Correspondence and related papers

Archive Unit
  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 133 RMD/1
  • Dates of Creation
      1893-1937
  • Physical Description
      Condition: some of the letters have suffered from rodent? damage, and have undergone significant conservation work, making some of them difficult to read. Where this applies, a note will be made at item level.

Scope and Content

The correspondence of Ramsay MacDonald relates to a wide range of subjects, both political and personal, from 1893 to his death. There are discussions upon political questions with colleagues, instructions on governmental policy during his premiership, affectionate notes to family and friends and day to day working correspondence. The letters include both correspondence to Ramsay MacDonald and his replies.

Arrangement

The correspondence contained in this collection presented a particular problem, in that many of the papers were arranged in files according to event (such as the 1926 coal dispute) or subject (the U.D.C.), while others appeared to be completely disordered. The decision was taken, in the absence of any knowledge of provenance or original order, to maintain the ordering of the correspondence according to subject where such could be found, and to list chronologically where it could not. Thus the series of correspondence comprises fifteen sub-classes

  • RMD/1/1 Dover and Southampton candidacies
  • RMD/1/2 The Independent Labour Party
  • RMD/1/3 The Union of Democratic Control (U.D.C.)
  • RMD/1/4 The 1926 coal dispute
  • RMD/1/5 Communism
  • RMD/1/6 The Zinoviev Letter
  • RMD/1/7 The Daily Herald
  • RMD/1/8 The John Syme case
  • RMD/1/9 Palestine
  • RMD/1/10 China
  • RMD/1/11 India
  • RMD/1/12 Egypt
  • RMD/1/13 Private correspondence
  • RMD/1/14 General correspondence
  • RMD/1/15 Miscellaneous correspondence

The letters are not subdivided according to whether they were written or received by Ramsay MacDonald, as this would destroy the 'picture' provided by having a series of correspondence. Where possible, copy replies from Ramsay MacDonald or his staff have been married to the letter which provoked them, and the pair treated as one item.