The archive of the Liverpool Philomathic Society includes incoming and outgoing correspondence, 1894-1929, primarily concerned with membership matters and arrangements for debates and dinners, but also documenting the Liverpool Civic Service League Intelligence Bureau in Bold Street, Liverpool. This was run by LPS members during 1914, and was set up as a contribution to the War effort, to provide an information service "to applicants for relief and assistance". The correspondence files also record members' reactions to postwar strikes and the admission of women, and document the drift of successful former members from business in Liverpool to London or colonial postings. Nomination papers have been extracted into a separate, chronological series.

The printed records of the LPS include historical accounts given in Presidential addresses, catalogues of the Library prior to its sale in 1925, and periodical revisions of the Society's Laws. The Proceedings of the Liverpool Philomathic Society and copies of addresses are kept with the book collections of Liverpool University Library.

Records of the Society's dinners include toast lists from 1885 and detailed seating plans from 1899. Some menu cards, accounts, tickets and programmes also survive; there was music at the dinners of 1907, 1908 and 1926.

Associated Material

The Aston collection at the University of Liverpool form only a small part of the papers of the Aston family. A full list of the other holdings of the papers of the Aston family of Aston Hall can be found on the National Register of Archives. Links are provided below to the catalogue entries for the Aston papers held by

• The British Library
• John Rylands University Library Special Collections
• Cheshire Record Office
• Liverpool Record Office

Bibliography

George Ormerod: The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Volume I, 2nd edition, revised and enlarged by Thomas Helsby (George Routledge, London, 1882). Pages 531-537 are Ormerod's account of the Aston family from the reign of Henry II up to the time of Sir Willoughby Aston, 2nd Baronet, with an added family tree which follows the family up to Sir Arthur Ingram Aston.

George Edward Cockayne: Complete Baronetage, Volume II, 1625-1649, (William Pollard & co., Exeter, 1902). Pages 48-49 list the grantee and successors to the title of Baronet Aston in the reign of Charles I.

The Cheshire Sheaf, 3rd series, vol 24, (Chester, 1927). Contains a description of the biographical diaries of Sir Willoughby Aston with some biographical notes.