MS 920

Reference code

MS 920

Title

Hannen family archive

Level

Sub-fonds

Date

1741-2015

Extent & medium

70 files, 73 volumes, 15 items, 2 portfolios and 7 boxes

Content description

Family archive of the descendants of James Hannen (1755-1829) and Lucy Ann Walker (1761-1841), which includes the papers of some members of six generations of the family, notably the three brothers, James Hannen (1821-1894), Benjamin Hannen (1830-1906) and Nicholas Hannen (1842-1900) and a number of their descendants.

The papers were collected and assembled by various members of the family to preserve their memory. The archive (which includes legal papers, letters, diaries, school and military papers, scrapbooks, photographs, theatre programmes, poetry, deeds, and a collection of letters and signatures of prominent political, legal and literary personalities), illustrates the family's history, their professional careers and leisure interests and provide interesting insights into upper middle-class British society from the 1850s to the 1950s.