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Churchill contains:
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KNNK AS Kinnock Associated Papers
KPZA Papers of Piotr Leonidovich Kapitza
LABA The Papers of Lansing Bagnall Limited
LASC The Papers of Sir Frank Lascelles
LASL The Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles
LASL AS Associated Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles
LDBA The Papers of Baron Baker of Windrush
LEBY The Papers of Vice-Admiral Sir Louis Le Bailly
LEEP The Papers of Alexander Wigram Allen Leeper
LEGT The Papers of George Leggett
LESL The Papers of Sir Norman Leslie
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Associated Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles

Title Associated Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles
Reference GBR/0014/LASL AS
Creator Lascelles, Sir Alan Frederick, 1887-1981, Knight and Private Secretary to King George VI
Covering Dates 1957–1981
Extent and Medium 2 archive boxes
Repository Churchill Archives Centre
Content and context

Alan Frederick Lascelles, known as "Tommy", was born on 11 April 1887, the son of Commander Frederick Canning Lascelles and Frederica Maria. He was educated at Hazelhurst preparatory school, Marlborough College and Trinity College, Oxford.

During the First World War, Lascelles served in France with the Bedfordshire Yeomanry (1914-18). He was then appointed Aide-de-Camp to Lord Lloyd, the Governor of Bombay (1919-20). In Delhi he married Joan Thesiger (eldest daughter of the Viceroy, Frederic Thesiger, Viscount Chelmsford) with whom he had three children. Having returned to England in 1920 Lascelles was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). He was Secretary to Governor General of Canada (1931-35); Assistant Private Secretary to King George V (1935), and to King George VI, (1936-43), rising to the position of Private Secretary (1943-52) becoming Private Secretary to the Queen (1952-53). He was Keeper of the Royal Archives (1943-1953). Lascelles died on 10 August 1981.

Rupert Hart-Davis was born on 28 August 1907, the only son of Richard Vaughan Hart-Davis and Sybil Mary Cooper, elder sister of 1st Viscount Norwich. He was educated at Stanmore Park, then Eton, and Balliol College, University of Oxford. In 1929 he married (1st), Peggy Ashcroft, then following a divorce, in 1933 he married (2nd), Catherine Comfort Borden-Turner, daughter of Mary Borden and George Douglas Turner, having two sons (Duff and Adam Hart-Davis) and one daughter, Bridget. This marriage also ended in divorce, and in 1964, Hart-Davis married (3rd), Winifred Ruth, daughter of C. H. Ware, and widow of Oliver Simon. She died in 1967, and in 1968 Hart-Davis then married (4th), June (née Clifford), widow of David Williams.

After a brief period in the theatre, during which he studied at the Old Vic (1927-28) and worked as an actor at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith (1928-29), Hart-Davis entered the publishing world as an office boy at William Heinemann Limited (1929-31). He then left to become firstly Manager of the Book Society (1932) and then Director of Jonathan Cape Limited (1933-40).

During the war Hart-Davis served in the Coldstream Guards (1940-45). Returning to publishing at the end of the war, he founded his own firm, Rupert Hart-Davis Limited, in 1946, and although the firm enjoyed critical success, it was sold to Heinemann in 1955.

Hart-Davis's publications include: "Hugh Walpole: a biography" (1952); "The Arms of Time: a memoir" (1979); "The Power of Chance: a table of memory" (1991); "Halfway to Heaven" (1998). He was also a highly successful editor, with works including: "The Essential Neville Cardus" (1949); "E. V. Lucas: Cricket all his Life" (1950); "George Moore: Letters to Lady Cunard" (1957); "The Letters of Oscar Wilde" (1962); "Max Beerbohm: Letters to Reggie Turner" (1964); "Max Beerbohm: More Theatres" (1969); "Max Beerbohm: Last Theatres" (1970); "Max Beerbohm: A Peep into the Past" (1972); "A Catalogue of the Caricatures of Max Beerbohm" (1972); "The Autobiography of Arthur Ransome" (1976); "William Plomer: Electric Delights" (1978); "The Lyttelton Hart-Davis Letters", vol. I, 1978, vol. II, 1979, vol. III, 1981, vol. IV, 1982, vol. V, 1983, vol. VI, 1984; "Selected Letters of Oscar Wilde" (1979); "Two Men of Letters" (1979); "Siegfried Sassoon Diaries": 1920-1922 (1981), 1915-1918 (1983), 1923-25 (1985); "The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon" (1983); "A Beggar in Purple: commonplace book" (1983); "More Letters of Oscar Wilde" (1985); "Siegfried Sassoon: Letters to Max Beerbohm" (1986); "Letters of Max Beerbohm 1892-1956" (1989). Hart-Davis died on 8 December 1999.

Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis, chiefly on the Literary Society, of which Lascelles was President and Hart-Davis Secretary, and on books edited by Hart-Davis.

The papers were deposited at Churchill Archives Centre by Duff Hart-Davis in December 2005.

Access and Use

The papers are open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required.

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holder and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.

Please cite as Churchill Archives Centre, Associated Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles, LASL AS

Further information

See also the main collection of Lascelles Papers, GBR/0014/LASL.

A copy of this finding aid is available for consultation at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, the National Register of Archives, London and on the Janus website, http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/.

This finding aid was compiled by Katharine Thomson of Churchill Archives Centre in February 2006, with biographical information being taken from Who Was Who (A & C Black) and from the essay by John Julius Norwich, 'Davis, Sir Rupert Charles Hart- (1907-1999)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Index Terms
Literature
Lascelles, Sir Alan Frederick (1887-1981) Knight and Private Secretary to King George VI
Davis, Sir Rupert Charles Hart - (1907-1999) Knight, author, editor and publisher
Churchill/LASL AS contains:
1 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: candidates for the Literary Society, including Siegfried Sassoon; a book produced by the society; comic verses by Lascelles; the Pilgrim Trust. Also includes a letter from 11th Duke of Devonshire [earlier Lord Hartington] on becoming a member of the society.
1 file.
26 Aug 1957–27 Sep 1960
2 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: membership of the Literary Society, particularly that of Siegfried Sassoon; Sassoon's absent-mindedness; an illness suffered by Lascelles. Also includes letters from 10th Lord Cobham [earlier Charles Lyttelton] and Sir Sydney Roberts on becoming members of the society and a letter from Sir John Wheeler-Bennett.
1 file.
30 Mar 1961–20 Dec 1963
3 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: membership of the Literary Society; male friendships, and Oscar Wilde's "The Portrait of Mr W H"; Hart-Davis's edition of the letters of Sir Max Beerbohm; the memorial service for T S Eliot; the 80th birthday tribute to Siegfried Sassoon.
1 file.
07 Feb 1964–17 Dec 1965
4 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: affairs of the Literary Society, particularly its relations with the Garrick Club; the 80th birthday tribute to Siegfried Sassoon; Lascelles's archives. Also includes a letter from Vincent Massey, accepting honorary membership of the society and letters from Sir John Wheeler-Bennett and 7th Duke of Wellington [earlier Lord Douro] on another candidate for membership.
1 file.
12 Jan 1966–28 Dec 1966
5 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: membership of the Literary Society; the appointment of the new Poet Laureate; the death and letters of Siegfried Sassoon; Hart-Davis's resignation as secretary of the society. Also includes letters from 2nd Lord Birkenhead [earlier Lord Furneaux], Robert Blake and 13th Lord Antrim [earlier Lord Dunluce] accepting membership of the society.
1 file.
11 Jan 1967–13 Dec 1967
6 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: finding a new secretary for the Literary Society, to replace Hart-Davis; finding employment for Hart-Davis. Also includes letters accepting membership from individuals including John Murray and Oliver Woods.
1 file.
01 Jan 1968–19 Dec 1968
7 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: Lascelles's resignation as President of the Literary Society. Also includes a note by John Gore admiring Hart-Davis's biography of Oscar Wilde.
1 file.
07 Feb 1969–19 Dec 1969
8 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: Lascelles's foreword for Siegfried Sassoon's "Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man"; the novels of Anthony Trollope; Lascelles's diaries. Also includes the text of Lascelles's foreword to "Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man".
1 file.
07 Jan 1970–17 Sep 1970
9 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: Hart-Davis's research for "The Catalogue of Max Beerbohm's Caricatures", including identification of a drawing of members of the royal household; the death of [Robert] Peter Fleming. Also includes a copy of a poem by Beerbohm on meeting the Prince of Wales [later King Edward VIII and Edward, Duke of Windsor].
1 file.
01 Jan 1971–01 Jan 1972
10 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: Hart-Davis's article for the Dictionary of National Biography on Siegfried Sassoon, and mentioning Sassoon's homosexuality. Also includes a letter from Lieutenant-General Sir David Fraser, Vice-Chief of General Staff, on medals awarded to Sassoon.
1 file.
24 Jan 1973–20 Jun 1975
11 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: Hart-Davis's "The Catalogue of Max Beerbohm's Caricatures"; the publication of Hart-Davis's correspondence with George Lyttelton.
1 file.
19 May 1976–10 Dec 1977
12 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: the publication of Hart-Davis's correspondence with George Lyttelton; Lascelles's recollections of George Russell; whether Hart-Davis should publish a biography of his mother, Sybil Hart-Davis. Also includes a letter from John Gore on the George Lyttelton correspondence and a letter from Lyttelton to Gore.
1 file.
17 May 1978–02 Oct 1978
13 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: the publication of Hart-Davis's correspondence with George Lyttelton; Lascelles's recollections of John Seely [1st Lord Mottistone].
1 file.
22 Mar 1979–31 Dec 1979
14 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: Hart-Davis's research for the publication of his correspondence with George Lyttelton, including Lascelles's recollections of Sir Alexander Cadogan and his wife Lady Theodosia Cadogan and anecdotes about Queen Victoria; publication of Lascelles's 1914 and 1918 diaries. Also includes a letter from 6th Lord Malmesbury [earlier Lord Fitzharris], on Hart-Davis's research into his uncle Algernon Harris.
1 file.
08 Jan 1980–20 Sep 1980
15 Letters from Sir Alan Lascelles to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Subjects include: Hart-Davis's edition of Siegfried Sassoon's diaries. Also includes letters from Lascelles's daughter on subjects including his failing health.
1 file.
10 Mar 1981–30 Nov 1981

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