Introduction The first member of the Hodgkin family to be mentioned in these papers is John Hodgkin (1766-1845), a calligraphist who lived in London and was a tutor there. He published various books on the subject of writing. His elder son Thomas (1798-1866) was a doctor, at one time curator and pathologist at Guy’s Hospital and an ardent supporter of the anti-slavery campaign. In 1858 he founded the Aborigines Protection Society. The younger son John (1800-1875) was at first a barrister but gave up this work to travel and preach for the Society of Friends to which, like his father and brother, he belonged. Through his marriage to Ann Backhouse, a daughter of the banker, Jonathan Backhouse, John Hodgkin jnr. established a connection with the Darlington Quakers. The only child of this marriage, Jonathan Backhouse Hodgkin (1843-1926), lived in Darlington and took an active part in the town’s affairs, being mayor in 1884-1885. He married in 1873 Mary Anna, the younger daughter of John Pease (1798-1868) and granddaughter of Edward Pease (1767-1858) The Peases were undoubtedly the foremost of the Darlington Quaker families, prominent in business and in the activities of the Society of Friends. The family had first settled in Darlington in the early eighteenth century and had established a woollen mill there. They did not concern themselves merely with the textile industry, however, and by the early nineteenth century had interests in quarries, collieries and, above all, developing railways. The success of the Stockton and Darlington Railway was largely due to the encouragement and far-sightedness as well as the financial backing of Edward Pease and his sons Joseph and Henry, together with other local business men. The Hodgkin papers are essentially a miscellaneous collection rather than a true archive group and have been arbitrarily arranged in three main sections: correspondence, family papers and miscellaneous items. They consist of material relating to the Hodgkins and material inherited by them from the Pease family. Despite the fact that the Peases were so prominent in business and local affairs there is not a great deal of material relating to their activities in these fields. There are just two small sections devoted to the Stockton and Darlington Railway (D/Ho/X 10-34) and Darlington (D/Ho/X 35-86) Most of the correspondence is personal or relates to the Society of Friends. Although he had no real connection with Darlington or County Durham there are some interesting letters to Dr. Thomas Hodgkin (D/Ho/C 38) He corresponded with several famous people of his day, including Michael Faraday, Sir John Herschel, Lord Shaftesbury, Joseph Hume and Elizabeth Fry, all represented here. John Pease, unlike his brothers, did not interest himself in business matters but devoted his life to the Society of Friends. Like John Hodgkin he travelled widely as a preacher in America and Europe and amongst the papers are two of the Journals which he kept on these tours – one for Ireland, 1833-1834 (D/Ho/F 114) and one for America, 1843-1845 (D/Ho/F 116) There is a small section consisting of material relating to the Society of Friends both in Darlington and elsewhere (D/Ho/X 1-9) Reference to the family pedigrees which follow will be necessary in using the correspondence as the Peases and, through them, the Hodgkins were related to many of the important English Quaker families, in particular the Frys, Barclays and Gurneys. For records in this catalogue check the section below.