Orwell Papers: personalia

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0103 ORWELL (J)
Held at	: University College London - click here to see details of the physical location of collection
Full title	: Orwell Papers: personalia
Date(s)	: 1903-1971
Level of description	: Sub-fonds of Orwell Papers View parent record
Extent	: 10 files
Name of creator(s)	: Blair | Eric Arthur | 1903-1950 | novelist and journalist known as George Orwell

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Served in Burma in the Indian Imperial Police, 1922-1928; lived for several years in poverty, as a dish-washer in Paris, France, and as a tramp in England, 1928-1931; school teacher at the Hawthorns, Middlesex, 1932-1933; part-time assistant in a Hampstead bookshop, London, 1934-1935; wrote books and novels, 1933-1949; married Eileen Maud O'Shaughnessy (died 1945), 1936; reviewer of novels for the New English Weekly, until 1940; visited areas of mass unemployment in Lancashire and Yorkshire, 1936; wounded in Spain fighting for the Republicans, 1937; member of the Home Guard during World War Two; worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation Eastern Service, 1940-1943; Literary Editor of Tribune, 1943-1945; war correspondent for the Observer, 1945; regular contributor to the Manchester Evening News, 1943-1946; suffered from tuberculosis, often in hospital, 1947-1950; married Sonia Mary Brownell, 1949; died, 21 January 1950. Publications: Down and out in Paris and London (Victor Gollancz, London, 1933); Burmese days (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1934); The road to Wigan pier (Victor Gollancz, London, 1937); Homage to Catalonia (Secker & Warburg, London, 1938); Coming up for air (Victor Gollancz, London, 1939); The lion and the unicorn (Secker & Warburg, London, 1941); Animal farm (Secker & Warburg, London, 1945); Critical essays (Secker & Warburg, London, 1946); The English people (Collins, London, 1947); Nineteen eighty-four (Secker & Warburg, London, 1949); Shooting an elephant, and other essays (Secker & Warburg, London, 1950).

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Personalia, 1903-1971, of George Orwell, consisting of legal documents, including original baptism certificate, 1903, and certified copies of certificates, 1940, 1967 and undated, of his baptism (1903), marriage to Sonia Mary Brownell (1949), and death (1950), and his will; personal items, 1933-1950, including Independent Labour Party membership card [1938], National Service Registration card and Medical Grade card, 1941; biographical data, 1922-1971, being photocopies of records from the India Office (Judicial and Public file, 6079) relating to Orwell's service in the Indian Imperial Police; personal papers relating to visit to Morocco, 1938, including registration certificates issued to Orwell and his first wife, Eileen, by the British Consulate, Marrakesh, and by the Moroccan authorities, 1938; printed travel guides to Gibraltar, Tangier, Marrakesh and the Atlas mountains [1938]; voyage papers from Morocco visit, 1938-1939; photographs and postcards of Morocco visit [1938-1939]; manuscript of radio talk 'Some books' by E M Forster, broadcast on 19 August 1942 in the Far Eastern Service of the BBC; papers relating to Orwell's funeral service at Christ Church, Albany Street, London, including a copy of the Parish Paper recording the service, 1950, and letters from Sir (Benjamin) Ifor Evans, Provost, University College London, 1961, and Joseph W Scott, 1961; miscellaneous items [1936-1950], including notes, Christmas cards, luncheon menus, and press-cuttings.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Arranged in sections as indicated in Scope and content.

Conditions governing access:

Open.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

Finding aids:

Draft handlist.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Funeral service papers were collected by the Rev William J Kingston, successor to the Rev W V C Rose, officiator at Orwell's funeral service at Christ Church, Albany Street, London, 26 January 1950.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Personalia of George Orwell was presented in 1960 on permanent loan by his widow on behalf of the George Orwell Archive Trust. Copies of Orwell's baptism certificate and Indian Imperial Police service records were presented by the Indian Police in 1970. The original baptism certificate was purchased in 1991.

Allied Materials

Related material:

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Sources: British Library on-line public access catalogue 1997; Who's Who 1897-1996 (A & C Black, 1996); Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 1996). Compiled by Annabel Dodds as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Aug 2000