The papers and photographs of Gertrude Bell mainly consist of the letters Gertrude Bell sent home to her family whilst on her travels, of the diaries she kept when abroad, and the photographs taken whilst she was away.

The papers consists of sixteen thousand letters, sixteen diaries, seven notebooks and forty-four packets of miscellaneous material; whilst the photographic collection is about 7000 in number, and consists of photographs taken by her between c.1900-1918. Those of Middle Eastern archaeological sites are of great value because they record structures which have since been eroded or, in some cases, have disappeared altogether, while those of the desert tribes are of considerable anthropological and ethnographical interest.

Her competence as a field archaeologist and photographer means that the papers are indispensable for archaeological research of parts of the Middle East.

The items in the Bell Miscellaneous Papers contain material relating to Bell's work and travels, including contemporary articles, notes by Bell on various topics (archaeological sites, Arab tribes, etc.), letters concerning the publication of Bell's letters by Lady Richmond and letters to and from Gertrude Bell, maps and plans, literary manuscripts, lecture notes and copies of letters from Gertrude Bell held elsewhere. There is also a series of the letters known as the Doughty-Wylie letters, 1913-1915. These are the letters between Gertrude Bell and Charles Doughty-Wylie, an army officer with whom Bell was in love. The letters were returned to Gertrude Bell after his death at Gallipoli in 1915.

Books on Arabic and Persian languages, and on the history and antiquities of Arabia, Iraq and the Near East that formed part of Gertrude Bell's working library.

This is a collection of approximately 600 pamphlets and short publications on world affairs in the Twentieth Century. Many themes are covered, including politics, economics, civil liberty, democracy and religion, and many of the countries of the world feature. Examples of titles in the collection are Full employment in a free society; I was a Franco Soldier; The hydrogen bomb and you; What the Arab World really wants; The Basques and the Communists; British policy in the Far East; Two Sides in Germany: Which is yours?; Youth and Anti-Semitism; Haile Salassie: the Plea for Ethiopia; Japanese Naval expansion; Chinese Women and the War; and Banking in Soviet Russia. Many prominent figures are represented as authors, including Marx and Engels, Kropotkin and Liu Shao-Chi.

The papers of Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford (1870-1949), relate chiefly to his political career, but also include material concerning his personal and professional life. They cover his election campaigns and his political career, during the years 1894-1938, and in particular they cover the different political offices he held, as a Liberal M.P. and Cabinet Minister, and as a member of the Board of Education, 1908-11, and the Board of Trade, 1914-16 and 1931-37. There is also material relating to Runciman's attempt to solve the 1938 Sudeten crisis through his mission to Czechoslovakia.The collection also includes the diaries and some correspondence of Walter's wife, Hilda Runciman, herself briefly an M.P. Hilda's diaries have been found to be of particular value to researchers, providing as they do an insight into the world and circles in which she and her husband moved, sometimes revealing insider knowledge about the current talk in London Society, a classic example being Hilda's remarks in her 1936 diary about the abdication crisis and the King's intentions. In addition, there are 114 volumes of press cuttings, plus material relating to Walter Runciman's father, the 1st Baron Runciman, as well as documents relating to Sir Walter Leslie Runciman (1900-1989).

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.

The Cowen Tracts are almost two thousand pamphlets which were formerly owned by local (radical) M.P., Joseph Cowen (1829-1900). The tracts date mostly from the mid- to late-Nineteenth Century and reflect Cowen's interest in the social, educational, political and economic issues of the day.

There is some earlier material, such as Deed of incorporation for the insurance of ships printed by T. Angus, St. Nicholas' Church-Yard, Newcastle (1778). Pamphlets were an effective form of public debate because they could be circulated to a wider audience than books and authors could remain anonymous. The Cowen Tracts discuss Irish politics, foreign policy, women's rights, religion, education and public health and include such titles as The Union programme for 1880: constructive, not destructive, Irish legislation [1879?], Are women fit for politics?: are politics fit for women [185-] and The education of the agricultural labourer: a paper read before the Morpeth Chamber of Agriculture, on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 1870 by M.W. Ridley (1870).

The Grey Tracts reflect the interests of their former owner, the 2nd Earl Grey (1764-1845) whose Whig government was responsible for the 1832 Reform Act, 1833 Factory Act and the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act. The pamphlets cover a broad range of historical, social and economic subjects including colonial policy, public finance and banking, the Corn Laws and agriculture, poor relief, slavery, Catholicism, Ireland and the Greek Revolution.

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.

With three early twentieth century exceptions, the Indian Tracts is a collection of nineteenth century pamphlets on a range of Indian subjects, such as local self-government, the Indian Civil Service, education, politics, economics, transport, the trade of opium, religion and war.

Comprising most of family correspondence, with some content relating to estate and property and George Otto Trevelyan's political career. Also includes autographs and cuttings of notable figures.