About the archives
Homerton College Archives are composed of a large and varied collection of documents including a wealth of photographs, architectural plans and drawings, examples of student work and ephemera illustrating daily life in the College. The institutional records of Homerton’s predecessor bodies, as well as several private papers, also form part of the archival holdings.
John Horobin, Principal of Homerton College from 1889-1902, brought a mass of documents with him when the College moved from London to Cambridge in 1894. Among the earlier items in the archives are two-minute books of the King's Head Society, which date from 1782 to 1843 part of a complete run of minutes, held by Dr Williams’s Library documenting the origins of Homerton Academy.
A history of education
Homerton’s archival collections provide a unique and comprehensive resource for studying the history of education. They have been used for research into the Voluntary College movement and the contribution of the Congregational churches to popular education, as well as supplying information about elementary schools in the nineteenth century.
Collections
The college archives contain a wide variety of documents reflecting the history of Homerton College, among them:
- Minute books and annual reports of the Congregational Board of Education dating back to 1843
- King’s Head Society minute books
- College Trustees' minute books
- Documents relating to Cavendish College: architects’ correspondence and plans, prospectuses and circulars
- Joseph Lloyd Brereton Collection: family letters, pamphlets, lectures and sermons, correspondence with Samuel Morley, the Duke of Devonshire and Earl Fortescue,
- Students’ registers
- Minutes of Governing body and other committees
- Records of bursary and domestic accounts
- Records of construction and maintenance of college buildings and grounds
- Information on college clubs and societies
- Collection of social and sporting memorabilia
- Examples of early students’ craftwork
- Souvenir albums
- Photographs, architectural plans and maps
- Collection of audio-visual material
Visiting and contact
Homerton College Archives welcomes visitors by appointment only.
Archive resources are available to the members, staff and students at the college, the wider academic community and the public. Requests to visit should be made in advance and in writing to the archivist by emailing archives@homerton.cam.ac.uk
