This series contains historical accounts, annual, financial and other reports, letter copy books, minutes and correspondence on the establishment, operation and development of the money order and postal order services. The series also contains records on the prevention and detection of fraud, the use of postal orders as currency in wartime, and information on agreements with other Empire or Commonwealth countries for the sale of British postal or money orders in their territories.

Manuscript volume containing transcripts of various proposals concerning the reformation of the coinage, 1695-1696, made in response to a request by the Exchequer for views on ideas discussed in A report...for the amendment of the silver coins (1695) by William Lowndes, Permanent Secretary of the Treasury. Comprising papers on the coinage by Sir Christopher Wren, Dr John Locke, Gilbert Heathcote, Alderman [Francis] Gardner, [Rev] Samuel Pratt [Dean of Rochester], [William] Corbet, Sir John Houblon, Dr John Wallis, Dr Isaac Newton, and William James, with further treatises entitled 'A merchant's demonstration superior to imagination, that the raising of bullion cannot be anyways injurious but highly advantageous to these three kingdoms above all others', and 'Some considerations offered to the House of Commons in relation to mending the coyne'. A note written in 1963 by E S de Beer regarding several of the items described above is inserted into the manuscript.

Manuscript report entitled 'A State of the Coynage in Barcelona', [1714], with a note that 'This paper was attested upon oath before the Commissioners of Accounts the 14th day of May 1714 by Mr. [John] Mead'. The remainder of the volume comprises a printed copy of the answer of James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, to allegations concerning his financial administration as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Catalonia during 1708, and contains manuscript annotations in Stanhope's hand.

Letter from John Richards of the Sun Fire Office to Andrew Beckett, Esq, 17 Dec 1816. 'I return you for your handsome present my sincere thanks & rely on it if it is in my power to do the publication good I will do it ...'.

Autograph, with signature. Endorsed: 'As to plan for raising Fund for the Poor'.

Papers of Lord Morris Rokeby, including mortgage for property in Edmonton, statement of debts and letters.

Records of the Royal Contract Estates, 1297-1774, including papers relating to the state of the estates; papers relating to the debts of King James I and King Charles I; papers relating to the sale of the various estates; indentures; financial accounts; surveys of various estates; auditors' certificates of the total rents of the manors and lands; law suits; committee papers and deeds.

Manuscript volume containing transcripts of papers and tables mainly relating to the work of the Royal Mint in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, [1740-1748], notably a copy of the Mint Charter of 24 Apr 1662, with a translation into English, and of the indenture of 23 Aug 1732 appointing John Conduitt as Master of the Mint, with a schedule of salaries; copies of the papers of Sir Isaac Newton and John Conduitt relating to the Trial of the Pyx, [1717 and 1734]; copy papers, some official, relating to the Assay and Trial of the Pyx in 1734 and 1740; copy papers on various, including Portuguese money, the process of making money from imported ingotts, and copper coinage; tables of monies coined under Richard Arundell, Master of the Mint, between 1737 and 1743; tables of gold and silver minted annually from 1660-1740; orders of 1729, 1732 and 1738 allowing the Master of the Mint to import Irish copper; tables showing the weight and fineness of gold and silver coins minted from the time of King Edward I, with names of successive Masters of the Mint. A note by the compiler in the index is signed 'A.P', which probably stands for Anthony Pollet, Clerk to the Caster.

Manuscript volume containing transcripts of papers relating to the Royal Mint, [1732-1770], including a copy confirmation of the Charter of the Royal Mint, dated 24 Apr 1662, including the original grant of 1 May 1308 and successive confirmations and grants; a copy of the indenture dated 23 Aug 1732 appointing John Conduitt as Warden of the Mint, with corrections in red ink to form the basis of an indenture for the Hon Charles Sloane Cadogan, 23 Nov 1770; copy of a warrant dated 24 Jul 1729 for John Conduitt to coin British copper, with a note of a similar warrant dated 17 Aug 1738 for Richard Arundell, Master of the Irish Mint; copy of a warrant dated 20 Nov 1740 for Richard Arundell, Master of the Irish Mint, to coin copper for Ireland.

Records of Rubber Securities Limited, investment company, including articles of association, minutes of meetings, annual reports, circulars to shareholders, papers relating to the acquisition of the Company and statement of investment holdings.

Access to records less than 30 years old (or records less than 70 years old which relate to staff) should be sought from Elementis plc (contact details may be obtained from a member of staff).

Manuscript volume containing notes in the hand of Rogers Ruding, Vicar of Malden, [1817-1818], consisting of extracts from legislation relating to coinage, and used in Ruding's Annals of the coinage of Great Britain (Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London, 1817-19). The extracts are marked 'used' or 'not used'. Includes a list of sources.

Share Investment Trust records comprise minutes of meetings of the trustees.

Manuscript volume containing a treatise by John Sharp, Archbishop of York, on English coins and their history, 1697, containing chapters on silver and gold coins, Scots and Irish money, and a commentary on the treatment of coinage in William Nicolson's The English historical library (London, 1696-1699). Marginal notes state that Nicolson had requested Sharp's opinion on his book before its publication, and the whole of this manuscript appears to have been known to Nicolson before he began writing The English historical library. The references to pages in Nicholson's book given in Sharp's notes refer apparently to Nicholson's manuscript copy.

Records of the Society for the Relief of Persons Confined for Small Debts, including minutes; extracts of proceedings; Acts of Parliament; papers concerning J C Neild; financial accounts including legacy books, income books, general expenditure books, annual accounts and auditor's reports; papers regarding the disposal of surplus funds; bequests; press cuttings; correspondence; and histories of the Society.

The minutes contain reports of visits of inspection as well as names and numbers of prisoners assisted. A number of the papers relate to the destruction of the book containing the minutes and accounts of the Society 4 Mar 1818 to 5 Apr 1826 by John Camden Neild, treasurer 1814-1827.

Records of the Society of Pension Consultants, comprising minutes, agendas, reports and correspondence from various committees; secretary's files; documents concerning membership; published reports and surveys.

Letters of attorney given by holders of South Sea stock in Amsterdam, The Hague and Geneva to London merchants respecting their stock, 1731-1739.

A collection of letters, printed circulars, etc, mainly addressed to William Blackwood, of Messrs Stuart and Blackwood, Peebles, Scotland, 1859-1901. The topics covered reflect the firm's business activities: requests for legal advice or legal action; requests to act as agents or trustees; and legal advice or legal action on insurance, assurance and debts. A signficant proportion of the letters concern the Symington extension of the Caledonian Railway Company (1861).

Records of T.R.S. Company Limited, investment company, comprising articles of association and annual report and accounts.

Records relating to T.R.S. Limited, investment company, including articles of association; minutes; papers presented at meetings; annual reports and accounts; and statements of investments.

Access to records less than 30 years old should be sought from Elementis plc (contact details may be obtained from a member of staff).

Manuscript volume, 1573, containing documents and tables relating to the Royal Mint, including papers on the prevention of counterfeiting and clipping of coins, and methods of replenishing the circulation of silver coins.

Manuscript volume containing tracts on coinage by Leon Lee, [1628-1633], namely proposals on the coinage addressed to Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland and Treasurer of England, a paper outlining methods of preventing abuse of the coinage, and an explanation of the exchange. The volume also contains a [presumably unrelated] account of the reception of Princess Elizabeth of England, at Frankenthal, for her marriage to the Elector Palatine Frederick V, later King of Bohemia, Jun 1613.

Manuscript volume, 1554-1720, containing nine transcripts relating to the public coinage of France, notably a transcript of letters patent by King Henry IV setting out regulations for the coinage, 3 Mar 1554; a judgment of the Chambre des Comptes, 25 Nov 1690; miscellaneous transcripts giving details of the cost of equipment for minting, possibly for the coinage of Orleans, France; various formularies for the process of casting gold ingots and counterfeit gold coins, drawn up on behalf of Pierre François Guerin, Juge Garde de la Monoye d'Orleans, 30 Apr 1728; memorandum on the establishment of the coinage of Orleans following an edict of Oct 1716, consisting of 24 articles for regulating the work of the officers of the Mint; two treatises on the administration of coinage in France; summaries of judgements concerning coinage, 23 Dec 1719-26 Dec 1720, with a commentary on each; a description of various French coins, [1718-1728].

Manuscript volume containing a treatise by Sir James William Morrison, First Clerk and Deputy Master of the Royal Mint, entitled 'Memoirs and observations on the melting and casting of silver for the coinage at his Majesty's Mint', 1807. The manuscript discusses previous techniques in melting, especially experiments made by his father James Morrison, Deputy Master of the Mint from 1787-1799, based on his papers, and his own experiments made with the help of Robert Mushet, Third Clerk to the Master of the Mint, and Robert Bingley, the Assay Master (1798-1836). There are some pencil notes in the margin.

Contemporary copy of a treatise, 1603, by Sir Richard Martin, Master of the Royal Mint, on matters relating to the Royal Mint and solutions to the problems of coinage at the beginning of the reign of King James I. With a dedicatory epistle to King James I. Martin's Indentures for the coining of new monies, which are largely quoted in this treatise, were renewed by James I on 21 May 1603.

Treatise on coinage in Saxony headed 'Lunenburgischer Krays abescheidt Ihn der vorhen nach Quasimodogeniti anno [15]69 [a]usgerustet. So viel die Munze belangedt', 1569.

Records of West London Magistrates Court, 1877-2001, including court registers; registers for means enquiries, Small Tenement Act cases, civil debt cases, ex-parte cases, and licence renewals; Married Women Act orders; bastardy orders; domestic court proceedings; maintenance registers and Guardianship of Infants Act orders.

Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate.

Domestic proceedings: a married woman under the provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women) Act 1895 and subsequent Acts could go to a magistrates' court and apply for orders which in certain circumstances would enable her to separate from her husband, have custody of any children and receive maintenance from him. Under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1844 a mother expecting a bastard child or who had given birth to one could obtain a maintenance order against the putative father.

Document relating to a plea heard at Westminster, 1807: Crichton Horne and Edward Finch, (plaintiffs) v John Moore.

Papers, 1638-1890, collected by Myers in the course of their work, comprising wills and a bond relating to Palgrave, Suffolk; Hampstead; Kensington (Old Brompton); West Twyford and Bloomsbury.