Memoirs of Lady Bertha Jeffreys, 1996 - 1999
Scope and Contents
Lady Jeffreys recorded her memoirs onto audio tape between late 1996 and May 1999. Her memoirs cover practically her whole life from her birth in 1903 up to the 1990s. The tapes were transcribed by Margaret Herbertson [Rigg, Girton 1949]. They are generally anecdotal in nature, although for the later years Lady Jeffreys refers increasingly to her diaries to prompt her memory. They cover teaching and research, colleagues and friends (particularly Girton), fellow mathematicians, social matters, travel, family, and her husband Harold. Tapes 1 and 2 cover her student years at Girton; Tape 4 sees her return to Cambridge in 1938; Tape 5 covers her early years with her husband Harold (all in File 1 of the transcripts); Tape 9 includes the death of her mother, Harriett Swirles, and a retrospective on her life (in File 2 of the transcripts). Amongst her fellow mathematicians, Douglas Hartree is mentioned frequently.
Dates
- Creation: 1996 - 1999
Creator
- From the Fonds: Jeffreys, Bertha, 1903 - 1999 (nee Swirles, mathematician, wife of Sir Harold Jeffreys) (Person)
Extent
15 cassette(s) : audio tape and paper
3 file(s)
Language of Materials
English
Originator(s)
Jeffreys, Bertha; Herbertson, Margaret
Finding aid date
2011-09-05 10:01:22+00:00
Repository Details
Part of the Girton College Archive Repository
The Archivist
Girton College Archive
Huntingdon Road
Cambridge CB3 0JG United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 338897
archive@girton.cam.ac.uk