Solly Zuckerman was appointed Bedford College's Visitor in 1967, an office for which he had to seek the Prime Minister's permission, and served in that capacity until 1984, when he was succeeded by Sir Andrew Huxley. The contents consist mainly of correspondence and relate chiefly to the fund-raising appeal for the College's development programme, which Zuckerman actively supported, negotiations for the merger of Bedford with Royal Holloway College which took effect in 1985, and the re-organisation of the Geography Department in the early 1970s. In 1989 Zuckerman was awarded an honorary fellowship by Royal Holloway and Bedford New College.Files SZ/BC/1 and SZ/BC/2 hold incomplete sets of agenda, minutes and papers for Governors' meetings; these meetings were usually chaired by Zuckerman, as the Visitor, but on occasion Sir Cyril Clarke deputised.
Much of the correspondence in File SZ/BC/3 is with successive principals: Sally Chilver, Sir Patrick Reilly, Dr J.N. Black, and Professor Dorothy Wedderburn; Secretaries to Council Major General S.M. (Martin) Abraham and L.P. Turnbull; and Sir Cyril Clarke, Chairman of Council. The file also contains a set of colour photographs of the visit by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Patron of the College, in May 1984 and related correspondence, and a greetings card from Professor Wedderburn dated 8 January 1990 to which is attached a colour photograph of Solly Zuckerman, Professor Wedderburn and Lady Ewart-Biggs taken on the occasion of the latter's Lakeman Lecture at the College, 26 October 1989.
The documents in File SZ/BC/7 consist of copies of the College's charter and statutes (1909), annual reports and accounts, and the prospectus for 1967-1968.