Category Archives: Newly available (2020)

New catalogue – Oxford Women in Computing: An Oral History project

The catalogue of the Oxford Women in Computing oral history project is now available online.

This oral history project captures the experiences of 10 pioneering women who were active in computing research, teaching and service provision between the 1950s and 1990s, not only in Oxford, but at national and international levels. The rationale for the project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, through grants held by Professor Ursula Martin, was that women had participated in very early stages of computing; aside from a few exceptions their stories had not been captured – or indeed told. Among the interviewees are Eleanor Dodson, methods developer for Protein Crystallography and former research technician for Dorothy Hodgkin and Linda Hayes, former Head of User Services at the Oxford University Computing Service – now University of Oxford IT services. Leonor Barroca left Portugal in 1982 as a qualified electrical engineer to follow a boyfriend to Oxford – later that year she was one of three women on the university’s MSc in Computing course. Leonor also worked briefly as a COBOL (common business-oriented language) programmer for the Bodleian Libraries.

Themes throughout the interviews, which were conducted in 2018 by author and broadcaster Georgina Ferry, include:

  • career opportunities and early interests in computing
  • gender splits in computing
  • the origins and development of computing teaching and research in Oxford
  • development of the University of Oxford’s Computing Service and the commercial software house the Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG).

The Oxford Women in Computing oral histories serve as a source for insight into nearly half a century of women’s involvement in computing at Oxford and beyond.  The collection will particularly be of use to those interested in gender studies and the history of computing.

The interviews can be listened to online though University of Oxford podcasts here.

Communications programmer Esther White in the early days of the University of Oxford’s Computing Service. © University of Oxford

 

 

Updated Catalogue: Conservative Party European Election Publications and Election Addresses

Image shows Conservative Party European Election Manifestos, 1979-1994.

Conservative Party European Election Manifestos, 1979-1994. [Reference: CPA PUB 332/1-4].

Following on from our recent cataloguing of the Records of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, we are pleased to announce the launch of our revised and expanded catalogue of the Conservative Party’s European election publications. The collection, which forms part of the Conservative Party Archive holdings at the Bodleian Library, includes public documents such as copies of the Party’s European Election manifestos, as well as published guides for Party activists and speakers. The new catalogue also incorporates our collection of historical European election addresses and ephemera, comprising printed constituency material produced both by Conservative Party candidates and by candidates from other parties.

The collection gives use an insight into how the politics of European integration changed over the course of the United Kingdom’s 47-year membership of the European Union and its predecessors. During the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, the Conservative Party adopted a strongly pro-European position. This can be seen in the Party’s 1984 publication Questions and Answers on Europe, produced by the Conservative Research Department for that year’s elections [CPA PUB 334/8 – pictured below]. Although stressing the need to reform the Community budget and rein in spending, Questions and Answers also champions an extension of the EEC’s role into the areas of financial services and pollution controls.

Image shows pages from Conservative Research Department/European Democratic Group pamphlet, Questions and Answers on Europe 1984.

Conservative Research Department/European Democratic Group pamphlet, ‘Questions and Answers on Europe 1984’. [Reference: CPA PUB 334/8].

Thirty years later, and the evolution in the Party’s thinking can be seen clearly. The Conservative Party European Election Manifesto 2014 (the Party’s final European manifesto, as none was produced for the 2019 elections) placed a rejection of the European Union’s status quo front-and-centre [CPA PUB 332/8 – pictured below]. Insisting that the EU was ‘too bureaucratic and too undemocratic’, Prime Minister David Cameron used the manifesto to pledge that the Party would deliver an in-out referendum on the question of Britain’s membership, setting the stage for the Brexit vote in 2016. The collection is therefore a valuable resource for researchers working on Britain’s relations with the European Union, as well as for historians of British Party politics.

Image shows interior pages of the Conservative Party European Election Manifesto 2014. [Reference: CPA PUB 332/8].

Conservative Party European Election Manifesto 2014. [Reference: CPA PUB 332/8].

Also included in the updated catalogue are the Conservative Party Archive’s collections of European election addresses and ephemera. Prior to 1999, British Members of the European Parliament were elected on an individual constituency basis using the same system as in elections to the House of Commons. The election addresses of Conservative candidates therefore not only provide us with an insight into the course of specific election campaigns, but also serve as a source more generally for how MEPs sought to present their work to the wider public. The inclusion of election addresses from other parties means that the series also serves as a useful resource for the history of British politics more generally, for instance in charting the unexpected rise of the Green Party in 1989.

Image shows the election address and campaign ephemera of Chistopher Prout, Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, at the 1989 European Elections. [Reference: CPA PUB 581/3/4/7].

Election address and campaign ephemera of Chistopher Prout, Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, at the 1989 European Elections. [Reference: CPA PUB 581/3/4/7].

For full details of our holdings on the Conservative Party’s European Election publications, please view our online catalogue, accessible here.

Letters of Sir Henry Holland, Society Physician

The Bodleian Library has recently acquired a collection of hitherto largely unpublished and unknown letters closely related to the archive of the Edgeworth Family, which we have explored in the recent blog posts by the Edgeworth Project team.

The collection comprises letters written by the writer Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) to a physician from Knutsford named Peter Holland (1766-1855), along with letters written by Peter’s son Henry Holland (1788-1873) to Maria and another contemporary female writer, Lucy Aikin (1781-1864). The collection also contains many letters written to Peter by Henry, from his early days away from home receiving education in Newcastle to his later days as an eminent society physician and renowned traveller.

Sir Henry Holland, 1st Bt, by Thomas Brigstocke, oil on canvas, exhibited 1860.    NPG 1656     © National Portrait Gallery, London (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Like Maria, Henry Holland fitted neatly into the literary and scientific milieu of the day. The Hollands originally came from Knutsford and had family connections to the potter Josiah Wedgwood as well as to the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell.

Originally interested in a mercantile career, Henry spent time in Liverpool and Glasgow before deciding to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1806. Throughout his life, Henry was very career focused and was always commenting about his professional progress in his letters, particularly to his father. His early letters show a very careful assessment of his future, painting a rather sober portrait of him as a young man. Whilst Henry’s decisions were always carefully calculated, the switch from a mercantile to a medical profession stemmed from his genuine interest in the subject.

His letters from Edinburgh describe his studies in detail to his father. One such letter regards a dissection lecture:

I yesterday heard for the first time a lecture from Dr. Monro Senr; he leaves the greater part of the course to the management of his son, coming down only on extraordinary occasions. The demonstration of the brain he has always reserved to himself, and this was the occasion of his then honouring us with his presence. In good [truth I] felt strongly inclined to wish that he had staid away… From the hurried manner in which he pushed round the dissection [table] one would have supposed he was doing it for a wager; no one individual present had the slight-est opportunity of observing the parts; this was the more mortifying to me, as I had submitted to half an hour’s squeezing in the crowd for the sake of obtaining a front seat. The brain was an excellent one for demonstration, being that of a woman who was hanged the day before for the murder of her husband. (Letter from Henry Holland to Peter Holland, Jan 1807, MS. 16087/4)

Letter from Henry Holland to Peter Holland, Jan 1807, MS. 16087/4.

Full transcription of letter from Henry Holland to Peter Holland, Jan 1807, MS 16087/4

Whilst not one to join in with the exuberant side of student life, Henry certainly embraced what Edinburgh society had to offer in terms of intellectual exchange and mutually congenial company. These were skills he honed to his advantage when he was eventually able to set up his practice in London in 1816. By this time, he had already been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and had cultivated friendships with many of the eminent literary and scientific figures of the day, including Humphry Davy.

Henry peppered his letters to his father with titbits about his patients, particularly those with titles, and did not hesitate to discuss their personal problems. His most prestigious patients included Princess Caroline (then Princess of Wales) on her European tour in 1814. He would later become physician to no less than Queen Victoria (in 1837) and Prince Albert (in 1840). He declined, however, to become the physician of Ali Pasha, to whose court he travelled in 1812.

In his early letters, Henry carefully sets out his earnings. As his career flourished, he worked out he could comfortably work for 10 months of the year and could therefore spend the remaining two months if the year indulging in his other passion – travel.

Letter from Henry Holland to Peter Holland, showing earnings upt to June 1818, MS. 16087/5.

Henry visited Iceland twice (he wrote his thesis on the diseases of the Icelanders) and America eight times, as well as frequently venturing into Europe despite the ongoing threats of war and revolution. He published several works as a result of his travels including Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia, &c during 1812 and 1813 in 1814, which was well received by the public and cemented his position in society.

In one letter to Maria Edgeworth dated August 1848, he wrote that ‘My fashion is to alternate south & north in successive years; & having taken Egypt last year, I aim at Christiania [Oslo] & Drontheim [Trondheim] in the present autumn’. Henry delighted in the opportunities made by the advent of new ways to travel, particularly by steamship and continued to travel right to the end of his life, latterly accompanied by his son.

Henry Holland was married twice, firstly to Margaret Emma Caldwell (1792-1830) in 1822 and secondly to Saba Smith (1802-1866), the daughter of Revd Sydney Smith, in 1834. He had seven children including Henry Thurstan Holland, first Viscount Knutsford (1825-1914). Henry Holland was made a baronet in April 1853. He died on 27 October 1873, on his 85th birthday, at his home in Brook Street, London.

The full catalogue for the letters can be found via Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts online.

-Rachael Marsay

Newly Available: Records of the Conservatives in the European Parliament

Image shows 5 Conservative Party leaflets for the 1989 European Elections.

Leaflets for the 1989 European Elections. [Reference: CPA CCO 508/4/12].

The records of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, documenting the work of Conservative MEPs from the time of British accession through to the 21st century, are now available for consultation at the Bodleian Library. Included in the collection are the papers of the European Conservative Group and the European Democratic Group, as well as the records of the Conservative Delegation’s leadership, election files, and administrative records. The collection, which form part of the Conservative Party Archive holdings at the Bodleian Library, has been made available as the result of a major cataloguing project which took place from 2017-2019 with the generous support of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament.

Among the highlights of the new catalogue are the papers of the Conservative Delegation leaders in the European Parliament. These includes the correspondence of Sir Henry Plumb, Chairman of the European Democratic Group from 1982-1987 and 1994-1996, and the only British politician to ever serve as President of the European Parliament. Plumb’s papers include exchanges of letters with senior politicians in Britain, Europe, and the wider world, and are a fantastic resource for studying the politics of European integration in the 1980s.

Image shows the text of a letter from Sir Henry Plumb proposing a World Food Summit, 17 Jul 1986, with responses from world leaders.

Text of a letter from Sir Henry Plumb proposing a World Food Summit, 17 Jul 1986, shown with responses from world leaders. [Reference: CPA CCO 508/1/53].

Also included in the new catalogue are the Conservative Delegation’s  meeting papers, with detailed minutes for the late-1970s and 1980s. The records of these meetings, which took place on a regular basis during sittings of the European Parliament, provide us with a interesting insight into the work of Conservative MEPs during this period, as well as serving as a source for the wider politics of the period. The files also contain a number of  documents of historical interest, including a detailed transcript of a meeting between Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Delegation in January 1980 (pictured below).

Image shows European Democratic Group meeting papers, Jan 1980, showing part of a transcript of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's meeting with Conservative MEPs on 8 Jan 1980, with covering memorandum dated 9 Jan 1980.

European Democratic Group meeting papers, Jan 1980, showing part of a transcript of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s meeting with Conservative MEPs on 8 Jan 1980, with covering memorandum dated 9 Jan 1980. [Reference: CPA CCO 508/16/5].

Of likely further interest to historians are the records of the European Democratic Group’s ‘Study Day’ conferences. These meetings were held several times a year with the aim of drawing up policies for the Conservatives Delegation, particularly in relation to the future development of the European Community. In many cases the files still contain the discussion papers debated at the meetings, which can provide us with a fascinating insight into the evolution of Conservative thinking on European integration over the course of the 1980s.

Image shows programme and guest list for European Democratic Group Study Days held in Athens, 6-10 Sep 1982.

Programme and guest list for European Democratic Group Study Days held in Athens, 6-10 Sep 1982. [Reference: CPA CCO 508/5/17].

In total, the collection includes nearly 300 boxes of archival material, with records spanning from 1971 through to 2015.  All files dating up to 1989 (excepting those restricted for reasons of data protection) are available for consultation, and going forward we plan to make additional files available on an annual basis under the 30-year rule.

For full details of the material available, please view our catalogue on the Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts platform, available here.

New Conservative Party Archive releases for 2020

Strategy briefings prepared for Margaret Thatcher, monitoring files on opposition parties, and top-level planning papers for the 1989 European Elections are among newly-available Conservative Party Archive files released by the Bodleian under the thirty-year-rule. As in previous years, the bulk of our new releases are drawn from our collections of Conservative Research Department (CRD) files, including the papers of CRD Director Robin Harris as well as policy briefing and opposition monitoring files prepared by David Cameron during his time as a desk officer. This year we will also be releasing files from the newly-catalogued records of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, as well as additional files from the records of Conservative Central Office and the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs. This blog posts examines some of the highlights from among the newly-released files, demonstrating their use for historians and students of British political history.

1989 European Elections

Among the highlights of our releases this year are the Party’s election-planning files for the 1989 European Elections. The records of the Conservative Research Department are particularly strong on this topic, and include working papers on the development of the Party’s manifesto. The image below shows manifesto drafts from February 1989, with a covering note from Geoffrey Howe to Margaret Thatcher outlining the state of play [CPA CRD 4/30/3/23].

Image shows Draft copies of the Conservative Party manifesto for the 1989 European Elections, Feb 1989. The copy on the right is under a covering letter from Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Draft copies of the Conservative Party manifesto for the 1989 European Elections, Feb 1989. The copy on the right is under a covering letter from Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. [CPA CRD 4/30/3/23].

The election did not go well for the Conservatives, who after ten years in office lost their first national vote to the Labour Party since the 1970s. Among the files newly-available for 2020 are the papers of the Jackson Inquiry into what went wrong with the campaign, including its final report which blamed divisions within the Party over European policy for the result [CPA CCO 508/4/23/2]. These files, and others on the 1989 European Elections, should prove particularly useful for the study of the history of the Conservative Party and Europe.

Opposition Monitoring

Another particularly strong area in this year’s releases is in the party’s opposition monitoring files. Keeping tabs on the activities, policy proposals and backgrounds of politicians from other parties was one of the key responsibilities of the Conservative Research Department, and the resulting files they produced make for an invaluable source for historians of the Thatcher era.  For instance, the regular Labour Briefing series of memoranda provides us with an insight into how the Conservatives gathered intelligence on the Labour Party and sought to use it for political advantage. The papers also include references to contemporary political leaders – the memorandum shown below quotes then-backbencher Jeremy Corbyn speaking in opposition to Labour leader Neil Kinnock [CPA CRD 4/16/30].

Images shows 'Labour Briefing' memoranda produced by the Conservative Research Department, 29 Jan 1988.

‘Labour Briefing’ memoranda produced by the Conservative Research Department, 29 Jan 1988. [CPA CRD 4/16/30].

The Party’s opposition monitoring operation at the end of the 1980s is also of historical interest because of the contribution of David Cameron, who became head of CRD’s Political Section in 1989. The image below shows briefing notes prepared by Cameron on the Green Party’s annual conference following the Party’s successes in the European Elections [CPA CRD 4/16/65]. Among other papers of Cameron’s de-restricted for 2020 are briefings on energy and industrial policy, as well as documents relating to his work as secretary of the Party’s Trade & Industry Forum.

Image shows Conservative Research Department reports on the Green Party's annual conference, prepared by David Cameron, Sep 1989.

Conservative Research Department reports on the Green Party’s annual conference, prepared by David Cameron, Sep 1989. [CPA CRD 4/16/65].

Thatcher’s Image and the Poll Tax

This year’s set of releases can also give us a more general insight into the politics of the final years of the Thatcher government. The Research Department files on the 1989 Party Conference, for instance, reveal much about the Party’s messaging priorities. The image below shows a briefing note prepared for Margaret Thatcher by Brendan Bruce, the Party’s Director of Communications, setting out her strengths while warning of potential areas where the Party will have to be on the defensive [CPA CRD/4/29/8].

Images shows briefing note prepared for Margaret Thatcher by Brendan Bruce, the Party’s Director of Communications, ahead of the 1989 Conservative Party Conference.

Briefing note prepared for Margaret Thatcher by Brendan Bruce, the Party’s Director of Communications, ahead of the 1989 Conservative Party Conference, n.d. 1989. [CPA CRD 4/29/8].

While the Party may have been confident about the immediate political situation in 1989 however, the files also reveal increasing uneasiness about the introduction of the Community Charge – commonly known as the ‘poll tax’. The file below from Central Office’s Local Government Department reveals the Party’s concerns about the electoral impact of the new tax in marginal seats, warning that it will create ‘far more losers… than winners’ [CPA CCO 130/6/38]. These papers thus have the potential to give us a real understanding as to how the Party confronted the politics of the poll tax, an issue that was ultimately to bring the Thatcher era to a close.

Image shows Conservative Central Office Local Government Department file on the political impact of the Community Charge (Poll Tax), 1989.

Conservative Central Office Local Government Department file on the political impact of the Community Charge (Poll Tax), 1989. [CPA CCO 130/6/38].

All the material featured in this blog post will be made available from 1 Jan 2020. The full list of de-restricted items will be published shortly on the CPA website, where past de-restriction lists from previous years are also available.