Series RMCM/E/4 - General correspondence

The general correspondence includes the in and out letters of the Principals and Registrars, and associated papers, generally kept in bundles corresponding to an academic year (August-July) and arranged alphabetically by subject/correspondent. The correspondence is very general in scope, and covers matters from the status of the College and its future to the provision of paper towels in washrooms. From year to year, subjects include alumni, students and staff; buildings and equipment; instruments; teaching and examinations; work with other institutions; financial matters; and external events and engagements. This series is incomplete -there is no correspondence for the following academic years: 1896/7; 1898/9-1900/1 inclusive; 1904/5; 1906/7-1938/9 inclusive, 1947/8; 1948/9; 1950/1-1952/3 inclusive; 1954/5. It is likely that administrative practice differed in this period from that in the later period (although all the correspondence does appear to have been brought together in one administrative series by later staff). Many of the later years, where the bulk of the correspondence is greater and the subjects more varied, have files missing. This is the case for the following academic years: 1955/6; 1957/8; 1959/60; 1960/1; 1961/2; 1965/6; 1966/7; 1970/1.