What archives does the University hold?

Institutional archives - Staff & students - Political - Sporting - Musical - Leisure time: local societies and events - Local businesses - Local families and individuals

Institutional archives: the University and its predecessors

A summary history of the University.

• Huddersfield Mechanics' Institution 1843-1884.
  This archive comprises a fine set of minute books of the governing body and its Committees (1843-1884), records of students and members, financial records, the accounts of the Penny Savings Bank (started in Huddersfield Mechanics' Institution and the forerunner of the Post Office Savings Bank), correspondence, press cuttings, portraits. The archive is an important source of information about Huddersfield and the men who were concerned with the education and the boys who required it. An almost complete archive, it is a vital source of information about the working-class people of Huddersfield.
  List available from the Archivist.
• Huddersfield Female Educational Institute 1846-1883
  Another archive of tremendous interest to those concerned with women's history and their education. The minutes and annual reports are important sources for the administration of the Institute and the admission records give details of the actual students, their ages, addresses and occupations. Receipted bills give full accounts of the costs of living and the equipment needed for running the Institute and its Library. Huddersfield's Female Educational Institute was one of the first in the country and its archive is an important asset to the history of the town.
  List available from the Archivist.
• Huddersfield Technical School and Mechanics' Institution 1884-1896
• Huddersfield Technical College 1896-1958
• Huddersfield College of Technology 1958-1970
• Huddersfield Polytechnic 1970-1992
• University of Huddersfield 1992 - present
• Institutions which merged with the University and/or its predecessors:
  Huddersfield College of Education (Holly Bank) 1947-1974
  West Yorkshire College of Health Studies 1940s-1996 - list available from the Archivist.

Associated institutions

• University of Huddersfield Students' Union
• Storthes Hall

Papers of (former) staff and students

• Professor George Glew 1931-1990 (nutrition) - list available from the Archivist.
• Reg Napier
• John O'Connell
• Marian Rhodes
• Roger Shaw
• Graham Thurgood (history of nursing) - list available from the Archivist.
• Ruby Ward

Political archives

• Colne Valley Labour Party 1891-1970
  This unique archive, of the first constituency-based Labour Party in Britain, contains records of every meeting from its formation in 1891. The records include much detail of the election campaigns of Tom Mann, Victor Grayson and Philip Snowden.
  List available from the Archivist.
• Denby Dale Labour Party
• Huddersfield Labour Party 1918-1990s
  This Archive comprises the minutes of the Huddersfield Constituency Labour Parties and provides a valuable insight into the development of the Labour Party in this urban area.
  List available from the Archivist.
• Personal papers:
  Mick Clapham, MP
  Noreen Logan (activist)
  JP Mallalieu, MP

Sporting archives

• Rugby Football League Board Archive
• Derek Hodgson (cricket historian) - list available from the Archivist.
• Terry Wynn (MEP and rugby league enthusiast) - list available from the Archivist.
• Up and under (rugby league oral history project)

Musical archives

• Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

Archives of local societies and events

• Huddersfield Foreign Library Society 1851-1870
  This collection gives details of Huddersfield residents who originated in other European countries. They subscribed to a Library which included works in their own language.
  List available from the Archivist.
• Huddersfield Literary and Scientific Society 1857-1882
  The Society's membership included local worthies. This archive includes the Society's proceedings and correspondence, which contains much information about Huddersfield culture and also details of the Society's Museum, the forerunner of the Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield's major museum.
  List available from the Archivist.
• Huddersfield Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition 1882-1884
  This Archive gives detailed information about local industry and art, together with the subscribers and organisers of this important Exhibition.
  List available from the Archivist.
• Huddersfield Amateur Operatic Society
• Incorporated Society of Musicians (Huddersfield branch)
• National Adult School Union (religious education) - list available from the Archivist.
• St Andrew's Society
• Lawrence Batley Theatre

Archives of local businesses

• Huddersfield Post Office - list available from the Archivist.
• Holset Engineering Company Ltd - list available from the Archivist.
• Hopkinsons Ltd (isolation and control valve manufacturer) - list available from the Archivist.
• Sotnik & Dixon (photographers)

Papers of individuals and families from the local area

• Albert Booth (photographer)
• Frobisher family
• Guest family
• Haydn Wood
• A. Leslie Pacey
• Randerson
• Scholes Monahan family (including Wesleyan missionaries)

---