Smallwood Trust announces landmark archive partnership with the University of Cambridge
June 4, 2026The Smallwood Trust is pleased to announce that it has formally agreed the transfer of its historic archive to Cambridge University Library, securing a permanent home for a collection that spans more than a century of supporting women facing financial hardship.
This milestone follows an extensive period of work to review, organise, and safeguard the Trust’s archival material. Over the past year, a range of potential institutional homes was considered, with a focus on finding a partner that could both protect the archive and unlock its wider public value.
Following this process, the Trust and Cambridge University Library agreed that the Library would provide an appropriate long-term home for the archive. As one of the world’s leading research libraries, Cambridge offers both the technical expertise and the public-facing ambition needed to ensure the archive is not only preserved, but actively used.
Part of the archive now at Cambridge University Library
About the archive
Unlike many historical collections, which tend to document the lives of the wealthy or influential, the Smallwood Trust archive records the experiences of ordinary women across the UK. It offers a rare insight into lives that are usually undocumented.
Importantly, both the Trust and Cambridge University Library share a commitment to ensuring that the collection does not remain hidden on the shelves or serve solely as an academic resource. Instead, the archive will form the basis of a programme of selective digitisation, research, and public engagement. This may include collaborations with community groups, educational resources, and public events that highlight the ongoing relevance of the Trust’s work.
For the Smallwood Trust, CEO Paul Carbury said: “The Smallwood Trust is delighted to be partnering with Cambridge University Library to secure the future of our historic archive. By placing our archive with Cambridge University Library, we are not only safeguarding our history but creating new opportunities for learning, research, and public engagement.”
For Cambridge University Library, Kevin Roberts, Archivist at the Department of Archives and Modern Manuscripts said: “University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives is delighted to accept the historic archive of The Smallwood Trust into its care. The Trust approached us last year regarding the possibility of transfer and following a survey of the collection in Malvern we were impressed by its great research potential both for our students and the wider research community including genealogists and historians. The Archive collectively documents over one hundred years of philanthropic activity directed toward improving the lives of women through governance records, case files, correspondence and records of investments. We look forward to working closely with the Trust to preserve and catalogue the collection for the public benefit.”
Further updates will follow as the archive is catalogued, digitised, and prepared for public access. Together with Cambridge University Library, the Trust will strive to ensure that the archive is not simply preserved, but actively used, through cataloguing, selective digitisation, and wider public access.
