The Wallace Collection

This can be summarised briefly: The first part contains material about the Founders of the Collection as individuals and collectors, the Marquesses of Hertford and Richard Wallace. It also includes information on their associated properties and contemporaries.

It consists of circa 584 files, plus a series of inventories, along with several visitors' books. The rest of the files are concerned with the history of the museum itself, from the time it was bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace in 1897, to circa 1999. These files include some original letters, receipts and legal documents , but mainly photocopied items, including journal articles, plus related correspondence.

Any material subsequently collected has been placed in a series of Information Files, which have been cross-referenced to the Archives Index. The Archives Index is a typescript, which must be consulted in the Library and Archive. It is not currently available online. There are also a series of files concerning Trustees and former Directors of the Wallace Collection, which have not yet been indexed. Note that the National Archives at Kew has the series AR1, consisting of administrative records (mainly correspondence) dating from 1897-1979.

To locate these files, you can go to their website and search the catalogue. http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk