The Burnett Collection of Working-Class Autobiographies held at Brunel consists of 246 autobiographies (c.1791-1945) collected and retained by John Burnett, David Vincent and David Mayall whilst compiling their three-volume annotated bibliography, The Autobiography of the Working Class (Harvester Press, 1984-1989), a further 103 autobiographies were added to the collection by Brunel University Library Staff. The Autobiography of the Working Class, Volumes 1-3 index all of the autobiographies obtained by Burnett (not all of which are held by Brunel).
Professor John Burnett (1925-2006) was a social historian and a professor at Brunel University from 1972 to 1990. His research examined the day-to-day lives of ordinary British people in the 19th and 20th centuries. More information about the collection and Professor Burnett’s research is available on our website Burnett Collection of Working Class Autobiographies | Brunel University London.
To access the collections please contact the Archives and Special Collections team at Arc-SC@brunel.ac.uk. The majority of the collection has been digitised and copies can be sent electronically or viewed in person by appointment. However, should a researcher wish to obtain copies from this collection, Brunel University London is not the copyright holder and therefore usual copyright regulations for unpublished materials apply: single copies for private study only or permission must be sought from the original copyright owners.
