How to look for records of... Lloyd George papers

1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide if you have an academic or general interest in the political career of former Prime Minister David Lloyd George. The collection encompasses British social history and the First World War, plus various international affairs from this period.

2. What are these records?

The collection spans Lloyd George’s career from 1882 to 1945, including his time as Prime Minister, as Minister of Munitions during the First World War, and as Chancellor of the Exchequer and President of the Board of Trade. Subjects covered include the Paris Peace Conference, women’s suffrage, Ireland, labour relations, as well as matters concerning his constituency and Wales.

The papers are arranged under collection reference YLG and catalogued in ten series:

YLG/A: Member of Parliament up to 1905

YLG/B: President of the Board of Trade 1905-1908

YLG/C: Chancellor of the Exchequer 1908-1915

YLG/D: Minister of Munitions, 1915-1916

YLG/E: Secretary of State for War, 1916 (June-December)

YLG/F: Prime Minister 1916-1922 (including the First World War, 1918 Coupon Election, Paris Peace Conference, Ireland)

YLG/G: Post premiership years 1922-1945 (including papers relating to his memoirs and his proposed ‘New Deal’)

YLG/H: Press cuttings (alphabetical, mainly post-1922)

YLG/I: Personal correspondence & papers (mainly family and household but does include speech notebooks).

YLG/P: Photographs (including from 1919 Paris Peace Conference)

The papers are catalogued item by item until the end of 1922, after which the catalogue rapidly falls into file listing and even box listing only. The documents have generally been arranged according to types of correspondence and papers.

3. How to get a search started

The documents include letters, minutes, and memoranda. You can search using keywords or browse the online catalogue to get a better understanding of the filing system: see the example below.

How a document is catalogued:

Collection reference: YLG

Box Number: F

Folder Number: 21

The orderable reference is:

Containing:

The sender’s name and address, if given, are noted in the document description and indicate if the correspondence is deemed ‘private’. The number of pages is not generally stated. Most documents are dated and if letters are undated, they are placed at the end of the folders. Brief summaries are made in the description text.

4. Other sources

Most of Lloyd George’s personal papers and that of his secretary, A J Sylvester, are deposited in the National Library of Wales.

Papers of Frances Stevenson, Lloyd George’s mistress and second wife, are in the Parliamentary Archives collections held at The National Archives (YFLS).

Lloyd George’s contributions to debates in Parliament can be found in Hansard, which is available online. Please note there are some volumes missing from the online data.

Lloyd George’s contributions can also be found on the Historic Hansard website.

Papers of Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions (1915-1916) are held at The National Archives in MUN 9 Lloyd George Papers.

Other collections of records can be found using the record creator search in Discovery

5. Further reading

A J P Taylor (ed), ‘Lloyd George: Twelve Essays’ (1971)

Bentley Brinkerhoff Gilbert, ‘David Lloyd George: A Political Life’ (1992)

John Grigg, ‘Lloyd George’ (4 vols, 1973-2002)

Frank Owen, ‘Tempestuous Journey – Lloyd George: His Life and Times’ (1954)

Hugh Purcell, ‘Lloyd George’ (2006)

National Library of Wales online exhibition, David Lloyd George