Research for "The History of Leicester School of Art, 1869-1939"

Research relating to the Leicester School of Art, including transcripts of interviews with Kathleen Harris nee Willet, former student of printing and drawing; Fred Watson, Company Secretary to Dryad working under Harry Peach; Frederick Thomas Watson, Dryad employee, relating to Harry Peach; Nancy Stanfield nee Nancy Fisher Clay, former teacher in the Department of Women's Crafts; Miss Sarson, Crafts Mistress, Leicester Collegiate School and former student at the College of Art; Sir Charles Keene, member of the Education Committee; Mr D P Carrington, Drawing and Painting teacher; Frederick Austin, student of metalwork and employee of Dryad; and Alan Gayton, son of a student and teacher at the College and family friend of Harry Peach. Also list of pictures drawn by Barbara Smith while a student at the College of Art in the 1920s.

The documents in this file arose from research Pat Kirkham was conducting for the book “ Harry Peach: Dryad and the DIA” (Design Council, 1986). Kirkham was a lecturer in the history of design at Leicester Polytechnic (later De Montfort University) from 1970 - 1996.

The local authority funded a research assistantship within the Polytechnic to study the history of its predecessor bodies, the Leicester School of Art, City of Leicester School of Arts and Crafts and City of Leicester College of Arts and Crafts.

Lys De Beaumont was appointed to this assistantship and her research formed the basis of an MPhil dissertation, “The History of Leicester School of Art, 1869-1939”.

Available for general access.

Catalogued by Katharine Short, Archivist, March 2013.

A copy of the MPhil dissertation "The History of Leicester School of Art, 1869-1939" is available in the Special Collections of De Montfort University.