We hold the personal and official papers of a number of clergy who have paid a significant role in the life and thought of our North East region, and of the Church of England more generally. Notable collections are summarised within the following guides:
The collections at Ushaw College Library include papers from some of the most important theologians of the last 200 years. Most notable are:
John Henry Newman Letters
Leader of the Oxford Movement within the Anglican church, convert to Catholicism, poet, religious leader and canonised in 2019
Charles Newsham Papers
Fourth president of Ushaw College and its greatest visionary
John Lingard Papers
Catholic historian, most notably of A history of England
Francis Thompson Papers
Catholic poet, most notably Hound of Heaven
Nicholas Wiseman Papers
First archbishop of Westminster
Haydock Family Papers
George Haydock was the compiler of a new edition of the Douai Bible and Rheims Testament in 1814, now the standard edition used by English-speaking Catholics
Lawrence McReavy Papers
Lawrence McReavy was a Peritus at the Second Vatican Council and influential Canon law reformer)
Palace Green Library holds the papers of Bishop Basil Butler, prominent Catholic theologian and ecumenist.
Notable collections include:
The letterbooks of Bishop John Cosin have been digitised and available online. The National Institute of Newman Studies are currently in the process of digitising the letters of John Henry Newman, Nicholas Wiseman and Charles Newsham. Some letters are accessible here NINS Digital Collections (newmanstudies.org), with more being added on a regular basis. The other collections listed above have not been digitised, so that only the catalogues are currently available online.
If you would like to purchase digital copies of specific items from any of our collections, please use our online enquiry form.
If you are a member of teaching staff at Durham University and would like to use material from Archives and Special Collections within your lectures or seminars, we may be able to scan or photograph items for this purpose. Please contact us as early as possible with any teaching digitisation requests.
See also our guide to Digitised Collections Online for further information on our digital resources.
Our collections are at one of two sites.
For disruption due to roofing works in 2024-2025, visit our guide. To make an appointment, please use our enquiry form. Appointments need to be made at least three working days in advance (at least three weeks notice is required for items at Ushaw), and we will need to know the full list of document references or shelfmarks of the items you wish to consult before we can confirm your booking. If you are unsure of how to do this or need assistance please contact us and we will be happy to help.
See information on Using Our Collections for further information on accessing our collections and on our facilities and services.
Details of opening times can be found in our Library Sites guide.
