Records of the University College of North Wales

The records of the University (which have been catalogued) form a vast percentage of the holdings of the Archives Department. They vary greatly in format, from correspondence, plans, photographs, postcards, printed ephemera, programmes, to newspaper cuttings, brochures, prints, minutes. They touch upon such subjects as the University buildings, various funds, staff members, clubs and societies, concerts, strikes and protests, halls of residence, conferences, scholarships etc. They also range in date from before the establishment of the University, 1880's, to the 1980's. Amongst the records are papers relating to :

Administration :

• Student Registers, 1884-1946 (reference numbers 16444-16464)
• Report Books, 1899-1949 (reference numbers 16465-16489)
• Discipline book, 1906-1932 (reference number 14810)
• Declaration books, 1907-1934 (reference numbers 14808-14809)

Academic Departments : correspondence, prospectuses, programmes, posters, photographs, timetables, syllabuses, reading lists, essays, examination papers, registers etc.

• Agriculture and Forestry Departments, 1921-1922 (reference number 18063)
• Classics Department, 1980-1988 (reference numbers 34740, 34747, 36419)
• Day Training Department, 1894-1900 (reference numbers 33973-33974, 34714)
• Drama Department, 1973-1990 (reference numbers 36710-36798)
• Extra-Mural Department, 1914-1935 (reference numbers 13565-13569)
• Hebrew Classes, 1922-1928 (reference numbers 17907, 18064)
• History Department, 1921-1976 (reference numbers 16420, 26648)
• Marine Biology Department, 1941-1984 (reference numbers 35947-35951)
• Mathematics Department, 1951-1984 (reference numbers 33089, 33240, 36345)
• Music Department, 1986-1987 (reference number 36349)
• North Wales Medical School, 1973-1981 (reference numbers 32534-32535)
• Physics Department, 1934-1935 (reference number 36526)
• Welsh Department, 1895-1980's (reference numbers 11617-11629, 15530-15532, 17906, 23784, 34496-34497, 34501, 34509, 34554-34555)

Library and Archives Service

• Library records such as minutes of committees, accounts, log books, accession registers, declaration registers, lists of fines, photographs, catalogues of exhibitions, lists of books purchased, information leaflets, even volumes relating to the first computer acquired by UCNW, 1904-1978 (reference numbers 1884-1885, 8713-8715, 15522, 17281-17286, 18325, 18927, 21130, 23095, 25736, 26186, 26602, 33253, 33819, 37630-37633)
• The records of the Archives Department consist of correspondence and catalogues which relate mostly to the numerous manuscript collections deposited at the University over a period of several years, under Thomas Richards and Emyr Gwynne Jones, Librarians and Alyn Giles Jones, Archivist, 1927-1981 (reference numbers 3205, 15094, 25711-25713, 25797, 26027-26028, 26304-26311, 26382, 26398, 26512, 26601, 26614, 26645, 27392, 27512, 31579-31583, 35369-35370, 35831)

Clubs and Societies : records may consist of minutes, photographs, log books, lists of members, programmes etc. and relate to several clubs, societies, committees and associations, including :

• Art Studies Committee, 1920-1923 (reference number 20645)
• Boating Club, 1903-1954 (reference numbers 1868, 13944-13946)
• Choral Society, 1899-1915 (reference numbers 1862-1864, 34000)
• Chwaraewyr Coleg y Gogledd, 1935-1954 (reference numbers 11608-11609, 37996, 38000)
• Colours Committee, 1904-1923 (reference number 1876)
• Concert Committee, 1917-1918 (reference number 2525)
• Cricket Club, 1919-1925 (reference numbers 1875, 34527)
• Cymdeithas Cymru Reichel, 1945-1955 (reference number 34508)
• Cymdeithas y Ddrama Gymraeg, 1951-1980 (reference numbers 34458, 35968)
• Cymdeithas Genedlaethol Myfyrwyr Bangor, 1897 (reference number 31128)
• Cymdeithas Llafar Gwlad, 1889-1890 (reference number 467)
• Cymdeithas Llywarch Hen, 1933-1978 (reference numbers 5711, 14806, 14824, 26993-26994, 27300, 36542)
• Y Cymric / Welsh Society, 1905-1951 (reference numbers 1865-1867, 2524, 5681, 7354, 10365, 37984, 37987, 37989, 37992)
• Dinner Committee, 1932-1933 (reference number 14811)
• English Dramatic Society, 1935 (reference number 37999)
• Entertainments Committee, 1922-1924 (reference number 2527)
• Historical Discussion Society, 1922-1957 (reference numbers 7350, 16421-16424, 18583)
• Literary and Debating Society, 1897-1925 (reference numbers 1858-1861, 31129)
• Magazine Committee, 1905-1933 (reference numbers 2521, 2526)
• Mathematical Society, 1985-1986 (reference number 34565)
• Mountaineering Club, 1944-1971 (reference numbers 5710, 9868, 14800-14801, 36430-36435)
• Old Students' Association, 1898-1981 (reference numbers 18608-18616, 21152-21153, 24546-24549, 37225-37226)
• Operatic Society, 1977 (reference number 36132)
• Plaid Cymru Branch, 1930-1934 (reference number 13920)
• Political and Debating Society, 1932-1933 (reference number 37985)
• Presbyterian Students Committee, 1908-1963 (reference numbers 2391-2401, 15091-15092, 24066-24071)
• Q Club, 1923-1960 (reference numbers 20778, 34791-34814, 37994, 37998)
• Rag Committee, 1930-1935 (reference number 2529)
• Rugby Club, 1920-1990 (reference numbers 1872, 33822-33824, 36499-36500)
• St David's Day Celebrations Committee, 1899-1904 (reference number 1869)
• Staff Club, 1921-1986 (reference numbers 34185-34214, 35346)
• Student Christian Movement, 1934-1951 (reference numbers 23029-23030)
• Student Representative Council / Committee, 1901-1952 (reference numbers 1854-1856, 2513-2520, 10434)
• Tennis Committee, 1927-1929 (reference number 2523)
• Women's Common Room Committee, 1907-1926 (reference numbers 1871, 2528)
• Womens Hockey Club, 1905-1924 (reference numbers 1873-1874)
• Women Students' Society, 1893-1904 (reference number 1870)
• Women's Union Committee, 1926-1932 (reference number 2522)

Eisteddfod - papers relating to various Eisteddfodau held at the University, some Inter-Collegiate, others between students and colleges in Bangor. They consist of adjudications, compositions, minutes etc., 1905-1975 (reference numbers 236, 1878, 4153, 5063, 7266, 8527, 8720, 10209-10211, 18320-18321, 26902, 34479-34492, 35364, 36531)

Centenary Celebrations / Centenary Appeal : minutes, files, correspondence etc., 1979-1985 (reference numbers 33868-33940, 33968-33972, 34006, 34158, 34178-34179, 34723)

The University of Wales Bangor came into being as a direct result of a campaign in the late nineteenth century for better higher education provision in Wales. An important feature of the fundraising campaign to establish a college of university rank in Bangor was the voluntary contributions made by local quarrymen from their weekly wages over a period of years. It opened on 18 October 1884 in an old coaching inn with 58 students and 10 members of staff. In 1893 it became one of the three constituent colleges of the University of Wales.

The University moved to a new site in 1911 - the present main university buildings - on a hillside overlooking Bangor. Major growth occurred in the late 1950's and early 1960's, when the number of students increased to over 2,000. Expansion continued throughout the 1980's and 1990's with a major development being the introduction of nurse / midwifery training in the 1980's. Integration between the University and Coleg Normal, specialising in training teachers, occurred in 1996.

The complete story of the beginnings of the University College of North Wales has been written by J. Gwynn Williams. It was published in 1985 under the title The University College of North Wales : Foundations 1884-1927.

Material is incorporated into the General Collection of Bangor Manuscripts.

Restrictions may apply in some cases. Consult the Archivist for details.

Description compiled by Elen Wyn Simpson, April 2004. The administrative history was taken from the University of Wales Bangor web site.

Item level word-processed list is available at the Archives Department of the University of Wales, Bangor. Reference numbers: General Collection of Bangor Manuscripts : 236, 467, 1854-1876, 1878, 1884-1885, 2391-2401, 2513-2529, 3134, 3205, 4153, 4587-4588, 5063, 5681, 5710-5711, 7266, 7339, 7350, 7354, 8527, 8713-8715, 8720, 9868, 10209-10211, 10365, 10434, 11608-11609, 11617-11629, 11796-11799, 13565-13569, 13920, 13944-13946, 14800-14801, 14806, 14808-14811, 14824, 14853-14876, 15091-15092, 15094, 15281-15289, 15445, 15522, 15530-15532, 16420, 16421-16424, 16444-16506, 17281-17286, 17673, 17906-17907, 18063-18064, 18320-18321, 18325, 18583, 18608-18616, 18687 -18688, 18925, 18927, 20589, 20645, 20778, 21054, 21130, 21152-21153, 23029-23030, 23095, 23687, 23692-23694, 23761, 23784, 24066-24071, 24263, 24546-24549, 24663, 25604, 25711-25713, 25736, 25760, 25797, 26027-26028, 26085, 26186, 26304-26311, 26382, 26398, 26512, 26534-26535, 26600-26602, 26605, 26614, 26645, 26648, 26902, 26993-26994, 27300, 27392, 27512, 31128-31131, 31579-31583, 32398, 32437, 32534-32535, 32596, 32904, 32905, 33089, 33240, 33243, 33253, 33488, 33819, 33821-33824, 33868-33940, 33968-33974, 33999-34000, 34003-34004, 34006, 34054, 34122-34131, 34145, 34158, 34171, 34178-34179, 34185-34214, 34458, 34472, 34479-34492, 34496-34497, 34501, 34508-34509, 34526-34527, 34534, 34537-34539, 34543, 34554-34555, 34561, 34563-34565, 34599, 34688, 34714, 34723, 34736, 34740, 34747, 34791-34814, 35346, 35364, 35369-35370, 35817, 35831, 35842, 35847, 35863, 35875-35886, 35947-35951, 35957-35959, 35968, 35976-35977, 36132, 36345, 36349, 36419, 36430-36435, 36499-36500, 36526, 36531, 36542, 36710-36798, 37219, 37225-37226, 37630-37633, 37984-38004

Usual copyright conditions apply. Reprographics are made at the discretion of the Archivist.

Documents relating to the University are continually being deposited at the Archives Department, through various University Departments and individuals - former students and staff members mostly. The Department holds a large mass of uncatalogued UCNW records which are not included in this description.

Many of the collections held at the Archives Department of the University of Wales Bangor have some connection with the University. In particular, consult the Papers of Llew Tegid,Grace Ellis Papers, Museum of Welsh Antiquities Papers. Collection level descriptions are available on the Archives Hub.