Scope and Contents Diary covering Charles Peake’s time as Lord Halifax’s Personal Assistant from 14 January to 26 December 1941. Subjects covered for January include: travelling across America; attending church; Halifax’s love of corduroy trousers; drafting Halifax’s speeches; meeting US President [Franklin Roosevelt] on the destroyer; reflections on the use of oil and electricity in the ship’s kitchen; reviewing a delegation of American admirals; travelling to the US Embassy; Peake’s concern about...

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Handwritten notice giving orders for dome watchers in the event of flying bombs.

Scope and Contents Sub-titled, 'Or a short history of the Royal Observatory covering the period from the outbreak of War, Sept. 1939 to the end of the year 1940'. Wartime diary with table of contents (I. Prelude, II. Evacuation and Blitz, III. The Beleaguered Garrison; IV. General Routine, V. The Garden; VI. A.R.P, VII. LDV and HG'. Inside the front cover is a sketch in black ink by Laurie titled, 'Morning - Oct. 16, 1940' showing bomb damage [on a street in Greenwich?]. Entries are handwritten in...

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Wartime diary, 'being an account of the LDV Unit up to its disbanding and the further progress of its remnants in the Greenwich Part Section of D Coy.' Table of contents inside front cover: 'I. Formation, II. Disintegration, III. Park Section, IV. D-Day; V. Flying Bomb. Entries are handwritten in ink. The diary has black and white photographs of people and RO buildings stuck onto the pages throughout, with occasional sketches.

Scope and Contents Photographic print showing a training unit of the Royal Air Force on the front steps of Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge. 43 men are standing in four ranks in front of four seated figures (two commissioned and two non-commissioned officers). The print is captioned in manuscript 'Back from training 1940-1942' and with the name of the former owner, William Alan North, whose position appears to be indicated in the first standing rank. On the reverse of the print are 40...

Scope and Contents Laurie worked in the Solar Department at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, which remained open throughout the Second World War. This section includes two wartime diaries kept by Laurie, along with photocopies and a related article. There are two second world war files: one comprised of war-era circulars, notices, and ration lists etc.; the other comprised of bomb damage reports for the ROG. There is also a handwritten 'Klaxon warning' notice giving orders for dome watchers in the event of...

Scope and Contents Includes: scheme of passive defence for the ROG describing the organisation of personnel and proposals for the protection of personnel, buildings, instruments, chronometers, records and stores; list of applications for great coats and boots, 3 September 1940; notice on the duties of a sentry; lists of Home Guard duties; target practice card for H.W. Newton; target engagement form for the Home Guard; record of firing at Bisley, 22 August 1940; correspondence with the Astronomer Royal...

Scope and Contents Includes: reports of H.W. Newton, Head of the Solar Department, to the Astronomer Royal following bomb damage at RO Greenwich on the nights of 15th, 19th and 21st October 1940, including a message from Newton to the Astronomer Royal that the Altazimuth building had been hit and the instrument wrecked; reports of minor bomb damage on 8 December 1940 and of a bomb drop on 27th December 1940; correspondence concerning repairs; report of air raids/incendiary bombs on March 19th-20th, 19th-20th...

Scope and Contents Files relating to the history of the Royal Observatory Greenwich and RGO, Herstmonceux, compiled and in many cases, created by, Philip Stevenson Laurie. Laurie worked at the ROG/RGO from 1935 to 1977, beginning as a Temporary Computer before going on to become the Head of the Solar Department. While most of his career involved solar work, Laurie also had a passion for ROG/RGO history and became increasingly involved with the RGO’s Archives. On 1 October 1974, he was transferred to full-time...