The papers of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman comprise three classes of material: the private papers of the sisters and the Coleman family, 1842-1957; records relating to the National Children's Home, 1935-1981 largely CLOSED; and the Pestalozzi Village Trust, 1948-1989. Personal papers include a diary and pharmacopoeias, correspondence, examination certificates, photographs and printed books, 1842-1957, notably including a detailed manuscript medical diary describing life on board ship and a medical practice in Africa, 1842-1844, probably compiled by John Albert Sidney Coleman, grandfather of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman; pharmacopoeias containing remedies and prescriptions, with printed pharmacopoeias, compiled by Mark Coleman and others, reflecting the transition of the Coleman family business from patent remedies to modern pharmacy, 1851-1894; correspondence with Kathleen and Millicent Coleman, mainly descriptions of daily life in the National Children's Home and describing psychological testing of the children, 1927-1948 (CLOSED); family correspondence and legal documents including letting agreements and deeds of partnership, the will of Mathew Coleman, the sisters' great uncle, and relating to their father and his career, letters containing family news and gossip, 1845-1928; examination certificates and prize lists relating to the education of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman, 1922-1933; photographs of the Coleman family during the 1890s, during World War One and of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman on holiday, [1928], of Lady Eleanor Holles School, 1921-1933, group photographs of students and staff in King's College London Department of History, 1929-1955, photographs of various National Children's Home establishments, 1934-1957; a small collection of printed books concerned with the history, customs and government of London and the Home Counties, [1945-1985] (Boxes 70-74, now on open access in the Archive reading room).

The CLOSED records of the National Children's Home, 1935-1981, notably comprising Vocational Guidance Record Sheets, consisting of files on individual children that included intelligence test results, memory tests and individual comments, arranged in alphabetical order, 1938-1964 (Boxes 1-23); test results and evaluations of named children for tests organised by the National Institute of Industrial Psychology including the Porteus Maze Test and scoring sheets, 1957-1960 (Boxes 24-28); psychological evaluations of children at different branches of the children's home, notably in Cardiff, Harpenden, Nottingham and Glasgow, including individual test results and assessments with broad statistics and educational recommendations by visitors, 1942-1963 (Boxes 29-40); pupil record cards containing biographical information, aptitude tests and psychological test results for children at various homes, [1948-1960] (Boxes 41-42); material relating to the Brentwood College of Education including a working party on syllabuses, staff lists, the relationship with the University of London Institute of Education, manuscript notes and some psychological test results of children engaged in the so-called Gifted Child Study, 1971-1974 (Boxes 43-44); material relating to vocational aptitude and the placement of older children in trades and professions such as the armed forces and Civil Service, notably including psychologists' reports, 1935-1965 (Boxes 45-56); questionnaires of 18 year-old former residents conducted in 1954-1956 (Box 57); material relating to European refugees resident in the NCH including named children and correspondence with the Central Committee for Refugees, 1942-1949 (Boxes 58-59); general correspondence with Millicent Coleman relating to local authorities, staff and the emigration of children to Australia, 1951-1962; manuscript visitation report book assessing particular homes, 1946-1949; report on the incidence of enuresis (incontinence) in homes, 1946-1950; publicity material mainly created at the time of the centenary and on other children's charities, 1951-1981; careers and apprenticeship literature, 1938-1954; photographs and negatives of students and buildings, 1938-1939 (Boxes 60-62); psychological testing materials including test cards displaying words and pictures, [1958] (Boxes 63-69).

The records of the Pestalozzi Village Trust, 1948-1989, comprise typescript notes compiled by Millicent Coleman, who served on its governing Council. These consist mainly of Council minutes and supporting material, 1948-1989; Committee minutes including Finance and Management Committees, 1953-1985; Annual Reports and Accounts, 1961-1974; policy reports on the development and strategic direction of the Village, 1959-1973; correspondence with Millicent Coleman regarding Trust business and liaison with the National Children's Home, 1953-1985.

The papers [1980-1997] of William Lishman, comprising material relating to 3rd edition of Organic Psychiatry , an interview with Lishman and papers relating to a training pack on neuropsychiatry. The collection includes inserts, galley proofs and a copy of the 2nd edition of Organic Psychiatry all used in Lishman's rewriting for the 3rd edition of Organic Psychiatry , published in 1997 with several drafts of a section on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the largest addition to the 3rd edition. Also includes interview with Lishman on his life and career and papers relating to the Neuropsychiatry training pack including the pack itself and papers of its writer, Dr Steven Church, relating to its creation.

Papers of William Yule, 1964-2002, including: questionnaires, test instructions, notes, progress reports, conference papers and articles, 1964-1969, relating to a longitudinal educational and medical survey of schoolchildren on the Isle of Wight (selected as a relatively static but socially and economically cross-representative population: this was the first epidemiological survey of this size to cover child health and the impact of health on educational achievement); questionnaire, articles and notes relating to 1982-1983 study on the effect of lead on children's development, and assessments of the tests used; reports and correspondence, 1987-1990, relating to survivors of the 1987 HERALD OF FREE ENTERPRISE cross-channel ferry disaster; reports, correspondence, questionnaires and articles, 1988-1996, relating to survivors of the 1988 sinking of the educational cruise ship JUPITER off the coast of Greece, including two studies, 1989-1992 and 1994-1996, of survivors and their experience of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which established the previously debated capacity of adolescents to suffer from PTSD; notes, questionnaires and articles, 1992-1993, relating to a World Health Organisation study, 'Brain development in utero', in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, concerning the prenatal development of children born shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident; reports, 1993-2002, relating to the charitably-funded School for Life, assisting children with severe learning difficulties, Kiev, Ukraine; reports, correspondence and notes, 1995-1996, concerning the joint United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Institute of Psychiatry project to provide psychosocial support to war-affected children, Bosnia.