Bills, receipts and business letters handled by the agents of the Dukes of Bedford. Usually each bill bears the signature of the then Duke and / or his agent sanctioning payment to be made, as well as the signature of the recipient of the money or the recipient's agent. The remaining manuscripts are records of money coming in to the Bedford estates or business letters or market reports from accredited agents of the Dukes of Bedford. The collection has been arranged in subject sections. Each section is in chronological order.

Manuscript volume containing a record of housekeeping expenses, 1766-1848. The account book contains annual expenses from 1766-1768, weekly expenses from Jan 1769-Aug 1787, mostly for food and washing clothes, and weekly household expenses from Aug 1837 to Nov 1847 with details of servants' wages from Nov 1837 to Nov 1848. The expenses for Aug 1837 are headed '10 Avenue Road, Regent's Park'. Includes a list headed 'Books in Library in Margaret's Room', dated 7 Sep 1837; the works are mainly religious. Some pages have been used for notes and jottings.

A manuscript list, [1675-1725], giving the cost of foodstuffs for dinner and supper for one week (from Tuesday 12-Tuesday 19).

Collection of bills and receipts, 1723-1869, most for food, clothing, jewellery and household items such as fuel and furniture. Many are printed forms completed in manuscript.
Eight bills, all dated 1862, are addressed to Miss or Mrs. Hall, and three, dated 1868-1869, to the executors of George Pratt. Twenty-nine bills and receipts have printed headings, some with engravings. Includes a printed circular of 1845 from Kevan and Buttle, Glasgow, advertising a new department for 'Millinery and ladies under-clothing'. A bill of June 1807 gives the costs (£102 12s) of printing [Louis Dutens's] Memoires d'un voyageur qui se repose, and Dutensiana, pour servir de suite aux memoires (3 vols, Dulau and Co, 1806).

Family correspondence, 1879-1931, notably letters, 1884-1893, from Sarah E Wells to her sons, Edward and John Percy, mainly concerning the running of the farm, family events, her religious beliefs, and news of other family members; correspondence, 1879-1896, between William, Edward, John Percy, Sarah E, and Frank, notably from Frank concerning his impressions of South Africa, 1895-1896; twentieth century family correspondence, 1924-1931, mainly relating to the arrangement of Edward Wells' personal effects in preparation for a serious operation, 1931. Papers, 1899-1904, relating to the will of John Percy Wells, who died in 1900, mainly comprising financial records such as Inland Revenue forms, and papers relating to estate duty. Papers, 1898-1907, relating to shares in the London and North Western Railway and the Vulcan Foundry held by Gretchen Wells, including correspondence from various stockbrokers. Financial papers of Edward Wells, 1913-1931, including insurance policies, receipts and invoices, banking correspondence, income tax assessments, receipts relating to his hospital and funeral expenses, and London County and Westminster Bank account books for Edward Wells and Mrs S E J Sortman. Various anonymous articles, 1904-1920, on subjects including free trade and protectionism, the 'fall of the franc', and relief work among prisoners of war and refugees in Poland. Other family papers, 1807-1928, notably the British passport of Edward Wells, 1928; an Almanack, printed by W Peacock and Sons, 1807; a National Rifle Association medal and case, 1860; and assorted photographs, [1920-1925], coins and notes on the family history, [1920-1929].