Papers concerning the planning stage of Rosyth workers' housing from the archive of engineers, Easton Gibb & Son Ltd. Correspondence, printed ephemera, plans and pamphlets..

Removed en masse from battered file (punch-holes in all items), final items chipped, with closed tears (Certificates for occcupant's for cleanliness etc.), but complete, dusting, but everything else in good condition. Note: The area is best known for its large dockyard, formerly the Royal Naval Dockyard Rosyth, construction of which began in 1909. The town was planned as a garden city with accommodation for the construction workers and dockyard workers. Today, the dockyard is almost 1,300 acres (5 km²) in size, a large proportion of which was reclaimed during construction.All filed in date order.Key items (printed): Reports to the Local Government Board on Public Health and Medical Subjects ... Dr. Reginald Farrar's Report ... on the Lodging of Workmen employed in the construction of Public Works (1909); [Dunfermline] Sketch Plan and Description of Municipal Wards; Dewar and Wilson, Report upon the House Accommodation available for Workers employed at Rosyth; [relevant notes]; [Dunfermline District Committee] Report by Dr J.R. Currie, Medical Officer of Health on Rosyth Workers' Housing (marked by someone at Easton Gibb); ALS re. huts at Avonmouth (1912); "Draft. Rosyth Village. Conditions of Tenancy of habitations built by Messrs Easton Gibb ...", worked over in green and red inks, carbon follows listing items supplied (mattress etc); "cost of Roads in Village to date"; newspaper report on progress of works, inc. housing (7 Aug. 1913); Key items (manuscript and typescript):Letter from Architect broaching the question of workers' accommodation (1909); carbon copy letter from Easton Gibb on the question of housing (1911); carbon copy, confidential (as a number of documents in the collection), Memorandum of Interview between John Ward MP and Alexander Gibb of Easton Gibb, 5pp, discussing accommodation for workers and wages at Rosyth (related material later); TLS from John Wilson, architectural Inspector, asking for confirmation of an unsympathetic statement about responsibility for accommodating workers (reply later, the annotated draft, part of handwritten draft, and other related); correspondence re. local contractors; carbon copy of lawyers' response to Arthur Ponsonby's speech on Rosyth, 9pp. with copy of his reply and further correspondence (housing issue); TLS, 18 Oct. 1912, Thomas J. Macnamara (at that time Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty), to Easton Gibb re. question in Parliament (1912) with carbons of question and other relevant information (eg. "Rosyth Dockyard ( Strike)" and Alexander Gibb's thoughts; main issue housing); carbon forms for H.M. Dockyard workmen to record lack of suitable housing; information about Rosyth Naval Base Contract (eg. "No. Of artisans and navvies on Works before strike"); Classes of workmen travelling by workmen's train to Dunfermline (staff and gangers, black gang, labourers; percentages given and no. of men added in pencil)- with other pages of statistics; heavily annotated questionnaire from Local Government Board, Edinburgh (John Wilson) - eg. "The number of men employed by you at present" (answer in pencil, total 2049) - with follow up letter from Wilson, then the detailed reply, carbon, and related; response to Macnamara's earlier letter (18 Oct.), 11Dec.1912, 20 (twenty) folio pages, many significant issues including Labour making political capital WITH two related plans of Rosyth Naval Base and District AND Plan showing ... proposed site for hut settlement (latter badly damaged but hopefully rescuable); TLS, Macnamara's response; carbon response to Macnamara outlining plan for Housing followed by drawing of "Proposed Site for Workmens Huts", 48 x 39cm with related inc. Macnamara's response; ALS, Thomas Plant re,. agreement relative to huts at Immingham; more on huts at Rosyth; c. Dec. 1912 notes on "Housing Accommodation" inc. names; Carbon. "Draft. Rosyth Village. Conditions of Tenancy of Habitations built by Messrs Easton Gibb . . .", 6 fol. pp.; draft text of "Clause 3"; carbon "Vacancies for Lodgers"; carbon "Rules for the Superintendent of Rosyth Village", 2 copies, some annotation; ALS from a Lodger on employment conditions promising suggestion (Feb. 1914); newspaper article on a visit to the village heads "West Fife Morals"; carbon copy "Rosyth. Medical Attendance, Accidents, Hospital Treatment . . ." of workers, 10pp.; carbon "Report of Meeting held ...of Easton Gibb ... in connection with the housing accommodation in the district and the hospital accommodation at Rosyth", 12pp.; TLS, Macnamara (12 March 1914); carbon information from medical officer; carbon copy lengthy letter from Easton Gibb on housing; "MEMORANDUM in regard to Rosyth on question of housing accommodation", history from "prior to 1903", 11pp.; carbon letter to John Wilson headed "Workmen & Wages", giving figures (20 March [1914]; carbon letter re. "Housing of Workmen", 7pp., with related carbon copies, all giving full detail of many aspects; ALS to newspaper from "The occupyers [sic] of Bungalow City Rosyth", responding to critical letters (morals and cleanliness) with typescript (carbon copy) of letter and list of petitioners ("Occupyers"); plan of "Rosyth Village with Extension"; large section of carbon copy letters commencing "Rosyth Village - Married Quarters. Date for Completion of Firt Habitation"; ; material re. rates, visits, etc; "H.M. Dockyard Contract, Rosyth. Contractors' Workmen's Village", 22pp.; brief carbon "Sleeping accommodation available at this date for Irishmen recruited"; carbon copy poem by "swank" entitled "The Wooden City Rosyth", 2pp., fol; Five plans (Bungalow City East & West, elevations, plans of blocks; Five photographs of huts, 9 x 7cm; finalised Conditions of tenancy"; two certificates (not filled in), one for tenant for "Best Kept Bungalow, etc, the other for "Best Appearance and Upkeep of Flower Garden" (both chipped, with closed tear, but text complete`.