The ZSL Archives

The Charles Hayward Foundation recently generously funded redevelopment of the Reading Room to transform it into a welcoming, engaging and more flexible space. The Library & Archives reopened on 5th March 2024, we hope you are able to visit us soon to see our transformation.

ZSL Prince Philip Zoological Library & Archives is open by appointment 10:30am to 5pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only. 

Extended Christmas Closure - our last day open in 2024 will be Thursday 19th December. We will reopen on Tuesday 4th February 2025.

The Library of the Zoological Society of London houses ZSL’s Archives which range from manuscript minutes to computer print-outs.

Based in ZSL Library, the Archives of ZSL are a range of records of interest to researchers in zoo history. The majority of the records have been produced as a result of ZSL’s activities. The main use of the Archives will be for the history of ZSL itself and the zoos it owns: London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo; however there are other uses as varied as family history and studies of culture and society.

Examples found amongst the many items are:

Minutes of Committees

• Minutes of Council. Dating from 1826 to the present, these are perhaps the most important of the records, as they detail the decision-making of the Council of Fellows that run the Society.
• Minutes of the General Meetings. These are the Fellows’ AGMs.
• Minutes of the Gardens Committee (i.e. London Zoo)
• Minutes of the Whipsnade Committee

Daily Occurrences of London Zoo and Whipsnade. Completed daily, these list the arrivals and departures, births and deaths of animals at London Zoo and Whipsnade. Other details mentioned in some of the books are numbers of visitors and money taken, particular visitors, keepers absent, unwell animals, building works, temperatures in the animal houses, and weather.

Staff cards. A very useful resource for people tracing ancestors that worked at ZSL. The cards cover all sorts of jobs at London Zoo, Whipsnade and the ZSL Main Offices, including zoo keepers, accountants, carpenters and librarians.

19th Century Letter Collection. These letters are mainly from Fellows to the Secretary of ZSL. Sadly, there are no replies. Authors include: Darwin, Abraham Bartlett, the Duke of Bedford, Wallace, and Barnum.

Ephemera or Objects (or in this case perhaps ‘Zoophemera’). For example: London and Whipsnade Zoo guides, posters and leaflets, Music Hall songsheets.

Non-ZSL donated items. Includes collections of letters from the Buckland family, Brian Hodgson and Joan Procter; also the papers of the Association of British Zoologists.

There are, of course, many other types of records, including: medals, tickets, a keeper’s uniform, post-mortem books, menus, press-cuttings albums, charters, maps and plans.