This material contains underleases for rooms sublet on the Ground Floor of 56 Queen Anne Street, and selected correspondence. There is also a print block for the "Exhibition of Embroidery Then & Now" 1959 for the Embroiderers' Guild Expansion Fund. This must have been left at the premises.

Letter from Perowne, Gedge and Company, Solicitors, to Royal Asiatic Society, to inform the Society that the Embroiderers' Guild had just entered into a contract for purchase of their own property and therefore would be vacating the rooms at 56 Queen Anne Street. Dated 7 April, 1950.
Also a print block for an advertisement for the for "Exhibition of Embroidery Then & Now" 1959 for the Embroiderers' Guild Expansion Fund to be held at the Old Knoll, Eliot Hill, Lewisham. The exhibition was being held by the kind invitation of Dr and Mrs J.E. Stokes, presumably the then inhabitants, and to be opened by Wingfield-Digby, Keeper of Textile Department at the V&A.

Correspondence concerning the letting of the rooms formerly occupied by the Embroiderers' Guild to Mr J. Harris, an architect. These letters are primarily between the Royal Asiatic Society, Howard de Walden Estates and T.L. Wilson & Company, Solicitors, and concern the change of usage for the rooms to a commercial nature and the drawing up of the underlease. Dated from 2 May 1960 - 7 September 1960.

it is presumed that Mr Ralph Tubbs took over the tenancy of these rooms from Mr J. Harris. It is unknown when he began his tenancy as the correspondence for 1966 suggests that Mr Tubbs was already occupying the premises. It seems at this time there was also a suggestion that rooms at the rear of the premises might also be sublet.

• A photocopy of the Lease between the Royal Asiatic Society and Mr Ralph Tubbs, Architect, for the two front rooms. Dated 2 April 1977.
• Correspondence regarding Mr Tubbs tenancy between the Royal Asiatic Society, Mr Tubbs, Morton-Smith & Company, Chartered Surveyors, and T.L. Wilson and Company, Solicitors. Mr Tubbs wrote to relinquish his tenancy on 25 December 1975.

The Royal Anthropological Institute began making inquiries regarding the lease of rooms at 56 Queen Anne Street in January 1976 and they began to occupy the premises in 1977. In 1979 they extended the numbers of rooms to include two small back rooms to house their photographic collections. They finally agreed to leave the premises on 5 January 1988.
The material concerns the Underlease agreements between the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute. These are:

• Underlease between the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland for the Ground Floor Front Rooms at 56 Queen Anne Street, dated 7 February 1977.
• Licence between the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland for the use of the various rooms for storage, administration and lectures. Dated 7 February 1977.
• Licence between the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland relating to the use of ground floor rooms and other facilities. Dated 1 March 1983.
• Photocopy of Licence between the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland relating to the use of ground floor rooms and other facilities. Dated 27 July 1984.
• Correspondence concerning the agreements between the two Societies, the rental arrangements, and the timing of the move of the Institute on the Royal Asiatic Society relinquishing the lease for the premises. These are mainly between the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Howard de Walden Estate and the institutions' solicitors.

Correspondence regarding the lease of the third floor flat. These include:

• Correspondence with Mr Seal regarding an extension to his lease, 1956.
• Correspondence regarding the transfer of the lease from Dr Seal to Elizabeth Holloway (later Mrs Erleigh), 1961.
• Correspondence regarding the Erleigh's tenancy. This includes a newspaper cutting about the unexpected birth of Mrs Erleigh's child, 1962-1965.
• Correspondence regarding temporary/unofficial residents, Mr Leon and Mrs Hardy, 1968.
• Correspondence regarding the relinquishment of the lease by Mrs Erleigh and its reassignment to Mr N. A. Lane and Mr M.E. Feirtag, 1968-1969.
• Correspondence regarding the relinquishment of the lease by Mr N. A. Lane and Mr M.E. Feirtag and reassignment to Howard Anthony Jacobs and Michael Horowitz, 1970-1972.
• Correspondence regarding the tenancy of Mr and Mrs Jacobs, 1976-1985.
• Director's Note regarding possible tenancy of Mr and Mrs Davidson, 1986.

The majority of the correspondence is between the Royal Asiatic Society, their tenants, and their respective solicitors.

In 1987 the Society looked to release itself from the lease for 56 Queen Anne Street. The lease was bought back from the Society by Howard de Walden Estates for £430,000. This series contains correspondence regarding the sale of the lease for 56 Queen Anne Street. This correspondence includes that with the Howard de Walden Estates, solicitors, the building surveyors, Morton-Smith & Co., and Charity Commissioners.

The patronage material includes original Charters and royal letters, and institutional correspondence concerning the Patronage of the Society.

Royal Charter of Incorporation with seal given by George IV to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland at the request of Charles Watkin Williams Wynn and other members of the Society. Included in the Charter was permission to own buildings and land to a value of £1000 and that the First Commissioner for the affairs of India should be a Vice-Patron and that there should be a Council to direct the affairs of the Society consisting of a President and not more than twenty-four or less than six other members. It declares that Charles Watkin Williams Wynn will be the first President and that the first Council members should be elected within six months after the date of the Charter. The General Meetings should elect the President and the Council. The finances will be in the charge of the Council and the members will have the right to dispose of assets, and that no bye-law can be made contrary to the spirit of the Charter. The charter measures 80cm by 61cm, and the seal is 15cm in diameter.

Letter from William IV to state that "the King has great pleasure in complying with the wish conveyed to him through Lord Marlborough by the Royal Asiatic Society that His Majesty should become their Patron." Handwritten letter, mounted on a wooden frame. This letter was removed from a picture frame. (The original letter was replaced with a facsimile).