University of Birmingham  Library

The collection comprises the notes of HA Smith of Selly Oak, Birmingham for his MA thesis in the late 1930s. It consists of about 20 A5 handwritten notebooks, a package of notes and an envelope containing letters received by Smith when he was preparing the thesis.

Many of the notebooks are transcriptions of documents at Bedford or other familiar material. They include the London university calendars from 1849 – 1951, listing the subjects that White took and the examination dates. The notebook numbered T14 – contains some unpublished Caleb Morris letters and correspondence with Ruskin from 5 October 1865 to 19 December 1886, which I don’t recall seeing at Bedford. There is also a copy of a letter of October 29, 1856 from Caleb Morris regretting that he cannot be at Hale White’s wedding.

The letters are the most interesting aspect. From these, it is clear that Dorothy was very helpful to researchers, inviting Smith to stay at Sherborne for a few days while studying her papers. Dorothy was also concerned that her copyright on certain materials should not prevent their publication or use in other works.

Smith met Sir William Hale-White at his offices at 38 Wimpole Street, and corresponded with various members of the family.

The letters also show that Dorothy and Molly appeared to be on good terms in the late 1930s; Dorothy visiting Molly in Langton Green in April 1938 and, later that year, passing on to Molly a copy of Smith’s thesis.

The correspondence between Smith and Dorothy touches on the war, revealing that Dorothy took in a number of Jewish refugees from Germany.

Here are extracts from some of the letters:

Letter from Molly to Smith, 4 April 1938
"My father was very public-spirited and nothing roused him more quickly than any encroachment on land he considered public possessions – hence his Banstead Downs fight."

Letter from Cicely N. Hale-White to Smith, 28 April 1938, Cannes
"John Harry Hale-White died easter eve. It was a great happiness to him to know that the influence of ‘Mark Rutherford’ continued and was being extended by following generations.

His "Notes" were written for the family but he always hoped they might ultimately prove of value to a wider public for the comprehension of my father’s character and work."

Letter from DVW letter to Smith 28 December 1938
"One or two people have mentioned the book [Middle Age] to me but I rather avoided looking at it, as I understand it is a bit "washey" as I should call it – and her love affairs are just the very thing my husband would have decidedly disliked! Had I known what the rest of the book was going to be like I might have made an effort to get her to leave out these extracts – no, of course that would have been absurd, as probably they were rather an important feature."