Key Information
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [1940-1980] (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent
13 archive boxes
Scope and content
Chelsea Polytechnic/College Chemical Department 'locker forms', 1943-1968 (Ref: CDC/FP), Department of Chemistry student record cards, [1940-1980] (Ref: CDC/FPC). Locker forms for early years contain a greater quantity of biographical data. Information typically includes name, date of entry, examination date, course proposed, subjects, occupation, employer's name, address and business, exams passed, number of years in Chemistry, proposed career and country of origin. Occasionally they include a timetable of subjects taken, giving day and time, whether in the evening or part-time during the day. Information contained on record cards typically includes name, country of origin, session dates, field of study, course units and values, address, details on previous education, and some also include a photograph.
System of arrangement
CDC/FP (locker forms), CDC FPC (record cards): Locker forms are arranged by year of entry, and then alphabetically, excepting the earliest volume, which is arranged by date of examination, then alphabetically. Record cards are arranged in an alphabetical sequence.
General Information
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Department of Chemistry traces its origin back to the opening of the South-Western Polytechnic in 1895. Chemistry was initially taught in day classes within the School of Science for Boys and Girls, the Technical Day College for Men and in evening classes. Known as the Chemical Department, it included a metallurgical and pharmaceutical section. In 1927 the Chemical Department was re-named the Department of Chemistry within what was then Chelsea Polytechnic. The work of the department was very diversified and in 1933 the School of Pharmacy became a separate department and in 1939 Metallurgy was transferred to Battersea Polytechnic. Work was seriously disrupted during World War Two and, as in World War One, some of the laboratories were given over for emergency use. In subsequent years, the numbers of full-time students increased rapidly as grant-holding servicemen enrolled and the numbers of full-time research workers also increased. The Polytechnic was designated a College of Advanced Technology in 1957. Changes were made to the constitution of the Board of Governors to provide greater representation to industrial and professional activities. Work below the standard of University degrees including Intermediate teaching was discontinued and the College was renamed Chelsea College of Science and Technology. The Department of Chemistry introduced a sandwich course leading to graduate membership of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, which was discontinued in 1961. In 1966 the College was admitted as a School of the University of London and was renamed Chelsea College. It merged with King's College London and Queen Elizabeth College in 1985 to create King's College London (KQC).
Repository
Conditions governing access
Files containing personal data are closed for 80 years and sensitive personal data for 100 years from the date of the most recent document in the file.
Administrative records are generally closed for 20 years except for published material and some committee and other minutes.
Where open, access is subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied from open material for research purposes only.
Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archives.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Finding aids
Copies of lists are available for consultation in the King's College London Archives Reading Room.
Existence and location of originals
Please note: We require 7 days notice to retrieve this collection as part, or all of it, is held off-campus. Read more ›
Related materials
Alternative identifier(s)
Place access points
People and Organisations
Genre access points
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.
Script(s)
Archivist's note
Sources: King's College London catalogues; Chelsea College Annual Reports; Chelsea College of Science and Technology Historical Pamphlet (1963); H Silver and S J Teague eds, Chelsea College-A History (London, 1977). Compiled by Beverley Ager as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.