The papers span the dates 1737-1945, with most of them dating from 1886 to 1945. The papers consist chiefly of official correspondence arranged either in subject files or by correspondent, as well as Hopwood's appointment diaries (1897-32, 1939), official reports, copies of speeches, miscellanous invitations and printed souvenirs and brochures. The papers include personal letters from professional acquaintances and a collection of autographs and family papers, but otherwise few personal papers. The collection documents Hopwood's career as a civil servant at the Board of Trade, Colonial Office and the Admiralty and reflects his involvement in railway arbitration and various government commissions and royal tours as well as his work as a governor of Wellington College, his involvement in the British Empire League and the construction of the British Empire Building, New York, and the Lions Gate Bridge and fountain in Vancouver. Among his correspondents are Winston Churchill, Admiral Lord Fisher, General Botha, Lord Midleton, Selborne, Crewe, Elgin, Herbert Gladstone, and G.W. Balfour.
Dates
- Creation: 1737-1945
Extent
6.93 Linear metres (63 physical shelfmarks)
Language of Materials
- English
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to copy material must be obtained from the rights holder.
Preferred Citation
Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MS. Eng. b. 2070, fols. 1-2].
Full range of shelfmarks:
MSS. Eng. c. 7343-62, c. 7885, d. 3730-1, e. 3593-631; Photogr. c. 185, fols. 56-57
Collection ID (for staff)
CMD ID 11871
Abstract
Official and personal papers of Francis John Stephens Hopwood, Baron Southborough (1860-1947), civil servant.
Biographical / Historical
F.J.S. Hopwood (1860-1947) trained as a solicitor and in 1885 entered the civil service as an assistant law clerk to the Board of Trade, becoming permanent secretary there, 1901-7; permanent under-secretary of state for the colonies, 1907-10; a privy council member, 1912 and additional civil lord of the Admiralty, 1912-17. He was associated with a number of commissions and arbitrations. He was a member of the West Ridgeway committee of Transvaal and Orange River Colony, 1906; secretary of the Irish Convention, 1917-18 and chairman of the Indian franchise committee, 1918-19. He also accompanied the Prince of Wales to Canada in 1908 and the Duke of Connaught to South Africa in 1910. He was appointed K.C.B. in 1901 and created first Baron Southborough and G.C.V.O in 1917. For further details, see the Dictionary of National Biography.
Arrangement
The papers were received having been arranged chronologically within subject or correspondent files and have been kept largely in that order.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, July 1985
Subject
- British Empire League (Organisation)
- Great Britain and Ireland | Admiralty (Organisation)
- Great Britain and Ireland | Board of Trade. (Organisation)
- Great Britain and Ireland | Colonial Office (Organisation)
- Hopwood | Francis John Stephens | 1860-1947 | 1st Baron Southborough | civil servant (Person)
- Wellington College (Organisation)
- Title
- Catalogue for the archive of Francis John Stephens Hopwood, Baron Southborough, 1737-1945
- Status
- Published
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Charlotte Mckillop-Mash, Eleanor Laviers
- Date
- 2007
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom
specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk