The series comprises letters, 1880-1920, addressed to O. M. Edwards, from his first arrival at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, until the time of his death. Many of the letters are from prominent Welsh public figures. The early letters relate to Edwards's career as a student at the UCW, Aberystwyth, the University of Glasgow and Balliol College, Oxford. Some concern his preaching engagements, his plans and ambitions, while others give local news from the Llanuwchllyn area. Following his appointment as Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1889, many of the letters concern his academic work and university responsibilities, and there are numerous requests for references and testimonials from students and former students. Some correspondents write in relation to educational matters in Wales, notably the passage and operation of the Welsh Intermediate Education Act, 1889, and the affairs of the University of Wales. -- From the 1890s onwards many letters concern O. M. Edwards's editing of Cymru and Cymru'r Plant, and later Wales, Heddyw and Y Llenor. Intermingled with these letters are some which refer to personal events in Edwards's life: his marriage in 1891, the death of his father in 1895, and the death of the eldest son Owen ab Owen in 1897. In 1899 many letters concern the death of Thomas Edward Ellis MP, the selection of Edwards as his successor as Liberal MP for Merionethshire, and his brief sojourn in the House of Commons until July 1900. -- Throughout these years the letters abound with references to educational matters, notably within the Universities of Wales and Oxford. Others relate to Welsh literary and cultural matters, the publication of Cyfres y Fil and the organization of Urdd y Delyn. A few letters concern Edwards's researches, writings and academic publications. -- From 1907 onwards many of the letters relate to O. M. Edwards's duties as Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales. Throughout the remaining years there are numerous communications from Edwards's former students at Oxford, invitations to deliver lectures and attend various functions and events, and letters relating to the editing of journals, notably Cymru and Cymru'r Plant. Others concern literary, cultural and publishing matters, and many relate to educational themes. These are interspersed with congratulatory messages on receipt of the Medal of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion in 1915 and a knighthood in January 1916. Many of the letters from the final years refer to O. M. Edwards's personal, health and family problems.

Diaries etc, 1903-1930; sermons; addresses and articles, 1916-1948; correspondence, notes and articles relating to penal reform, 1907-1917, Ireland, 1920-1924, education, 1925-1931, reparations, 1926-1931, Tom Nefyn Williams, 1926-1931, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1916-1947; poetry, 1900-1947; genealogical and miscellaneous notes and family papers, 1884-1926; articles and addresses by various authors, 1903-1949; letters to and from George M. Ll. Davies, other members of the family and others, 1826-1964.

An essay entitled 'Griffith Jones, Llanddowror, ac Addysg Cymru' submitted by G[riffith] Pen[n]ar Griffiths ['Penar'] for competition at the National Eisteddfod held at Birkenhead, 1917.

An extract from the minutes of the Council of the University College of Wales, 30 June 1870, relating to an interview between Henry Richard and W. E. Gladstone on the subject of an Exchequer grant to the College (item 1); and a draft (or copy) of a letter, 4 July 1883, from Henry Richard (item 2) and of a statement on intermediate education in Wales, signed by nearly all the members of Parliament for Welsh constituencies, to be sent to Mr Gladstone (item 3).

Records accumulated by John Clement as a civil servant, 1942-1958, including records of the Welsh Reconstruction Advisory Council, 1942-1945; records relating to education and hill sheep farming, 1942-1943; papers relating to the Welsh woollen industry, 1954-1958; and records relating to the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire, 1954-1958.

A further box of papers was received August 2007. This group remains uncatalogued.

Seven holograph letters and one Christmas card, 1896-1899 and undated, from Fred[erick] W[illiam] P[earce] Jago [Cornish scholar] from Plymouth, to (as per address or by inference) H[enry] T[obit] Evans at Lampeter and Carmarthen. The letters relate largely to a mutual interest in the Cornish language. Specific points referred to include the address of a Truro bookseller who could provide recipient with books on Cornish, the writer's friendship with [the Reverend John] Bannister, variant forms of the writer's name, the death of the Cornish language owing to the pressure of English, the lack of a printed literature, etc., the survival of Cornish dialect in West Cornwall, the writer's published glossary of the Cornish dialect [The Ancient Language and the Dialect of Cornwall with an enlarged Glossary . . . (Truro, 1882)] and his English - Cornish Dictionary . . [(London, 1887)], unpublished manuscript copies of second editions of these two works which the author had offered to sell to the Royal Institute of Cornwall, the possibility that Professor [John] Rhys [of Oxford University] would assist with publication, the state of the Welsh language and the danger to it from English pressure on the eastern border and 'Forster's law of education', the need for 'at least bilingual teaching in the Welsh schools and the employment of native teachers', the lack of information relating to the use of Cornish in church services, the last sermon preached in Cornish, recipient's visit to Cornwall and newspaper articles by him describing the visit, the Breton and Manx languages, the [South African] war, and recipient's newspaper work.

Letters, 1847-1873 and n.d., from Henry Griffiths of Brecon, Liverpool and Bowden, mainly relating to education in Wales and to the proposed Normal School at Brecon. One letter, 1854, contains adjudications in both Welsh and English by Griffiths on essays submitted for competition at an eisteddfod (see also a letter, 1854, relating to the adjudications), while another, 1862, to William Roberts, tutor at Brecon Independent College, relates to Griffiths's application for the Theological Chair at Carmarthen Presbyterian College.
Also included is a letter, 1889, from Samuel Job of Illinois; a letter, 1906, from Hugh Williams ('Hywel Cernyw') at Pontypridd; and a letter, 1928, from Caleb Lewis at Blaina, Monmouthshire. The last two letters relate to the Welsh periodicals of the time.

The file comprises letters in which Sir John Morris-Jones discusses his career and activities, the contents of Welsh journals and literary matters (notably the contents of the journals edited by O. M. Edwards), his research work and publications. There are also numerous references to the University of Wales and to higher education and to academic matters more generally.

The series contains letters with a mixture of personal and professional news. Many of the letters refer to matters relating to the University of Wales and the individual colleges: academic matters, research, appointments and buildings. There are also numerous references to developments in secondary education in Wales and to relations between the schools and the university. Some of the letters arrange meetings with O. M. Edwards. There are a few references to contemporary political life.

The file comprises letters reflecting the wide range of functions and events which Lady White attended and the large number of committees and public bodies with which she was associated. There are particularly interesting and revealing letters relating to the problems which faced the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, University College, Cardiff, and Coleg Harlech. Several of the correspondents write appreciatively in response to a documentary programme entitled The Baroness broadcast on BBC2 television during June 1988. The correspondents include Eric, Lord Ashby, 1988, James Callaghan, 1988, Gwilym, Lord Prys-Davies, 1988, Cledwyn Hughes, Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos, 1988, Barry Jones MP, 1988, Principal Robert Steel, 1988, and David, Lord Gibson Watt, 1988.

The file comprises letters again reflecting Lady White's many activities and interests. There are many letters on educational matters, notably concerning the new University of Wales, Cardiff, formed by the merger of two university colleges. The correspondents include Lord Heycock.

The first of three volumes containing some one hundred and eighty-eight letters, 1856-1888, addressed to Henry Richard and dealing particularly with politics, the peace movement, education and other affairs in Wales.
The correspondents include Sheldon Amos (Sydney, New South Wales), Henry Austin Bruce, first baron Aberdare, Elihu Burritt (New Britain, Conn.), Josephine E. Butler, Sydney Charles [Buxton], earl Buxton, Estlin Carpenter, Joseph Chamberlain, F. W. Chesson, J. J. Colman (Norwich), Leonard Courtney, John Stewart [Gathorne-Hardy], second earl of Cranbrook, Henry W. Crosskey, R. W. Dale, Edward Henry [Stanley], fifteenth earl of Derby, Charles W. Dilke, L. L. Dillwyn, George Dixon, Henry T. Edwards (dean of Bangor), Lewis Edwards (Bala) and Thomas Charles Edwards (Aberystwyth).

The second of three volumes containing some one hundred and eighty-eight letters, 1856-1888, addressed to Henry Richard and dealing particularly with politics, the peace movement, education and other affairs in Wales.
The correspondents include Henry Fawcett, (Mrs) M. G. Fawcett, Dudley Field, Hugh Fielden, Lord [Edmond] Fitzmaurice, W. E. Forster, W. H. Fremantle, Joseph F. B. Frith, Thomas Gee, H. M. Milner Gibson, J. H. Gladstone, W. E. Gladstone, Granville George [Leveson-Gower], second earl Granville, John Griffith (Y Gohebydd), Lord Richard Grosvenor, first baron Stalbridge, George Hadfield, John Hampden (Croydon), Sir William Harcourt, H. D. Harper (Jesus College, Oxford), Thomas Harris, Arthur Hobhouse, Alfred Illingworth, Basil M. Jones, J. Viriamu Jones and Michael D. Jones.

The third of three volumes containing some one hundred and eighty-eight letters, 1856-1888, addressed to Henry Richard and dealing particularly with politics, the peace movement, education and other affairs in Wales.
The correspondents include Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Leone Levi, W. F. Maitland, John Matthews (Aberystwyth), Edward Miall, Sir George Osborne Morgan, Samuel Morley, Sir Lewis Morris, William Morris (Kelmscott), A. J. Mundella, Thomas Nicholas, R. Barry O'Brien, Sir Hugh Owen, Frédéric Passy, Auguste Pierantoni, Lyon Playfair, Sir Henry Ponsonby, J. H. Puleston, Alexander Raleigh, Stuart (afterwards baron) Rendel, James H. Rigg, Sir Owen Roberts, Lady Frances Russell, G. W. E. Russell, Pietro Sparturo (Naples), John Poyntz [Spencer], fifth earl Spencer, Herbert Spencer, Edward Lyulph [Stanley], fourth baron Stanley of Alderley and fourth baron Sheffield, W. Co[w]per Temple, J[ohn] Thomas (editor of Y Tyst Cymreig), Jos[eph] Thompson, G. O. Trevelyan, Cypri[e]n Valton (Turin) and J. Carvel Williams.

Twenty holograph letters addressed largely to David Davies. The writers include S[amuel] Price Davies [son of Sir David Davies], Bickling Vicarage, Bishop Stortford, and London, 1847-1848 (2) (Rhosybedw estate matters, the writer's visit to Frood Vale, the thinning of 'Galt Hugh Shon', personal), Henry Heald, London, 1848 (2) (the production of title-deeds of the Llwyn estate) (together with a copy of a letter from Messrs. Hill & Heald, London, to John Morgan, solicitor, Llandovery, 1848, relating to the same), Henry Jones [of Llwyn], from Abermeurig, undated (2) (money matters, rumours of a discovery in London of a box belonging to an old woman at Cayo and supposed to contain gold), [the Reverend] Richard Jones, Llanyblodwel, etc., 1846-1848 and undated (8) (one addressed to his brother Henry) (the management of the Llwyn estate, Sir David Davies's opinion of the writer, the success of the writer's son, the progress of the Llandovery Institution and its contribution to education in Wales), George Lloyd, Brunant, 1838 (3) (the writer's claim for payment of principal and interest on a bond), J. E. Morgan [niece of Sir David Davies], Berkeley Street [Berkeley Square, London], [1848] and undated (2) (money matters, thanks for a couple of woodcocks, the illness of the writer's cousin), and Josh. Tyler, Grays Inn, 1838 (an opinion on Mr. Lloyd's claim).

Papers of Stuart Rendel and family members, including papers relating to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and the proposal to establish the National Library of Wales and its development during the early years of its existence, 1883-1916; speeches, addresses and political papers relating to disestablishment of the church in Wales and the 1889 Intermediate Education Act, 1882-1909; press cuttings, 1881-1913; photographs, 1892; miscellaneous letters, 1878-1912; letters to Stuart Rendel, 1853-1912, including letters from A. C. Humphreys Owen, 1877-1905, family letters, 1853-1902, and letters from prominent political figures and Welsh public figures; letters and copies of letters from Rendel, 1880-1912; diaries, mainly recording details of Stuart Rendel's business activities, 1863-1869; notes of conversations with W. E. Gladstone, John Morley and H. H. Asquith, 1888-1910; papers relating to Chinese affairs and French and Chinese peace talks, 1884-1886; papers of James Meadows Rendel, including letters, 1828-1856, and papers relating to his estate, 1856-1859; letters of Catherine Jane Rendel, 1845-1855; letters and papers of George Wightwick Rendel, 1871-1902; papers relating to Rendel's other brothers, 1841-1889, and his daughters, 1882-1910; letters and papers of Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel, 1898-1959, and other papers concerning him, 1963-1977; papers, mainly letters, of the Goodhart family, 1819-1957; papers of Miss Rosemary Rendel, 1986-1996; papers of Sir George William Rendel, including: Foreign Office papers, 1917-1967, correspondence, 1912-1973, papers relating to the Catholic Union of Great Britain, 1942-1979, lectures, diaries and notes, 1915-1954, personal and family papers, 1908-1980, and material relating to the book The Sword and the Olive (1957), 1954-1986.

Stray items relating to Major Edgar Jones (1868-1953), father of Gareth Vaughan Jones, and headmaster of the Barry Boys' County School from 1899 until his retirement in 1933. They include a small quantity of correspondence on a wide range of subjects, including letters from Gwilym Davies, undated; Sir Owen M. Edwards, 1916; W. Goscombe John, 1952; Dr Thomas Jones CH, 1925, 1947, 1950, 1951 and 1952 (many referring to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth); and Sir John Edward Lloyd, 1929 (relating to the Welsh Language Society). Many of the letters refer to educational themes. There are also two letters, both dated 1953, from Major Edgar Jones to his daughter Eirian Lewis, mother of Dr Siriol Colley. There are also some tributes to Major Jones upon his death in 1953.

Records of the National Curriculum History Committee for Wales, 1978-1995, including papers relating to the establishment and subsequent meetings of the National Curriculum History Committee for Wales, 1989-90; minutes, agenda, reports and articles for discussion at various meetings of the National Curriculum History Working Group, 1989, the History Development Group, 1990, The Historical Association, 1986-89, and the Association of History Teachers in Wales, 1988-9; copies of a WJEC report and examination papers, 1986-93; papers relating to assessment by the School Examinations and Assessment Council, 1989; correspondence from MPs and others, 1988-91; miscellaneous articles, reports, press cuttings and papers relating to teachers' conferences, 1978-93; and printed material on the teaching of history in Welsh schools, 1979-95.

Printed items on a wide range of subjects and issues many of them concerning educational matters, the National Library of Wales and the Calvinistic Methodist denomination.

Jottings relating to matters connected with education in Wales.