Price family papers, 1793-2004 (bulk 1856-2004)

View only results with digital items
Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Price family, Price, Charles T. (Charles Thomas), Price, Hereward Thimbleby, 1880-1964, and Price, Arnold Hereward, 1912-
Abstract:
The Price family papers are comprised of correspondence, writings, diaries, orders, memoranda, genealogical material, printed matter, notes, photographs, and memorabilia, documenting several generations of the Price family. Due to the diverse careers of the family and their residence in different countries, the collection provides an international account of events spanning from Victorian England to the late 20th century United States. Material relates to missionary work in Madagascar, 1875-1882; German prisoners of war in Siberia during World War I; the Russian Revolution; social conditions in China; Allied secret service and radio propaganda activities in World War II; and London during the Blitz.
Extent:
17 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box (8.0 Linear Feet)
Language:
In English, German and Malagasy
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Price family papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The Price family papers are comprised of correspondence, writings, diaries, orders, memoranda, genealogical material, printed matter, notes, photographs, and memorabilia, documenting several generations of the Price family. Due to the diverse careers of the family and their residence in different countries, the collection provides an international account of events spanning from Victorian England to the late 20th century United States. Material relates to missionary work in Madagascar, 1875-1882; German prisoners of war in Siberia during World War I; the Russian Revolution; social conditions in China; Allied secret service and radio propaganda activities in World War II; and London during the Blitz.

The collection is arranged into series by family member. The first series documents the life of Charles T. Price: his studies, missionary work, return to England, and retirement. It also contains a small amount of correspondence dated during World War I concerning his son Hereward. The second series depicts Hereward Price's service in the German army during World War I, his sojourn in a Russian POW camp, and his subsequent travels through Siberia and China on his way home. The Egbert Price series contains correspondence with his brother Hereward and his sister Dorothea (children of Charles T. Price), describing conditions in London during World War II. The fourth series encompasses Arnold Price's work during World War II with the Office of Strategic Services, the State Department, his research interests, and his efforts to compile genealogical information about the Price and Prym families. The photographs series contains material relating to all of the family members, including photographs of the Price family, their friends, travels, and the mission in Madagascar.

Biographical / historical:

Charles Thomas Price (1847-1933) was educated at Cheshunt College, Cambridge. He was ordained as a Congregational minister on January 25, 1875, and married Mary Anne (Polly) Thimbleby on February 28. The couple sailed for Madagascar on March 25, 1875, where Charles Price served as a missionary for six years, and where his sons Egbert and Hereward were born. He was widowed and remarried in 1901 to Annie Beatrice Hill. After returning to England in 1882, he ministered to several congregations including: Lenham in Kent (1883-1890), Buckingham (1890-1901), Ross-on-Wye (1901-1910), and East Grinstead (1910-1914). His last congregation was at Reigate in Surrey (1916-1925), where he died in 1933.

Hereward Thimbleby Price was born in Madagascar in 1880. He studied at Oxford, where he received his B.A. and M.A. and worked on the Oxford English Dictionary. He moved to Germany in 1904, where he taught English at the Universities of Kiel and Bonn, and studied under Bülbring for his Ph.D. While in Bonn he met Elisabeth (Liese) Prym (1884-1971), who became his wife in 1911. Their son Arnold was born in 1912. Drafted into the German army in 1915, Hereward Price was captured on the eastern front by Russia and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Siberia. After his escape, he traveled across Russia to China, where he worked briefly at the Anglo-Chinese College of Tientsin before returning to his family in England via Japan and Canada. Hereward moved to the United States and became a professor of English at the University of Michigan in 1929. He became a distinguished scholar of Shakespeare, and died in 1964.

Egbert Thimbleby Price (Bret) was the son of Charles, brother of Hereward. He was born in June of 1876. He was educated at the Eltham School and Silcontes School in Wakefield. He began working at the Hearts of Oak Benefit Society in 1892, transferred to Barclay's Bank in 1895, and worked for a succession of banks and businesses until 1923. During this period he traveled widely, spending time in Berlin and South America. From 1923-1925 he lived in London, then returned to the business world until 1936 by buying a partnership in Sedgwick and Co. of Colombo. After his return to England, he worked in publications for the Institute of Sociology (1936-1938), as Editor of the Digest of Charities (1938-1940), at the Censor in the Foreign Office (1940-1946), and at the Post Office Savings Department (1946-1949). He died July 5, 1949.

Arnold Hereward Price was born in Bonn, Germany, on July 1, 1912. He came to the United States after finishing high school in Germany in 1933. Joining his parents in Ann Arbor, he became a specialist in Modern European History at the University of Michigan, receiving his A.B. in 1935, his M.A. in 1936. He married Alice Price in 1938, and from 1939 to 1941 acted as assistant supervisor of the University's archaeological laboratory in Detroit. After the lab shut down, he worked for the department of English as a research assistant on the Early Modern English Proverb Dictionary (1941-1942), and received his Ph.D. in 1942. Arnold Price then moved to Washington D.C., where he worked for the Library of Congress, specializing in Central Europe. In 1943, he left the Library of Congress and began his service with the Army, in the Office of Strategic Services, which lasted until 1946. At the conclusion of World War II, Arnold Price transferred to the Department of State until 1960. He returned to the Library of Congress from 1960 to 1979 as an area specialist for Central Europe, then performed bibliographic work for the American Historical Association until 1991. In addition to his professional duties, Arnold Price also lectured at the University of New Mexico (1947-1948) and American University (1948, 1959), and was section editor of the American Historical Review from 1961 through the 1980s. He was divorced from Alice in 1970, remarried Elizabeth Beitz, was widowed in 1986, and remarried again in 1991 to Dana Dinkins.

Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1982.
Arrangement:

The collection is organized into five series: Charles T. Price papers, 1856-1989; Hereward T. Price papers, 1900-1999; Egbert T. Price papers, 1917-1950; Arnold H. Price papers, 1793-2004; and Photographs, 1860-2001.

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Price family papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website