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Papers of Arthur Hugh Sidgwick (1882-1917; Balliol 1901)

Introduction

Biographical note

[Arthur] Hugh Sidgwick was born on 2 October 1882, the son of Arthur Sidgwick, a well-known Fellow of Corpus; Dragon School, Winchester, Balliol 1901-5 (tutors JWR, AW Pickard-Cambridge, JL Strachan-Davidson); Scholar; 1st Maths Mods 1902; Proxime accessit to Craven Scholarship 1902 and 1904; 1st Classical Mods 1903; !st Litterae Humaniores & BA 1905; Chancellor's English Essay 1906; Torpid; Eight; Hockey XI. Fellow of University College 1905, civil servant (Board of Education), Army 1916, died  of wounds near Ypres 17 September 1917.

Publications: Editor of Selections from Dickens, 1909, Walking Essays, 1912; The Promenade Ticket,1914; Jones' Wedding and Other Poems, 1918.

Further reading:

• College Register entry
• War Memorial Book entry (3 pp)
• The College Archives photo index lists a number of photos from AHS' time as a student at Balliol
• Desmond Devitt's blog about the WW1 chronicles of 'Skipper' Lynam, then Headmaster of the Dragon School, includes several posts featuring AHS.
• Biography: Tom Patterson, Arthur Hugh Sidgwick (1882-1917) A Biography: Scholar, Educationist, Poet, Essayist (2017)

Provenance and arrangement

Deposited by Mrs Elizabeth Belsey, née Sidgwick, niece of Arthur Hugh Sidgwick, via her son Andrew Belsey.  

Scope & Content

Letters from Capt. Sidgwick to his family, mainly his sister, 1916-17. Letters written from France and contain detailed accounts of the fighting, life in the army etc. With newspaper cutting of his obituary. Extent: 1 archive box.

List

1. Accession correspondence. Andrew Belsey to his mother, 28 October 1996,TLS with enclosures, with PAB’s note,  nd.

2. a. “Letters from Hugh during war in date order with notes. These are of historical and military interest.” 11 letters, several long and detailed, with notes, to various members of the family, 1916-1917. Vivid descriptions of army life, conditions at the front, with  comment on the horror of war, pacifism etc. One of the notes suggests transcribing some of these letters for the Imperial War Museum.

b. 1.6 pages from The Draconian 1918 with extracts from Hugh Sidgwick’s book Walks around London and a piece about footpaths for Boy Scouts.

b.2 draft examination paper on Pride and Prejudice, probably composed in the trenches [the paper is identical with that used for at least one letter from the front] , with a 1 Sept 1996 letter about it from the Secretary of the Jane Austen Society to Mrs A Baer of Richmond on Thames.

c.  Letters etc, with notes, of Hugh Sidgwick before WWI.

d. The front of the envelope which contained the three groups  which are now designated Sidgwick 2a-c.The envelope was postmarked July 1956 and addressed to MC Sidgwick Esq.

3. Letters etc (about 50 items, each with  a note about it) about and following the death of Hugh Sidgwick, 1917-1918. Correspondents include: Helen Darbishire (Wordsworth Scholar, Principal of Somerville), RW Macan (Master of Univ), CC 'Skipper' Lynam ( Head of Dragon School ).

The material described in sections 2 and 3 has been digitised and images can be provided on request.

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- John Jones 2010, ed. Anna Sander.