Hampshire County Council has agreed to pledge £100,000 towards the University of Southampton's appeal to purchase the Broadlands Archives.
The funding will come from an underspend of the special grants fund.
The University now has £800,000 of the £2.85 million asking price set by Broadlands.
The estate is selling the collection of documents to help fund a massive repair programme to Broadlands House.
The county council deputy leader Roy Perry, who represents the Romsey Extra division, said: "I hope this support from HCC will help retain this important archive in Hampshire and accessible to local people. “Some years ago when I was MEP I was delighted to be able to get a facsimile of a document in the archive to be displayed at an exhibition in Brussels that revealed Lord Palmerston’s role as British Foreign Secretary in the creation of the Kingdom of the Belgians.”
Professor Chris Woolgar of Southampton University will give a talk about the archive at Romsey Town Hall on Wednesday evening from 8pm. Admission is £2.
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