Newcastle University

The Trevelyans of Wallington

Wallington Hall in Cambo, Northumberland, came into the possession of the Trevelyan family when Walter Calverley Trevelyan married Elizabeth, daughter of William Blackett, the house having belonged to the Blacketts since 1688 until Sir William's death in 1728.

The Trevelyan Papers are one of the largest and most important archives in the Robinson Library's Special Collections, complementing other notable collections - the Gertrude Bell, Mary Moorman and Lady Bridget Plowden papers - all of whom can be plotted on the Trevelyan family tree.
The Trevelyan Papers are heavily used by a wide variety of researchers and informed the recent refurbishment of Wallington Hall.

The archive contains mostly manuscript material, including correspondence with some of the children while they were at boarding school, but also plant specimens collected by Walter Calverley, political documents and election ephemera, sketches and slides.

The Trevelyans were influential, having enjoyed active interests in politics, art, science and travel and counted several eminent people among their friends.

Jane Bewick, daughter of Thomas, corresponded with Walter Calverley, for example.

Walter Calverley Trevelyan (1797-1879) was a leading temperance campaigner, amateur botanist and geologist. He and his wife, Pauline (1816-1866) patronised Pre-Raphaelite painters and sculptors and the WCT papers include items from their friends John Ruskin, A.C. Swinburne and William Bell Scott. >
One of Sir Walter's many interests was phrenology: a number of items refer to the activities of the Phrenological Association.⁶

Charles Edward Trevelyan (1807-1886) spent his early career in the East India Company, living in India during the 1820s and 1830s. During this time he worked to improve the living conditions and education of the local population. >
He continued to have an impact upon social reform when living in England. Not only did he serve as Assistant Secretary to the Treasury and campaign for relief during the Irish Famine but he also co-authored a report on Civil Service reform, for which he is sometimes known as the 'father of the modern Civil Service'.
He proposed that educational standards and competitive examinations should determine entry into the Civil Service rather than continue the practice of appointing administrators from the aristocracy, who were not necessarily best-qualified to do the job.

George Otto Trevelyan (1838-1928) was an historian, Liberal M.P. and served as Chief Secretary for Ireland.

Charles Philips Trevelyan (1870-1958) had a substantial political presence and his papers reflect this. He was a Liberal and then Labour M.P. who founded the Union of Democratic Control (WWI) and who was President of the Board of Education. >
The CPT papers include diaries and other items from Molly (1881-1966), his wife and half-sister of Gertrude Bell.

The archive also includes letters from George Macauley Trevelyan (1876-1962), father to Mary Moorman. >

In 1942, Charles Philips Trevelyan gave the house and its contents to the National Trust. The library is currently being catalogued: "the Trevelyan family were enthusiastic readers - so avid was Macauley that family tradition relates that he would read Shakespeare while shaving and occasionally the excitement of the action - and the inattention to the other matter in hand - led to splashes of blood on the pages!"⁷