Institution of Mechanical Engineers Archive

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers has an important archive which charts the history of the Institution and of mechanical engineering. Railway engineering, manufacturing, power plant development and automobile development are particularly well represented. Personal papers of prominent mechanical engineers such as George and Robert Stephenson and Frederick Lanchester include a range of materials from notebooks to blueprints. Company records include those of: D. Napier & Son Ltd (engine builders); Livesey Henderson & Co (railway contractors); Joseph Whitworth & Co (machine and measuring tools manufacturer); and Nasmyth Gaskell & Co (machine tool manufacturers). Our Institutional records date from our founding in 1847 and include Council and Committee minutes and membership proposal forms. Archives of merged bodies, the Institution of Automobile Engineers and the Institution of Locomotive Engineers, are also held. In addition we hold records of complementary organizations such as the Association of Railway Locomotive Engineers. Models range from those by the Victorian model maker John Penn and Sons to the modern model engineer Cherry Hill: as well as a fine model of Stephenson's Rocket, built by Dr J Bradbury-Winter. [Details of models can be found on the archive catalogue.]