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The material in this collection covers the period 1836-1958. It is presented in eight sections.

Section A, Biographical, covers the period 1874-1958. The material includes biographical profiles, certificates, press cuttings, photographs and invitations. Correspondence and papers used by Lord Rayleigh in the preparation of his biography of Thomson The Life of Sir J. J. Thomson O.M. sometime master of Trinity College, Cambridge (Cambridge, 1942) can be found at A/23-A31. A/110-A/143 include press cuttings on Thomson's lectures and reviews of his publications. Certificates are at A/72-A/103

Section B, Family and personal, is the largest in the collection and spans the period 1836-1952. The bulk of the material consists of family and personal correspondence sent to members of the Thomson and Paget families between 1872 and 1952. This correspondence has been arranged by recipient, thus for example, letters from Thomson to his wife are to be found in Lady Thomson's correspondence at B/45-B/53 rather than in that of Thomson himself (B/1-B/6). There is significant correspondence sent to Thomson, 1873-1940, but the largest component of the section, at B/45-B/639, is correspondence and papers of Lady Thomson covering the period 1872-1950. This includes family and personal correspondence received by Lady Thomson, notebooks and diaries, and correspondence from societies and organisations. At B/640-B/679 is correspondence received by other family members including G.P. Thomson, J.P. Thomson, F.V. Thomson and G.E. Paget. The section also includes photographs, household accounts and a little miscellaneous material.

Section C, Trinity College, Cambridge, consists chiefly of incoming correspondence sent to Thomson as Master of Trinity College, Cambridge and covers the period 1918-1944. The bulk relates to College matters including students, Fellows, meetings etc., but there is also business and personal correspondence including letters of congratulations on Thomson's installation as Master in 1918. The correspondence includes letters from Cambridge colleagues such as E. Rutherford, R.T. Glazebrook, J.G. Frazer and A. Schuster. The section also includes invitations to social occasions received by the Thomsons and replies to invitations to social events hosted by the Thomsons between 1918 and 1938. There are also a small number of Trinity College entrance examination papers and scripts.

Section D, Research, is very slight. It consists of a few research notes and photographs for the period 1893 to 1934.

Section E, Societies and organisations, is also slight. It has been arranged in alphabetical order and covers the period 1886-1930. The most significant material is that at E/10-E/28: reports and minutes of the Committee on Science in the Educational System of Great Britain, which Thomson chaired between 1902 and 1920. There is also a small amount of Royal Society material.

Section F, Lectures, speeches and publications, covers the period 1876-1938. There is material on a number of Thomson's public lectures and speeches including lectures given at the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Winnipeg, Canada, 1909. A notebook at F/27 has typescript notes on lectures delivered at Cambridge by Thomson. Publications material includes manuscript drafts of the first edition of Conduction of Electricity through Gases (Cambridge 1903) and Rays of Positive Electricity (London 1913). Press cuttings on Thomson's lectures and publications can be found at A/110-A/143.

Section G, Visits and conferences, is not extensive. The material has been arranged in chronological order 1896-1938. It includes brief correspondence on the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, 1909.

Section H, Correspondence, is presented in two sequences, scientific and general. The scientific sequence includes letters from G. G. Stokes, Lord Rayleigh (4th Baron) and Lord Kelvin. The general sequence is arranged in chronological order covering the period 1888-1938. A file of 'Letters to JJ from distinguished people and others' is at H/32-H/35, which includes correspondence from Arthur Balfour, Stanley Baldwin and Austen Chamberlain.

H/1-H/14: Scientific correspondence. H/1-H/6 comprise principal correspondents, in alphabetical order; H/7-H/14 comprise shorter scientific correspondence, in chronological order.

H/15-H/36: General correspondence, mostly arranged in chronological order. H/32-H/35 comprise the contents of a folder inscribed 'Letters to JJ from distinguished people and others'; H/36 is a bundle of telegrams.

Joan Thomson married Harry Horsfield Charnock (1870-1963) in Jul 1946.

F/1-F/32: Principally drafts and correspondence relating to Thomson's public lectures and speeches, 1890-1938. F/27 is a notebook used by E.P. Adams for typescript notes on lectures by Thomson.
F/33-F/64: Publications by Thomson. F/39-F/46 relate to Conductivity of Electricity through Gases (1903); F/51-F/55 relate to Rays of Positive Electricity and their application to Chemical Analysis (1913).

The material is very slight and in consequence does not represent the full extent of Thomson's involvement with British and overseas societies and organisations. The best documented body is the Committee on Science in the Educational System of Great Britain, of which Thomson was Chairman.

The material in this section is very slight. It consists of a few research notes, 1899-1920 and n.d., and photographs from the period 1893-1934.

Thomson's association with Trinity College, Cambridge began in 1876, when he arrived as an undergraduate to study Mathematics. After graduation in 1880 Thomson remained in Cambridge and undertook research in physics under Lord Rayleigh. He was made a Fellow of Trinity College in 1880, College lecturer in 1883 and in 1884 was appointed Professor of Experimental Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory. In 1918 Thomson was appointed Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, a position he held until his death in 1940. The material in this section relates entirely to the period of Thomson's Mastership, and is arranged as follows.

C/1-C/80: Correspondence. Received by Thomson on his appointment to the Mastership of Trinity College Cambridge in 1918 (C/1-C/10) and as Master 1918-1939 (C/11-C/80). Most of the correspondence relates to a wide range of College matters including students, Fellows, meetings, lectureships, appointments to Church livings held by the College, gifts and endowments etc., but the material also includes personal and business letters and correspondence and papers for other bodies on which Thomson served, most notably the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. There is a very little posthumous material relating to Thomson's Mastership.

C/81-C/130: Invitations received by the Thomsons, as well as replies to invitations to College social events hosted by the Thomsons between 1918 and 1938.

There are also a small number of Trinity College entrance examination papers and scripts from Dec 1937: C/131-C/137

The material in this section is arranged as follows:

B/1-B/679: Correspondence and papers, 1836-1952. Family and personal correspondence of Sir J. J. Thomson is at B/1-B/44. At B/45-B/639, the bulk of this section, is the correspondence and papers of Thomson's wife Rose Elizabeth, Lady Thomson (née Paget): most of this is incoming correspondence from family members and friends; there are also notebooks and diaries at B/570-B/594, correspondence from and material relating to societies, organisations, and appeals at B/595-B/635, and miscellaneous material at B/636-B/639.

There is also family and personal correspondence of other family members including their son George Paget Thomson, B/640-656, and daughter Joan Paget Thomson, B/657-B/658. The correspondence between family members is arranged by recipient, thus letters from J. J. Thomson to his wife are to be found in the incoming correspondence of Rose Thomson at B/45-B/53 rather than in the family correspondence of Thomson himself (B/1-B/6).

B/680-B/688: Photographs, 1917-1925

B/689-B/719: Accounts, 1888-1951. This material consists chiefly of Thomson household accounts, which were kept by Lady Thomson, and have been arranged, in chronological order.

B/720-B/731: Miscellaneous, 1918-1944

The material in this section is arranged as follows:

A/1-A/4: Obituary notices, 1940-1942

A/5-A/31: Biographical notes, 1909-1958. Within this group, A/23-A/31 comprises correspondence and papers found together. The bulk of this material was originally assembled by Lord Rayleigh whilst writing his biography The Life of Sir J. J. Thomson O.M. sometime master of Trinity College, Cambridge, published in 1942 by Cambridge University Press. There is also a little material added later by the family.

A/32-A/71A: Career, honours, and awards, 1874-1940. This section also includes letters of congratulation to Thomson's mother Emma on his early successes, and letters of condolence to his wife on his death.

A/72-A/103: Certificates, 1900-1937. A number of these awards are also documented at A/32-71.

A/104-A/109: 'J.J. on Education', 1918-1940 (material found together, and thus entitled, by Lord Rayleigh in the course of writing his biography of Thomson). See A/120 for press cuttings re Thomson's interest in Education.

A/110-A/143: Press cuttings, 1888-1956. Arranged in chronological order, and including press cuttings re Thomson's lectures and publications.

A/144: Diary of J. J. Thomson

A/145-152: Financial papers, 1878-1938

A/153-160: Photographs, 1909-1932

A/161-165: Invitations, 1885-1936. Social invitations received by Thomson. See also C/81-C/130

A/166-176: Miscellaneous, 1878-1956

Presented to Thomson by the University of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences, USA, for his work on the Physics of the electron'

Presented to Thomson by the University of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences, USA, for his work on the Physics of the electron'