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This oral history project was conducted by Graeme Naylor as an independent study project (Registration number 200003190). It involved interviewing victims of asbestos-related disease and their families, as well as a consultant surgeon at Inverclyde Royal Infirmary.

Copies of parts of the corporate archive of Turner & Newall, one of the world's leading asbestos manufacturers. The records copied date back to the 1920s. The copies were owned by Clydeside Action on Asbestos and used as a research resource.

These copies are significant since the original Turner & Newall archives are not accessible. The only time that the company granted access to its archives was during the legal proceedings initiated by Chase Manhattan Bank against Turner & Newall in 1987 when these copies were made. The copies of the archives remain the only primary evidence of Turner & Newall's activities.

Contents include board minutes and correspondence and papers relating to: the health risks of asbestos; asbestos industry regulations; the company's medical arrangements; employees with asbestos-related disease; the company's relations with the media; the company's submissions to parliamentary select committees; Chase Manhattan Bank vs. Turner & Newall trial documents; company histories.

Research papers of Geoffrey Tweedale gathered during the course of his research for his book 'Magic mineral to killer dust: Turner & Newall and the asbestos hazard' (2nd edition, 2001: Oxford University Press), which investigated the British company, Turner & Newall, one of the world's leading asbestos manufacturers.

The collection comprises:

• Copies of more or less complete run of Turner & Newall compensation cases, 1921-1990s (c. 700 files). The copies were made by Tweedale from microfilms of the Turner & Newall company archives made by Chase Manhattan Bank in 1991 as part of a court case initiated in the USA by the Bank against Turner & Newall. Tweedale made a special study of these case files.
• Series of subject files. The bulk of the contents is copies of correspondence and papers from the Turner & Newall archives. However, the series also contains material from other sources as well as Tweedale’s own notes and correspondence. Most of the material relates to Turner & Newall, but there is also material on other companies eg Johns Manville in the USA, Eternit, and Cape Asbestos as well as material on Canada, South Africa, and Australia. The series also includes biographical information on related people as well as press cuttings collected by Tweedale.
• A selection of videotapes and DVDs mostly relating to Turner & Newall plus several transcripts of TV/radio programmes, dating back to the 1970s and early 1980s.