Collection of manuscripts and printed books; including papers on Invergordon Mutiny; social conditions of seamen; including papers of Lionel Yexley; and correspondence with Churchill, Fisher and Jellicoe; and papers on lower deck reform, circa 1900 - 191970.

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Administrative / biographical background
Pursey was educated at the Royal Hospital School and later at Royal Naval College, Greenwich. He entered the Navy as a boy seaman in 1907 on board the IMPREGNABLE. During the First World War he served on the light cruiser ADVENTURE in the Dover Patrol and was at the Battle of Jutland on the REVENGE. In 1917 he was appointed gunner and served in the Aegean on the FORWARD. During this period he was second in command of a landing party which successfully evacuated a Royal Naval Air Service station from Lesbos Island and was mentioned in dispatches for his part in this. He retired from the Navy in 1936 and later was a journalist during the Spanish Civil War. He was elected a member of parliament for Labour for Kingston Upon Hull East in 1945. He served as an MP for the next twenty five years and was suceeded by John Prescott in 1970. He was particularly interested in below decks naval history and spent time researching the Invergordon Mutiny, but, never published his work. 'The Times' stated that he was 'the first naval officer promoted from the lower deck' to enter parliament. He wrote 'From petitions to reviews : the presentation of lower deck grievances' a copy of which is available at the Caird Library. For more information about the life of Harry Pursey, see, 'The Lower Deck of the Royal Navy 1900-39: The Invergordon Mutiny in Perspective' by Anthony Carew. This book makes much use of collection and of Pursey's thoughts on the lower deck of the Navy for the period 1900 - 1939.