OLIVER COLLECTION
Links: Home | Local History | Exhibitions
Introduction
The Oliver Collection was given this name because it
originally belonged to the late Sydney Oliver who bequeathed it in trust to the
S.A Oliver Charitable Settlement. The
Collection is in two sections one of which is housed in Chertsey Museum and
mostly consists of paintings, engravings, and artefacts, and the other section
of which, consisting mostly of books, pamphlets, and documentary material, is
housed in the University of London Library Depository, situated in the grounds
of Royal Holloway (University of London) at Egham. This introduction
relates to the latter section of the Collection.
Sydney Oliver was born in Shakespeare Cottage, Queens
Road, Egham in 1905. When he left school he assisted his father in auction
portering and from this beginning developed a life-long interest in the field
of antique dealing, auctioneering, and collecting. As a result of his own
personal studies and the experience he gained working with local auctioneers he
acquired the knowledge and expertise which enabled him in due course to become
a well known antique dealer, valuer, and organiser of auctions. In the process
he developed a passion for private collecting, much of which was related to his
strong interest in local history, particularly of Egham and neighbouring areas.
Over the years his private collections of books, documents, pictures, costume,
and various types of artefact reached huge proportions and most of them were
eventually deposited in various institutions. Before his death in 1986 he
arranged for these collections to be taken into trust (officially registered as
the S.A. Oliver Charitable Settlement). One of these collections came to Royal
Holloway where it was originally housed in the College Library prior to its
eventual transfer to the University of London Library Depository. Additional
items of local importance are from time to time purchased for inclusion in the
Collection out of money left in the Oliver Trust by Sydney Oliver for this purpose.
One of the most important and valuable additions, for example, was a 130 x
173cm manuscript plan in ink and colours drawn by Abraham and William Driver in
1805, entitled 'Plan of the Manor of Egham, with demesnes, commons and waste
lands appertaining thereto in the county of Egham, belonging to the Crown'.
This was purchased by the Oliver Trust in 1988 at a Sotheby's sale. Another
example of an important recent adddition is the handwritten diary and letter
book of the Countess of Morella covering the years 1820-1914. The Countess and
her husband, Field-Marshall Ramon Cabrera, owned the Wentworth Estate.
The Collection is in two sections, one a sequence of
classified by the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme, and the other consisting
of 88 boxes containing nearly 11,000 archival records arranged in numerical
order. The books cover a wide variety of subjects but with a substantial
emphasis on topography, history, biography, literary works, and the fine arts.
The archival section contains miscellaneous material to a large extent related
to the local area (Egham, Staines, Chertsey, Windsor, etc) and neighbouring
towns and counties, and includes legal documents, house auction records, sale
catalogues, manuscript letters, photographs, engravings, newspaper cuttings,
maps, and a large collection of postcards (covering the late 19th century to
recent times). The entire Collection was catalogued by Joan Wintour under the
auspices of the S.A. Oliver Charitable Settlement.
The Oliver Trust purchased
a display cabinet which was installed in Egham Museum where it is used to
exhibit material from the Collection..
Access to the
Collection is currently under review.
Updated – 18
January 2018