Savage-Armstrong Family Papers
Scope and Content
The Savage-Armstrong Family Papers contain material created and collected by the Savage-Armstrongs and their extended family, dating from approximately 1821 to 1931. Most of the items are the products of George Francis Savage-Armstrong and his three children Francis, Raymond and Guendolen, but other unknown members of the family as well as cousin Edith-Althea Echlin are also represented. Materials include commonplace books, notebooks, World War I military service items, watercolors and photographs.
Many of the items listed in the container listing below are individual bound manuscripts, which are also cataloged separately in the UCLA Library catalog. Loose items, such as letters, offprints, and photographs originally laid in these bound items have been removed and are now housed separately in individual folders as described here.
Dates
- Creation: 1821-1931
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
The Clark Library owns the property rights to its collections but does not hold the copyright to these materials and therefore cannot grant or deny permission to use them. Researchers are responsible for determining the copyright status of any materials they may wish to use, investigating the owner of the copyright, and obtaining permission for their intended publication or other use. In all cases, you must cite the Clark Library as the source with the following credit line: The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Biography
Poet and scholar George Francis Armstrong was born in Dublin in 1845 to Edmund John Armstrong and Jane Savage. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and later became a professor of history and English literature at Queen's College, Cork. His older brother, Edmund John (1841-1865) was a promising poet before his early death, and George compiled and published his brother's work in 1877. George's own first published poetical work appeared in 1869, beginning a long and very fertile career in print that continued up until his death in 1906. Though generally well-regarded at the time, he came under harsh criticism from Irish literary revivalists, particularly W.B. Yeats, and is now seen as a mostly marginal figure in Irish literature.
In 1879, George married Marie Elizabeth Wrixon. Their marriage produced two sons, Francis Savage Nesbitt (1880-1917) and John Raymond Savage (b. 1882), and a daughter, Arabella Guendolen (b. 1885). In 1891, with the death of a maternal aunt, he assumed the additional surname of Savage.
Francis S.N. Savage-Armstrong was educated at Shrewsbury School and went on to serve in the 1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment and 4th Mounted Infantry during the Second Boer War. He then served both at home and abroad before 1914, when as a Lieutenant-Colonel, he joined his regiment in France after the battle of Ypres. He was killed in action in France while serving as commander of a battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on April 23 1917, at the age of 36.
Raymond Savage-Armstrong also attended Shrewsbury School, entering at Easter Term in 1895 alongside his older brother. Raymond served during World War I as a captain in the 4th Battalion Leinster Regiment.
Guendolen Savage-Armstrong served as a nurse at the Richmond Military Hospital during World War I, and after this, was active in social settlement programs like the Hackney Girls' Club, the Pell Street Club and the Sandes Soldiers' Home at Derry. Her notebooks also show an intense interest and devotion to religious thought, particularly Christian Science and spiritual healing.
Extent
1 Linear Feet (1 box and 11 bound volumes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Papers and bound manuscripts of poet and scholar George Francis Savage-Armstrong and his family, including commonplace books, notebooks, military papers, photograph albums, watercolors, and other items.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into the following four series:
- Series 1. George Francis Savage-Armstrong, (1845-1906), 1870-1901
- Series 2. Guendolen Savage-Armstrong, (b. 1885), 1901-1931
- Series 3. Francis Savage Nesbitt Savage-Armstrong (1880-1917) and John Raymond Savage-Armstrong (b. 1882), 1890-1918
- Series 4. Extended Armstrong family members and family miscellany, 1821-1901, undated
Physical Location
This collection is stored offsite at the SRLF. Please contact Clark Library staff at least 2 weeks in advance to consult this collection.
Acquisition Information
The Savage-Armstrong family papers were acquired in 2001, as a part of the purchase of approximately 350 volumes from the libraries of George Francis Savage-Armstrong and his brother Edmund John Armstrong. These rare books, many of them inscribed by members of the Savage-Armstrong family, are cataloged as a part of the Clark Library's rare book collection under the call number prefix "Armstrong coll." and can be searched via the UCLA Library online catalog.
- Title
- Finding Aid for the Savage-Armstrong Family Papers 1821-1931, undated
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Rebecca Fenning.
- Date
- ©2009
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in: English.
Repository Details
Part of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Repository