Scope and Contents
The collection includes: Lord Esher's journals; general, political, royal, personal and literary correspondence; political papers, particularly on army reform and India; literary papers; press cuttings.
Dates
- Creation: 1848 - 1997
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holder and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.
Biographical / Historical
Esher was born in London, on 30 June 1852. He was the eldest son of the 1st Viscount Esher and Eugenie (daughter of Louis Mayer). He succeeded his father in 1899. He married Eleanor (daughter of M. Van de Weyer, Belgian Minister at the Court of St James’s) in 1869, they had two sons and two daughters. Esher was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Esher was MP for Penryn and Falmouth, 1880-1885, and Private Secretary to the Marquess of Hartington, 1878-1885. He was Secretary to HM Office of Works, 1895-1902, and Chairman of the War Office Reconstitution Committee in 1904. Esher was also Deputy Governor of Windsor Castle [Berkshire] from 1901-28 (and Governor from 1928 until his death in 1930) and a permanent member of the Committee of Imperial Defence from 1905.
Extent
128 archive box(es) : paper
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The papers have been arranged in series of: journals; letters and memoranda; correspondence; papers; and literary material.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
The papers have been bound by a number of binders. Often papers have been folded to fit the volume and the bindings are quite tight. For this reason, it is not possible to obtain photocopies of the papers.
Other Finding Aids
The collection has been catalogued. This finding aid is available for consultation at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge and the National Register of Archives, London. Printed copies of the complete catalogue are available at Churchill Archives Centre, and an online version is available from the Access to Archives site (http://www.a2a.org.uk/).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were mainly deposited by Lord Esher, with one addition from Captain Stephen Roskill.
Bibliography
General
The collection level description was prepared by Louise King and Natalie Adams of Churchill Archives Centre using information from the catalogue to the papers. Further series descriptions were added by Katharine Thomson in December 2005, and the catalogue was retro converted, with further series and file descriptions by Sandra Marsh in May 2007.
Originator(s)
Brett, Reginald Baliol, 1852-1930, 2nd Viscount Esher, politician
- Date
- 2002-01-16 14:45:14+00:00
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Churchill Archives Centre Repository
Churchill Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 0DS United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 336087
archives@chu.cam.ac.uk