IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0100 KCLCA K/PP119 Leathes
Held at: King's College London College Archives
Title: LEATHES, Philip Hammersley ([1770]-1838)
Date(s): [1350-1863]
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 10 boxes (0.1 cubic metres)
Name of creator(s): Leathes | Philip Hammersley | [1770]-1838 | antiquarian
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born [1770]; son of David Leathes of Middlesex; entered the Middle Temple, 1787; elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, 1793; worked as a clerk in the cheque office of the Bank of England, 1799-1838; subscriber to King's College London, 1832; established book prize for medical students at King's College London, 1833-1834; donation of papers to King's College on condition that he be permitted to reside in College, 1837; died, 1838.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Collection comprises correspondence with Philip Hammersley Leathes, manuscript papers, diaries, devotionals, dictionaries and pedigree rolls, title deeds and indentures, printed books and pamphlets, catalogues and the manuscripts of the architect, John Carter, [1350-1863]. Notably including correspondence from George Nayler of the College of Arms and Nicholas Carlisle, Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, relating to publications of the Society, discoveries of antique brass plate, and the exchange of manuscripts between antiquaries, [1790-1838]; loose manuscript papers collected by Leathes, describing ornamentation in early printed devotionals, a fictional narrative entitled 'The amorous Jill: A tale', narrative of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, notes relating to the observation of comets, including the comet of 1811, copies of charters of the reigns of Edward IV and Henry VII, papers relating to the Portland Vase, British Museum, fragments describing inscription on newly discovered brass plate, 1747-1829; pedigree rolls tracing the lineage of the English Crown, [1450, 1762]; manuscript volumes including collection of biblical extracts, liturgical handbook, autograph book with colour illustrations, antiquarian ephemera such as funeral memorials, armorials and the creation of nobles, volume by Francis Harrison entitled, 'The elements of navigation' with colour charts, tables and illustrations, dictionaries of Celtic and Saxon words, notes on the teaching of mathematics, commonplace book drawing on ancient and modern authors, manuscript diary including progress of architectural tour of Europe; title deeds and indentures for families in Nottingham, Southampton, London and Hungerford, residency certificates in Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, 1650-1751; printed books and pamphlets on the subjects of antiquarianism, genealogy and architecture, 1778-1853; manuscripts of John Carter, architect, acquired at his death in 1817 by his executor, Leathes, notably including autobiographical notebooks by Carter describing architectural subjects and tours, commonplace book, correspondence with Leathes, loose notes on linguistics and the ships of the Russia Company, obituaries of Carter and sale catalogue from his estate, 1700-1818; manuscript catalogues and display captions relating to the Leathes' papers, King's College London, 1819, 1837.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English, some items also in Latin.
System of arrangement:
Broadly chronological within subject areas.
Conditions governing access:
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services.
Physical characteristics:
Pedigree rolls very fragile.
Finding aids:
Collection level description and detailed catalogue online and in hard copy in the College Archives reading room, King's College London.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Collection of books, manuscripts and medals donated to College in 1837; medals and coins transferred for safe storage in Bank of England, 1839.
Immediate source of acquisition:
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
King's College London: In-correspondence (KA/IC); King's College London Council Minutes (KA/CM).
Some correspondence of John Carter, draughtsman and architect, held in British Library, Manuscript Collections (Ref: Add MSS 29925-44, 31113, 31153); Lincoln Cathedral Library: accounts by Carter and Richard Gough of archaeological discoveries at Lincoln (Ref: MS 280); Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts: miscellaneous papers (Ref: MSS Gough Linc 15; Douce 279). Some papers also at the Society of Antiquaries, London.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Sources: Dictionary of national biography; Who's who; National Register of Archives on-line search facility; Sir Henry Macgeagh ed., Register of Admissions to the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, vol. 2 (London, 1949). Entry compiled by Geoff Browell.
Date(s) of descriptions: December 2000