Papers of Charles James Alan Robertson

ms38288

Lever arch binder titled MANIA

• Typescripts of articles or chapters entitled:
• Scottish Railways and the Tax on Passengers
• The Railway Mania in Scotland
• Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair and the Improvement of St Andrews, 1842-61
• Early Scottish Railways and the Observance of the Sabbath
• Railway Mania: Introduction
• Railway Mania: Parliament
• Railway mania: Speculation
• Railway Mania - Lines
• Railway Mania - Post
• Railway Mania - xxx (?Branches etc.)
• Railway Mania - Caledonian System
• Railway Mania in the Highlands…
• Railway Mania - Windup
• Subscriptions and Sources of Capita

ms38289

Ring binder titled Railway Companies

Tabulated forms (c. 400?) containing pencil notes of details of individual railway companies.

ms38290

Lever-arch binder titled St Andrews Research

Handwritten notes, and some xerox copies from books, on a variety of aspects of the history of St Andrews, taken from both primary and secondary sources, including Burgh records, local histories, and newspapers.

ms38291

1 Box, described as Railway Photos and memorabilia; Misc. Photos, 1939-45 War etc.

• Photographs of locomotives and other railway-related subjects
• Documents relating to railways, c.1830s-1850s
• Photographs relating to World War II - official ‘ministry’ photographs - various subjects
• Miscellaneous photographs and documents

ms38292

1 Box, described as Collections on Scottish Railway History

• Offprints of CJAR articles, pamphlets etc.
• Folders of notes, xeroxes, etc. relating to:
• Employment Statistics, 1848-58
• Capital Statistics, 1844-70
• Calls and Capital to 1848
• Acts 1801-66: PP1867
• Mania Lines
• PP Statistics - Misc.
• Financial Records, 1849: PPHL (145) XVI
• Subscription Contracts, 1836-44
• Traffic Statistics, 1852-70
• Traffic Summaries, 1865-70
• Traffic: UK Comparisons, 1850-63
• Working Expenditure
• St Andrews, 19th C.
• G.N.S. Shareholders List, 1879

ms38293

1 Box, described as Collections on Scottish Railway History

• Folders of notes, xeroxes, etc. relating to:
• Scottish Railway Gazette, 1812
• Scottish Railway Gazette, 1849
• Scottish Railway Gazette, 1850
• Scottish Railway Gazette, 1851
• Typescript draft of a book on Scottish Railway History (not titled)
• Copy of Glasgow University Archive handlist of railway archives.
• Copies of documents relating to railway history from Scottish Record Office and other sources.

ms38294

1 Box, described as Collections on Scottish Railway History

• Folders of notes, xeroxes, etc. relating to:
• Scottish Railway Gazette, 1845-6
• Scottish Railway Gazette, 1847-8
• Maps
• Prospectuses
• Traffic Statistics, 1841-52

• Typescripts:
• Scottish Railway Mania - Gazeteer, 2 copies, both annotated
• Railway Mania: The Navvies

• Xerox copies of:
• Henry Glynn, Reference Book to the Incorporated Railway Companies of Scotland, 1847
• [Herbert Spencer} ‘Railway Morals and Railway Policy’, from Edinburgh Review, 1854
• Various documents relating to ‘Scottish Central’

ms38295

1 outsize folder

• Blueprint drawings of locomotive
• Xerox copies, various maps - railway-related
• Mounted photographs, late 19th -20th century, or locomotives and other railway subjects

Charles James Alan Robertson came from Leeds to study at St Andrews University, graduating in 1964 with an MA in Political Economy and Modern History. He then went to study for an AM at the University of Pennsylvania and in 1965 he was appointed as assistant lecturer in the Department of Modern History at St Andrews. He was made full lecturer of Economic and Social History in 1968. He was awarded a PhD in 1982 and remained teaching in the Department until his death in 1993. He was a railway enthusiast, publishing The Origins of the Scottish Railway System, 1722-1844 in 1983. He was working on a sequel, The Railway Mania and its Aftermath in Scotland, 1844-54, at the time of his death.

By appointment with the Keeper of Manuscripts. Access to records containing confidential information may be restricted.

Given to the University by Robertson's widow, February 1993.

Brief list

Description compiled by Maia Sheridan, Archives Hub project archivist.

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the Keeper of Manuscripts. Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents.

The Origins of the Scottish Railway System, 1722-1844, 1983