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Papers of Mr James W. Alsop concerning the University of Liverpool (1899-1915) - Mr James W. Alsop OBE (d.1921)

Reference	P44/1-54
Physical Description	4 folders

Note

Unless otherwise stated, the following papers are printed.

Biographical Information

Mr James W. Alsop, OBE (d.1921) played a major role over a period of forty years in the establishment of the University. In 1901 he became a co-chairman of the University Committee; he helped draft the University's Charter; and served as Vice-President of the University Council, 1903-09 and President of the Council, 1909-18; he was Pro-Chancellor, 1918-21, and was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws in 1920. As a member of Liverpool City Council and as chairman of its Education Committee, he strengthened the good relations between the University and the City.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

It is assumed that all these papers were left with the University Registrar on Mr Alsop's death in 1921. His widow's memoir of his work was published by Liverpool University Press in 1926.

Processing Information

Converted from a Microsoft word documnet into EAD by Roy Lumb project archivist July 2004.

Related Material

The University of Liverpool Library hold a collection of addresses given by Mr Alsop.

Associated Material

Separate from these papers were further of Mr Alsop's papers concerning his work as a member of Liverpool City Council, 1912-20, in particular his membership of the City Education Committee and the Education Committee of the Association of Municipal Corporations, and his work connected with consideration of the Education Bill, 1917-18, and the City's Scheme under the Education Act, 1918. These papers have been transferred to Liverpool Record Office.

Control Access Headings

Personal Names
Alsop, James Willcox (d 1921)OBE President of Council, University of Liverpool
Corporate Names
Liverpool University Council and its members

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University College, Liverpool: Report of the Committee appointed by the College Council, 1 Nov 1898 (17 Jan 1899)

Reference	P44/1
Physical Description	1 item

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Draft of Petition of University College, Liverpool, for a Charter. (Aug 1899)

Reference	P44/2
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Annotated by [Mr Alsop] and marked by him as 2nd proof, Sept 1899

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Copy of Petition of University College, Liverpool, for a Charter (17 Oct 1899)

Reference	P44/3
Physical Description	1 item

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Drafts and copy of Supplemental Charter and Schedule for University College, Liverpool (Aug 1899- (22 Jan 1900))

Reference	P44/4-6
Physical Description	3 items

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Liverpool University Committee: [draft of] Report of the Executive Committee (12 Dec 1901)

Reference	P44/7
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Annotated with a number of amendments by Mr Alsop.

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Liverpool University Committee: Report to the University College Council (17 Dec 1901)

Reference	P44/8
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

On the back Mr Alsop has noted the names of persons [? to be invited to attend a Town's Meeting]

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Banker's Order Form for use by those wishing to make annual contributions to the Liverpool University Committee (1902)

Reference	P44/9
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of Petition of University College, Liverpool, to the Privy Council seeking a Charter incorporating a University in Liverpoo ([1902])

Reference	P44/10
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of Petition of the Committee appointed at a public meeting of the inhabitants of the City of Liverpool held on 27 Jan 1902 to the Privy Council seeking a Charter incorporating a University in Liverpool. ([1902])

Reference	P44/11
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of notice from the Hon.Secretaries that at a Public Meeting held at the Town Hall on 27 Jan the recipient had been elected a member of the General Committee and giving notice of the first meeting of the Committee. (29 Jan 1902)

Reference	P44/12
Physical Description	1 item

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Draft of Liverpool University Committee: Report of the Executive Committee at the meeting, 27 Oct 1902 (1902)

Reference	P44/13
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

With correction in the hand of Mr Alsop.

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Liverpool University Committee: Report of the Executive Committee presented to the General Committee, 31 Oct 1902 (1902)

Reference	P44/14
Physical Description	1 item

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Victoria University, University College Liverpool : Report of the Finance Committee, with accounts, Session 1901-1902 (1903)

Reference	P44/15
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of A Bill to separate University College Liverpool from the Victoria University and to merge it in the University of Liverpool (1903)

Reference	P44/16
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of Liverpool University Act, 1903 (1903)

Reference	P44/17
Physical Description	1 item

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Plan of Seating for Banquet given by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool at the Town Hall, Liverpool. (5 Oct 1903)

Reference	P44/18
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

The banquet was to celebrate the opening of the University of Liverpool, to meet the Chancellor of the University.

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Galley proof of report of the Finance Enquiry Committee ([?Dec. 1903])

Reference	P44/19
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

The Finance Enquiry Committee were appointed by the Council of University College and of the University, 3 March and 6 October 1903; copy signed by Charles W. Jones.

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Copy of Memorial from the University of Liverpool to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Dec 1903)

Reference	P44/20
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

The memorial is seeking a grant in aid of the work of the University; copy initialled by Mr Alsop, December 1903.

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Copy of Memorial from the University of Liverpool to the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Liverpool City Council (15 Jan 1904)

Reference	P44/21
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

The memorial is seeking an annual grant in aid.

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Envelope (P44/22) of 'Papers relating to Debate in City Council on occasion of Grant of £10,000 per ann.' [to the University of Liverpool], 3 Feb 1904. (1904)

Reference	P44/22-27
Physical Description	6 items

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Envelope (3 Feb 1904)

Reference	P44/22
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Envelope with annotation by Mr Alsop noting that the contents are " Papers relating to debate in City Council on occassion of a grant of £10,000"

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Typescript copy of letter from [Councillor] W. Watson Rutherford, 43 Castle St., Liverpool, to the Town Clerk of Liverpool. ((27 Jan 1904))

Reference	P44/23
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

The letter suggests that, if a grant of £10,000 is to be made to the University, that (a) all its students who have obtained the major portion of their education in the schools of Liverpool City Council should be free from fees and (b) there should be adequate representation on the portion of the Executive of the University which has to do with the disbursement of the money.

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Typescript notes (by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor A.W.W. Dale, according to Mr Alsop's annotation) ([1904])

Reference	P44/24
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

The notes are [in response to Councillor Rutherford's] suggestion that fees be abolished and that the University should be made a free University.

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Letter from Thomas Jameson, Secretary, YMCA Higher Evening School, Liverpool, to William Oulton. (2 Feb 1904)

Reference	P44/25
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Letter advocating that Higher Evening Schools of the City be accepted by the University as teaching centres for University degrees; attached is reprint of a paper by Mr Jameson on the subject.

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Mounted cutting from the Liverpool Mercury, 2 Feb 1904, (2 Feb 1904)

Reference	P44/26
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

The cutting reproduces Mr W Watson Rutherford's letter, which incorporates the letter he wrote to the Town Clerk on 27 Jan 1904 (see 23, above); with Mr Alsop's notes on costings, etc.

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[Mr Alsop's notes, ? for a speech he delivered at a meeting of the City Council] on the subject of the grant to the University and rejecting the case for a 'free University'. (3 Feb 1904)

Reference	P44/27
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of Report of Senate to Council on the proposed affiliation of St.Aidan's College. (n.d. [c.May 1904])

Reference	P44/28
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of [University] Regulations for the recognition of St.Aidan's College for three years from 1 Oct 1904. (n.d. [1904])

Reference	P44/29
Physical Description	1 item

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Letters regarding the potential acquisition and use of the Blue Coat School buildings, Liverpool by the University. (1905)

Reference	P44/30-35
Physical Description	6 items

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Letter from Professor C.H. Reilly, The University of Liverpool, to Sir John Brunner (4 Oct 1905)

Reference	P44/30
Physical Description	1 item

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Site plan of the Blue Coat School buildings and area (enclosed with letter to Sir John Brunner P44/30) ()

Reference	P44/31
Physical Description	1 item

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Letter from Sir John Brunner, The Marine Hotel, Lossiemouth, to Mr Alsop, (7 Oct 1905)

Reference	P44/32
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Letter regarding Professor Reilly's suggestion that Sir John should buy the School's principal buildings for the University.

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Letters from Professor C.H. Reilly, Dingle Bank, Liverpool, to Mr Alsop. (4 & 25 Nov 1905)

Reference	P44/33-34
Physical Description	2 items

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Letter from Sir John Brunner, Druids Cross, Wavertree, Liverpool, to Mr Alsop. (25 Nov 1905)

Reference	P44/35
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Sir John now not at all clear about buying the building, its quality not being so good as to overbalance the inconvenience of severance from the other University buildings.

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Papers re proposed School of Military Instruction ()

Reference	P44/36-38
Physical Description	3 items

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Copy of duplicated typescript report of the [University] Council Committee on Instruction in Military Subjects (1905)

Reference	P44/36
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Noted by Mr Alsop as approved by the Council, 31 Oct 1905

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Typescript copy of protest by the Liverpool and Birkenhead Women's Peace and Arbitration Society against establishing a School of Military Instruction (for presentation to the University Court and to members of the Council) (15 Nov 1905)

Reference	P44/37
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of (printed) letter from the Secretary of the Liverpool Peace Society [? to individual members of the University Court or Council] objecting to the creation of a School of Military Instruction. (Nov 1905)

Reference	P44/38
Physical Description	1 item

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Letters re Bidston Hill Observatory (Jan 1906)

Reference	P44/39-40
Physical Description	2 items

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Typescript copy of letter from H.F. Newall, Madingley Rise, Cambridge, to Mr. F.C. Danson (6 Jan 1906)

Reference	P44/39
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

The letter is commenting on the suitability of the site and buildings of the Bidston Observatory for a University Observatory and on Liverpool as a [potential] centre for University teaching in Astronomy, outlining staff requirements and costs.

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Letter from Professor C.S. Sherrington, 16 Grove Park, Liverpool, to Mr Alsop (13 Jan 1906)

Reference	P44/40
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Enclosing a copy of a letter from Mr. Newall [P44/39] and proposing a date for a meeting of the Committee to consider its report to the University Council.

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Copy of Report of the Special Sub-Committee of the City of Liverpool Library, Museum and Arts Committee on suggestions for further co-operation between the Committee, the University of Liverpool, and the Archaeological Institute. (2 Feb 1906)

Reference	P44/41
Physical Description	1 item

Alternative Form Available

Another copy of this report is available in the Archive of the University of Liverpool: Administrative Records of the University of Liverpool, Publications, ref. no. S2664/(a)/15

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Typescript of questions to be asked by individual Councillors regarding the City Council's grant to the University at a meeting of the Council on 13 June 1906 (Jan 1906)

Reference	P44/42
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Also contains typescript answers (provided by officers of the City Council and by the Vice-Chancellor of the University), and Mr Alsop's MS. related notes. (Questions related to the sums granted by the Corporation to the University; the number of University of Liverpool students who are resident in the City; the financial arrangements between the University and the School of Tropical Medicine; and on the salary of the Professor of Veterinary Surgery and the number of Veterinary Surgery day students and their average attendance.)

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Copy of Report of the [University Council] Committee on Outside Work; noted by Mr Alsop as adopted by the Council, 16 Oct 1906. (25 July 1906)

Reference	P44/43
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of Syllabus of courses of lectures of the Board of Biblical Studies, to be delivered at the University Institute of Archaeology, 40 Bedford St., in the Spring Term 1907, with note on courses of lectures to be delivered in [the Summer Term] and in the Session 1907-08. (Christmas 1906)

Reference	P44/44
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of Proof of University of Liverpool: Report to the City Council by the Inspectors appointed by H.M. Treasury, March 1907 (1907)

Reference	P44/45
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Dated 12 April 1907 by Mr Alsop

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Copy of University of Liverpool : Report to the City Council by the Inspectors appointed by H.M. Treasury, March 1907 (1907)

Reference	P44/46
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Copy with underlining of various parts and marginal notes by Mr Alsop.

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Copy of Ninth Annual Report of the Society for University Extension in Liverpool and District (1909)

Reference	P44/47
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of Society for University Extension in Liverpool and District: Prospectus of Courses of University Extension Lectures Session 1909-10 (1909)

Reference	P44/48
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of University of Liverpool Department of Public Health : Appeal for Funds to meet the necessary extension and equipment of the Museum and School of Hygiene. (27 June 1910)

Reference	P44/49
Physical Description	1 item

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Copy of (printed) letter from [?the Vice-Chancellor], The University of Liverpool, to The Secretary, Board of Education, London (14 Nov 1911)

Reference	P44/50
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Letter on the subject of the Advisory Committee on University Grants, explaining the grounds on which the University's application for an increased grant is based and the objects to which additional funds could be most usefully applied at the present time.

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[Mr Alsop's] notes on Professor Kuno Meyer and his 'present position' and 'our duty' (c.Dec 1914)

Reference	P44/51
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Probably written shortly before the University Council resolved on 15 December 1914 to treat a letter from Professor Meyer as a resignation of his Honorary Chair of Celtic and to accept it.

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Collection of 14 cuttings on the subject of Professor Kuno Meyer (Dec 1914- [Feb 1915])

Reference	P44/52
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Cuttings taken from The Times, The Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury, and unidentified newspapers [probably only The Times and The Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury]

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Copy of Board of Biblical Studies, Liverpool (1915)

Reference	P44/53
Physical Description	1 item

Scope and Content

Syllabus of Six Courses of Lectures to be delivered at the University Institute of Archaeology, 40 Bedford Street during the Board's Tenth Session (1915-16).

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Copy of Board of Biblical Studies: prospectus, including list of the Board's officers and committee members. (Autumn 1915)

Reference	P44/54
Physical Description	1 item

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Photocopies of correspondence and papers of the Reverend Charles Beard (1864 - 1898)

Reference	D103
Physical Description	48 items

Scope and Content

Comprises: letters on the subject of Reverend Beard's career and publications, his son and his father, Bishop Colenso, F.W. Newman's book on the soul, Lady Hewley Charity and the Unitarians, and theological matters generally; genealogical note on the Brace family of London and Liverpool.

Administrative / Biographical History

Born in Manchester in 1827, the son of Reverend J R Beard, D.D., Unitarian minister, Charles Beard attended the Manchester New College where he studied theology for three years. He obtained a B.A. with Honours in Classics of London University in 1847. He then studied in Berlin. An honorary doctorate of laws and logic was conferred on him by the University of St. Andrews a few weeks before his death.

In 1850 he became assistant to the Reverend James Brooks, minister at Hyde Chapel, Gee Cross, succeeding his own death. In 1867 he became Minister of Renshaw Street Chapel, Liverpool, on the retirement of the Reverend J H Thom. In 1850 he married Mary Elen Shipman and had a large family. The only son, Lewis Beard, had a distinguished career at Trinity College, Cambridge and practiced as a barrister in Liverpool. Reverend Beard also had six daughters.

For many years the Reverend Beard was editor of the Theological Review. he was joint editor with his father of Cassell's Latin Dictionary, and his Hibbert Lectures of April-June 1883, published as The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, in its Relation to Modern Thought and Knowledge, were widely acclaimed. He was a supporter of the Liberal Party in Liverpool and played a major role in the establishment of University College, Liverpool. He died 9 April 1888.

Arrangement

Arranged into the following sections:

• D103/1-45 Photocopies of letters received by the Reverend Beard
• D103/46-47 Copies of printed letters of the Revd. Beard
• D103/48 Genealogical Information

Acquisition Information

Acquired 13 December 1974 from originals lent for copying by Miss England, Bristol.

Custodial History

The originals of these letters were borrowed by Miss Jane England form her grandmother (d. July 1977). In October 1977 Miss England (now Mrs J Jephcote) informed the University Archives that upon her sorting her late grandmother's papers she could not locate any (others) which related to the origin and development of University College, Liverpool.

Other Finding Aid

The catalogue is available on-line at the British Library Manuscripts Catalogue

Separated Material

The Beard Papers are now housed at the British Library

Access Points

Subjects
Theology
Personal Names
Beard, Charles (1827-1888) Unitarian Minister and Author
Corporate Names
Liverpool University Council and its members

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Photocopies of letters received by the Reverend Beard (1846 - 1886, not dated)

Reference	D103/1-45
Physical Description	45 letters

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Francis W. Newman, 7 Park Village East, Regent's Park, [London] (25 Aug. 1846)

Reference	D103/1
Physical Description	1 letter

Scope and Content

Late arrival of Mr. Beard's misdirected note; willingness to provide certificate that Mr. Beard studied 3 years at Manchester New College; invitation to visit him in London

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Francis W. Newman, 7 Park Village East, Regent's Park, London (31 Aug. 1846)

Reference	D103/2
Physical Description	1 letter

Scope and Content

Signed as late Classical Professor in Manchester New College. Letter forming certificate that Mr. Beard of Stony Knolls [Manchester] has for the last three academic years attended his Greek and Latin Classes in Manchester New College and uniformly distinguished himself.

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Chevalier Bunsen, 9 Carlton Terrace, [London] (7 Nov. 1849)

Reference	D103/3
Physical Description	1 letter

Scope and Content

In reply to note of 23 Oct. he expresses the option that an English publisher would not print a translation of Pr. Sepsius' work on Egypt before this was completed in 3 vols., and suggesting Mr. Beard commence the translation so as to present it to the publisher when desired.

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A. W. Jumps, Berlin (25 June 1855)

Reference	D103/4
Physical Description	1 letter

Scope and Content

Expresses disappointment at not finding Mr. Beard when he was in Manchester on business (cotton) but pleasure at meeting his father; interest in Mr. Beard's family including his daughter Sophie and giving a description of his own family; his interests in Latin and Roman antiquities and his views on the current war, expressing sympathy for the English and none for the French.

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H.C. Robinson [Henry Crabb Robinson] 30 Russell Square, London, W.C. (17 Jan. 1864)

Reference	D103/5
Physical Description	1 letter

Scope and Content

He encloses a cheque and a letter for Mr. Beard but has not seen the person who left it and requesting Mr.Bear advice; expects Bentle to call again before Mr. Beard replies; reflections on his decreasing susceptibility to agreeable impressions

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