| Collection | Shirley Programme Collection |
| Description | Collection of theatre programmes accumulated during the lifetimes of Reverend Mark F.J. Shirley (b. 1912) and Mair M.C. Shirley (nee Parry). Mark Shirley attended London University in the 1930s, trained as a teacher and initally taught in London. As a conscientious objector, Mark lost his teaching post early in the Second World War and was sent to work on the land in Oxfordshire. Towards the end of the war, Mark trained for ordination in Cambridge, obtaining first a curacy in Cornwall and two further curacies in London. He and Mair met in 1951 and settled in South London. Mair had grown up in Lancashire in the 1920s and spent her early teaching career in this area too. The theatres represented in this programme collection reflect where Mark and Mair lived at different points in their lives and include: Croydon Repertory Theatre, Oxford Playhouse and New Theatre, Bromley New Theatre, various London theatres (notably Art Theatre Club, Gate Theatre, Westminster Theatre), and provincial theatres, especially in Liverpool.
An addititional deposit was received comprising 15 postcards pertaining to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. |
| Admin history | Collection accumulated by Shirley's parents and grandparents. |