The University of Southampton has been received a grant worth nearly £2m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) to help secure the Broadlands Archive for the nation.

A campaign was launched seven months ago in order to raise £2.85m to acquire the archives from private ownership, which includes papers belonging to a number of major 19th and 20th century political figures.

The archives - on loan to the university's Hartley Library since 1989 - comprise 4,500 boxes of official papers and personal correspondence from Lord Palmerston; the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury; and the last Viceroy of India, Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

Legal arrangements can now be taken forward to secure the purchase after the fundraising target was met, with proceeds of the sale to go towards a £4.6m reworking project at the Grade I-listed Broadlands House near Romsey.

NHMF chief executive Carole Souter said: "Now that the fundraising target has been reached, the University of Southampton is on track to ensure that the records of those who stood at the very forefront of British political life will be preserved for future generations of historians, scholars and the public to explore and enjoy."

Professor Chris Woolgar, head of special collections at the University of Southampton, added: "It is impossible to underestimate the Archives' historical and national impact; in particular, without them we would find it difficult to understand fully the foundations of the independent states of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh."

Image: Lord Mountbatten (right) with Mahatma Gandhi in 1947 – Trustees of the Broadlands Archive