University of Wales, Lampeter, accrual: Papers of Tony Dyson and Cliff Tucker

The content of this second accrual is diverse and reflects the interests of both Tony Dyson and Cliff Tucker. Within the Dyson papers, his interests are well represented, from literary and educational ventures to gay rights campaigning and liberal Christian theology. There are records relating to conferences, Dyson's commercial works, Casebooks and Norwich Tapes, and also his editorship of Critical Quarterly. There is also correspondence with prominent people from the arts, politics, academia and Christian religion, of several denominations. Within the papers relating to the campaign for gay civil rights, there is a significant quantity of letters, printed ephemera and pamphlets from many different campaigning groups. Literary highlights include: a manuscript book of poetry by Thom Gunn, with corrections by Dyson, which would be published as Moly in 1971; and a significant quantity of correspondence with R.S. Thomas over a long period of time, revealing Thomas's thoughts and his friendship with Dyson, where Thomas was known to be a reticent and reclusive character. Also included in the collection are the papers of Dyson's partner, Cliff Tucker. These include papers relating to his gay rights campaigning, his work as a magistrate and in industrial relations, as well as his involvement with Toynbee Hall and interest in the local history of Monmouthshire.

This material was received in a disordered state, but an original order was more visible in some places than in others. For the most part, the order is that in which the material was found, although a significant of utility bills have been extracted. The Papers of Tony Dyson and Cliff Tucker were identified and separated (usually at file level). The Papers of Tony Dyson (AED/2/1) were divided into three broad themes: Papers relating to literature and education (AED/2/1/1); papers relating to homosexual rights and Christianity (AED/2/1/2); and personal papers (AED/2/1/3). Within these broad categories, some papers which are related to each other and perhaps were originally filed together are now in separate files. Files of papers were retained where found intact. Where material has a special format, such as audio cassettes or photographs, these have been grouped together. The Papers of Cliff Tucker (AED/2/2) have undergone a greater degree of arrangement by the archivist as they were in a very disordered state; an attempt has been made both to reimpose an original order and to facilitate ease of access for researchers. Where papers were disordered a subject-based order has been imposed.

This is the body of material from the estate of Tony Dyson which remained after Brian Cox selected and extracted certain papers to give to the University of Manchester Library (the papers listed in AED/1). It was initially sent to the Special Collections of the University of Wales, Lampeter, as Both Dyson and Tucker had close connections to the University and it was also the place where they sent the papers of their late friend, Illtud Evans. However, the collection was subsequently presented as a gift to the University of Manchester Library to be reunited with the Dyson papers initially extracted by Brian Cox, and preserved alongside closely related collections like the Papers of Brian Cox (Dyson's Collaborator on Critical Quarterly) and also the archive of Critical Quarterly itself.