NATIONAL CATALOGUING UNIT FOR THE ARCHIVES OF CONTEMPORARY SCIENTISTS Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of Penelope Margaret Jenkin DSc (1902 - 1994) NCUACS catalogue no. 134/7/04 by Simon Coleman Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of Penelope Margaret Jenkin DSc (1902 - 1994) NCUACS catalogue no. 134/7/04 by Simon Coleman P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 Title: Extent of material: 40 items Deposited in: Reference code: Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of Penelope Margaret Jenkin DSc (1902-1994), biologist Compiled by: Simon Coleman Date of material: 1926-2004 Description level: Fonds Penelope Jenkin UC 171 The library, Freshwater Biological Association, The Ferry House, Far Sawrey, Ambleside, Cumbria NCUACS catalogue no. 134/7/04 © National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists, University of Bath. P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 The work of the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists is supported by the following societies and organisations: The Biochemical Society The British Computer Society The Geological Society Girton College Cambridge titute of Physics The Royal Society The Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Society of Chemistry Trinity College Cambridge St John’s College Cambridge The Wellcome Trust P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 NOT ALL THE MATERIAL IN THIS COLLECTION MAY YET BE AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION. ENQUIRIES SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IN THE FIRST INSTANCE TO: THE LIBRARIAN FAR SAWREY AMBLESIDE THE FERRY HOUSE FRESHWATER BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION CUMBRIA LA22 OLP P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 LIST OF CONTENTS GENERAL INTRODUCTION SECTION A FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE SECTION B ARTICLE IN FRESHWATER FORUM SECTION C RESEARCH INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 GENERAL INTRODUCTION PROVENANCE The papers were received from the Freshwater Biological Association in April and August 2004. OUTLINE OF THE CAREER OF PENELOPE MARGARET JENKIN For a comprehensive survey of Jenkin’s early career see ‘Dr P.M. Jenkin (1902-1994) and the by J.W.G. Lund and E.B. Monaghan, earliest days of the FBA’s laboratory at Wray Castle’, Freshwater Forum Vol. 13, 2000. Penelope Jenkin was born in London in 1902, the daughter of Bernard Maxwell Jenkin, consultant She was admitted to Newnham College, engineer, and Mary May Jenkin (neé Giles), sculptor. Part | First Class in of the Natural Sciences Tripos and, Cambridge, in 1921 and achieved a surprisingly, a Third Class in Part Il (Zoology). After graduating (1925) she took up a research post at the University of Glasgow and made important measurements of photosynthesis in Loch Awe — Her the first time that results using a single alga (i.e. a clone) were obtained in British fresh water. continued research in freshwater biology involved visits to many locations in Britain and Africa, including the Kenyan lakes (1929) where she worked on plankton and carried out a new study on the From 1930 to 1931, with J.T. Saunders, she carried out a feeding mechanism of the flamingo. detailed survey of temperature, chemical composition and plankton in Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire. In September 1931, while still a Newnham College postgraduate student, Jenkin moved to the new She made laboratory of the Freshwater Biological Association at Wray Castle, Lake Windermere. some of the FBA’s earliest measurements of oxygen, chemical concentrations and temperature in In the lake at various depths, and was the first independent research worker at an FBA laboratory. the summer of 1932 she took the oral examination for her PhD, the examiners being the two key figures in the early days of the FBA, W.H. Pearsall and J.T. Saunders. They recommended her for an MSc, as the interview revealed her insufficient knowledge of phytoplankton. While at Wray Castle she also supervised work on the construction of the equipment, designed by her father, for the FBA’s retirement in 1962. For some of her years at Bristol she was a Warden of Clifton Wood House. Zoology at the University of Bristol, later becoming Senior Lecturer, and she remained there until her there that she achieved the correlation between light penetration and photosynthesis, something After leaving Wray Castle, Jenkin worked at the FBA’s laboratory in Plymouth (1933-1934). In 1934 she took up the post of Assistant Lecturer in which had frustrated her at Windermere. marine launch. It was P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 Soon after arriving at Bristol Jenkin joined the Society of Friends. the Bristol Committee for the Friends Relief Service which helped to find homes for evacuees. She travelled much in Europe, attending Friends’ meetings and retreats and spent much time at the During World War II she formed Dyffryn Clwyd meeting in north Wales. The University of Bristol awarded her a DSc in 1958. She was a keen flautist and gardener and remained very active in old age. She died in 1994. DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION The papers date from 1926 to 2004. Section A, Correspondence, dates from 1931 to 1933 and consists of letters to Jenkin from her father Many of her father’s letters relate to work on the and mother, with one of hers to her father. equipment for the FBA’s marine launch. The remainder cover personal and general matters, as do the letters from her mother. Section B, Article in Freshwater Forum (see above), dates from 1978 to 2004, but mostly 1998 to It comprises correspondence between the authors and various individuals, universities, 2000. archive repositories etc, with photocopies of documents, concerning the details of Jenkin’s career, The correspondents include Winifred Tutin and other scientists with particularly the early part. knowledge of Jenkin’s career; Conrad Jenkin, her cousin and executor; and various institutions for which she worked. There is a small amount of correspondence between J.W.G. Lund and Penelope Jenkin (1978-1980). Included are photocopied documents relating to her grandfather, the celebrated engineer Fleeming Jenkin. Simon Coleman Section C, Research, chiefly consists of manuscript data and notes in Jenkin’s hand, including two The two notebooks, recording her experiments in Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire, 1931 to 1932. notebooks also contain manuscript records of Jenkin’s research at Loch Awe during the summers of There are also data and notes in the hand of J.T. Saunders who directed the 1926, 1927 and 1930. work at Wicken. The remainder of the papers - a typescript of an apparently unpublished paper by Jenkin and pages of data - relate to experiments in Lake Windermere, 1931-1932, during her time at Wray Castle. The papers in this section had already been catalogued by the FBA as part of its series Bath, August 2004 There is also an index of correspondents. of ‘Unpublished Collections’. P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 SECTION A FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE, A.1-A.18 1931-1933 Contents of a file, the cover of which has been kept and is described in A.1. The correspondence was given to the Freshwater Biological Assocation by Jenkin's cousin and executor, Conrad Jenkin. A.1-A.16 Bernard Maxwell Jenkin (father) A.17-A.18 | Mary May Jenkin (mother) BERNARD MAXWELL JENKIN (FATHER) 1931-1933 B.M. Jenkin was an engineer and was hired by the FBA to design equipment for its first motor launch on Lake The work on the launch, carried out at Windermere. Borwick's shipyard during 1931 and 1932, was overseen by Penelope Jenkin while she was engaged on research on the lake. Various letters. January-July The majority (1931 to early 1932) relate matters associated with Almost all the letters are to Penelope Jenkin from her father. to detailed technical the motor launch, often including diagrams. Further pages of notes and diagrams in B.M. Jenkin's hand, and a few in Penelope Jenkin's hand, are interspersed with the letters. The remainder of the letters cover personal and general matters. There is one letter from Penelope Jenkin to her father (A.1). 1931 Cover of the original file containing the papers in A.1- A.18. On it is an inscription by Conrad Jenkin (briefly describing B.M. Jenkin’s letters) and one in Penelope Jenkin's hand: 'BMJ '31 -'32 re Lake W'mere'. Letter (July 1931) from Penelope Jenkin (at Cambridge) to her father, chiefly re equipment for the motor launch. Letter (January 1931) to B.M. Jenkin from The National Physical Laboratory re the design of a plankton recorder. P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 Family correspondence Letters from B.M. Jenkin to Penelope Jenkin. 1931-1933 A.5 and A.7 include notes in Penelope Jenkin's hand. There are a few undated, incomplete letters which were These have been left found among the 1931 where they were found in original chronological sequence. letters. the October-November 1931. 6 folders. December 1931-January 1933. 5 folders. A.13-A.15 February-May 1933. 3 folders. A.17-A.18 MARY MAY JENKIN (MOTHER) March-May 1933 Reprint of a paper by Penelope Jenkin, 1931. Other material found among the correspondence in A.2- A.15. Photograph of a group of men taking [?plankton] samples from freshwater, c.1931. the back in Penelope Jenkin's hand and crossed out. 2 folders. Letters to Penelope Jenkin from her mother re personal and general matters. 1931, c.1931 Annotated on P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 SECTION B ARTICLE IN FRESHWATER FORUM, B.1-B.9 1978-2004 ‘Dr P.M. Jenkin (1902-1994) and the earliest days of the FBA's laboratory at Wray Castle’, by J.W.G. Lund and E.B. Monaghan, Freshwater Forum Vol. 13, 2000. In the introduction the authors state that their original intention was to write a brief article on the earliest days of the FBA's laboratory at Wray Castle. It was to be based on the manuscript material described in this catalogue but, the authors explain: 'It became clear that there were inconsistencies and published statements about Penelope's work and career, as well as in some statements in FBA Annual Reports. Further, the realisation that apparently there was no account of her scientific career led to the production of this article, written with special reference to her work at Wray Castle’. unpublished between certain A facts large archive repositories The material described in this section was used by the authors in the preparation of the article and documents their wide-ranging research to establish the of Jenkin's early career. part comprises their correspondence with universities and organisations at which she worked, including significant correspondence with of Cambridge (B.1-B.2). Most of the other correspondents are individuals who knew Jenkin or were familiar with some of her work. There is a small amount of Jenkin's correspondence (some photocopied). Included also are photocopies of papers by Jenkin and photocopies of various documents relating to her and to her grandfather, Fleeming Jenkin. A list of organisations and individuals consulted by the authors is at B.1. University the etc at within a paper folded Included are the following: The existing arrangement of the material by the authors has been almost entirely retained. The contents of B.9 were inscribed of ‘Miscellaneous’. Most of the material is dated 1998-2000. and At Penelope Jenkin, the former's request for information about B.M. Jenkin's core sampler. Photocopied Jenkin Professor W.H. (inscribed Pearsall during the first year's work of the FBA at Wray Castle, 1931-1932', containing her reminiscences of her time at Wray Castle and of her PhD oral examination. At B.3: correspondence with Conrad Jenkin re papers of Penelope Jenkin and her MSc thesis, 1995-2004 B.4: correspondence between J.W.G. 1978-1980, chiefly 3pp_ '1964') typescript Penelope entitled 'Notes by on piece Lund re P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 Article in Freshwater Forum for MSc with the At B.6: photocopy of ‘Substance of [Jenkin's] dissertation submitted The dissertation for her MSc (awarded by the University of Cambridge, May 1948) is lost but Lund and Monaghan, in their article, explain the circumstances surrounding the lost dissertation and the significance of the photocopy in this folder. original plates’. B.8: correspondence between J.W.G. and At Winifred Tutin, 1998-1999, concerning Jenkin’s career, with accompanying notes by Anne Richards. Lund P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 SECTION C RESEARCH, C.1-C.13 1926-1983 Contents of two envelopes whose titles are given below. had already material catalogued the The been Freshwater Biological Association. The FBA's original catalogue numbers are given in brackets after the titles of the envelopes. by C.1-C.11. ‘Wicken Brickpits 1930-1931’ (UC 171) C.12-C.13 ‘Chemical data for Windermere 1931-1932...’ (UC 47) ‘Wicken Brickpits 1930-1931' (UC 171) 1926-1983 Notebooks and files, mostly containing data and notes in Jenkin's hand, relating to her experiments in Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire, May 1930 - August 1931. Parts of the notebooks in C.1 and C.2 cover her work at Loch Awe during the summers of 1926, 1927 and 1930. Pocket hardback notebook in Jenkin's hand with the title (typewritten) 'Wicken Brickpits field notes 1930-31. P.M. Jenkin’. The work at Wicken Fen was eventually published by Jenkin as a paper ‘Temperature, hydrochemistry, and plankton in Wicken Brickpits, 1930-1931. A year's survey of two alkaline, dimictic ponds directed by the late J.T. Saunders, from the Zoological Laboratory, Cambridge’, Hydrobiologia 97, 1982. For various reasons (see the off-print of the paper in C.11), the work was not published in Saunders’ lifetime. In the 1970s Jenkin heard of new research being carried out at one of the Wicken brickpits and, realising the historical value of the original studies, prepared the records for publication. August 1931. From the front: (approximately one third) records work at The first part The second Loch Awe, August 1926 and August 1927. part relates to measurements at Wicken Fen, May 1930- Experimental data and notes (mostly pencil). the weather and other observations are included. 1926-1931 Notes on P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 Research Ls From the back: Brief further notes re the Loch Awe experiments, August 1926; several pages of notes re later experiments at Loch Awe, August-September 1930, preceded by note (written later) by Jenkin: 'Notes on recorded work on Loch Awe, Argyllshire, trying out our unsuccessful plankton recorder. PMJ'. a in 1930-1931 hand records. Jenkin's notebook title Softback Laboraotory (typewritten) 'Wicken Brickpits, 1930-1931. [sic] O2, Phophtes [sic] and silicates. from May 27th 1930 to June 11th 1931 (Those for July and August 1931 are mssing [sic] from my file. PMJ)’. Penelope analyses Jenkin with the for Experimental data, calculations and notes (mostly pencil). There are a few later pen annotations by Jenkin. From front: Experiments at Wicken Fen, 1930-1931. Included is an intercalated page of manuscript notes signed ‘JTS [J.T. Saunders]’ at the bottom. for: and NH3, Alkali analyses 1930-1931 ‘Wicken Brickpits 1930-1931. Saunders Chlorides, Ca and Mg. contents of an envelope so inscribed. Laboratory records. J.T. reserve, Conductivity (Not in PMJ 1982)’, Manuscript experimental data in J.T. Saunders' hand, divided into six groups of papers with typescript labels which are reproduced below. From back: Several pages relate to experiments at Loch Awe, July- September 1927. A few pages are dated August 1930 and probably relate to Jenkin's later work at Loch Awe (see C.1). Another page is dated 'Ap. 23 1930". Wicken Brickpits 1930'. ‘Trial runs on methods before 24.ix.'30. NHS - 18.vi.'30 to 20.ix.'30 Alkali reserve 25.v.'30 to 20.ix.'30 Cl. undated. There are some brief later annotations in Jenkin's hand. May - September 1930 P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 Research | 24.ix.'30 to 21.xii.'30. ‘NHS, Alkali reserve - Records either on same, or adjacent, sheets for each date. Wicken Brickpits III and Br'. September - December 1930 Wicken Brickpits IIl and Br. ‘Conductivity. 8.iv.'31. Not referred to in P.M. Jenkin, 1982". 25.x.'30 to October 1930 - April 1931 ‘Ca & Mg. Wicken Brickpits III & Br. 25.x.'30 to 25.v.'31'. October 1930 - May 1931 ‘Chlorides. Wicken Brickpits III and Br. 26.xi.'30 to 25.v.'31'. ‘NHS, Alkali reserve - Records on same or adjacent sheets for each date. Wicken Brickpits, III and Br’. II 3.1.'31 to 21.viii.'31. November 1930 - May 1931 January- August 1931 copy of data on C.10-C.11 Contents of an untitled file. September 1930 - June 1931 Manuscript data and notes in Jenkin's hand. At the top of the first page is a later note by Jenkin: 'Raw data of some plankton counts’. Temperature, '‘Photostat full Hydrochemistry & Stability in Wicken Brickpits, 1930- 1931, from field and laboratory records, deposited with Jenkin. Wicken M._ Hydrobiologia (1982) 97: 37-61', contents of file so entitled. c.1981-1983 (mostly) manuscript data Photocopies of (in Jenkin's hand), some with later annotations in her hand. Included at C.11 later typescript notes, signed by Jenkin (1983), relating to her paper in Hydrobiologia (1982); and an off-print of the paper with a few annotations in her hand. Fen Committee. Penelope are 2 folders. a P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 Research C.12-C.13 ‘Chemical data for Windermere 1931-1932. Penelope Jenkin’ (UC47) 1931-[after 1942] Typescript data, some photocopied. On some pages are later annotations in Jenkin's hand. 1931-1932 ‘Seasonal changes in chemical analysis of water samples from Windermere in 1931-1932". [after 1942] 9Ypp photocopied typescript by Jenkin, so entitled, with later corrections and annotations in her hand. Apparently unpublished. Jenkin's survey of temperature in Lake Windermere, referred to in the typescript, was published in ‘Journal of Animal Ecology’, Il, 1942. P.M. Jenkin NCUACS 134/7/04 INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS BONEY, A.D. (‘Don’) JENKIN, Bernard Maxwell JENKIN, (David) Conrad JENKIN, Mary May (née GILES) JENKIN, Penelope Margaret LUND, John Walter Guerrier MONAGHAN, Elaine B. MORTIMER, Clifford H. SAUNDERS, John Tennant TUTIN (née PENNINGTON), Winifred Anne B.1 A.1-A.16 B.3 A.17, A.18 B.4, B.6, B.9 B.1, B.3-B.5, B.8 B:1;'6.2;B:5 B.5 A.9, B.6 B.8 WORTHINGTON, Edgar Barton
JENKIN, Penelope Margaret v1
Published: 16 January, 2024 Author: admin