Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1st Jun 1931 - 11th Jun 1931 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
9 items printed, typed and handwritten
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Name of creator
Administrative history
The School of Oriental Studies was founded in 1916 at 2 Finsbury Circus, London, the then premises of the London Institution. The school received its royal charter on 5 June 1916 and admitted its first students on 18 January 1917. For a period in the mid-1930s, prior to moving to its current location at Thornhaugh Street, Bloomsbury, the school was located at Vandon House, Vandon Street, London SW1, with the library located at Clarence House. Its move to new premises in Bloomsbury was held up by delays in construction and the half-completed building took a hit during the Blitz in September 1940. With the onset of the Second World War, many University of London colleges were evacuated from London in 1939 and billeted on universities in the rest of the country. The School was, on the Government's advice, transferred to Christ's College, Cambridge. In 1940, when it became apparent that a return to London was possible, the school returned to the city and was housed for some months in eleven rooms at Broadway Court, 8 Broadway, London SW1. In 1942, the War Office joined with the School to create a scheme for State Scholarships to be offered to select grammar and public school boys with linguistic ability to train as military translators and interpreters in Chinese, Japanese, Persian, and Turkish. Lodged at Dulwich College in south London, the students became affectionately known as the Dulwich boys.
A college of the University of London, in 2011, the Privy Council approved changes to the school's charter allowing it to award degrees in its own name.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Correspondence regarding arrangements for China Society Dinner held on the 11th June 1931 at the Trocadero restaurant. There are seven letters concerning guests, their placement at the dinner, and the toasts. There is also a menu card for the Dinner and a printed copy of the Chinese National Anthem.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
- Chinese
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- China Society London (Subject)
- School of Oriental and African Studies University of London (Subject)