Nassau Senior papers

Papers relating to Nassau Senior, 1764-1945, comprising travel journals, particularly to France and Italy, 1848-1863; lecture notes, 1826-1852; correspondence and papers of the Senior family, 1764-1907; diaries of Nassau Senior and his wife, 1830-1882; correspondence, 1764-1862, including substantial correspondence with Richard Whately, Protestant Archbishop of Dublin; papers relating to the Poor Law in England and Ireland, 1831-1864; papers on economic, social and political matters, 1821-1862; general letters 1764-1910, and papers of the Strachey family, 1911-1946.

Nassau William Senior (1790-1864), lawyer, author and political economist, was born at Compton Beauchamp, Berkshire, on 26 September 1790. He enrolled at Eton College in 1803 and entered Magdalen College, Oxford in 1806, graduating with a first in Classics in 1811. By this time he had already begun his career in Lincoln's Inn and it was around this time that he began writing reviews and articles of a legal or literary nature for the Quarterly Review. In 1823 he joined the recently formed Political Economy Club, remaining an active member for the next forty years. Senior was Drummond Professor of Political Economy at Oxford, 1826-1829 and 1847-1852, was a member of the Royal Commission of Education, 1858-1861, and acted as an advisor to successive Whig administrations. He became involved in several social concerns, including the rights of factory workers and the socio-economic problems of the poor. In 1837 he published his Letters on the Factory Act as it Affects the Cotton Manufacture and, in 1841, the parliamentary Report on the Condition of the Handloom Weavers. He held the then unorthodox view that government intervention in the form of capital investment should be carried out in an attempt to relieve the problems of the poor in Britain and Ireland. Senior's lifelong friendship with the political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville began when the two men met in London in 1833. Senior travelled widely through Europe, mainly France and Italy, but also to the Middle East, North Africa, Ireland, and Wales and Scotland. Senior married Mary Charlotte Mair in 1821; they had a son Nassau John Senior (1822-1891) and a daughter, Mary Charlotte Mair Senior (1825-1907), latterly Mrs M. C. M. Simpson. He died in Kensington on 4 June 1864. After his death Mrs Simpson published many of his journals.

Arranged into the following: Senior journals; Oxford lectures; Senior correspondence; Senior documents; Senior family papers; and Strachey documents.

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.

The Nassau Senior papers were first deposited (in 1941) and subsequently donated (in 1944) to the National Library of Wales by Senior's grand-daughter Mrs Amy St. Loë Strachey.

Nassau William Senior (1790-1864), lawyer, author and political economist, was born at Compton Beauchamp, Berkshire, on 26 September 1790. He enrolled at Eton College in 1803 and entered Magdalen College, Oxford in 1806, graduating with a first in Classics in 1811. By this time he had already begun his career in Lincoln's Inn and it was around this time that he began writing reviews and articles of a legal or literary nature for the Quarterly Review. In 1823 he joined the recently formed Political Economy Club, remaining an active member for the next forty years. Senior was Drummond Professor of Political Economy at Oxford, 1826-1829 and 1847-1852, was a member of the Royal Commission of Education, 1858-1861, and acted as an advisor to successive Whig administrations. He became involved in several social concerns, including the rights of factory workers and the socio-economic problems of the poor. In 1837 he published his Letters on the Factory Act as it Affects the Cotton Manufacture and, in 1841, the parliamentary Report on the Condition of the Handloom Weavers. He held the then unorthodox view that government intervention in the form of capital investment should be carried out in an attempt to relieve the problems of the poor in Britain and Ireland. Senior's lifelong friendship with the political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville began when the two men met in London in 1833. Senior travelled widely through Europe, mainly France and Italy, but also to the Middle East, North Africa, Ireland, and Wales and Scotland. Senior married Mary Charlotte Mair in 1821; they had a son Nassau John Senior (1822-1891) and a daughter, Mary Charlotte Mair Senior (1825-1907), latterly Mrs M. C. M. Simpson. He died in Kensington on 4 June 1864. After his death Mrs Simpson published many of his journals.

The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: NLW, Schedule of Nassau Senior Papers; Personal Homepages website (homepages.uel.ac.uk), viewed 21 March 2003; Nassau Senior website (www.swan.ac.uk), viewed 21 March 2003.

Title based on contents of fonds.

Some of the papers pre-date the life of Nassau Senior.

A hard copy of the catalogue is available at the National Library of Wales. The catalogue can be accessed online.

Many of the papers have been marked in pencil, crayon and ink by S. Leon Levy.

March 2003.

Compiled by Annette Strauch for the ANW project.

Usual copyright laws apply.

All records have been retained.

Senior's grand-daughter, Mrs Amy St. Loë Strachey, had inherited the papers from her mother, Mrs M. C. M. Simpson, Senior's only daughter. Mrs Strachey's husband, John St. Loë Strachey (editor of the Spectator), had loaned the Senior papers to S. Leon Levy in 1912, on the understanding that Levy would confine his studies to the economic aspects of Senior's career. Having published his much-criticised study of Senior's economic theories in 1929, Levy proceeded to write a book on Senior's controversial theological views. Mrs Strachey disapproved and demanded that the remaining manuscripts in Levy's possession be returned. Despite repeated efforts, not all the missing Senior manuscripts were recovered.

Accruals are not expected.

See also NLW, Nassau William Senior manuscripts (NLW MSS 23310-23316, 23857-23861, 23965C).
In July 1976 a small collection of Senior MSS was sold at Sotheby's to the National Library of Ireland [Sotheby's Sale Catalogue, 19-20 July 1976, Lot 357. Now National Library of Ireland MS 21286. See NLW Microfilm 389. A description of this MS is to be found in Appendix I of the schedule of Senior Papers]. It is apparent that this is in fact part of the hitherto missing Senior MSS.

S. Leon Levy, Nassau W. Senior: The Prophet of Modern Capitalism (Boston, 1943; rev. ed. London, 1970)

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales