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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from North America to the West Indies, 1759 to 1760, by the author William Falconer (1744-1824); some of Falconer 's unpublished poems appear at the end of this journal.

Letter from Sir Joseph Banks of Soho Square, London to an unknown recipient, 12 Aug 1815. Relating to 'the undertaking now in hand for exploring the rapid Currents of the Zaira'. Reference is made to the mutiny of the Bounty, 'which began by turning the Commander adrift and ended in the Peopling of Pitcairn's Island. A less economical Outfit succeeded and the business was happily effected. Hence I deduce that in all matters of Naval Equipment it is better to adopt a Plan of sufficient extent at first than to do it after a failure, which if attributable to parsimony will in a Country like this meet with censure.' He advocates the use of a steamboat, 'a Fort impregnable to Native Armies and capable of sending out a subordinate Expedition'. This letter appears to be either a copy or a draft letter made by an amanuensis.

Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, 1788-1811, comprise microfilm, and enlarged prints from the microfilm, of papers held in the Sutro Collection, State Library of California concerning subjects including the Africa Association.

Photocopies of reports relating to the role of HMS SCOURGE in Operations NEPTUNE and OVERLORD, Jun 1944, France.

Papers principally comprising text of lecture on the outbreak of hostilities between Japan and China in 1937, including a detailed account of the Battle of Shanghai as witnessed from HMS DANAE, 1937; draft of lecture recounting his experiences on board HMS DIDO during the evacuation of Crete, Apr-Jun 1941, [1945].

Papers of Roger Charles Anderson, relating in the main to the Royal Navy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but also includes papers on merchant shipping and on the French, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish and Venetian navies. One of the earliest is a volume containing documents written in the seventeenth century relating to the part played by Sir Thomas Fairfax (1612-1671) in the English Civil War; a copy of the account by Sir Walter Raleigh ([1552]-1618) of his expedition to the Orinoco, 1617, and an 'Explanation of Sea terms', a shortened version of the 'Seaman's Dictionary', c 1620, by Sir Henry Mainwaring (1587-1653). Connected with merchant shipping is a group of eight Bills of Sale of shares in merchant ships, seven of which are dated between 1637 and 1643.

There are four volumes of orders, patents and instructions relating to the administration of the Navy after the Restoration, including those issued to the Navy Board in 1662 and to the Victualling Board in 1683. Of the same period are the letterbook of the Chatham dockyard Commissioner, 1670, and an account of the construction of docks at Plymouth, 1698. The building and equipment of ships for the Navy is the subject of several volumes: one contains dimensions and costs of His Majesty's ships by William Keltridge, 1675, with later additions; another, by Edward Battine (fl 1679-1692), is entitled 'The Method of Building, Rigging, Apparelling and Furnishing His Majesty's Ships of War', 1689; a later notebook, dated 1793, contains illustrations and explanations related to shipbuilding. Detailed estimates of the 'charge' of maintaining the Navy are given in several volumes, 1672, 1689, 1701, 1800. One provides the establishment of men and guns for each ship, corrected to 1685; five contain lists of ships and vessels in the Navy, 1688, 1701, 1750, c 1797, 1846. Numerous other notes and lists on the establishment of the Navy, some made by Anderson himself, supplement these originals. Naval operations are represented by the letterbooks of Commodore Curtis Barnett (d 1746), 1744 to 1746, when he was in command of the British squadron in the East Indies. Less official records include some early journals: the 'Discourse of a voyage' made by the captain of the Fellowship of Bristol, employed on the King's service on the coast of Ireland, 1641 to 1642; extracts from journals relating to the proceedings of Prince Rupert's fleet, 1648 to 1650, 1651 to 1652, 1652; 'The daily motion and public transactions of His Majesty's fleet' under Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, 1666; a copy of the journal of Captain (later Admiral) John Narbrough (1640-1688) on board the Prince, 1672, and St Michael, 1673, with accounts of the Battle of Solebay, 1672; an account of a voyage to the coasts of Africa, the Straits of Magellan, Brazil, Guyana and the Caribbean islands, 1695 to 1696; a copy of the journal of Sir George Rooke (1650-1709), 1700 to 1703 (printed by the Navy Records Society, ed. 0. Browning, 1897); and a copy of 'A Pirate's Journal' kept by William Davidson (d 1797), 1788 to 1789.

Papers and photographs relating to Alderson's RNVR and RN service, [1932]-1939, including photograph of Alderson as a Surgeon Sub Lt, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve [1932]; loose pages from a photograph album with 87 captioned photographs relating to Alderson's service on HMS GLORIOUS, Mediterranean Fleet, 1935-1936, notably photographs of HMS COURAGEOUS, HMS HERMES, HMS REVENGE, HMS NELSON, individual RN and RAF officers, and flying operations from HMS GLORIOUS, 1935-1936; typescript memorandum entitled 'Medical organisation for war', HMS GLORIOUS [1937]. Papers relating to the loss of HM Submarine THETIS, Liverpool Bay, 1 Jun 1939, including typescript statement by Alderson, Assistant Medical Officer, HMS DOLPHIN, on his medical examinations of Capt Harry Percy Kendall Oram, RN, and Lt Frederick Greville Woods, RN, two of the four survivors to escape from HM Submarine THETIS, Jun 1939; correspondence between Alderson and other RN Medical Officers relating to the recovery of the survivors of HM Submarine THETIS, Jun 1939; typescript memorandum entitled 'DSEA (Davis Submarine Escape Apparatus)-effect of breathing oxygen under pressure' [1939]; typescript memorandum by Alderson entitled 'Summary of information as to the medical aspects of the sinking of HMS THETIS and the escape of four survivors by DSEA (Davis Submarine Escape Apparatus)', 3 Jun 1939. Papers and photographs relating to Alderson's service as Medical Officer, HMS KELLY, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet, 1939-1940, and to HMS KELLY reunions and commemorations, 1958-1959, including typescript copy of news-sheet 'K D F News' (K Destroyer Flotilla News), relating to the return to the UK from France of HRH Prince Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, Duke of Windsor and Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, on board HMS KELLY, 13 Sep 1939, with photograph of the Duke and Duchess on board HMS KELLY with Capt Lord Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1939; two photographs of Mountbatten, three photographs of HMS KELLY, and one HMS KELLY Christmas card, 1939; typescript routine orders, Medical Section, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet, Nov 1939; correspondence between Alderson and Mountbatten, 1939-1940, relating to Alderson's appointment as Medical Officer, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, and to Mountbatten's recovery from jaundice, Jan-Feb 1940; correspondence, memoranda and notes relating to patients from HM Destroyers KIMBERLEY, KELLY and KELVIN, treated by the Medical Section, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, 1939-1940; lists of medical stores and routine medical supply orders, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, 1939-1940; printed and manuscript medical reports detailing the overall health of the ship's companies of HM Destroyers KELLY, KELVIN, KHARTOUM, KIMBERLEY, KINGSTON and KIPLING, 1939-1940; typescript list of dead and wounded, following German torpedo strike, HMS KELLY, 9 May 1940, with detailed manuscript casualty reports for individual ratings, and photograph of the damage to HMS KELLY, May 1940; eight photographs of Alderson and AF Rt Hon Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, at ceremony at the grave of an HMS KELLY crew member, Hebburn, County Durham, Nov 1958, and at an HMS KELLY reunion, 1959. Photograph album entitled 'Singapore Commission, Jan 3rd 1950-June 30th 1952', containing 150 photographs, 1949-1952, relating to the voyage to Singapore and Alderson's subsequent service at the Royal Naval Sick Quarters, HMS TERROR, Singapore, 1950-1952.

The Admiralty records at the National Maritime Museum cover the administration of the Navy from 1688-1832 (when the Navy Board was abolished) in considerable detail. There are also a few records from 1832-1883. Together they consist of 7,497 bound volumes and a large mass of loose papers.

The majority of orders and letters are original documents, often minuted, but there are a few volumes of indexes, minute and letterbook copies of correspondence. The collection includes over 5000 Lieutenants' logs forwarded to the Navy Board in connection with the work of passing the Officers' accounts.

The Admiralty records now at the National Maritime Museum, consist of the original orders from the Admiralty to the Navy Board from 1688-1815 (ADM/A&N&RP&Q&P&OT), and the Navy Board replies from 1733-1831 (ADM/B&BP&D&DP&F&FP). Orders to the Navy Board relating to transports during the period when there was no Transport Board were bound up separately as were those relating to the special appointment of General Bentham, as Inspector General of Naval Works, during the Napoleonic War. The Navy Board letters respecting the fitting of ships from 1804-1809 were separated from the general correspondence, and bound with a chronological index at the beginning. In addition to these main series of orders from the Admiralty to the Navy Board, there are some copies of orders for the Ticket Office from 1774-1815, and some loose papers relating to the Marine Office and a few orders for the Office of Stores (ADM/J&K).

The Admiralty orders to the Victualling Commissioners from 1707-1815 (ADM/C) are included in this collection, as well as the abstract of Admiralty orders from 1694-1819 (ADM/G) and the Victualling Board's replies from 1703-1822 (ADM/H). The Admiralty orders to the commissioners for taking care of sick and wounded seamen from 1702-1806 form a complete series, supplemented by the Commissioners replies from 1742-1806 (ADM/E). Orders relating to prisoners of war were bound up separately and cover the years from 1743, some distinction being made for the different nationalities (ADM/M). Both these series of orders were continued when the Transport Boards took over the Commissioners; the former series has been preserved in this collection up to 1815 (ADM/ET), and the latter from 1796-99 (ADM/MT).

The Lieutenant's logs which total 5,205 volumes are bound according to the name of the ship, some Captain's logs being included (ADM/L). There are also bound up with some logs, accounts of expenses of paper and ticket books. The Lieutenant's log was accompanied by a certificate from his captain stating that he had complied with the printed instructions and not been absent from his ship. These journals were deposited first in the Admiralty Office and a certificate was made out, for which the chief clerk received 2s 6d.' though captains usually paid 5s 0d. The chief clerk then abstracted details of the voyage of each ship from her logs "specifying the day of her sailing - of her arrival at each port, her stay there and departure there from". The logs were then passed to the Navy Office where the clerk of the acts made out certificates "to enable the lieutenants and masters to receive their wages". It was also his duty to "arrange and keep the journals and log books of every ship that may be delivered of the proceedings from the time of such journals and log books". The logs in this collection have been preserved from the time of Pepys until 1809, when the procedure for keeping logs was altered, and contained much useful information. The logs were kept according to the nautical calendar, which counted the day as starting at mid-day, until 1805 when the civil practice was adopted.

The only records for the period after 1832, which are included in this collection, are those of the Surveyor's department for the years 1832-39. These letters, addressed to the Board of Admiralty, contain some interesting material on ship-building. There are also a number of volumes of papers relating to the preparation of naval estimates for the years 1849-1883, as far as the Victualling department was concerned.