Barltrop, Robert (b 1922)

Papers collected by Robert Barltrop relating to the Socialist Party of Great Britain, including: 62 photographs of Socialist Party of Great Britain Committee meetings, conferences, rallies, weekend schools, outings and individuals including V.Phillips, J. Fitzgerald, R.F. Offord, Gilles McClatchie, Tom King, Michael La Touche, E. Hardy, Bob Lees, William Kerr, Harry Young and others, c1920 - 1959; 11 ink and pencil sketches by Barltrop of SPGB members, including W. Atkinson, J. D'Arcy, J. Flowers, George Gloss, C. Groves, E. Lake, I. Rabinowitz, G. Steed, William Travers, J. Trotman and H. Young, 1953-1957; SPGB ephemera, including handbills and posters for lectures, short policy pamphlets and agendas for 21st and 22nd Annual Conferences, 1908-1973; internal policy documents, including reports, statements and conference papers, 1904-1991; SPGB published material, including the first manifesto of the SPGB and pamphlets by Moses Baritz, Jack Fitzgerald, H. Quelch, Harold Walsby and others, 1905-1980; papers of Wallace Herbert Barltrop concerning his service as a dispatch rider in the Royal Flying Corps, 1917-1919.

Robert Barltrop was born in 1922 and educated at the Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Walthamstow. He grew up in the East End of London, descended from a long line of blacksmiths, although his father was a horse fodder dealer. During the war, Barltrop served with the Royal Air Force, and was for many years a member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. He has had various careers and has been a professional boxer, a labourer, a strip cartoonist, a schoolteacher and a sign-painter. Barltrop has also published widely and his books include: The Monument: Story of the Socialist Party of Great Britain (1975), Jack London: The Man, the Writer, the Rebel (1977), Muvver Tongue with Jim Wolveridge (1980) and A funny age (Growing up in North East London between the Wars) (1985).

No further arrangement at present.

OPEN

Part of the collection was deposited at the Bishopsgate Institute by Robert Barltrop on 9 September 2005. The deposit date of the rest of the material is unknown.

No further finding aid at present.

Entry compiled by Stefan Dickers.

Documents cannot be photocopied at present. Digital photography (without flash) is permitted for research purposes on completion of the Library's Copyright Declaration form and with respect to current UK copyright law.