Robert Hill: Correspondence and Papers

Robert (Robin) Hill (1899-1991), biochemist, attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1919-22. He worked in the Department of Biochemistry, 1923-66, and carried out research on haemoglobin and photosynthesis. Hill was a member of the Agricultural Research Council, 1943-66, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1946, and an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College in 1963.

Professional and personal papers and correspondence: [A] Biographical. Hill's records of his career, elections and honours, personal and family correspondence, and photographs. There is also material for D.S. Bendall's Royal Society memoir of Hill, 1991. [B] Research. Papers concerning Hill's early scientific interests in meteorology and dyeing; research on inorganic pigments; the biochemistry of haemoglobin and haematin, and photosynthesis, including the 1937 discovery of the 'Hill reaction'; the relationship of thermodynamics to photosynthesis; the chemistry of anthraquinone colouring matters in plants; and the biology of fruit tree rootstocks. [C] Fish-Eye Camera. Papers on the development of a camera with a lens able to photograph through 180°, photographs taken using the lens, and correspondence on the marketing of the camera by R.& J. Beck Ltd. [D] Cambridge University. Research reports on plant biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry; funding of Hill's research, 1920s-1960s. [E] Publications. Drafts, notes and correspondence on work intended for publication c.1928-85; editorial correspondence. [F] Lectures. Material for Hill's Cambridge lectures and practical classes in plant biochemistry. [G] Societies and Organisations. Material relating to 11 British and international organisations, especially the British Photobiology Society and the Association International de Photobiologie. [H] Visits and Conferences. 1928-88, especially visits to Singapore and the Dutch East Indies, 1932, France, 1947, and Nyasaland (Malawi), 1958. [J] Correspondence. Letters to Hill, 1920s-1980s, including much material on an East Indies visit 1932, and with staff of the East Malling Research Station. The correspondents include Joan M. Anderson (1974-90), Margaret C. Anderson (1964-82), Cyril A. Appleby (1975-89), Daniel I. Arnon (1949-85), Agnes B. Beakbane (1943-77), Derek S. Bendall (1953-77), Walter F. Bertsch (1965-84), Walter D. Bonner (1953-83), Britton Chance (1957-83), Edred J.H. Corner (1929-37 and 1968-83), Raymond P. Cox (1973-78), Antony R. Crofts (1972-80), H.E. Davenport (1959-80), M.A.V. Devanathan (1973-77), Louis N.M. Duysens (1954-77), Sidney R. Elsden (1953-85), Robert Emerson (1951-76), James Franck (1951-55), Charles S. French (1942-86), Hans Gaffron (1949-67), Norman E. Good (1953-89), Richard P.F. Gregory (1964-89), David O. Hall (1971-77), Charles S. Hanes (1951-79), Ulrich Heber (1974-84), Geoffrey Hind (1964-85), H. Frank Holden (1927-46), André T. Jagendorf (1958-86), Martin D. Kamen (1952-84), Joan Keilin (1951-87), Robert S. Knox (1977-78), Peter T. Landsberg (1977-88), Bernard Leach (1951), Arthur M. Lesk (1978-80), Manuel Losada (1964-87), J. Murray Luck (1980), A.M. Mayer (1954-77), Peter D. Mitchell (1960-81), Norman W. Pirie (1986), Roger C. Prince (1974-87), Thomas R. Punnett (1953-88), Claude Rimington (1947-54), Anthony San Pietro (1963-78), A. Rupert Sheldrake (1974), Rose Scott-Moncrieff (1978-81), James H.C. Smith (1953-58), Edmund C. Stoner (1932-74), Hiroshi Tamiya (1951-60), Ruth Van Heyningen (1947-80), Wolf Vishniac (1953-54), David A. Walker (1950-89), Frederick R. Whatley (1948-85), Charles P. Whittingham (1953-82), and Lewis B. Winter (1980-81).

Presented by Mrs. Priscilla Hill (widow), 1991.

Please cite as Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Robert Hill: Correspondence and Papers, MS Add.9267

A catalogue by Timothy Powell and Peter Harper (National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists) is available online: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=012-ncuacs46294&cid=0&kw=hill,%20robert%20%20Cambridge%20University%20Library,%20Department%20of%20Manuscripts%20and%20University%20Archives#0 It is also available in hardcopy in the Manuscripts Reading Room.