The London Library, a private lending library established in 1841, has made its historical membership records available for anyone to read.

The Library was founded on the initiative of Thomas Carlyle, who had become increasingly annoyed with the facilities at the British Library and wanted to set up a private subscription library from which books could be borrowed.

And ever since, pretty much the who’s who of the literary world has at some point been a member. Your correspondent is also a member, although more of a “who’s he?” than a member of the “who’s who”.

Each member has their joining details recorded in ledger books, and the Library has now digitised the archive from 1841 up to 1950 and made it freely available online.

A few interesting ones I found include Constance Wilde, Oscar Wilde’s wife. There is a Lord Tennyson in the records, but not that one. There’s E.M Forster, listed as a lecturer. Charles Dickens was a member and nominated other people who wanted to join. Thomas Hardy joined in 1906, nominated by his close friend, Frederic Harrison.

Arthur Conan Doyle joined late in his career, after he became Sir.

Bram Stoker was a member, but more interestingly, although his wife also joined, she did so only after he had died.

While it’s obvious to look for the famous names, the real treasure lies in finding the lesser-known folk. Maybe one of your long-dead relatives is here, and then you can see who nominated them or who they nominated, building up a picture of their social circles in life.

You can search the archives here.

The digital archive is supported by the Unwin Charitable Trust with seed funding from Mark Storey.