Wren Robinson Collection on South Africa

A collection of photographs of Basutoland (now Lesotho) and Zululand, some loose, some in albums, taken or collected by Mrs Wren Robinson while engaged in educational and welfare work. Most have handwritten captions either underneath or on the back by Mrs Robinson. The prints are kept with her papers at RCMS 220.

Mrs Wren Robinson first went to South Africa in 1928, as a geography teacher in Johannesburg. While living in England in the 1960s she and her husband, Patrick Robinson, became interested in Lesotho through their part in a project organised by the Esher Branch of 'Freedom from Hunger'. After paying visits in 1964 and 1965, they decided to settle there in 1966. They spent the ensuing ten years in Southern Africa, first in Lesotho and, from 1971, at Melmoth in Zululand. While they returned to the U.K. in 1976, they paid another visit in 1979. Mr Robinson died in May 1980 and Mrs Robinson revisited Lesotho in 1981.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Mrs Robinson had considered linking her collection of articles and papers together with an autobiographical narrative. However, in 1982, after drafting some introductory material, she abandoned the project and deposited her collection in the R.C.S. on indefinite loan.

Includes index.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

The Wren Robinson Collection also contains lecture notes, letters and other papers collected and written by Mrs Robinson. These are listed at RCMS 220.

This collection level description was entered by KS using information from the original typescript catalogue.

Robinson, Wren, fl 1928-1981