Record revealed
Copy of Henry VIII's diplomatic assurances to João III of Portugal
Recently rediscovered, this letter offers new archival evidence into Britain and Portugal's shared history.
Sub-sub-fonds
British Museum (Natural History): Department of Mineralogy: Correspondence and Papers...
Catalogue reference: DF 17
What’s it about?
This record is about the British Museum (Natural History): Department of Mineralogy: Correspondence and Papers... dating from 1807-1950.
Is it available online?
Maybe, but not on The National Archives website. This record is held at The Natural History Museum Archives, London. How to view it.
Can I see it in person?
Not at The National Archives, but you may be able to view it in person at The Natural History Museum Archives, London. How to view it.
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- DF 17
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Title (The name of the record)
- British Museum (Natural History): Department of Mineralogy: Correspondence and Papers of L J Spencer
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1807-1950
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series consists correspondence and papers of L J Spencer of the British Museum (Natural History) Department of Mineralogy.
It includes diaries, notebooks, notes, drafts of papers and some drawings. The records relate principally to Spencer's studies of minerals and crystal form.
Series held at The Natural History Museum are catalogued more fully in its online catalogue (reference DF MIN/20/36). Online descriptions of some individual records can also be viewed on Discovery, see DF 17.
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Arrangement (Information about the filing sequence or logical order of the record)
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Diaries and notebooks are at the beginning of the series, followed by research notes and drafts of papers, which are arranged chronologically.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The Natural History Museum Archives, London
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Spencer, Leonard James, 1870-1959
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 67 files and volumes
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
- Subject to 30 year closure
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
- The bulk of the material was transferred to the archive in 1981
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Museums and galleries
- Diaries
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Custodial history (Describes where and how the record has been held from creation to transfer to The National Archives)
- The records were removed from the Keeper's office after Spencer's retirement in 1935 and held in the Department thereafter.
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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Leonard James Spencer (1870-1959) was born at Worcester on 7 July 1870, and educated in Bradford and at the Royal College of Science, Dublin. Spencer then moved to Cambridge, where he won the Harkness scholarship for geology in 1893, and studied mineralogy for the first time. He studied briefly in Munich under Paul Groth before taking up an appointment as Assistant in the Department of Mineralogy on 1 January 1894.
During his forty one years at the Museum Spencer wrote a great many papers on minerals, including gemstones, and on meteorites, including important papers on craters. He translated two textbooks from German into English, and wrote two useful texts of his own. Spencer's chief contribution in the Museum was the establishment of a system of registering and labelling the mineral collection, and he took great pains over the accurate documentation of specimens. His other great work was his editorship of Mineralogical Magazine from 1900 until 1955, and his preparation of Mineralogical Abstracts from 1920 until the same date.
Spencer did not travel extensively, though he attended conferences overseas and, at the age of sixty four, visited the Libyan Desert in search of natural glass. Spencer was promoted to the rank of Assistant Keeper in 1921, and Keeper of Mineralogy in 1927. He retired in 1935. He was elected FRS in 1925 and awarded the CBE in 1934.
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Publication note(s) (A note of publications related to the record)
- 'Dictionary of National Biography, 1951-1960', W Campbell Smith
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C5841/
How to order it
- View this record page in our current catalogue
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British Museum (Natural History): Department of Mineralogy: Correspondence and Papers of L J Spencer
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