| Level | SubCollection |
| Ref No | BA/A |
| Title | Records relating to the foundation of Battersea Polytechnic |
| Date | 1882-1890s |
| Description | Subcollection of records which have been identified as relating to the founding of Battersea Polytechnic, largely created by the South London Polytechnics. It comprises records relating to the City of London Parochial Charities Act 1883 (the initial funding stream for Battersea Polytechnic) and of South London Polytechnic Institutes which was responsible for fundraising for and founding Battersea Polytechnic. Records include a synopsis of the 1883 Act, fundraising and promotional material, financial planning, papers relating to the Albert Palace Buildings and the acquisition of the Battersea Polytechnic site and papers relating to the competition to design the Polytechnic.
Work to catalogue these records is expected to resume later in the academic year 2020-2021. If you require further information, please email archives@surrey.ac.uk. |
| Arrangement | A number of different classifications were applied to these papers by the managers of the University Archive between c1983 and c2008. The papers in this subcollection have been extracted from their most recent arrangement, a sequence of folders titled 'History and Origins of Battersea Polytechnic', and brought together in this subcollection as they are records created prior to the founding of Battersea Polytechnic. They have been divided according to whether they relate to the 1883 Act or appear to have been created by South London Polytechnic Institutes. As work continues on this archive it is possible that more records will be identified and catalogued here.
Where identified, all preceding classification numbers have been recorded in the Alt Ref No field. |
| Administrative History | In 1883 the City of London Parochial Charities Act aggregated the funds of a number of City of London charities and made them available for the benefit of the poor or the City of London and the Metropolitan Police District of London. In response, the South London Polytechnic Institutes was set up to apply for funds to support three "technical and recreative Institutes in South London". [South London Polytechnic Institutes. (1891) 'Summary of the Work done by the Executive Committee of the South London Polytechnic Institutes 1888-89-90-91; Battersea Institute Report and Balance Sheet' [Report], Records of Battersea Polytechnic, BA/A/2/1/2, University of Surrey, Guildford.]
These institutes were Battersea Polytechnic, later the University of Surrey; Borough Polytechnic, later London South Bank University. The third institute, now Goldsmith's College, University of London, was subseuqntly funded by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. |
| Custodial History | The provenance of these records is unclear and the previous classification schemes have served to further separate these records from their context. In addition, this subcollection contains a number of photocopies. These may be of original material held elsewhere in the archive and these copies have been taken in order to create subject files. Or they may be copies of material held by other institutions or by private individuals. |