Papers of Ernest Walton

Repository: Trinity College Dublin

Identity Statement

TitlePapers of Ernest Walton
Archive ReferenceIE TCD MS/10657
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/papers-ernest-walton
Creation Dates1918-1993
Extent Medium45 Boxes; objects

Context

Creator(s): Walton, Ernest Thomas Sinton, 1903-1995, nuclear physicist

  • Administrative History ↴

    Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton was born in Dungarvan. Co. Waterford. he graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1926; he received his PhD from Cambridge in 1931 and then returned to the Department of Physics in Trinity College in 1934. In 1948 he was appointed Erasmus Smith Professor of Natural and Experimental Science in Trinity. In 1951 he, and his colleague in Cambridge, John Cockcroft, were awarded the Nobel prize in physics for the work they had done in the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge in the 1930s. Working under the supervision of Ernest Rutherford they successfully split the atom. In 1934 ETSW married Freda Wilson whom he had met when they were both pupils in Methodist College Belfast.

  • Archival History ↴

    The papers were brought on 3 and 16 June 1993 from the homes of Dr Alan Walton and of Miss Marion Woods; and were presented by Dr ETS Walton after 1993. MS 10657/81 was presented by Alan Walton in 2013.

  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Donation

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: Walton, Ernest Thomas Sinton, 1903-1995, nuclear physicist ↴

    The collection contains research and lecture notes both from under-and postgraduate studies and from Walton’s own lectures and research in Trinity. There is correspondence relating to his work, papers relating to his running of the Physis Department in Trinity. There are also personal papers. There are photographs and objects. Also included is some material (diaries and lectures notes) by his wife Freda Walton.

  • Appraisal Destruction ↴

    Permanent Retention

  • Arrangement ↴

    The collection is arranged as follows:
    10657/1 Student life
    10657/2 Royal Commission for the 1851 Exhibition
    10657/3 The Hughes medal (1938)
    10657/4 The Nobel prize for physics (1951)
    10657/5 Trinity College Dublin. Physics Laboratory Notebooks
    10657/6 Lecture notes
    10657/7 Trinity College Dublin, Physics department papers
    10657/8 Trinity College Dublin, Physics department correspondence
    10657/9‐46 Research/reference materials
    10657/47 Accelerators
    10657/48 Research and publications
    10657/49 Talks, addresses, lectures
    10657/50‐1 American tours and lectures
    10657/52 Correspondence: Rutherford
    10657/53 Correspondence: Cockcroft
    10657/54 Correspondence: J L Synge
    10657/55 Correspondence: Oliphant
    10657/56 Miscellaneous correspondence
    10657/57 Correspondence with publishers
    10657/58 Correspondence with biographical dictionaries
    10657/59 Correspondence with American Peoples’ Encyclopedia
    10657/60 Correspondence between ETS Walton and Freda Walton
    10657/61 Papers of Freda Walton (née Winifred Isabel
    Wilson)
    10657/62 Family papers
    10657/63 Wartime research
    10657/64 Domestic workshop
    10657/65 Royal Dublin Society
    10657/66 Royal City of Dublin Hospital
    10657/67 Scholarship Exchange Board
    10657/68 Broadcasting
    10657/69 Methodist Centenary Church
    10657/70 Teaching science in Ireland
    10657/71 Dunsink Observatory/Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies
    10657/72 Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ireland
    10657/73 Atomic Energy Commission
    10657/74 Diaries and bank books
    10657/75 Photographs
    10657/76 Certificates
    10657/77 Invitations
    10657/78 Press cuttings
    10657/79 Xeroxes
    10657/80 Objects
    10657/81 Slides

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions Some of the personal material may only be consulted with the permission of the Walton family. Please contact mscripts@tcd.ie in advance of your visit
Conditions Governing ReproductionPlease contact mscripts@tcd.ie for guidance.
Creation Dates1918-1993
Extent Medium45 Boxes; objects
Material Language ScriptEnglish
Finding Aids An item-level description is available to search online Archive Web Link →

Allied Materials

Related MaterialFurther material related to Walton is available at the Manuscripts and Archives Research Library, Trinity College Dublin: TCD MSS 10386-93 Walton's student notebooks TCD MS 11358 supplementary papers, uncatalogued. There are notebooks from the Cavendish Laboratory Cambridge held at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge University. They may be consulted in Trinity College Library on microfilm Non TCD Mic 42.
Publication NoteMcBrierty, Vincent J, Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton: the Irish scientist (1903-1995) (Dublin: Trinity College Press and the Physics Department, Trinity College Dublin, 2003)

Descriptive Control Area

Archivist NoteAdapted by Natalie Milne, February 2014.
Rules/ConventionsISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottowa: International Council on Archives, 2000. National Council on Archives: Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names. Chippenham: National Council on Archives, 1997. UK Archival Thesaurus (UKAT)
Date of Descriptions41671