These items include personal papers of Frederick Lanchester, financial records and reports to committees, especially relating to his work on aeronautics during the First World War. There is also correspondence with his friend Robert Lockhart, Professor of Anatomy at Birmingham University and later Aberdeen University.
This material was purchased at auction by the former Lanchester Polytechnic Librarian John Fletcher in December 1982. It was thought to be the property of Frederick Lanchester's brother George.
It was listed in 32 sub-series and bound in guard books. The documents were taken out of the guard books and re-housed in archive files and boxes.
The sub-series are:
LAN/2/1 Biographical information
LAN/2/2 Material on Frederick Lanchester compiled by Dr Peter Kingsford for his biography of Lanchester
LAN/2/3 Frederick Lanchester reports for the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
LAN/2/4 Correspondence between Frederick Lanchester and the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
LAN/2/5 Correspondence relating to flight
LAN/2/6 Lanchester Laboratories Limited
LAN/2/7 Material relating to car manufacture
LAN/2/8 Publications
LAN/2/9 Personal and business correspondence
LAN/2/10 Frederick Lanchester’s views on warfare tactics
LAN/2/11 Correspondence concerning financial affairs, and Frederick Lanchester’s death
LAN/2/12 Material relating to worm gears, aircraft propellers and wings, and Lanchester's Laboratories Ltd sales
LAN/2/13 Reprints of articles and publications by or about Frederick Lanchester
LAN/2/14 Correspondence mostly relating to the publication of Frederick Lanchester's 'Potted Logs'
LAN/2/15 Miscellaneous correspondence
LAN/2/16 Frederick Lanchester papers on optics and visuals
LAN/2/17-18 Anatomy and vision/optics
LAN/2/19 Correspondence mostly concerning articles, papers and talks on vision and optics
LAN/2/20-25 Correspondence between Frederick Lanchester, Lanchester family and others and Professor Robert Lockhart
LAN/2/26-27 Supplemental material donated at a later date
LAN/2/28-29 Patents
LAN/2/30 Notes and correspondence on obtaining copyright on a book in the U.S.A.
LAN/2/31 Miscellaneous correspondence )
LAN/2/32 Lists compiled by Frederick Lanchester
The original order of the material has been kept but it will be re-arranged at a later date to put it into date order and to meet archival standards.
Some items that were originally included in the material have been removed as they are not archival and relate to the management and administration of the documents.