The papers of the distinguished public servant Lady Plowden (1910-2000) were generously gifted to Newcastle University Library in 2003 by the Plowden family.

Held in Special Collections, Lady Plowden's papers are an extensive and rich resource reflecting her many areas of concern. Lady Plowden held a number of high-profile public roles in the spheres of education reform and television broadcasting, most notably as Chairman of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England), 1963 – 1967, Vice-Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors, 1970 – 1975, and Chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), 1975 – 1980. A large and varied number of public roles followed, many of which retained this focus on primary and pre-school education reform as well as the promotion of high-quality television broadcasting. Lady Plowden's interests were wide however and these papers also reflect Lady Plowden's roles within organisations related to Romany and Traveller education and rights, adult education, the care and resettlement of offenders, the role of voluntary work, young adult unemployment and training, and women and employment.

Lady Plowden (nee Richmond) was a niece of Gertrude Bell and a cousin of the Trevelyans of Wallington. An additional deposit of material made by the Plowden family comprise of a number of family photograph albums and correspondence files relating to the Richmond, Bell and Trevelyan families.

Consists of the personal archive of Anne Walmsley including material relating to talks, articles and publications, correspondence, diaries and scrapbooks, material relating to her University work and her qualifications and degrees.

The archive mainly comprises correspondence relating to Charles' activities as a Civil Servant and administrator. There are also publications relating to these activities and Charles' wider interests.

There is also personal content, including travel diaries, family correspondence and papers regarding inheritance of the Wallington estate in Northumberland.

This archive includes content accumulated and created by both Charles and Mary, and other family members. It reflects the family's personal activities from Charles' childhood in the 1870s to Mary's death in 1966, but also includes some content from Charles' professional life. It can support research into a broad variety of areas, including political history (particularly the Liberal and Labour parties, socialism and international relations), World War I (particularly dissent and the peace movement), childhood and education (from both a personal and political perspective), domesticity, class and landed estates.
This extensive personal archive is mostly comprised of correspondence. This includes: Correspondence to Charles in his role as MP Correspondence to and from Charles relating to the operation of the Union of Democratic Control Correspondence to and from Charles relating to his positions in government Correspondence relating to the management of the Wallington estate and the donation to the National Trust Correspondence between members of the Trevelyan and Bell families, much of which is domestic in tone Correspondence to and from Charles and Mary's children from their early childhood to adulthood Correspondence from visits abroad including North America, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Russia and Germany The correspondents include family members such as Charles' brothers George Macaulay Trevelyan and Robert Calverley Trevelyan, Mary's sister and brother in law Elsa Richmond and Admiral Sir Herbert William Richmond. Other correspondents include Sir Winston Churchill, J Ramsay MacDonald, E D Morel, Arthur Ponsonby, Walter Runciman, Herbert Samuel, George Bernard Shaw and Jennie Lee.

Other documents include: Papers relating to Charles, Mary and their childrens' educations, including exam papers and school ephemera Personal Diaries, in particular a short run of Mary's personal diaries as a young woman Official political papers, including Cabinet Conclusions, draft bills[?] and copies of Hansard Pamphlets and leaflets written by and collected by Charles, many relating to socialism and the UDC Transcripts of speeches given by Charles and Mary in professional and personal capacities Personal notebooks with draft speeches and essays Family photograph albums and glass negatives, recording family events, daily life, and Charles' political career Press cuttings and scrapbooks relating to family events and Charles' career

Eleven prints by Graham Clilverd - all of hospital buildings. Graham Clilverd (1883-1978) was a British architectural painter, engraver and etcher. Having studied in London at the Central Arts School, he first exhibited his art around 1906 and by 1910 his paintings were annually shown at such major institutions as the Royal Academy, the Royal Scottish Academy and at the Paris Salon. During the First World War, Graham Clilverd also served as a camouflage artist (1916-1918) and he is believed to have acted as a war artist in the Second World War. Clilverd's main passion was architectural art, and his output eventually earned him a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts. His extensive series of hospital prints dates from approximately 1950s.

The collection consists of Herbert Loebl's business and personal records.

The business records contain group papers, sales and marketing files, finance files and general correspondence files for the following engineering and knowledge transfer enterprises with which Herbert Loebl was involved in his lifetime:

The collection also contains a number of annotated scrapbooks which trace the history of Loebl's engineering enterprises through photographs, newspaper cuttings and other ephemera.

Herbert Loebl's academic collection contains his early student notebooks from his degree studies in Electrical Engineering, and notes and source material for his subsequent doctoral thesis and Jewish history research. The collection also includes his certificates and various degree ceremony photographs.

Herbert Loebl received various awards during his lifetime and his personal collection includes photographs, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and letters of congratulations regarding his many honours.

Material relating to Michael Chaplin's education, career and other involvements throughout his life, as well as material relating to his father Sid Chaplin. Predominantly consists of typescripts, notes, outlines, editorial correspondence and publicity material relating to work for the theatre, radio, television, as well as pieces of prose, which Michael Chaplin wrote or produced. Also consists of publications relating to Michael Chaplin's involvement with cultural institutions in Newcastle including The People's Theatre, the Live Theatre and The Literary and Philosophical Society.

The archive comprises some printed work by Thomas Hodgkin, letters to and from fellow physicians and a box of notes on medical cases, observations, sketches and various fragments.

Thomas Hodgkin (b.1798 - d.1866) was a British physician, considered one of the most prominent pathologists of his time and a pioneer in preventive medicine. He is now best known for the first account of Hodgkin's disease, a form of lymphoma and blood disease, in 1832. Hodgkin's work marked the beginning of the development of the role of the pathologist in being actively involved in the clinical process.

Consists of: Correspondence of the Brown family during World War I. Photographs taken in France and England both during and after the war. Includes photographs of buildings damaged by bombing, memorials and graves, and reunion events after World War I. Maps covering areas of France, Germany and Austria, some of which show the position of trenches in World War I. Memorabilia relating to World War I including newspaper clippings, posters and documents. Publications including journals and comics published during World War I, as well as historical and creative works relating to, and published after, World War I.

Consists of the working papers and correspondence of the poet Peter Bennet.