Description

Admin History:

Frank Westrope and Myfanwy Wynne married in 1911. The couple were pacifists and members of the Independent Labour Party since the early 1900s. Myfanwy was also involved in the women's suffrage movement. Frank was imprisoned as a conscientious objector during the First World War and served his sentence in Wormwood Scrubs, Wandsworth Prison, Hounslow Barracks and Pentonville Prison. By the early 1930s the Westropes had a bookshop in Hampstead, and for a brief period George Orwell lodged with them in the flat above the shop and served in the bookshop in the afternoons. Out of his experiences during this period grew his novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying.

Description:

The most significant part of this collection is the correspondence between Frank and Myfanwy Westrope during Frank's imprisonment as a conscientious objector during the First World War, with related articles and typescripts, and items such as charge sheets, summaries of evidence, a notice to appear before a Military Service Tribunal and his final discharge certificate. There are also almost 200 personal letters from Katharine Bruce Glasier over the period 1929-1950. Myfanwy Westrope wrote over 300 poems during her lifetime, including on war-related subjects, which were published in local newspapers and magazines; a large proportion of these are also held.