| Document Reference | UAC |
| Title | Records of the Midland Agricultural College (1893-1947) |
| Date | 1893-1998 |
| Extent | 3 boxes, 14 boxed volumes, 1 plan, 1 poster |
| Abstract | Financial papers, minutes of committees, reports on dairy and poultry production, map and poster. |
| Level | Fonds |
| Access Conditions | The bulk of the collection is accessible to all readers. However, access may be restricted to some files which contain personal information. |
| Admin History | In 1893 University College, Nottingham established a Department of Agriculture and with the assistance of a joint agricultural education committee made up of local government representatives, the Midland Dairy Institute was opened at Kingston Fields, Kingston-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire in 1895. The Agricultural Department of University College moved to Kingston in 1900 to form the Midland Agricultural and Dairy Institute. In the same year, the Institute's affiliation with University College ended and it became a college in its own right, the Midland Agricultural and Dairy College, in 1906.
The college flourished in the years before the First World War, offering short courses in theoretical and practical agriculture. It also became the scientific headquarters of the Board of Agriculture in the Midlands. To cope with the expansion in student numbers and the increase in the Board of Agriculture's advisory role, a 100 acre site at Sutton Bonington was purchased and extra accommodation built. The new buildings were used as a prisoner of war camp during the First World War, and were taken over by the Agriculture Department of the College in October 1919. The Dairy and Poultry Departments remained at Kingston-on-Soar. Further building work at Sutton Bonington was completed in 1928, enabling the Kingston site to be closed.
In the 1930s the college offered courses in Agriculture, Dairying, Poultry and Horticulture. On the outbreak of war in September 1939 all courses were immediately cancelled and replaced with training courses for Women's Land Army girls. Regular courses were resumed in January 1940.
A closer association with University College, Nottingham, commenced in 1943. The Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture was established as a joint venture with 11 Board members from University College and 17 from the Agricultural College. Principal H.G. Robinson of the Agricultural College became the first Professor of Agriculture. In 1946 an agreement was made to transfer the faculty and the buildings at Sutton Bonington from the county councils to University College, Nottingham. On 1 April 1947, the Midland Agricultural College became the Faculty of Agriculture of University College, Nottingham. It became a part of the new University of Nottingham in 1948. Advisory staff from the Board of Agriculture moved to the National Agricultural Advisory Service at Shardlow Hall, Derbyshire, in 1946, leaving the Sutton Bonington campus as a purely academic institution. Certificate and diploma courses were largely phased out in the 1940s and 1950s and replaced with degree courses, and there was a greater emphasis placed on research. An Experimental Farm was established in 1954.
Steady expansion and an increase in buildings and accommodation continued in the post-war period. The faculty was re-named the Faculty of Agricultural Science in 1960, and the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences in 1991. In 1997 it merged with the Department of Life Science at University Park to become the School of Biological Sciences. In 2000 the School of Biological Sciences was divided back into the School of Biosciences (based at Sutton Bonington) and the School of Life and Environmental Sciences (based at University Park). |
| Custodial History | The material has been transferred to Manuscripts and Special Collections at various times since 1974. |
| Description | These papers encompass a small remainder of what must have been a larger institutional archive belonging to the Midland Dairy Institute, Midland Dairy College and Midland Agricultural College. They include:
Financial papers, including finance and wage books (UAC/1)
Minute books, 1893-1950 (UAC/2)
Dairy Reports from the Midland Agricultural College (UAC/3)
A collection of miscellaneous plans, photographs, posters and ephemera relating to the Midland Agricultural College (UAC/4)
A series of historical files collected by the James Cameron-Gifford library at Sutton Bonington, recording the history of the campus and containing a mixture of photocopy and original archive material (UAC/5) |
| MgtGroup | University archives |
| Arrangement | The papers have been grouped into five series: Financial papers, minute books, reports, miscellaneous material, historical files compiled by James Cameron-Gifford library. |
| Language | English |
| Term | Universities and colleges - England - Nottinghamshire |
| Universities and colleges - Administration |
| FindingAids | Copyright in all finding aids belongs to The University of Nottingham.
In the Reading Room, King's Meadow Campus: Typescript catalogue, 41 pp.
Online: Available on the Manuscripts Online Catalogue, accessible from the website of Manuscripts and Special Collections. |
| Copyright | Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult.
Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections |
| ReprodnNote | Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents. |
| Condition | Good |
| Related Material | This collection is just one part of a larger set of records relating to the University of Nottingham. The University of Nottingham archive has been divided into separate collections as follows (please note that collections marked with an asterisk * are still being catalogued):
UAC: Records of Midland Agricultural College, pre-1948
UCN: Records of University College Nottingham, pre-1948
UA: Records of The University of Nottingham: Academic Faculties, Departments and Research Institutes *
UF: Records of The University of Nottingham: Estate and Resource Management, including Libraries *
UG: Records of The University of Nottingham: Governance
UL: Records of The University of Nottingham: Student and Staff Life *
UP: Records of The University of Nottingham: External Relations *
US: Records of The University of Nottingham: Strategy, Vice-Chancellor's Office and Registrar's Department papers
UU: Records of The University of Nottingham: Student, Staff and Alumni Societies *
UMP: Photographs from the University of Nottingham and its predecessor University College, Nottingham *
NUP: Photographs relating to the University of Nottingham and the earlier University College, Nottingham, donated by alumni, former staff and other individuals
UONC: The University of Nottingham Collection, printed and published material about the University of Nottingham and its predecessor University College, Nottingham
Search for the reference number on the Manuscripts Online Catalogue to retrieve records from any other catalogued University collection. |
| Papers of Roma Castle, student at Midland Agricultural College, ref. MS 874 |
| Photographs of the staff and students of Midland Agricultural College, Sutton Bonington, 1935-1936 (Reference: NUP/42) |
| Photographs from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Nottingham (formerly the Midland Agricultural and Dairy College), at Sutton Bonington; c.1894-1994 (Reference: UMP/5) |
| Photograph of the Football Team, Midland Agricultural and Dairy College; 1926 (NUP/33) |
| Ephemera from alumna Helen Young's time at the Midlands Agricultural College; 1937-1940 (ALUM/MS 1040) |
| Related Record | MS874 |
| NUP/42 |
| UMP/5 |
| NUP/33 |
| ALUM/MS1040 |