DURBIN, Rt Hon Evan Frank Mottram, 1906-1948, economist

Papers of the Rt Hon Evan Frank Mottram Durbin, 1918-1948, comprising lectures and notes on miscellaneous subjects, 1935-1944, including English politics, socialism, social history, peace and war, Russia, sociology and economics; secondary historical material, 1931-1944, namely working and research notes by Durbin; correspondence collected by Elisabeth Durbin from his papers and correspondents, 1928-1961, including Reginald Bassett, Sir (Henry) Roy (Forbes) Harrod, John Maynard Keynes, the Rt Hon Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell, the Rt Hon Clement Richard Attlee, (Edward) Hugh (John Neale) Dalton, Baron Dalton, and the Rt Hon Sir (Richard) Stafford Cripps, as well as papers and correspondence relating to his political work, his election as an MP, and his appointment to the Ministry of Works; material relating to monetary and trade cycle theory, 1935-1948, mainly comprising lecture notes on economics, psychology, causes of war, political theory, and general politics, with associated correspondence; galley proofs of articles by Durbin on economics, 1935-1946, with royalty statements, 1940-1946; copies of The Times relating to the Colonial Education Committee, 1945; working materials, drafts and transcripts of 'The economics of democratic society' by Durbin, 1942-1943; press cuttings of reviews of published works, 1932-1942; papers relating to Oxford University, 1918-1940, mainly comprising notes, essays, letters and examination papers; drafts and manuscripts of Purchasing power and trade depression: a critique of under-consumption theories (Jonathan Cape, London and Toronto, 1933); material relating to Taunton School, 1918-1939, including school exercise books, correspondence and notes; notes, research and texts for lectures on economics, [1938-1947], notably monetary theory, economic history, industrial fluctuations, taxation and land tenure; drafts and notes for research articles, mainly unpublished, [1937-1939]; personal financial material, 1935-1948.

Born 1906; educated Plympton and Exmouth Elementary Schools, Heles School, Exeter, Taunton School, and New College, Oxford University; Lecturer at New College, Oxford University; Junior and Senior Webb Medley Scholarships, Oxford University; Ricardo Fellowship, University College London, 1929-1930; Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Economics, London School of Economics, 1930-1945; Parliamentary candidate (Labour) for East Grinstead, 1931, and Gillingham, Kent, 1935; temporarily on Economic Section of War Cabinet Secretariat, 1940-1942; temporary Personal Assistant to Clement Richard Attlee, Deputy Prime Minister, 1942-1945; Labour MP for Edmonton, 1945-1948; Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Works, 1947-1948; died 1948.
Publications: How to pay for the war (G Routledge and Sons, London, 1939); Personal aggressiveness and war (Kegan Paul and Co, London, 1939); Problems of economic planning (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1949); Purchasing power and trade depression: a critique of under-consumption theories (Jonathan Cape, London and Toronto, 1933); Socialist credit policy (Victor Gollancz, London, 1934); The politics of democratic Socialism (G Routledge and Sons, London, 1940); The problem of credit policy (Chapman and Hall, London, 1935 ); The response of the economists to the ethical idea of equality ; What have we to defend? A brief critical examination of the British social tradition (G Routledge and Sons, London, 1942); editor War and democracy: essays on the causes and prevention of war (Kegan Paul and Co, London, 1938).

The collection is arranged in sections as given in the Scope and Content.

Open.

Printed handlist and on-line catalogue available.

Sources: British Library of Political and Economic Science catalogue; Who's Who 1897-1996 (A & C Black, 1996); British Library On-Line Public Access Catalogue 97. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

Copyright retained by the depositor and their heirs. Most documents may be photocopied.

Deposited by the family in 1987.

The BLPES holds other material relating to Durbin in the archives of the Royal Economic Society (Ref: RES/6/1/128), the papers of Edward Hugh John neale Dalton, Baron Dalton (Ref: Dalton/2/2, 7/9-10, 8/1, 9/1-2, 10/4, and 19/3), the records of the Fabian Society (Ref: J10/3, J19/2, J24/2-3, J225/3, J67/1, K18/1, and M2/26), the papers of Professor Bronislaw Malinowski (Ref: Malinowski/LSE and AFR2/1), the papers of Professor James Edward Meade (Ref: Meade/2/3, 4.32 and 10/21), the papers of the National Peace Council (Ref: NPC/14/24), and the papers of Professor Sir Arnold Plant (Ref: Plant/corr).

Elizabeth Durbin, New Jerusalems: the Labour Party and the economics of democratic socialism (Rouledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1985).