University of Sheffield Library. Special Collections and Archives Ref: MS 74 Title: Hewins Mss. Scope: The papers and correspondence of W.A.S. Hewins, economist, historian and politician, and first director of the London School of Economics, c. 1866 to 1931. The collection includes the unlisted papers of his son, M.G. Hewins. Dates: 1848, 1866-1931 Level: Fonds Extent: 231 boxes Name of creator: William Albert Samuel Hewins; Maurice Gravenor Hewins Administrative / biographical history: The archive consists of the papers of William Albert Samuel Hewins (1865-1931), economist, historian and Conservative politician, together with those of his son Maurice Gravenor Hewins (though the latter remain unlisted). The documents include official government papers, notes, lecture notes and diaries, together with an extensive and important correspondence involving leading politicians and dignitaries of the day. (For details of Hewins’ collection of original nineteenth-century broadside ballads included in the Papers see separate entry under “Hewins Ballads”). W.A.S. Hewins was born in 1865, and educated at Wolverhampton G.S. and Pembroke College, Oxford. He undertook postgraduate research in History under Sir Charles Harding Firth, and on leaving Oxford took part in university extension work. In 1895 he was invited to organise the London School of Economics, of which he was Director until 1903. He was also Tooke Professor of Economic Science and Statistics at King’s College, London from 1897 to 1903 and held the chair of Modern Economic History at that University from 1902 to 1903. In 1903 he was invited by Joseph Chamberlain to become Secretary of the Tariff Reform Commission, intended to promote Chamberlain’s policy of safeguarding British industry and encouraging Imperial economic unity, a post which he held until 1917, serving as Chairman from 1920 to 1922. During his political career he fought three unsuccessful by-elections before being returned as Conservative member for Hereford City in March 1912, representing the constituency until 1918. From 1915 he held various offices in the Unionist Business Committee and in the Empire Development Union. In 1914 he became a Roman Catholic and acted as an adviser to Cardinal Bourne on political matters. Hewins contributed numerous articles to periodicals and wrote several books, of which The Apologia of an Imperialist (1929) is largely autobiographical. The papers of W.A.S. Hewins’s son, Maurice Gravenor Hewins, form part of the collection (1907-1950) but are as yet unlisted. Source: Purchased 1967 System of arrangement: By category Subjects: Conservatism - Great Britain; Economists - Great Britain; Tariff preferences - Great Britain 1 Names: Hewins, William Albert Samuel, 1865-1931; Hewins, Maurice Gravenor, 1897- ; Conservative Party: London School of Economics and Political Science; Tariff Reform Commission Conditions of access: Available to all researchers, by appointment Restrictions: Unlisted papers not available Copyright: University of Sheffield Finding aids: W.A.S. Hewins: Sections 1-132. Listed M.G. Hewins: Sections 133-217. Not listed: 2 Hewins Mss. This collection was purchased by the University of Sheffield Library in 1967, and comprises the correspondence and working papers of William Albert Samuel Hewins (1865-1931) and his son, Maurice Gravenor Hewins (1894-1953). Margaret Slater = W.A.S. Hewins (1862-?) | (1865-1931) | | | ___________________________________________________ | | | Dorothy | (Margaret) Nancy (1894-?) | (1902-?) (Maurice) Gravenor = Constance (1897-1953) | | ___________________ | | Richard Patrick (1939-) Geneaology of Hewins to 1865: Elizabeth Hargreave = Edward Green of Wednesfield Heath | | Sarah Robbins = John Green of Bampton, | of the same Oxon. (1800-?) | Sarah Bruce = Thomas Hewins | | (?-?1853) | | Caroline Green = Samuel Hewins | (1833-1899) | ironmonger, of Bushbury, Staffs, | then Wolverhampton | ________________________________________________________ | | | | | | Florence William Fred Harold Kitty Annie (1865-1931) 3 William Albert Samuel Hewins (1865-1931), B.A., M.A., F.R.H.S. W.A.S. Hewins, The Apologia of an Imperialist (London, 1929), is largely autobiographical. A summary life, rather partisan, is by Percy Hurd, a Tariff Reformer, at D.N.B., 1931-40, pp. 425-6. His obituary appeared in The Times for 18 Nov. 1931. The following is additional information which bears directly on the correspondence and papers: b. 11 May 1865; educated at Wolverhampton G.S.; 1884 Hatherton Scholar at Pembroke College, Oxford; March, 1885 Merchant Taylor Scholar; 1887 B.A. Hons. Class II in Maths; 1887 postgraduate research in History under the supervision on (Sir) Charles Harding Firth; 1888-1895 Oxford Univ. Extension Lecturer, organising the Oxford Summer Schools in 1889-1890; 1886 befriended Margaret Slater, through the acquaintance of Leonard and Archibald Slater; ?1888 Margaret and Hewins engaged, and married 25 Aug. 1892 at Darlaston (cp. 43/101); in 1886, Hewins had founded the “Social Science Club” at Oxford, to which he read some of the papers described below; in 1888 he applied unsuccessfully for the post of Bursar to St. John’s College, Oxford (cp. 41/223-40); his application for the Tooke Professorship in 1891 was similarly unsuccessful (cp. 43/58 ff.); from 1915 he held various offices in the Unionist Business Committee and in the Empire Development Union (cp., for example, the “stray” minute books at 25-33); in 1922-3 he was co-opted to the Technical and Special Education Subcommittees of the L.C.C.; he became a Catholic in 1914. Maurice Gravenor Hewins (1897-1953) (Maurice) Gravenor attended Westminster School, 1911-16, where his principle distinctions were at centre-half in football, and as head of his house, Grant’s. He enlisted in the Forces in 1916, and received a commission as 2nd lieutenant in the Middx. Regiment in 1917; he was stationed at Cambridge and at Chittenden Camp, nr. Stroud, Kent. He matriculated 1 May 1919, at Christ Church, Oxford, taking a Class II Hons. in Modern History in June 1921. He was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn, and resided in London. His non-professional life was devoted to Catholicism, having followed his father’s conversion in 1917. Gravenor held various offices in the Catholic Evidence Guild, and had strong connections with the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom and the Catholic Aid Association. At Oxford, he had been a principal member of the Cardinal, Newman, Carlton, and ’19 Clubs, and was a founder-member of the New Tory Association (O.U.N.T.A.) in 1921. The papers are arranged as follows: Papers of W.A.S. Hewins, 1849 and 1866-1931 Papers of Gravenor Hewins, 1907-50 4 The Hewins Papers - List of Files 1 - 10. Family Letters 1884 - 1901. 1 - 9. Letters from Margaret 10. Other Family Letters 11 - 40. Original Bundles of Papers 1872 - 1931. 11 - 13. Examination Papers, 1872 - 1903. 14 - 17. Papers Relating to Education in London, 1895 - 1923. 18 - 24. Papers Relating to the Tariff Commission and Tariff Reform League, 1899 - 1918. 25 - 32. Unionist Business Committee Attendance and Minute Books, 1916 - 1921. 33. Empire Development Union Minute Book, Sep.1922 - Jun.1923. 34. Papers Relating to Tariff Reform, 1903 - 1926. 35. Newscuttings, 1903 - 1928. Hewins' contributions to The Times etc. 36 - 37. Papers Relating to Conservative Economic Policy and Tariff Reform, 1907 - 1931. 38 - 39. Papers Relating to Tariff Reform and Ireland, 1919 - 1924. 40. Coal Commission, 1919. 41 - 94. General Correspondence and Papers, 1849 and 1865 - 1931. 41 - 42. Letters and Papers Relating to Oxford University and Family Letters, 1849 and 1865 - 1931. 43. Papers Relating to Hewins’ Edition of the Whitefoord Papers, 1890 – 1895. 44. General Correspondence and Papers, 1895 - 1899. 45 - 46. Papers Relating to the L.S.E, the Sale of the Whitefoord Papers, London University and Appointment as Tariff Commission Secretary, 1900 - 1903. 47 - 52. Tariff Reform and the Procuring of a Parliamentary Constituency for 5 Hewins to Contest, 1904 - 1909. 53 - 56. Elections inc. Hereford, Tariff Reform and Opposition to the Lloyd George Budget and Catholicism, 1909 - 1912. 57 - 61. Relating to Political, Constituency and Tariff Reform Business, 1912 - 1916. 62 - 63. Letters from Gravenor Hewins to his Parents, 1912 - 1921. 64. Papers Relating to German Economic Policy, Tariff Reform and Constituency Business, Jan. - May 1917. 65 - 66. Papers Relating to Hewins’ Appointment as Under-Secretary of State to the Colonies, the Imperial Conference and Constituency Business, Jun. - Dec. 1917. 67 - 71. Colonial Office and Constituency Business, Jan. - Nov. 1918. 72 -73. Colonial Office and Constituency Business, Hewins’ Non-Selection for a Herefordshire Constituency, Attempts to Find an Alternative Seat and Loss of Office, Nov.1918 - Jan 1919. 74 - 75. Relating Inter-Alia to the Tariff Commission, Catholic Affairs and Hewins’ Chairmanship of British Cold Stores, Feb - Dec 1919. 76 - 78. Papers Relating to Ireland, the Tariff Reform League, the Tariff Commission and Catholic Affairs. 79 - 80. Papers Relating to Hewins’ Candidature for North-West Devon and to the Empire Development Union, Jan. - Oct. 1922. 81 - 83. Papers Relating to Hewins’ Candidature for Swansea West in 1922 and to the Empire Development Union, Jul - Dec. 1922. 84 - 86. Papers Relating to the Empire Development Union and the 1923 Election in Swansea West, Jan. - Dec.1923. 87. Papers Relating to Hewins’ Candidature in Swansea West in 1924 and Proposed Fair Trade Union, Jan - Dec 1924. 88 - 91. Papers Relating to The Empire Industries Association, the Proposal to Make an Empire Film and the Educational Activities of the Conservative Party, 1925 - 1928. 92. Papers Relating to Hewins’ Speaking Engagements in the 1929 Election, to the Universal Postal Union Congress, to Hewins’ Lectures at the Bonar Law College and to the Publication of The Apologia of an Imperialist. 6 93. Papers Relating Inter-Alia to Hewins’ Speaking Engagements, to the Publication of The Royal Saints of Britain, to the State of the Conservative Party and to the Economic Crisis of 1931, Dec 1929 – Nov.1931. 94. Undated and "Stray" Correspondence and papers. 95 - 129.