Register of the Kenneth Hugh De Courcy papers
Finding aid prepared by Alistair Tough
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2007
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Kenneth Hugh De Courcy papers
Date (inclusive): 1934-1991
Collection Number: 79080
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
8 microfilm reels, 1 folder
(1.2 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Microfilm of correspondence, memoranda, depositions and other legal documents, minutes, and writings, relating to world politics,
British foreign policy, espionage in Great Britain, the Imperial Policy Group, political views of the Duke of Windsor, and
business affairs of and legal proceedings against British financier and publisher K. H. De Courcy.
Creator:
De Courcy, Kenneth, 1909-1999
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1979
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Kenneth Hugh De Courcy papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Existence and Location of Originals note
Originals in possession of: K. H. De Courcy.
Biographical Note
1909 November 6 |
Born, Oldham, Lancashire, Great Britain |
(?) |
Educated, Kings College School, London |
1933 |
Honary Secretary, unoffical committee on Conservative Party policy, chairman Sir Reginald Banks |
1934-1942 (?) |
Honorary Secretary, Imperial Policy Group |
1938-1976 |
Editor, proprietor of
Intelligence Digest
|
(?) |
Chairman Ridgeway Courcy and Company |
1950 |
Married Rosemary Catherine Baker |
1951-1976 |
Editor, proprietor of
Weekly Review
|
1953-1964 |
Member of the committee of the Exangelical Alliance which organized "crusades" by Billy Graham in Great Britain |
196? |
Chairman, Overseas Land Purchasing Trust |
1963-1964 |
Trial and convication for forgery and other offences |
1968 |
Released from prison |
1969-1972 |
Editor,
Banker's Digest
|
1973 |
Marriage dissolved |
1973- |
Editor,
Special Office Brief
|
1977 |
Chancellor, Order of the Three Orders |
Scope and Content of Collection
Microfilm of correspondence, memoranda, depositions and other legal documents, minutes, and writings, relating to world politics,
British foreign policy, espionage in Great Britain, the Imperial Policy Group, political views of the Duke of Windsor, and
business affairs of and legal proceedings against British financier and publisher K. H. De Courcy.
Arrangement
Arranged into six series: Imperial Policy Group, 1934-1942, Correspondence, 1936-1983, Correspondence with F. Roy Cattell,
1953-1957, Subject File, circa 1936-1984, Trial and appeals, 1946-1984, and Speeches and Writings, 1983-1984.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World politics
Great Britain -- Foreign relations
Espionage, Russian -- Great Britain
Windsor, Edward, Duke of, 1894-1972
Imperial Policy Group (Great Britain)
Imperial Policy Group
1934-1942
Scope and Contents note
Minutes of National Citizens' Union, and later Imperial Policy Group, committees and sub-committees with related reports and
correspondence and other papers.
reel 1
Minutes of the National Citizens Union Policy Committee (which was reconstituted in October 1934 as the Imperial Policy Group)
and of the Imperial Policy Group Executive Committee and sub-committees on: Empire; foreign policy; House of Lords reform;
organization of propaganda; shipping; taxation; and unemployment
1934-1942
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 1-2
reel 1
Report of Foreign Affairs Mission on Central Europe with a covering letter to Sir Robert Vansittart
1936
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 3 (photocopy)
reel 1
Miscellaneous correspondence and other papers found in 1 above
1937-1983
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 4
Correspondence
1936-1983
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence of Kenneth De Courcy, arranged alphabetically by correspondent
reel 1
Belchem, General David
1978-1981
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 5
Subjects include: British military strategy and preparedness; USSR strategy
reel 1
Butler, R. A.
1956-1961
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 6
Subjects include: British domestic politics; Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery; Near
East; Rhodesia (Zimbabwe); Trade Union leaders' private talks with Conservative Party leaders; USSR foreign policy
reel 1
Douglas-Home, sir Alec (Lord Home)
1975-(1983?)
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 7
Subjects include: East-West relations; Near East; Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
reel 1
Eden, Sir Anthony
1951-1952
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 8
Subjects include: possibility of recruiting opposition leaders to the Conservative Government (Clement Davies and Walter Citrine
are named); Persia (Iran)
reel 1
Fisher, Nigel
1974-1983
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 9
Subjects include: Afghanistan; British defense policy; British domestic politics; Near East; Poland; Rhodesia (Zimbabwe);
South Africa; USSR. Also contains correspondence from Colonel R. Butler, "Chief of Staff" to General Walter Walker. (See also
box 2 folder 6)
reel 1
Foreign Office, Great Britain
1951
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 10
Concerns Roy De Groot, former circulation agent for
Intelligence Digest in the USA
reel 1
Hankey, Lord Maurice
1955-1962
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 11
Subjects include: Conservative Party leadership; Eastern Mediterranean; Near East
reel 1
Hogg, Quintin, (Lord Hailsham)
1956-1962
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 12
Subjects include: Central African Federation; Conservative Party leadership; John F. Kennedy, President of the USA; Near East;
Trade Union leaders' private talks with the Conservative Party leaders; USSR foreign policy
reel 1
Inskip, Sir Thomas (Lord Caldecote)
1936-1943
Scope and Contents note
Box 1, Folder 13-14
Subjects include: Czechoslovakia crisis, 1938; France, preparedness for war in late 1930s; Great Britain preparedness for
war in late 1930s; Imperial Policy Group overseas propaganda; Kenneth De Courcy's complaints about M.I.5 interference with
his mail and telephone; Kenneth De Courcy's attempts to become a conservative party candidate; Kenneth De Courcy's attempts
to obtain exemption from "directed employment" under war-time regulations, World War, 1939-1945, possibility of a negotiated
peace; World War, 1939-1945, Norway campaign
reel 2
Lennox-Boyd, Alan
1956-1958
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 1
Subjects include: Central African Federation; conservative Party leadership; Suez crisis
reel 2
Londonderry, Lord and Lady
1940-1941
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 2
Concerning war-time foreign policy and strategy, particularly in respect of air-power
reel 2
Londonderry, Lord and Lady
1946-1953
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 3
Subjects include: Conservative Party organization and finance; evangelism as an anti-dote to socialism
reel 2
Salisbury, Lord
1951-1952
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 4
Concerns infiltration of the Civil Service in Great Britain by Soviet sympathizers
reel 2
Vansittart, Lord Robert
1951-1953
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 5
Concerns infiltration of the Civil Service in Great Britain by Soviet sympathizers
reel 2
Walker, General Walter, and Burnand, P.
1973-1976
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 6
Subjects include: Civil Assistance, an organization founded by General Walter to oppose subversion; attempts by the Ministry
of Defense to restrict General Walter in the expression of his views on defense policy
reel 2
War Office, Great Britain
1946
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 7
Concerns Kenneth De Courcy's complaints regarding obstruction of his activities as a publicist
reel 2
War Office, Great Britain
1951
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 8
Concerns Kenneth De Courcy's complaints regarding harassment of
Intelligence Digest by M.I.5
reel 2
Windsor, Duke of (King Edward VIII) and Duchess of (Mrs. Simpson)
1946-1987
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 9
Subjects include: abdication crisis; British domestic politics; British foreign policy; relations between the Duke of Windsor
and his brother King George VI
Correspondence of F. Roy Cattell
1953-1957
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence of Rev. F. Roy Cattell, Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance
reel 2
Correspondence of F. Roy Cattell as Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance
1953-1957.
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 10-11
Subjects include: Billy Graham's 1954 and 1955 British "Crusades"; politically accented reporting of the "Crusades" in Kenneth
De Courcy's publications; suspected Communist sympathies of a member of the Evangelical Alliance committee
Subject File
(1936?)-1984
Scope and Contents note
Notes, Correspondence, memoranda, reports and memoirs, arranged alphabetically by subject.
reel 2
Abuse of administrative power by civil and military authorities of Great Britain, complained of by Kenneth De Courcy's
1946-1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 12
Correspondents include Lord Vansittart and Sir Anthony Eden
reel 2
Current Affairs
1974
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 13
reel 3
Current Affairs
1983
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 14
reel 3
Current Affairs
1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 15
reel 3
De Courcy, Michael
1950-1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 2, Folder 16
Correspondence and other papers re Michael De Courcy and alleged attempts by M.I.5 to penetrate
Intelligence Digest through him
reel 3
France, foreign relations and military preparedness in 1938
(1983?)
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 1
reel 3
Prison memoirs of Kenneth De Courcy relating to Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London, Great Britain
(1968?)
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 2
Contains reference to the escape of George Blake
reel 3
Subversive activities of Soviet sympathizers in the Civil Service of Great Britain
1947-1983
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 3
reel 3
Windsor, Duke of (King Edward VIII)
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 4
aides-memoirs written by Kenneth De Courcy, dated 1936-1949 and apparently re-copied later
reel 3
Windsor, Duke of (King Edward VIII), copies of correspondence and various notes
1946-1949, 1979-(1983?)
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 5
reel 3
Windsor, Duke of (King Edward VIII), correspondence and other papers
1978-1982
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 6
Concerns allegations that the Duke considered committing treason by becoming a party to peace negotiations with Nazi Germany
reel 3
World Politics
1938-1940,
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 7
Concerns many aspects of European and Near Eastern affairs including: Czechoslovakia crisis, 1938; Russo-German relations;
World War, 1939-1945, Norway campaign; World War, 1939-1945, possibility of a negotiated pace. Correspondents include: General
Brecard (France); H. A. Butler; Sir Eric Geddes; M. Leger (France); H. Lemery (France)
reel 3
World Politics
1938-1940
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 8
Consists almost entirely of copies of items in Folder 7 above, also contains a detailed report on the equipment and strength
of the USSR Air Force, 1939
reel 3
World Politics
1939
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 9
Intelligence reports concerning the foreign policy and military capacity of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland
and Sweden, prepared by Alastair Campbell on the basis of interviews, written materials, and travel in the countries named
reel 4
World War, 1939-1945
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 10
diplomatic history, possibility of a negotiated peace, 1939-1940
Trial and Appeals
1946-1984
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence, memoranda, affidavits, company stock applications, contracts, powers of attorney, trust deeds, and related
papers concerning Kenneth De Courcy's 1963-1964 trial and conviction and subsequent attempts to appeal against the conviction
and to obtain publicity in respect of the case, also concerning property transitions in Canada and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), arranged
chronologically
reel 4
1946-1963
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 11
Subversive activities of Soviet sympathizers in Great Britain, Kenneth De Courcy's opposition to subversion, and the circumstance
of Kenneth De Courcy's trial
reel 4
1956-(1983?)
Scope and Contents note
Box 3, Folder 12-13
Trial counts 8 and 9: forgery in the form of issuing ante-dated documents. Other subjects include: Nassau anti-Communist conference
organized by Kenneth De Courcy, 1962; proposed
Art Digest and
Bankers' Digest magazines; Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) property dealings
reel 4
1957-1972
Scope and Contents note
Box 4, Folder 1-2
Trial count 4: falsification of Overseas Land Purchasing Trust records. Other subjects include: Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), politics
and business, Salisbury, Rhodesia (Harare, Zimbabwe), housing construction
reel 4
1957-(1983?)
Scope and Contents note
Box 4, Folder 3
Trial counts 4 and 13: forgery. Other subject include Salisbury, Rhodesia (Harare, Zimbabwe) housing construction (1 of 2)
reel 5
1957-(1983?)
Scope and Contents note
Box 4, Folder 4
Trial counts 4 and 13: forgery. Other subject include Salisbury, Rhodesia (Harare, Zimbabwe) housing construction (2 of 2)
reel 5
1958-1966
Scope and Contents note
Box 4, Folder 5-6
Stock application in respect of Sarsden Consolidated Properties Ltd. Of Toronto, Canada with related papers
reel 5
1958-(1983?)
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 1-2
Kenneth De Courcy's campaign to prove the complicity of the Police in a conspiracy to obtain a conviction against him, particularly
by means of concealing documentary evidence. Other subjects include Sarsden Consolidated Properties of Toronto, Canada
reel 5
1959-1972
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 3
Trial count 3: (improper relations between Overseas Land Purchasing Trust and Sarsden Properties Ltd.?)
reel 5
1960
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 4
Fraud involving Dollar Land Holdings Ltd.
reel 5
1960-1971
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 5
Trial Count 9: forgery in the form of issuing ante-dating documents, concerns complex relations between Dollar Land Holdings
ltd.; Overseas Land Purchasing Trust, Reserved Property Trust, Peter Von Dumreicher and Kenneth De Courcy
reel 6
1960-1972
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 6
Trial counts 13, 14, and 16: perjury and contempt of court, concerns control of New Townships Ltd.
reel 6
1960-1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 7
Forgery in the form of issuing ante-dated documents in respect of the Reserved Property Trust
reel 6
1964-1981
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 8
Kenneth De Courcy's attempts to appeal against conviction and to obtain publicity in respect of his case
reel 6
1978-1983
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 9
Evidence submitted to the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure by Kenneth De Courcy
reel 6
1983
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 10
Questions submitted to Kenneth De Courcy by the Archivist of the Hoover Instituion on War, Revolution, and Peace with the
former's replies
reel 6
1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 11
reel 6
1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 12
Memorandum by Kenneth De Courcy
Speeches and Writings
1983-1984
Scope and Contents note
Printed copies of a news-sheet and a booklet by Kenneth De Courcy
reel 7
Special Office Brief, nos. 237-247
1983-1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 13
reel 7
A Watcher on the Threshold (Kenneth De Courcy?)
The Carolingian Crown of France Kilbrittain Newspapers Ltd., Dublin, Ireland
1984
Scope and Contents notes
Box 5, Folder 14
reel 7
Increment, October 1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 5, Folder 15
Two letters to De Courcy
Increment, May 1985
1980-1984
reel 7
Typewritten transcript of an interview of K. H. De Courcy conducted by Charles Palm
1983
Scope and Contents note
Box 6, Folder 1
reel 7
Letters from John Straker to Sir Carl Aarvold, David Parsons, Nicholas Ridley, Margaret Thatcher, Sir Michael Havers
1980-1984
Scope and Contents note
Box 6, Folder 2
relating to the trial of K. H. De Courcy
reel 7
Increment, July 1986
1985-1986
Scope and Contents note
Box 6, Folder 3
Correspondence between John Straker and the Lord Chancellor's Department, 1985-1986, relating to the trail; the Lord Chancellor's
speech of welcome to the American Bar Association in Westminster on July 15, 1985; and a clipping relating to Lord Halisham,
1985
reel 7
Increment, September 1986
1981, 1986
Scope and Contents note
Box 6, Folder 4
Carbon copy of John Straker's letter to the Private Secretary to the Lord Chancellor, dated 19 July 1986; and the 31 May 1986
issue of
News of the World containing an article on the Jeremy Thorpe scandal
reel 7
Increment, December 1987
1987
Scope and Contents note
Box 6, Folder 5
Correspondence, 1987, relating to the Duke of Windsor and to various aspects of British politics and society
reel 7
Increment, June, 1991
1991
Scope and Contents note
Box 6, Folder 6
Correspondence and writings, 1991, relating to Kenneth De Courcy's trial in 1963-1964