Marjorie Garrod collection

  • Reference
    • GB 133 AEH/4
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1890s-1980s
  • Physical Description
    • 4 sub-subgroups

Scope and Content

This subgroup comprises the third separate accession of papers relating to AEFH and consists of a collection of material brought together by her second cousin, Marjorie Garrod. Born in 1894, Marjorie was the daughter of AEFH's cousin, Dr Bedford Pierce, and his wife, Mary Isabella (or 'Bella'), who lived in York. She had one younger brother, Edmund, born in 1896. In 1922 Marjorie married Professor Lawrence Paul Garrod (1895-1979), a bacteriologist. They had three sons and one daughter, Elizabeth, who married Victor Cade and who inherited her mother's AEFH collection.

The collection includes: some family letters; papers and photographs relating to earlier generations of the Horniman family; letters from AEFH to family members; and various papers pertaining to AEFH's career in the world of the theatre, her public life in general and awards she received. There is also a substantial number of letters to AEFH from authors, journalists, playwrights, critics, actors, managers and other well-known figures of the day. These letters were given by AEFH to Marjorie, who from her youth was an avid collector of autographs and letters written by famous people. The material was originally arranged in 2 scrapbooks and 1 loose bundle; the first scrapbook may have been partially compiled by AEFH herself and had later material added to it by Marjorie; the second consists of Marjorie's letter collection, and the bundle is made up of letters from AEFH to family members.

Arrangement

In an attempt to retain original order, the material has been arranged into 4 sub-subgroups reflecting the way in which the items were acquired and kept by Marjorie Garrod. The contents of each of the scrapbooks have therefore been placed in separate sub-subgroups, and a third grouping is formed by personal correspondence between AEFH and various members of the Pierce/Garrod families which was originally stored in a separate bundle at the back of scrapbook 2. A fourth sub-subgroup contains miscellaneous material and 3 items of uncertain provenance which may have been added to the collection after it came to the library. The sub-subgroups are as follows:

  • /1 Contents of scrapbook 1.
  • /2 Contents of scrapbook 2.
  • /3 Family correspondence.
  • /4 Miscellaneous material.

Custodial History

The collection was built up over a long period by Marjorie Garrod, and after her death in 1980 the material passed to her daughter, Elizabeth Cade. It was subsequently purchased by the John Rylands University Library of Manchester in 1984.