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Papers of Edward Whymper, 1871-1911, including computations of heights in the Andes, 1880 and watercolour, 'View of Greenland'.

Correspondence of Gen James T Walker, comprising two volumes of correspondence, 1876-1882, to Walker from correspondants in India and Europe with some draft letters from Walker, principally concerning the Survey of India and pendulum apparatus, correspondents include: G B Airey, David Gill, W J Heaviside, J Herschel, Fr. A Hirsch, Clements R Markham, T G Montgomerie, Lord Roberts, O von Stubendorf, Richard Strachey, H L Thuillier, and Colonel Henry Yule. Copies of extracts from Walker's letters, 1867-1876, from the records held in the Geodetic Branch Library, Dehra Dun, transcribed by R Phillimore, 1964.

Journals and logs of Foley Charles Prendergast Vereker, 1865-1886, relating to his service in RN Survey ships: Vol. 1, 1865-1867 as a midshipman in HMSs VICTORY, MUTINE, SUTLEJ, MALACCA, SCOUT and MUTINE again, home and South American (Atlantic and Pacific) stations; Vol. 2, 1867-1870 as a midshipman in HMSs MUTINE, NASSAU and DUKE OF WELLINGTON, Pacific and Home stations; Vol. 3, 1870-1872, as officer in HMS DUKE OF WELLINGTON, East Indies and China Seas; Vol. 4, 1873-1877, in HMSs NASSAU and THAMAR, Pacific; Vol. 5, 1878-1883, as lieutenant in HMS ALERT, South American Stations; Vol. 6, 1883-1884, as lieutenant in the P and O ships SS CLYDE, ROHILLA and BAUCA and as a lieutenant commanding HMS MAGPIE; 1884-1886, as lieutenant commanding HMS RAMBLER. Illustrated with watercolour drawings and charts, with mounted photographs at the end of each volume.

Observation files of Maj Seymour Vandeluer, 1893-1901, comprising observations on altitudes and bearings in Uganda, 1895 and observations on altitudes, meteorological observations and bearings, upper Nile and Sudan, 1899.

Papers of the Tucker family. They are primarily concerned with the career of Benjamin Tucker during his employment with Earl St Vincent and in his role as Surveyor General of the Duchy of Cornwall. A substantial part also relate to the naval career of John Jervis Tucker, especially his service on HMS DUBLIN, and his ownership of Trematon Castle, Cornwall after his father's death.

Papers of Thomas Henry Tizard, comprising logs, 1854 to 1867, and diaries, 1880 to 1890. A second acquisition of papers was presented by Professor Sir Peter Tizard FRCP in 1986. This consists mostly of large and small volumes, a few diaries, and official and private letters, including some correspondence re the National Antarctic Expedition and Captain R F Scott. A third acquisition of two logbooks from HMS CHALLENGER was presented by Mr R H Tizard and Professor Sir Peter Tizard in 1989.

Papers of Admiral Robert Fanshawe Stopford, consisting of loose papers mounted in a volume, relating mainly to the TALBOT and ASIA periods, with official service documents. An additional volume relates to RF Stopford's time as a midshipman, featuring sailing and wind calculations, together with observations on forts in the Dardanelles and Sevastopol.

Papers of Robert Neville Stopford comprising two midshipman's log books kept while Stopford was in the Mediterranean between 1905 and 1908. The first volume covers his time on HMS BARFLEUR and HMS FORMIDABLE. The second volume covers his time aboard HMS HINDUSTAN and HMS BERWICK.

Papers of Sir Montagu Stopford, consisting of memoranda issued to the fleet in the Crimea, 1854, records of arrivals and sailings of ships at Malta, 1855 to 1856, and the commission appointing Stopford Superintendent of Malta Dockyard.

Papers of Adml Sir Robert Stopford, comprising an order book, 1803 to 1805, official service documents and private and semi-official letters from many important officers of the time. Among them is one from Nelson (q.v.), 1805, from the Duke of Wellington, 1811, and a series of thirty-five from William, Duke of Clarence, 1827 to 1828, when Lord High Admiral. For the Mediterranean command there are letters from the 2nd Earl of Minto (q.v.) and Lord Ponsonby (1770-1855), ambassador at Constantinople. Finally, there is a volume of letters from well-known literary and social figures received by Stopford and Field-Marshal Thomas Grosvenor (1764-1851) between 1791 and 1850, including one from Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) (Stopford and Grosvenor both lived at Richmond, Surrey). Also, the log of HMS SPENCER, kept while Capt Stopford was attached to the Channel Fleet in 1803-1804.

Papers of Adml John Lort Stokes. They include logs, 1837 to 1843, 1848 to 1849, 1851 and 1859 to 1863, letter-books, 1841 to 1843, 1848 to 1851 and 1860 to 1862, and correspondence, 1844 to 1858. There are no papers for the first voyage of the BEAGLE. For the second and more famous voyage, 1831 to 1836, on which Charles Darwin sailed, there are some official service documents of Stokes, some orders, notes on surveying, rough notes on navigation in South American waters and a few rough sketches. For the third voyage, 1837 to 1843, there are survey notebooks, some letters and orders, a night order book, a game book, a list of the crew, some accounts, an album of sketches and some loose sketches. The bulk of the collection relates to the voyage of the ACHERON. There is a draft narrative of the first part of the voyage, together with survey notebooks, an abstract of the ship's positions, miscellaneous letters and papers and views, sketches and rough charts. This last group comprises about 150 single items, mostly coastal views. Some of the more finished sketches can be identified as the work of William Swainson (1789-1855), Frederick John Owen Evans (1815-1885), later Hydrographer to the Admiralty, and W.J.W. Hamilton, an artist who accompanied the expedition. His sketchbook is also in the collection. Finally there are survey notebooks and a calculations book for the English Channel survey.

Papers of Philip Ruffle Sharpe, comprising diaries, 1857-1859, and letterbooks, 1867-1870 and 1875-1877, together with official service documents and a few letters and photographs, Sharpe's own copy of The Voyage of the Rattlesnake, by John MacGillivray (London, 1852, 2 vols), and typescript extracts from an autobiography up to 1849. The letters include one from Sharpe's brother-in-law, William R Hobson, a lieutenant in the FOX, under Captain F L McClintock, describing the finding of relics of the expedition led by Sir John Franklin. There are service papers, three logs and a notebook kept by Commander Philip William Carwithen Sharpe (1884-1957), Sharpe's son, as a midshipman in the MAJESTIC, Channel, 1900 to 1901, DIANA, Mediterranean, 1901 to 1902, and ARIADNE, West Indies, 1902 to 1903. There are also a few service papers of Second Officer Mary Gertrude Sharpe, WRNS (Mrs M G Corran).

Papers of John Maclear, consisting of Maclear's journal of magnetic observations kept in the CHALLENGER, 1872 to 1876; two logs for the ALERT, 1879 to 1881, and one for the FLYING FISH, 1885 to 1887; captain's out-letterbooks from Maclear to the Hydrographer of the Navy, 1878 to 1882, 1884 to 1887; work books, 1879 to 1882, 1885 to 1886, and two remark books kept by Captain Alfred Carpenter of the MAGPIE 1881 to 1882, annotated by Maclear.

Papers of George Legge, consisting of twenty-seven volumes, partly of Dartmouth's own papers and partly of journals by his contemporaries. In the first category is the log of the ROYAL KATHERINE, 1673; the letter and order book of the Sub-Commissioners of Prizes at Portsmouth, 1672 to 1674; papers relating to Tangier, which include three letterbooks, two order books and a journal of the proceedings of Samuel Pepys and others, enquiring into the properties of the papers not directly relating to Dartmouth include a commonplace book, 1666; two logs, 1671 to 1672, 1672 to 1673, of Sir Edward Spragge; a log of the RESOLUTION, Captain Sir Thomas Allin (1612-1685), 1669 to 1670, Mediterranean; the log of the ASSISTANCE, Captain Sir Richard Munden (1640-1680), during the expedition to St Helena in 1673; a log of the SAUDADOES, Captain James Jenefer, 1672 to 1673, on a voyage to Lisbon; a log of the CENTURION, Captain Charles Wyld on a voyage conveying Sir John Finch (1626-1682), as ambassador to Constantinople, 1673 to 1674, and a log of Captain Grenvile Collins (fl 1679-1693), surveying in home waters, 1688 to 1689. There is a letterbook, 1666, of Prince Rupert and George Monck, Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670), joint Commanders-in-Chief. This was published as 'The Rupert and Monck Letterbook, 1666', ed. J R Powell and E K Timings (Navy Records Society, 1969). There are copies of the Duke of York's Sailing and Fighting Instructions, 1672 and 1673, accounts of the battle of Solebay, an account of the battle of Texel by Sir John Narbrough (1640-1688) and notes on seventeenth century naval affairs. A further volume, a 'Discourse on the state of the Navy', 1660 to 1661, by Sir Robert Slingsby (1611-1661), was presented by Mr J. Ehrman in 1951.

Chronometer records of the Hydrographic Department, consisting of sixty-three volumes of registers, digest books, indexes, trial records and correspondence, 1821 to 1950. Issues and receipts of chronometers are registered in twenty-eight volumes, 1821 to 1936, and on a series of record cards, 1936 to 1950. Digests of chronometer repairs comprise nine volumes, 1836 to 1933; indexes to these registers and digests are contained in twelve volumes, 1820 to 1939. Other subjects include records of observations of standard mean solar clocks, 1951 to 1961 (2 vols). Single volumes include a list of contracts, c 1917 to 1918; a list of chronometers, c 1920; a departmental address book, c 1913 to 1922; a record of instruments which were not government property (including loans), 1940 to 1947; valuations and reports on second-hand instruments, 1943 to 1944. Single volumes of internal reference and communication sheets (with some external correspondence) relate to returned instruments, 1938; to those removed from departmental books, 1930 to 1939; to chronometers issued on loan, 1930 to 1937; to sales of instruments, 1932 to 1936; to those returned from service, 1937 to 1938; and to chronometers formerly belonging to Royal yachts, 1930 to 1935.

Papers relating to HMS Dryad consisting mainly of manuscripts relating to the education of naval officers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It includes a 'Plan of Learning' executed by a student at the Royal Academy, Portsmouth, in 1754; the order book of the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth containing Admiralty and internal orders, 1839 to 1855; the regulations of the College, 1869, also with officers' signatures; and papers including a report on the sanitary conditions in the College, 1889 to 1890. There are also five notebooks, 1763, c 1770, 1812 and c 1850, kept by naval officers under training, containing navigational notes and calculations; and a small volume containing in question-and-answer form the information required for the Master's examination for the Channel, 1780. Other volumes and documents include: the illustrated log of the BOMBAY, 1864 to 1865, NARCISSUS, 1865 to 1868, BEACON, 1868 to 1869, and GREYHOUND, 1869, kept by Midshipman G E Morrison (fl 1864-76); the record of the BOMBAY includes an account of the loss of the ship by fire. The journal of the SYLVIA, 1876 to 1878, was kept by Sub-Lieutenant Edward Helby (fl 1869-1899) while the ship was surveying in the Korean archipelago and includes descriptions of the area. In addition there are some letters of Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) with reports on a device for taking soundings through a ship's hull, 1905 to 1908; and towing time tables for the sections of Mulberry harbours, 1944.

Photograph and press release relating to the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at Heathrow Airport.

Papers of Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves. They consist of logs, 1738 to 1744, an official letterbook, 1711 to 1738, a private letterbook, 1721 to 1740, and two order books, 1711 to 1728 and 1739 to 1741. There are some commissions and an abstract of orders received, 1739 to 1743.

Papers of Adml Thomas Graves including logs, 1742 to 1744, 1746 to 1748 and 1779 to 1782; a letterbook, 1793 to 1794; order books, 1788 to 1793; a book of sailing directions with some orders, 1755 to 1756; letters and a volume on courts martial, 1771 to 1780 and 1786 to 1787. There are some loose papers which relate to Graves' court martial and to his Governorship of Newfoundland. The latter contain some documents on hydrographic surveys, among which is a letter of 1764 to Graves from Captain James Cook (1728-1779) There are also some commissions, official letters and drafts, 1764 to 1767, 1777 to 1782, a few private letters, 1782 to 1797 and a biography of Graves up to 1790. Some papers of Admiral Sir Thomas Graves (c 1747-1814) another cousin of Lord Graves are also in the collection. They are orders received as Captain of the Savage, North American Station, 1779 to 1781, and official letters received, 1800 to 1804.

Papers of Capt Matthew Flinders, consisting of three main groups: the first, the papers of Flinders himself, are charts and original journals, 1791, 1793 to 1794 and 1796, and copies, 1798, 1801 to 1803; narratives of his voyages; service papers, 1797 to 1810, and technical notes on subjects in which he was particularly interested, such as terrestrial magnetism; there is a wide range of original correspondence including letters from Sir Joseph Banks and Sir John Franklin (q.v.). Mrs Flinders' papers make up the second group: these consist mainly of letters, 1799 to 1812, including those from Flinders written during the INVESTIGATOR'S voyage, 1801 to 1803, and correspondence with French residents in Mauritius about her husband's captivity. The final group is Professor Flinders Petrie's collection of biographical material, notes, memoirs, newscuttings, etc, on his grandfather's career and correspondence with J F Shillinglaw about a biography of Flinders, which work Shillinglaw failed to complete.

Papers of Admiral Sir Arthur Mostyn Field chiefly comprising letters written by Field to his wife when he was captain of HMS PENGUIN surveying in the Pacific 1896-1899, and from HMS RESEARCH surveying in home waters 1900-1903. The letters were sorted into bundles and labelled by Arthur Mostyn Field and Cecilia Field and this arrangement has been kept. In addition there is a journal kept by his father John Bousquet Field 1839, his own journal 1870 to 1871, his diary 1881, and some personal reminiscences, undated. Other items comprise ephemera and printed material. The museum Hydrography Collection contains charts by Field relating to the voyages and Admiralty charts produced under his aegis as Hydrographer. There is also a memoir by his friend G. Keith Gordon of the Navy's attempts to suppress the slave trade off east Africa in 1873.

Papers of John Donaldson, covering most of Donaldson's education and working life, ranging from school work, his university exercise books and exam papers, to government reports and surveys from his time in India, and finally to extensive letters, reprots, etc, covering the period with Thornycroft.

Papers of Sir Richard Collinson including private journals for 1836, 1850 to 1855, logs, 1843 to 1846, a remark book, 1850 to 1851, and letterbooks, 1845 to 1846 and 1850 to 1854. There is a large amount of material relating to Collinson's survey work, in particular to China and to the voyage of the ENTERPRISE. It includes numerous records of observations and calculations on navigation, magnetic variation, meteorology and tides. There is also a large body of official, semi-official and private correspondence, 1835 to 1855, together with copies of some letters and memoranda by Collinson. His correspondents included Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857), Hydrographer to the Admiralty, Peter la Trobe (1795-1863), Horatio T. Austin (so. 1800-1865) and John Barrow the younger (1808-1898). The only items relating to his later career are notebooks on his work for Trinity House and printed papers, mainly official publications.

Papers of Admiral Robert Bax, Henry Bonham Bax and Captain Bonham Ward Bax.

The collection includes Robert Hammond's record of service and his survey, when Master of the Society of Pilots of the Cinque Ports, of the southern North Sea in the cutter GEM, 1841. The volumes collected by Barker himself consist mainly of logs of naval ships. They include that of the ORION, in home waters, kept by an Edward Barker in 1794, containing an account of the Battle of First of June; the Clyde, 1796 to 1800, kept by Lieutenant John Smith (fl 1780-1805), in home waters; of the CHALLENGER, 1828 to 1831, East Indies Station, kept by Commander John M R Ince (fl 1808-1850); the CALEDONIA, 1835 to 1836, Mediterranean station; the FLY, 1842 to 1846, surveying Australian waters, and the PILOT, 1850, East Indies station. There is also a journal of a voyage in the merchant ship VESTAL from North America to the West Indies, 1759 to 1760, by the author William Falconer (1744-1824); some of Falconer 's unpublished poems appear at the end of this journal.