Title:
RECORDS OF THE WATSON AND SMITH FAMILIES
Level: Category
Miscellaneous
Level: Fonds
RECORDS OF THE WATSON AND SMITH FAMILIES
Scope and Content:
Records relating to the Watson and Smith families, particularly their connection with the pacifist community at Frating Hall Farm (1942-1954).

Comprises papers relating to the community at Frating Hall Farm and its predecessor, The Adelphi Centre at Langham; biographical writing by Joe Watson, including his unpublished autobiography, 'Out of the Furnace', and scripts for radio broadcasts; newscuttings; correspondence from a wide circle of family, friends, and acquaintances from County Durham, the Adelphi Centre, Frating Hall Farm, and beyond, including a significant number of letters from the writers John Middleton Murry and Frank Lea, and the composer William Wordsworth, as well as letters from Raymond Smith, a Frating member and Joan Watson's husband; and miscellaneous materials.
Dates of Creation:
1933 - 1982
Archivist Note:
Some records were catalogued by Rielly Kitchener in 2024 as part of an MA Placement, funded by the University of Essex and the Friends of Historic Essex. Others were catalogued by volunteer Patrick Courtney.
Custodial History:
Deposited at the Essex Record Office in 2024.
Related Unit of Description:
See D/DU 3491 for the records of Martyn Thomas, his mother Marian Thomas, and stepfather Derek Crosfield; D/DU 3492 for the records of Katherine Weaver and her parents Trevor Howard and Enid Whitmore; D/DU 3493 for the records of Helen Johnson; and D/DU 3662 for Ken Worpole's interviews with people who grew up in the community, including Jan Smith.
Publication Notes:
See Ken Worpole, 'No Matter How Many Skies Have Fallen' (2021).