor JONES at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (230 boxes)
- Piotr Leonidovich KAPITZA at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (17 files)
- Bernard Augustus KEEN at UCL (6 files)
- Andrew KELLER at Bristol (2450 items)
- John Cowdery KENDREW at Oxford Bodleian (2000 items)
- John Stodart KENNEDY at Imperial College (41 boxes)
- Peter KENT at Nottingham (94 boxes)
- Aaron KLUG at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (300 boxes) – not open yet
- Hans Adolf KREBS at Sheffield (257 boxes)
- John David LAWSON at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (7 boxes)
- Edmund Ronald LEACH at Cambridge, King’s College (86 boxes)
- John LENNARD-JONES at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre
- Frederick Alexander LINDEMANN at Oxford, Nuffield College (2574 files)
- Edward Hubert LINFOOT at Cambridge UL
- Patrick LINSTEAD at Imperial College
- Otto LOEWI at Royal Society
- Christopher LONGUET-HIGGINS at the Royal Society
- Kathleen LONSDALE at UCL (further papers held privately)
- Bernard LOVELL (Jodrell Bank Archive) at Manchester
- Gordon MANLEY at Cambridge UL (27 boxes)
- Gordon MANLEY at Durham (1 metre)
- Sidnie Milana MANTON at Natural History Museum
- Roy MARKHAM at John Innes Centre
- John MAYNARD SMITH at the British Library (700 files, plus floppy disks)
- Colin William Fraser MCCLARE at King’s College
- James Dwyer MCGEE at Imperial College (55 files)
- William Stuart MCKERROW at Oxford, Natural History Museum (500 items)
- Anne MCLAREN at British Library (152 items)
- Peter MEDAWAR at Wellcome Library (47 boxes and online)
- Helen MEGAW at Cambridge, Girton College (33 boxes)
- Lise MEITNER at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (91 boxes)
- Kurt Alfred Georg MENDELSSOHN at Oxford, Bodleian (28 boxes)
- Alec MERRISON at Bristol (38 boxes)
- Donald MICHIE at British Library (948 files)
- Edward Arthur MILNE at Oxford Bodleian (11 boxes)
- Cesar MILSTEIN at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (1050 items)
- Joseph Stanley MITCHELL at Cambridge UL (146 boxes)
- Peter Dennis MITCHELL at Cambridge UL (2900 items)
- Philip Burton MOON at Birmingham (8 boxes)
- Arthur Ernest MOURANT at Wellcome Library (48 boxes and online)
- Nevill Francis MOTT at Cambridge UL (230 items)
- Dorothy Mary Moyle NEEDHAM at Cambridge, Girton College (153 files)
- Joseph NEEDHAM at Cambridge UL (3400 items)
- Joseph NEEDHAM at Imperial War Museum (150 items)
- Max NEWMAN at Cambridge, St John’s College (5 boxes)
- Peter NIBLETT at Manchester MSIM (6 boxes)
- Ronald George Weyford NORRISH at Cambridge UL
- Henry Proctor PALMER (at Jodrell Bank Archive), Manchester
- Carl Frederick Abel PANTIN at Cambridge, Trinity College (15 files)
- Robert PEERS at Nottingham (7 boxes)
- Rudolf Ernst PEIERLS at Oxford, Bodleian (544 files)
- Lionel PENROSE at UCL (96 boxes) and the Wellcome Library online
- Max PERUTZ at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (45 boxes)
- Rudolf Albert PETERS at Oxfird, Bodleian (11 boxes)
- David Chilton PHILLIPS at Oxford Bodleian (288 boxes)
- Alfred John PIPPARD at Imperial College (7 boxes)
- Guido PONTECORVO at Glasgow and Wellcome Library online
- George PORTER at Royal Institution (121 boxes)
- John Guy PORTER at Royal Greenwich Observatory archive (3 boxes)
- Rodney Robert PORTER at Oxford, Bodleian
- Cecil Frank POWELL at Bristol
- Joseph PRESTON at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (8 boxes plus a roll)
- John William Sutton PRINGLE at Oxford, Bodleian (90 boxes), supplementary collection here (32 items)
- Dietrich PRINZ at National Archive for the History of Computing, Manchester
- Robert RACE at Wellcome Library and online
- Richard RADO at Reading (59 boxes)
- Jack RATCLIFFE at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (32 boxes)
- John RANDALL at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (19 boxes)
- Roderick REDMAN at Royal Greenwich Observatory archive (22 boxes)
- James RENWICK at Glasgow and Wellcome Library online
- Rex RICHARDS at Oxford Bodleian (69 boxes)
- Eric Keihtley RIDEAL at Royal Institution (2 boxes)
- Robert ROBINSON at Royal Society (580 items)
- Joseph ROTBLAT at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (292 boxes)
- Leonard ROTHERHAM at Bath (19 boxes)
- Francis John Worsley ROUGHTON at Cambridge UL (250 items)
- Albert Percival ROWE at Imperial War Museum
- James Henderson SANG at Edinburgh (4 files)
- Fred SANGER at Wellcome Library (10 boxes and online)
- Ruth SANGER at Wellcome Library and online
- Peter Markham SCOTT at Cambridge UL (7800 items)
- George William SERIES at Reading (12 boxes)
- Robert Beresford Seymour SEWELL at Natural History Museum (9 boxes)
- George Lennox Sharman SHACKLE at Cambridge UL (28 boxes)
- Oswald John SILBERRAD at Science Museum Library (5300 items)
- Conrad SLATER (at Jodrell Bank Archive), Manchester
- Francis Graham SMITH (at Jodrell Bank Archive), Manchester
- Frank SMITH at Imperial College (6 items)
- Kenneth Manley SMITH at Oxford, Institute of Virology (151 files)
- Frank SMITHIES at Cambridge, St John’s College (34 boxes, 8 albums)
- Frederick SODDY at Oxford, Bodleian (258 items)
- Harold SPENCER JONES at Royal Greenwich Observatory archives (3.5 cubic metres)
- Maurice STACEY at Birmingham (149 items)
- Walter STILES at Birmingham (78 files)
- Edmund Clifton STONER at Leeds (28 boxes)
- Christopher STRACHEY at Oxford Bodleian (55 boxes)
- John SULSTON at Wellcome Library (139 boxes, 2 outsize boxes, 19 outsize folders)
- Gordon Brims Black McIvor SUTHERLAND at Cambridge UL (29 boxes)
- John SUTTON at Imperial College (13 boxes)
- Richard Laurence Millington SYNGE at Cambridge, Trinity College Library (1700 items)
- Geoffrey Ingram TAYLOR at Cambridge, Trinity College (14 boxes)
- Nikolaas TINBERGEN at Oxford Bodleian (181 items)
- D’Arcy Wentworth THOMPSON at St Andrews (225 boxes)
- Harold Warris THOMPSON at Royal Society (40 feet)
- Michael Warwick THOMPSON at Birmingham (12 boxes)
- George Paget THOMSON at Cambridge, Trinity College (60 boxes)
- Alexander TODD at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (245 boxes)
- Samuel TOLANSKY at UCL (22 boxes)
- Alan Mathison TURING at Cambridge, King’s College (6 boxes)
- Alan Mathison TURING at National Archive for the History of Computing, Manchester
- Alfred Rene Jean Paul UBBELOHDE at Imperial College (37 files)
- Conrad Hal WADDINGTON at Edinburgh (57 boxes)
- Lawrence Rickard WAGER at Oxford, Natural History Museum (1200 items)
- Francis Martin Rouse WALSHE at UCL (5 boxes)
- Ernest WALTON at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (3 boxes)
- Claude Wilson WARDLAW at Manchester (105 items)
- Frederick Edward WARNER at Essex (2500 items)
- David Meredith Seares WATSON at UCL
- James WATSON at Cold Spring Harbor and Wellcome Library online
- Torkel WEIS-FOGH at Cambridge UL
- Maurice WILKES at Cambridge, St. John’s Library
- Maurice WILKINS at King’s College London (170 boxes) and Wellcome Library online
- Denys WILKINSON at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (9 boxes)
- Frederic C. WILLIAMS (at National Archive for the History of Computing), Manchester
- Ian WILMUT at Edinburgh (c. 70 boxes)
- Richard WHIDDINGTON at Leeds (48 files)
- Harold WOOLHOUSE at John Innes Centre
- Gerard WYATT at Wellcome Library (2 boxes and online)
- Charles Maurice YONGE at Natural History Museum (44 boxes)
- Christopher Alwyne Jack YOUNG at Science Museum Library (22 boxes)
- John Zachary YOUNG at UCL (66 boxes catalogued, more info here)
- Solly ZUCKERMAN at University of East Anglia
Plus a few corporate or group archives:
- Anglo-Australian Telescope project papers at Royal Greenwich Observatory archives
- Association of Teachers of Domestic Science at Warwick Modern Records Centre
- Eugenics Society at Wellcome Library (158 boxes and online)
- Ferranti Collection at Manchester MSIM (700 boxes)
- Ferranti family papers at Manchester MSIM (148 files)
- History of Fusion at Cambridge, Churchill Archives Centre (5 boxes)
- Institute of Animal Genetics at Edinburgh (4 boxes)
- John Innes Centre
- King’s College Biochemistry Department at King’s College Liddell Hart Centre
- Medical Research Council Blood Group Unit at Wellcome Library (65 boxes and online)
- Metropolitan Vickers at Manchester MSIM (32 files)
- National Institute of Agricultural Botany Historical Archive
- Nuffield Foundation Science Teaching Project at King’s College London (591 boxes)
- Oxford Enzyme Group at Oxford Bodleian (21 boxes)
- Plant Breeding Institute at John Innes Centre
- Roslin Institute and predecessor institutions at Edinburgh (c.900 boxes)
- Royal Agricultural College at RAC
- Royal Society collections
- Schools Council Integrated Science Project at King’s College London (56 boxes)
- Strangeways Research Laboratory at the Wellcome Library (31 boxes)
- Voices of Science, by the Oral History of British Science project at British Library
The list was mostly generated by using a keyword ‘science’ and restricting the search to 1945-2012, and then going through the 24,480 results. That might sound a lot, but I know for a fact that it misses some collections! After seeking suggestions, I have also trawled the Churchill Archives Centre for scientists, and used National Register of Archives.
I intend to keep this list updated.
Thanks to the following for suggestions: John Forrester, Peter Collins, Stephen Boyd Davis, Richard Noakes, Christoph Laucht, Mauro Capocci, John Faithfull, Simon Chaplin, Jean-Baptiste Gouyon, Chris, Dmitry Myelnikov, Dominic Berry, Alex Hall, Nancy Anderson, Clare Button, Joanna Corden, Jacob Hamblin, Tim Powell, and Jenny Shaw.