| Description | Correspondence from John Churton Collins [1848-1908, Professor of English at University of Birmingham 1904-1908].
/1 Postcard from J. C. Collins to Oliver Lodge, written from 51 Norfolk Square, Hyde Park, undated [19--]. Collins sends advice about correct use of the word susceptible.
/2 Letter from J. C. Collins to Oliver Lodge, written from 51 Norfolk Square, Hyde Park, dated 18 December [1904]. Collins asks that his inaugural address be scheduled for late January as he is busy writing an article for the Fortnightly. He is honoured by his appointment especially as it brings him into contact with Lodge.
/3 Letter from J. C. Collins to Oliver Lodge, written from 2 Hagley Grove, Hagley Road, Birmingham, undated [19--]. Collins quotes lines of poetry from memory. He refers Lodge to his commentaries on Tennyson.
/4 Letter from J. C. Collins to Oliver Lodge, written from 2 Hagley Grove, Hagley Road, Birmingham, undated [1906]. Collins sends an article on The Gilchrist Trust.
/5 Letter from J. C. Collins to Oliver Lodge, written from the University, Birmingham, dated 10 May [19--]. Collins thanks Lodge for sending a copy of his new book. He has discussed the Greek question with his colleagues and all agree 'the Chair must come'. He asks if he can do anything for the cause.
/6 Letter from J. C. Collins to Oliver Lodge, written from the University, Birmingham, dated 15 June [19--]. Collins thanks Lodge for leaflets. He writes that scepticism is now dissolving the supports of Agnosticism rather than Belief. He is glad to hear scientists admit the limits of science in dealing with metaphysical problems.
/7 Letter from J. C. Collins to Oliver Lodge, written from the University, Edmund Street, Birmingham, dated 21 June [1906]. Collins invites Lodge to a dinner party with Macneile Dixon [1866-1946, author and academic].
/8 Letter from J. C. Collins to Oliver Lodge, written from the University, Edmund Street, Birmingham, undated [March 1907]. Collins states: 'This is how things go with the promises of these wretched ?journalists'.
/9 Letter from H. Whates to John Churton Collins, written from the Birmingham Daily Post, dated 13 March 1907. Whates writes that he has decided to publish documents relating to the Edalji case without editorial comment.
[George Edalji had been a student of law at Birmingham University and worked as a lawyer in Birmingham from the start of the twentieth century. His father was Asian, his mother English and they lived in Great Wyrley in Staffordshire where his father was vicar, a fact which was not welcomed by the villagers. The family received hoax letters and were harassed. In October 1903 George was convicted of an unproved charge of horse maiming and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment, although he was released in 1906 due to the efforts of R. D. Yelverton and others. He received no pardon and was kept under police surveillance. Arthur Conan Doyle decided to intervene in the case and proved that George Edalji could not have been guilty. As a consequence, a Home Office Committee re-examined the case and concluded that George Edalji had been wrongly accused of maiming horses. However he received no compensation for the time he had spent in prison.] |