Papers of the Humphreys Family

Family and personal papers of members of the Humphreys family, principally of Professor Humphrey Francis Humphreys (1885-1977); also of his father, John Humphreys (1850-1937); and uncle, Evan Griffith Humphreys (1853-1917).

The papers of John Humphreys, one of the founders of the University of Birmingham and recipient of three honorary degrees, include some family letters; a letter from Joseph Chamberlain on the subject of the University dated 1901; and various offprints and other material relating to his literary, historical, botanical and other interests.

The papers of Humphrey Humphreys, a graduate and subsequently a Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, include letters he wrote to his family and to a confident, Gertrude Dale, while a postgraduate at Harvard, on a world tour in 1910 and during his war service with the Royal Army Medical Corps in the Middle East, 1915-1919; together with some undergraduate notes and notes, texts of talks and offprints mainly relating to his personal interests in archaeology and local history but also to his professional interests including higher education.

The papers of Evan Humphreys include copies of his published and unpublished works and several manuscript notebooks

John Humphreys (1850-1937) was the son of John and Ann Humphreys. He married Frances Sarah Lisseter (1850-1944) in 1879. They had five children: Margaret Winifred, known as Winnie (1880-c.1970); John (1881-1929); Humphrey Francis (1885-1977); Tryphena Mary Christabel, known as Christine (1887-1974); and Roger who died in infancy. Their third child, Humphrey, was educated at Bromsgrove School; the University of Birmingham, where he was admitted to the Medical School in 1904 as a Sands Cox scholar; and at Harvard University, USA. He served in the First World War with a field ambulance unit based in the Middle East.

Evan Griffith Humphreys (1853-1917) was the second son of John and Ann Humphreys, the younger brother of John Humphreys (1850-1937) and uncle of Humphrey Humphreys. Evan was a journalist, printer and bookseller who lived in Bromsgrove.

More detailed life histories about John, Humphrey and Evan Humphreys can be found at the respective sub-fonds level of this catalogue.

Sources: 'Who was who' and information supplied by the donor.

Access to all registered researchers

The papers were presented at intervals during early 2004 and the final batch was received in May of that year.

Dr R. D. Bridgewater made use of material in this collection in his doctoral thesis, 'The Great War Letters of Humphreys: An Edition', a copy of which is also included in the collection.

See full catalogue for more information.

Papers arranged and described by Mark Eccleston, November 2009.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director, Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts. bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

These papers were acquired by the donor in 1977 at the sale of the contents of Professor Humphreys house. The collection includes a copy of the sale catalogue.

There are some letters of Humphrey Humphreys in the Jessica Brett Young Papers (JBY) and the Francis Brett Young Collection (FBY) as well as in the University of Birmingham's archives.
A partially filled album of material relating to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, compiled by John Humphreys, is available at MS239.
The Lapworth Museum of Geology at the University of Birmingham hold a donation of fossils presented by John Humphreys.
The issue of the University of Birmingham student publication 'The Mermaid' dated May 1909 includes a photograph of Humphrey Humphreys.
There are some collected published papers of Humphrey F. Humphreys and the texts of some unpublished addresses, together with a typescript of his reminiscences (US109)

Two notebooks of John Humphreys are held by the Birmingham City Archives (GB 0143 MS 1323).