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The collection comprises one letter from John Beavan (Lord Ardwick), then director of Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd, to Miss Lena Chivers (later Jeger), then employed in the Russian Section of the Ministry of Defence. Beavan offers Chivers feedback on her writing and offers advice in order to help her decide whether she should attempt a career in journalism after the war.

Administrative/Biographical history: Lena Jeger, Baroness Jeger (nee Chivers) was a British politician and journalist. Born in Gloucestershire in 1915, she joined the civil service in 1936, working first in Customs and Excise and then the Ministry of Information. In 1951 Jeger began writing for the Manchester Guardian before leaving to become an MP for Holborn and St Pancras South in 1953 following the death of the incumbent, her husband Dr Santo Jeger. She lost the seat in 1959, but regained it in 1964 and retained it until 1979. She served as a member of the consultative assembly of the Council of Europe and became UK delegate to the status of women commission of the UN in 1967. She was a member of the Labour party's National Executive Committee from 1968 to 1980, becoming the party's chair in 1979. In 1979 she was also made a peer. She resumed writing for the Manchester Guardian in 1964, and continued to contribute profile pieces and obituaries to the Guardian until 2003. Lena Jeger died on 26 February 2007.
Creator: Beavan, John Cowburn (1910-1994) Baron Ardwick, journalist

Letter from John Beavan (Lord Ardwick), in his capacity of director of Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd, to Miss Lena Chivers (later Jeger), then employed in the Russian Section of the Ministry of Defence.

In the letter, Beavan provides Chivers with feedback on two articles she has written for Time and Tide, a weekly political and literary review magazine, advising that they are "well written," "they have emotion, not too much, not too little" and "all the time they are going somewhere and not just anywhere". A further article elicits a less favourable response, it being considered "a trifle ham."

Beavan goes on to consider the question posed by Chivers of whether she should return to the civil service following the war, or try to pursue a journalistic career. He asks her to consider whether she could achieve some of what he sees as key requirements of a reporter's position e.g. "could you give a news editor the kind of story he wants and not the kind you want to write?" He also offers advice on the comparative salary and other benefits.

Finally Beavan offers his thoughts about the prospects for women in journalism after the war and the changing nature of journalism as a profession more generally. He appears to urge caution e.g. "Journalism from the outside appears to be still a rather Bohemian occupation. It is not...There is more red tape and more hard slogging than in any Government department."

The letter ends on a personal note, suggesting that Chivers and Beavan know one another in a social capacity and is followed by a handwritten postscript.
Creator: The Guardian, 1821-