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Summary catalogue

The books and papers in the archives are arranged in the following groups, which are however, purely nominal - material on most matters is distributed between several groups in a hopelessly inconsistent manner because the arrangement has evolved under the influence of the thinking and interests of several departments and people over more than two hundred years.  The thinking behind the arrangement within the groups often appears illogical as well. Click on the links below for a summary of holdings in that section.

In the following summary an 'item' is anything which is individually listed - it might be anything from a single sheet to a massive ledger or box of papers.  There are well over 10,000 items in the whole collection.  About half of these are single documents; rather more than 1000 are volumes, the remainder mostly being bundles or files.  Such files themselves often contain a hundred or more documents, which are not listed separately here.

A rearrangement of the catalogue is under preparation and the full catalogue will eventually be searchable online. In the meantime, the Lonsdale Curator will supply more detailed sections of the catalogue in hard copy or electronic format upon request.

• A. STATUTES, FOUNDATION DEEDS AND CHARTERS 13 th – 20 th centuries
• B. VISITORS 17 th – 20 th centuries
• C. MEMBERSHIP 16th – 20th centuries
• Masters
• Fellows
• Members in General
• D. GOVERNMENT
• College Meetings
• Committees
• E. BENEFACTIONS
• F. PLATE
• Inventories and Valuations
• Catalogue
• G. SPECIAL FELLOWSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS, EXHIBITIONS AND PRIZES
• H. ESTATES AND ECCLESIASTICAL PATRONAGE
• H1. Estates, 13 th – 20 th centuries depending on the estate. Please see online list for details.
• H2. Ecclesiastical Patronage – 14 th – 20 th centuries depending on the living (parish). Please see online list for details.
• I. BUILDINGS 18 th – 20 th centuries
• Plans of the College
• Architects' Designs
• Building Contracts, Accounts and Correspondence with Architects
• J. DOMESTIC ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
• Half-yearly Bursars' Accounts (Computi) 1568 - 1844
• Annual Bursars' Accounts11 volumes, 1672 - 1883; printed annual accounts, 1865 - 1981
• Battels and Buttery Books (Members’ personal bills regarding membership and residence) 1576-20th century
• Caution Money Books1610 - 1926
• Bursars' Ledgers and Miscellaneous Books, 16th - 20th centuries, mostly 19th - 20th
• College Inventories 17th - 20th centuries
• Domestic Staff 19th – 20th centuries (incomplete)
• Printed Ephemera 19th – 20th centuries
• Bonds1550 - 1750
• Investment and Banking Records18th - 20th centuries
• Administrative correspondence 19th – 20th centuries
• K. DEPARTMENTS
• Balliol Trinity Laboratories1853 - 1939
• Chapel Records 13th – 20th centuries, incomplete
• Holywell Manor 20th century
• L. STUDENT LIFE
• Studies 19th – 20th centuries
• Discipline 19th – 20th centuries
• Sport
• Athletics records: 1913 - 1933.
• Boat Club records: Journals, accounts and printed ephemera, 1835 - 1966.
• Gordouli Boat Club minutes: 1927 - 1971.
• Cricket Club records: 1900 - 1928, 1952 - 1954.
• Hockey Club records: 1902 - 1934.
• Soccer Club records: 1899 - 1929.
• The Soviet minutes: 1928 - 1932.  This was a society 'constituted to propagate the principles of communism through the medium of Association Football'.
• Tennis Club records: 1904 - 1929.
• United Athletic Clubs (later Amalgamated Sports Clubs): Accounts, minutes, and miscellaneous papers, 1880 - 1976.
• Societies
• Arnold Society: 1897- 1967.
• Brackenbury Society: 1890 - 1914, with gaps.
• Arnold and Brackenbury Society: 1955 - 1968.
• Dervorguilla Society: 1930 - 1939.
• Gibbon Club: 1928 - 1941
• Hanover Club: 1911 - 1913.
• History Club: 1907 - 1909.
• Leonardo Society: 1921 - 1939, 1945 - 1962.
• Synoptic Club: 1930 - 1935
• Younger Society: 1927 - 1933, 1946 - 1956.
• Musical Society 1885 - 1997
• Shakespeare Society 1867 – 1868
• Balliol Players 1923 - 1978
• Junior Common Room
• General Meeting minutes: 1903 - 1932, 1944 - 1952, 1959 - 1965, 1966 - 1975, 1978 - 1981.
• Committee Meeting minutes: 1903 - 1932, 1944 - 1952, 1958 - 1965, 1967 - 1975.
• Accounts: 1890 - 1950.
• Betting Books: 1945 - 1946, 1948 - 1951 and 1965.
• Suggestions Books: ca. 100 volumes, 1919 - 1972.
• Lists of Officers: 1948 - 1980.
• Miscellaneous papers, mostly post-1960
• M. PHOTOGRAPHS

Of particular note are the sport and society photograph albums, 19th and 20th centuries; indexes can be searched online at

• N. RECORDS OF ARTEFACTS, PERSONS & INSTITUTIONS RELATING TO BALLIOL COLLEGE
• College portraits, coins and seal matrices
• Blundell's School
• New Inn Hall
• TS Eliot
• Robert Browning
• Eastman House
• Vice Chancellor's Accounts 1700 - 1702
• Benjamin Jowett's Visitors' Book 1882 - 1893
• The Balliol Boys' Club 1907 – 1960s
• The Workers' Educational Association, early 20th century
• Vacation Reading Parties, 19th – 20th centuries
• The Balliol College [Annual] Record 1910 – [ongoing]
• Leigh and Cooke Family Deeds 18th – 19th centuries
• Founders - the Balliol family

- Anna Sander