Durham University Records: Colleges: Josephine Butler College

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Introduction

	Administrative history
	Contents
	Arrangement
	Related material - elsewhere

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Catalogue

• Colleges
• Josephine Butler College
• Academic
• Lectures
• Students
• Associations, Clubs and Societies
• Middle Common Room (MCR)
• Drama
• Publications

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Administrative history

Josephine Butler was the university's 16th college. The idea was put first publicised in 2002 and on 9th August 2004, building work began at the Howlands Farm site. This had been a mixed agriculture farm, but had been owned by the University and the site of some residences for Ustinov College for over a decade. As a new college, Butler was able to take account of the changing expectations of students – all of the rooms have en-suite facilities and are organised into flats. The college was designed to be the first self-catering college in the city, giving students coming to Durham a further option when choosing which college to apply to. Designed by the architects Gotch, Saunders and Surridge, the residential buildings were designed to complement the architecture of Durham, with rooflines at different pitches and brick colours and patterns in keeping with traditional brickwork in the city. The buildings which house the social spaces, offices and facilities, visible from the cathedral, are designed to blend in to the surrounding countryside, with their sloping roofs covered with slow-growing plants.
In December 2005 the University announced that it was choosing to name the college after Josephine Butler, the social reformer and campaigner for women’s rights. She was born in Northumberland in 1828, the daughter of John and Hannah Grey. Her father was a cousin of Earl Grey (tea aficionado, prime minister and after whom Grey College at Durham is named). Josephine married George Butler, a tutor in classics at the then new University of Durham. She went on to be one of the most significant contributors to the women’s rights movement, campaigning tirelessly against laws which discriminated against women and supporting projects promoting education for women, including support for the foundation of Newnham College, Cambridge. She died in December 1906 and Josephine Butler College opened in the year of the centenary celebrations for her life and works
In January 2006, Adrian Simpson, the inaugural Principal of the college, took up his post, with Jill Tidmarsh, Senior Tutor, and Michelle Crawford, Bursar, soon following to form the first team of college officers. Josephine Butler College is developing an excellent secretarial team who ensure the smooth administration of the College. They were assisted by a College Secretary, an Admissions Secretary and Receptionists, with a Finance Officer, an Operational Facilities Manager, teams of housekeeping staff and porters and a bar manager. There are also junior, middle and senior common rooms. The governance of the college is supported by College Council, chaired initialy by Phil Jones, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University. Joining around 100 students transferring from other colleges, and postgraduate students from around the world, the first full intake of first year students was on 1 October 2006.
Principals:
2006-date Adrian Simpson

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Contents

Most of the university's historic colleges in Durham have now transferred their archives to Palace Green Library where significant collections for University, Hatfield, St John's, St Chad's, St Cuthbert's, St Aidan's, St Mary's, Van Mildert, Trevelyan and Hild Bede colleges are now held. The colleges' records reflect all aspects of the colleges' life from minutes of its governing bodies and other committees, to registers and files of its students, administrative and financial papers of its officers such as the master/principal and bursar (including covering maintenance of their buildings), also minutes, accounts, photographs and ephemera of the running of their dining halls and chapels, of their common rooms (senior, middle and junior), and of their student sports clubs and societies, with also on occasion papers of some of their senior and/or junior members, and some artefacts, principally occasional items of clothing such as ties or blazers. In addition, there are considerable collections of deeds for the properties which became the colleges of St Chad's and Hild Bede which take the history of these significant sites in the city of Durham back into the sixteenth century. The deeds for St Chad's also cover its advowsons held elsewhere, especially in Liverpool. Various items are also held for the following colleges: Collingwood, Grey, Josephine Butler, Neville's Cross, Ustinov, Stephenson and John Snow. In addition, there are files for an unrealised attempt to establish a college on the Howlands Farm site in the mid 1990s.

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Accession details

Acquired at various times since the college's establishment in 2006.

Conditions of access

There is restricted access to administrative records less than 30 years old, with some further restrictions, generally as noted, on records less than 80 years old where the Data Protection Act applies.

Copyright and copying

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Head of Collections (email pg.library@durham.ac.uk) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. The Library will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material

Arrangement

College records are arranged as follows:
A Foundation
B Governance
C Administration
D Academic
E Clubs, Sports, Associations
F Photographs
G Publications and Ephemera
H Deposited/donated collections
I Artefacts
J Associated Trusts

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Appraisal

Some accessions are appraised on site before transfer, others are appraised when received at Palace Green Library. Clean duplicates are generally removed.

Accruals

Continuous further accruals are anticipated. In April 2004, a retention schedule and other records management procedures were developed for the university's records to facilitate the regular transfer of records from the university's departments and offices to the archive. This draft retention schedule was developed further on the appointment of the first university records manager in August 2006, revised in 2019.

Related material - elsewhere

The college's website has a complete run of the college newsletter, the most accessible record of the history of the college at https://www.dur.ac.uk/butler.college/about/college_newsletters/

Catalogue

Colleges
Reference: UND/F Durham University is a “collegiate” university. The colleges are a major part of the Durham University experience and are one of the key reasons students give for applying. Durham University's college system is arguably the most distinctive feature of the University. Colleges are small enough to foster a strong sense of community, whilst still allowing students to enjoy all the academic and other benefits of a large University. Every student at the University belongs to a college. They remain a member of their college throughout their time at Durham and beyond. The colleges are not teaching bodies, but they are more than just places to eat and sleep. Instead, each college is a small community providing a wide range of activities and facilities for study, sports, the arts, socialising, relaxation and welfare.