W O Henderson Papers

Papers of the economic historian William Otto Henderson (1904-1993). Henderson was an expert in European economic history, especially 19th century Germany.

It appears that only a fragment of Henderson's papers have survived, and those in this collection date primarily from the 1960s and early 1970s. These are correspondence files which cover such topics as the Zollverein, Henderson's work on Friedrich Engels, the Anglo-German historians group, the chemist Carl Schorlemmer as well as general research correspondence.

William Otto Henderson (1904-1993), senior lecturer in international economic history, 1949-1963, reader 1963-1972, University of Manchester. Henderson was educated at Nottingham High School, and Downing College, Cambridge, where he studied history. He then undertook research at the University of Hamburg and the LSE where he was awarded a Ph.D. for a thesis on the Cotton Famine.

Henderson lectured at Liverpool, Cambridge and Hull, During the War he worked in the educational services of the Armed Forces. From 1946 to 1949, Henderson was head of the department of adult studies at Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Technical College; he then joined the department of history of the University of Manchester, where he remained until retirement in 1972. Henderson published primarily on the history of the textile industries, the economic history of Germany, and the industrialisation of Europe in the nineteenth century.

Henderson was author of The Lancashire Cotton Famine 1861-65 (1934), The Zollverein (1939), The Industrial Revolution on the Continent (1961), Studies in German colonial history(1962), Studies in the economic policy of Frederick the Great (1963) and The industrialization of Europe 1790-1914 (1969). Henderson also had a long-standing interest in the Marxist theoretician, Friedrich Engels, publishing with W H Chaloner, an edition of The condition of the working class in England 1844 (1958), as well as editing Engels: selected writings (1967), a biography Life of Friedrich Engels (1975) and many related articles.

As this is a very small collection comprising almost entirely of correspondence files, it has not been divided into series.

The collection is open to any accredited reader unless otherwise stated.

The collection includes material which is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018. The University of Manchester Library (UML) holds the right to process personal data for archiving and research purposes according to the provisions of the Act. In accordance with the DPA, UML has made every attempt to ensure that all personal and sensitive personal data has been processed fairly, lawfully and accurately. Users of the archive are expected to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, and will be required to sign a form acknowledging that they will abide by the requirements of the Act in any further processing of the material by themselves.

Photocopies and photographic copies of material in the archive can be supplied for private study purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents.

A number of items within the archive remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; it is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study.

Prior written permission must be obtained from the Library for publication or reproduction of any material within the archive. Please contact the Head of Special Collections, John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH.

The custodial history of the collection is unknown. It is believed it was donated to the Library by Dr Henderson or his legatees between the 1970s and the 1990s.

None expected

The Library has custody of the personal papers of several University of Manchester historians, including T. F. Tout, (TFT), James Tait (TAI), Maurice Powicke (FMP), Mark Hovell (HOV), George Unwin (UNW), Lewis Namier (NAM), Robert Dunlop (RDP), John Roskell (JSR), Thomas Willan (WIL). Uncatalogued papers include those of Douglas Farnie and Kenneth Hyde.