DALTON, Edward Hugh John Neale, 1887-1962, Baron Dalton

Scope and Content

The Dalton papers consist of diaries, correspondence, speeches, personal papers, photographs and printed material, covering subjects such as Foreign Office papers, economic reform, political and Labour Party issues, defence policy and production, Dalton's honours and offices, the Special Operations Executive, the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and the Board of Trade. There are also annotated copies of Hansard and various Labour Party pamphlets. They comprise the following:
Diaries, 1916-1960
Papers, 1929-1960: 1. Foreign Office papers, 1929-1930; 2. Economic reform, 1932-1938; 3. Political and Labour Party papers, 1936-1940; 4. Defence policy and production, with particular reference to the Royal Air Force, 1936-1940; 5. Correspondence, 1932, 1935-1940; 6. Speeches, 1929-1940; 7. Political papers and speeches, 1940-1945; 8. Political and general correspondence, 1940-1945; 9. Political papers and correspondence, 1945-1955, 1960; 10. Letters of congratulation etc, 1947-1957; 11. Letters from Ruth Dalton, 1948-1952; 12. Writings, 1919, 1950-1961; 13. Address and engagement books, 1959-1961; 14. Honours and offices, 1918, 1940-1960; 15. Financial records, 1919-1964; 16. Various undated papers, 1919-1964; 17. Cartoons and photographs; 18. Papers found after the completion of the list (mostly concerning the Special Operations Executive, the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and the Board of Trade), 1940-1942; 19. Additions (family ephemera), 1936-1965.
Printed material, 1918-1959: Annotated copies of Hansard and Labour Party pamphlets.

Administrative / Biographical History

John Edward Hugh Neale Dalton, 1887-1962, was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. He won the Winchester Reading Prize at Cambridge in 1909 and the Hutchinson Research studentship at LSE 1911-1913. He became a Barrister-at-law in 1914, and it was also in this year that he married Ruth Fox. During World War I, Dalton served in the RASC and the Royal Artillery in France and Italy, and was attached to the Ministry of Labour for special investigations in 1919. After the war he returned to a career in economics. He became a lecturer at LSE in 1919, Sir Ernest Cassel Reader in Commerce at the University of London, 1920-1925, and a Reader in Economics at the University of London, 1925-1936. He entered politics in 1924, becoming the Labour MP for Peckham 1924-1929, and Bishop Auckland 1929-1931 and 1935-1959. He became Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs 1929-1931, Chairman of Labour Party National Executive Committee 1936-1937, Minister of Economic Warfare 1940-1942, President of the Board of Trade 1942-1945, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1945-1947, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1948-1950 and Minister of Town and Country Planning 1950-1951. He was created Baron Dalton of Forest and Frith in 1960.

Arrangement

The Dalton papers are divided into three parts: 1: Diaries; 2: Papers;3: Printed material. The papers are further subdivided into 19 sections as given in scope and content.

Access Information

Open

Other Finding Aids

Online catalogue and printed handlist available.

Archivist's Note

Output from CAIRS using template 14 and checked by hand on February 1, 2002

Separated Material

Papers of or relating to Dalton are also held at Oxford University in the Nuffield College Library, Bodleian Library, Ruskin College Library, and St Antonys College, Middle East Centre; the Public Record Office; House of Lords Record Office; Cambridge University: King's College Archive Centre; National Library of Wales; Hull University, Brynmor Jones Library; King's College London: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. See the National Register of Archives for further details.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is held by the Library.

Related Material

The British Library of Political and Economic Science also holds correspondence of Dalton with Lord Beveridge, c1922-1959 (Ref: Beveridge); with Edwin Cannan, 1913-1927 (Ref: Cannan); with JE Meade (Ref: Meade); with 1st Baron Piercy, 1945-1959 (Ref: Piercy).