Showing 36 results

Whilst we do not use the 'Royal' prefix in our official title, ZSL received its first royal charter in 1829, from King George IV. We have had the patronage of the English monarchy since then, with Queen Elizabeth II being our current Royal patron.

Previous and current royal charters of ZSL, and items relating to revisions of said Charters and Bylaw.

Reports both internal and externally published by the society.

Records relating to the Institute of Zoology and ZSL's scientific endeavours

Legal records of ZSL

Records relating to publications produced by ZSL

Staff records of ZSL

It was proposed in the setting up of ZSL that there would be a museum for zoological specimens, and items began being collected c.1827 including a collection of Sumatran specimens donated by Lady Sophia Raffles, widow of ZSL founder Sir Stamford Raffles. The museum was housed firstly within our office building at 33 Bruton Street in central London, and charged entry for people to visit. Many specimens were donated by fellows, John Gould donated his collection of Himalayan birds in 1831 to the museum, for example. The museum proved very popular, and grew at such a rate that it was one of the reasons for moving office to Leicester square. It was decided that the Society either needed to purchase a dedicated building for it - or to disperse the collection. ZSL Council chose the latter, and by 1855 the collection had been dispersed to various other collections including the British Museum (Natural History) and Norwich Museum.

Records of press and marketing of London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo, with press cuttings books

Records of the committees of London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo

Files relating to the library and its collections at ZSL