Papers of Adam and Company Limited covering the period 1825 to 1914. They relate to the sugar trade and import merchanting, including in-letters, bills of lading, charter parties, invoices, account sales and disbursements accounts; to ships' agency work, in particular that of the Clan Line; to insurance matters, consisting of policies and claims; to marine casualties, notes of protest and particular and general average statements and survey reports. There is a great deal of detailed information about the employment of immigrants and the conditions relating to their welfare. There is also a census of slaves employed on the Pipon estates in 1826 ('Greffe de l'Enregistrement des Esclaves'). Note that this collection is uncatalogued and there is no detailed list available.
Adam & Company LimitedThe 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.
AdmiraltyThe Admiralty Compass Observatory Collection comprises correspondence papers and reports, 1842-1950 transferred from the Public Record Office (The National Archives), Kew in 1983, Papers from the Scientific and Technical Review Section (S&T) 1890- 1970 acquired in 1993 and 1996 also from the Public Record Office, (The National Archives), Kew. Further to these series the collection is divided into twelve sections of material deposited from the National Archives, Kew, in 1983. These are HM Ships Compass Bearings 1842-1918, Swing Books 1904-30, Admiralty Compass Department D Series, N Series 1870-1980, R series 1826-1946, Reports 1956-62, Compass Department Examination of Instruments, Compass Observations and Experiments 1842-1933, Magnetic Elements of HM Ships 1864-1918, further correspondence and papers 1873-1914, handbooks and miscellaneous material 1842-1953, manuscripts removed from the Compass Department Library and catalogues, inventories and indexes.
Admiralty Compass ObservatoryRecords of Albyn Line Ltd, comprising Directors' and shareholders' minute books, 1901 to 1966, containing an unbroken series of balance sheets and profit and loss accounts; a full series of cash books and ledgers, 1901 to 1966; ships' voyage books, 1953 to 1966, containing information on costs, types of cargo, freight rates, rates of hire, fuel costs etc; voyage papers for some of the voyages of the last three ships from 1962 to 1966; insurance records, 1952 to 1966, and a random collection of chief officers' log books, 1960 to 1966. There are also the records of Allan Black and Company, the managers, relating to internal office administration, 1958 to 1966 and papers relating to the voluntary liquidation, 1966. There is no correspondence apart from two out-letterbooks.
Albyn Line LtdPapers covering a short period of the career of Admiral Pelham Aldrich. There are extracts from journals, 1860 to 1867, returns from the sledge CHALLENGER and notes and journals concerning surveying 1879 to 1884. There are no papers for the CHALLENGER expedition in this collection: the main Arctic papers are with the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge.
Aldrich , Pelham , 1844-1930 , AdmiralPapers 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.
Anderson , Roger Charles , 1883-1976 , naval historianPapers of the Asiatic Steam Navigation Company Limited comprising a continuous series of minute books from 1878 to 1968 (ASI/1): a similar series of annual accounts to 1965 (ASI/2) and a historical file on the settlement of the freight war (ASI/3).
Asiatic Steam Navigation Company LimitedThe 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.
VariousPapers of Admiral Robert Bax, Henry Bonham Bax and Captain Bonham Ward Bax.
Bax , Robert Nesham , 1875-1969 , Admiral Bax , Henry Bonham , 1798-1869 , Commander (H.E.I.C.) Bax , Bonham Ward , 1837-1877 , Captain RNPapers of the Baynes and Nias Families:
Papers of Henry Compton Anderson Baynes inclusing official service documents, 1866 to 1901; an article on 'Armament of Battleships', undated; a letter, 1888, concerning Whitehead torpedoes; a few letters about Baynes's fishery protection work in the North Sea in the 1890s and three night order books, 1893, 1895 and 1901.
Papers of Sir Robert Lambert comprising official service documents, details of ships on the Pacific Station 1854 to 1860, an autobiographical outline of his career, 1810 to 1857, invitations to social events, and other personal papers.
Papers of Sir Joseph Nias, comprising letters and orders received, 1815 to 1867, and service papers, and eighteen letters from Sir William Parker to Nias while he was Senior Officer at Hong Kong, 1841 to 1842.
Baynes , Henry Compton Anderson , 1852-1922 , Rear Admiral Baynes , Sir , Robert Lambert , 1796-1869 , Knight , Admiral Nias , Sir , Joseph , 1793-1879 , Knight , AdmiralPapers of Sir Henry William Bayntun comprising notes, memoranda and various letters relating largely to the MILFORD, as well as some navigational notes; Bayntun's letterbook for the LEVIATHAN, 1804 to 1805, and the AFRICA, 1806 to 1808.
Bayntun , Sir , Henry William , 1766-1840 , Knight , AdmiralPapers of Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford including logs, 1852 to 1858; diaries, 1875 to 1879, and letters concerning the Huascar incident. There are no papers for Bedford's later career. In the Department of Pictures are six albums containing watercolours and photographs. Two of them cover his service in the SHAH, 1876 to 1878, and the third his career in the TRIUMPH, 1879.
Bedford , Sir , Frederick George Denham , 1838-1913 , Knight , AdmiralPapers of Sir Edward Berry comprising logs, 1787 to 1788, 1796 to 1797, 1799 to 1806, 1812, 1813 to 1814, and twenty-five letters from Nelson, 1797 to 1805.
Berry , Sir , Edward , 1768-1831 , Knight , Rear AdmiralPapers of Capt Henry Bethune comprising a series of logs for the above ships and a notebook on navigation and steam.
Bethune , Henry , 1858-1939 , Captain RNPapers of Reginald Harold Arthur Bond including night order books, some service documents and Bond's own personal papers, including diaries, kept during various commands. There are also numerous photographs, including views of B. I. Hospital ships, for example the VASNA, and views of the troopships EMPIRE TROOPER and NEVASA. Amongst the ephemera are printed books and pamphlets, including several on various campaigns throughout World War Two, published by the Ministry of Information.
Bond , Reginald Harold Arthur , b 1902 , CommodorePapers of Francis Godolphin Bond comprising forty letters from William Bligh to Bond, twenty-eight of which deal with the voyage of the PROVIDENCE, three with the mutiny on the BOUNTY and the remainder with Bligh's efforts to promote Bond's career. There are also letters from others on the PROVIDENCE and some notes by Bond on the voyage about Bligh .
Bond , Francis Godolphin , 1765-1839 , Rear-AdmiralPapers of Henry Theodore Augustus Bosanquet including seven volumes of personal papers and newspaper cuttings, 1879-1955. Bosanquet's service afloat is covered by logs and watchbills, 1883 to 1894. Bosanquet's notes on historical and technical subjects are elsewhere in the Museum manuscript collections.
Bosanquet , Henry Theodore Augustus , 1870-1959 , Captain RN , Secretary of Marine SocietyPapers of Harry Woodfall Brent comprising two volumes of official service documents, 1851 to 1887; an order book of the BELLEROPHON; a volume of correspondence relating to the HIMALAYA and a log of the MONARCH, 1886, Channel Station, kept by Henry Dacres Menzie Brent.
Brent , Harry Woodfall , 1834-1911 , Vice-AdmiralPapers of Sir Cyprian Arthur George Bridge including a few watch bills and other papers relating to the AUDACIOUS, 1874 to 1877; out-letterbooks, 1881 to 1885 and 1898; private letters received, 1895 to 1898, 1901 to 1904, and admiral's journals, 1895 to 1898.
Bridge , Sir , Cyprian Arthur George , 1839-1924 , Knight , AdmiralPapers of Albert Francis Barclay Bridges, including a journal, 1912 to 1918; pocket diaries, 1918 to 1920, kept whilst in the Mediterranean and Black Sea; and a photograph and scrap album belonging to his brother, William M Bridges mainly relating to the surrender of the German fleet, 21 Nov 1918.
Bridges , Albert Francis Barclay , fl 1912-1920 , Paymaster LieutenantPapers of the British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd, comprising minute books: Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company Limited, 1856 to 1862; British India Steam Navigation Company Limited, 1863 to 1961. The annual reports cover the years 1865 to 1970. Accounts: ships' accounts, 1927 to 1958; general journals and ledgers, 1935 to 1959; specialized accounts for supplies, repairs and stevedoring, pay and pensions, 1938 to 1969; Calcutta office's general accounts with London, 1935 to 1955; Passage Books, 1951 to 1969, summarizing passenger carryings on the various services. British India owned a great deal of property (godowns, wharves, repair yards, office and staff accommodation) in India and elsewhere, which are documented in a register of properties, 1889 to 1965, with supporting files. Information about ships' voyages, portage accounts, etc exists only for the period 1960 to 1970. British India operated a fleet of landing craft for the Ministry of Transport and there are files and log books for these, 1966 to1970. Correspondence: letters to and from the Secretary, 1865 to 1900; files relating to mail contracts, trooping, relief expeditions, 1863 to 1962. Some confidential correspondence is included in the collection; three of Lord Inchcape's letterbooks, 1912 to 1932, and two confidential letter files, 1885 to 1893. Staff Records: records of commanders, officers, engineers, cadets and stewards, 1868 to 1957, are contained in forty volumes and there are extensive pension fund registers. Technical Records: technical files, 1958 to 1967 relate to major maintenance and repair work and new buildings. British India issued a yearly handbook containing detailed information about the fleet, the various liner services, rates of freight and passenger fares and the company 5 agents; there is a bound set, 1866 to 1939 and 1949 to 1969. Parallel with these, although more recent, are copies of the British India house magazines and news letters. There is also a file of press cuttings on the occasion of the Company's centenary in 1956.
British India Steam Navigation CompanyPapers of Cairn Line Of Steamships Limited including minutes and related records of the Cairn Line and associated companies from 1891; annual reports and balance sheets, 1893-1971, copies of annual returns, 1909-1972; registers of shareholders, 1892-1964; records of ships' movements, 1908-51; officers' records of service, c 1939-69; and papers relating to the offer made in 1967 by Furness Withy and Co Ltd for Cairn Line stock. There are also some papers of the "K" Steamship Co Ltd, including balance sheets and profit and loss accounts, 1920-75.
Cairn Line Of Steamships LimitedPapers of Sir Willam Abdy, comprising logs, 1750 to 1753, and two combined letter and order books, 1761 to 1766. There are also copies, made by Abdy in his retirement, of despatches describing actions, 1778 to 1782 and 1793 to 1797, and of the Agamemnon's log, 1782 to 1783.
Papers of Capt Henry Caldwell, including one letter to Mary Caldwell, Henry's sister, written in 1865. Other than the papers include watch bills 1848 to 1851, 1856; a night order book, 1859 to 1862; printed papers; exercise books for the period at the Royal Naval College and remark books and notes relating to his various ships.
Papers of Sir Benjamin Caldwell comprising two collections. In the first collection consist of logs, 1768 to 1771, 1775 to 1777, 1780 to 1782, 1794 to 1795; letterbooks, 1776 to 1782, 1788, 1793 to 1795, and order books 1775 to 1783, 1788, 1794 to 1795. There is an account of the battle of the Saints. The second collection includes in-letters, 1775 to 1779, 1794 to 1795; a prize hook, 1777 to 1795; documents relating to the Agamemnon; Lord Howe? 5 signals, 1790; letters relating to the disagreements after the battle of First of June, and a personal signed copy of Rodney's defence of his conduct at St. Eustatius, 1781.
Papers of Henry Osborn comprising five logs, 1730 to 1742, and an order book, 1747 to 1757.
Abdy , Sir William , 1733-1803 , 6th Baronet , Captain RN Caldwell , Henry , 1815-1868 , Captain Caldwell , Sir , Benjamin , 1737-1830 , Knight , Admiral Osborn , Henry , 1694-1771 , AdmiralRecords of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co, comprising Official Logs, 1901 to 1913, originally part of the records of the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen, who gave them to the company in 1970. The collection includes log books of three of the 'Empress' line, the Empress of India, the Empress of Japan and the Empress of China as well as of other company ships of the pre-First World War period. The papers are a number of printed pamphlets, time tables and short histories. (Section 3: CPR/: 3ft: 91cm)
Canadian Pacific Railway CoPapers of Philip Carteret, including logs of the Guernsey and Endymion; a letterbook, 1779 to 1780, and a large number of loose papers including letters from Byron and others and various notes on his ships and voyages. The Endymion is the only ship for which there is much material, there being but few notes about his voyages of circumnavigation. His private journals for the years 1779 to 1789 cover the period in considerable detail and there are many letters relating to the movement for the increase in half-pay. The collection includes letters from Carteret's son, Samuel, to his mother, 1794 to 1796, some written from the Expedition at Plymouth, and the remainder from the Mediterranean and the West Indies. There are also letters from his other son, Philip (later Silvester, q.v.), relating to his voyage in the Lion with Lord Macartney's Embassy to China, 1794 to 1796.
Papers of Sir Philip Carteret Silvester, comprising logs, 1792 to 1798, 1801 and 1815 to 1817, letterbooks, 1806 to 1807 and 1811 to 1814, and correspondence, 1792 to 1815, including a series from Sir Erasmus Gower (q.v.), 1792 to 1814. Finally there are papers relating to the family and records of several tours made during his retirement.
Carteret , Philip , c 1733-1796 , Rear-Admiral Silvester , Sir , Philip Carteret , 1777-1828 , Knight , CaptainPapers of William Wylly Chambers including official service documents, 1826 to 1843; logs, 1836, 1839 to 1841; letterbooks, 1836, 1840 to 1841; order books, 1827 to 1837; books of expenses for various stores and other ship's papers, mainly for the PELORUS.
Chambers , William Wylly , , fl 1810-1860 , CaptainPapers of Henry Chatfield, including notes on ordnance and shipbuilding and on the sailing trials between the St. Vincent and the Queen, 1844. There are two letters relating to the Dockyard Committee of Enquiry, 1858 to 1859, and a copy of Chatfield's dissension from its Report. There are also printed copies of Parliamentary Reports relating to the dockyards, 1805 and 1860, and a pamphlet written by Chatfield in 1834, 'An elementary essay on the principles of masting ships'.
Chatfield , Henry , 1820-1860 , master shipwrightPapers of Chatham Dockyard comprising 1,063 letterbooks containing the correspondence between yard officials, the Admiralty and Navy Boards, 1669 to 1900, together with internal yard records. There is also a collection of sixty-seven plans of the yard, 1718 to 1867. The volumes can be divided into three main groups: those relating to the Resident Commissioner; to the Commissioner's administrative successor, the Admiral Superintendent; and to the yard officers.
RESIDENT COMMISSIONER'S RECORDS: These consist of: Admiralty letters to the yard Commissioner, 1716 to 1764, 1788 to 1817 (13 vols); two copy letterbooks record in-letters during the period 1754 to 1788; Navy Board letters to the Commissioner, 1697 to 1698, 1791 to 1792, 1797, 1800 to 1829 and 1832 (57 vols); abstracts of Board orders to the Commissioner, 1788 to 1803 (1 vol); letters to the Commissioner from the yard officers, 1802 to 1808 (1 vol); local in-letters, 1809 to 1810, 1813 to 1815, 1818 to 1819, 1820 (5 vols). Out-letters from the Resident commissioner consist of: letters to the Admiralty, 1716 to 1733, 1774 to 1817 (6 vols); to the Navy Board, 1689 to 1695, 1696 to 1702, 1703 to 1757, 1760 to 1764, 1789 to 1794, 1795 to 1817, 1818 to 1822, 1826, 1828 to 1829 (51 vols); warrants to the yard officers, 1781 to 1817 (4 vols); memoranda to the officers, 1810 to 1821 (5 vols); in- and out-correspondence with sea officers, including the Port Admiral, 1793 to 1819, is recorded in four letterbooks.
ADMIRAL SUPERINDENDENT'S RECORDS: These consist of: abstracts of Admiralty orders to the Commissioner and Admiral Superintendent, 1766 to 1829, 1831 to 1867, 1870 to 1872, 1873, 1874 to 1875, 1876 to 1877 and 1882 to 1883 (25 vols); Admiralty letters (originals) to the Superintendent, 1832 to 1852, 1853 to 1900 (651 vols). Fifteen volumes contain indexes to Admiralty letters and orders, 1852 to 1854, 1878 to 1879, 1880 to 1882, 1884 to 1887 and 1890; one, memoranda from the Superintendent to the yard officers, 1846 to 1853.
DOCKYARD OFFICERS RECORDS: These consist of: copies of Navy Board orders to the yard officers, 1796 to 1801, 1803 to 1814, 1814 to 1815, 1816 to 1817, 1818 to 1819 and 1820 to 1821 (32 vols); letters and warrants (originals) from the Board, 1672 to 1675, 1717 to 1781, 1783 to 1795, 1796 to 1822 and 1829 to 1831 (154 vols); copies of officers'letters to the Navy Board, 1695 to 1698, 1790 to 1792, 1796 to 1801, 1802 to 1809, 1810, 1811 to 1820 (30 vols); and one letterbook containing copies of letters to the Superintendent, March to May 1869.
MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS: Three volumes record orders and letters to the officers at Sheerness from the Navy Board, 1690 to 1691; from the Chatham Commissioner, 1694 to 1697; and from both Board and Commissioner, 1769 to 1772. Further single volumes include records of stores issued and received, 1669 to 1770; of contracts, 1792 to 1823; of charts received and issued, 1809 to 1832; and a survey book of sails of ships, 1764 to 1788.
PLANS: These include nine general plans of the yard and surrounding land, 1733 to 1846; twenty plans of docks and slips, 1747 to 1861; and thirty-eight plans of yard buildings, 1718 to 1750.
Chatham DockyardRecords of Chine Shipping Co Ltd, containing records of all the five companies, which, at one time or another, made up the Anglo-Danubian group, although the majority relate to the Chine Shipping Company. Much of the Companies' history can be traced through agreements between them, and with the Ministry of War Transport, 1941 to 1944. The only statutory company record to survive is the Director's minute book of the Rodney Steamship Company Ltd, 1915 to 1935. Financial ledgers and accounts include: Anglo-Danubian Transport Company Ltd, 1944 to 1962; Chine Shipping Company Ltd, 1944 to 1968; the Gryfevale Steamship Company, 1929 to 1950; the Rodney Steamship Company Ltd, 1948 to 1961; the Anglo-Continental Inland Waterways Ltd, 1947 to 1951. There is a full series of general correspondence for Chine Shipping, 1961 to 1968. In addition there is a long series of records relating to Chine's ships in the 1960s. These include: accounts relating to the CHARLES DICKENS, 1961 to 1962; correspondence and accounts, MACAULAY, TENNYSON and THACKERAY, 1963 to 1968; chief officer's and chief engineer's logs for MACAULAY, 1963 to 1968, for TENNYSON, 1964 to 1968, and THACKERAY, 1964 to 1968; repair accounts for MACAULAY, 1960 to 1968, for TENNYSON, 1957 to 1968, and THACKERAY, 1958 to 1968. There are insurance records, 1958 to 1968, and general files dealing with the usual minutiae of a shipping office.
Chine Shipping Co LtdThe papers relating to Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian all date from 1798 when he was second in command of the Cape of Good Hope station. They include official correspondence relating mainly to the day to day running of the station but particulaly to the mutiny and subsequent Court Martial concerning the East Indiaman, PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. The papers relating to Sir Hugh's son, Hood Hanway Christian, are more extensive. Apart from an order book from 1812, when Christain was the governor of the Spanish fort at Castro, they are mostly official correspondence from the period 1824-1828. These relate to the supression of the slave trade and various disciplinary proceedings together with correspondence from the Navy Board. There is a small amount of personal correspondence including letters from Sir Richard Keats and Sir Edward Pellew.
Christian , Sir , Hugh Cloberry , 1747-1798 , Knight , Rear Admiral Christian , Hood Hanway , 1784-1849 , Rear-Admiral Of The WhitePapers of Capt John Christopher, consisting of certificates and letters of reference, a disbursement book of the MINMANUETH 1865 to 1871, an account book relating to the LIZZIE MORTON 1875 to 1877 and a rough notebook 1870 to 1871.
Christopher , John , b 1820 , Captain RNThe collection consists mainly of ship's voyage expenses ledgers and company wages books, together with additional company records, such as personal expenses and accounts books for various members of the Hill family, and shipyard labour, materials and supplies ledgers. As a whole, the collection covers the company through its various changes of name and ownership, from 1775 to the 1940's.
James Martin Hilhouse Hilhouse & Hill Charles Hill & Sons, Ltd.Papers of Michael Clements, consisting of logs, 1748 to 1771, letter and order books, 1757 to 1771, sailing and fighting instructions, 1747 to 1778, and notes and personal papers, 1759 to 1780. There are also some of Clements's charts in the Department of Navigation and Astronomy.
Clements , Michael , fl 1735-1796 , Rear-AdmiralPapers of Clumber House. The collection mainly consistis of eleven volumes of copies, some of them contemporary, of original documents. Dating from the early seventeenth century is a copy of 'Admiralli Angliae a tempore regis Edwardi secundi ano 1307 ad anui domini 1590'; some notes added to the text in a different hand extend this list of admirals to cover the years 1264 to 1618. Slightly later is a seventeenth-century copy of judges' opinions regarding the payment of ship money, 1638. There is a collection of bound documents relating to naval administration which includes copies of 'A brief discourse of the Navy', 1638, and 'The Navy Ript and Ransact', c 1659, by John Hollond (fl 1624-1659) (printed in Hollond's Discourses, ed. J.R. Tanner, Navy Records Society, 1896). Also relating to politics and maritime affairs is a volume of original seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century documents compiled c 1815 by an antiquarian, William Hamper (1776-1831). Four volumes, possibly compiled for or by Josiah Burchett, Secretary to the Admiralty, ([1666]-1746), contain notes, transcripts and some original documents relating to the Navy, 1659 to 1743; they include copies of orders issued by the Admiralty and King in Council and a volume of accounts, tables and orders relating to the equipment, management and expense of maintaining the Navy, including the dockyards, c 1732. Notes and transcripts, c 1799, formerly belonging to William Locker (1731-1800) comprise two volumes; these were compiled for a history of the Navy and include some biographical sketches of naval officers. Finally, there is the log of the H.E.I.C.S. Melville Castle, 1786 to 1788.
Clumber HousePapers of Coast Lines Ltd. They include: seven minute books of the Board and General Meetings of the parent company, 1913 to 1969. There is less information on the associated companies, although there are minutes of the General Meetings of the Belfast Steamship Company Limited, 1852 to 1943. Miscellaneous early documents include the Deed of Constitution of 1836 for the City of Cork Steam Packet Company Limited, and an agreement of 1837 between the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company and the City of Dublin and British and Irish Steam Packet companies, to the effect that the two Irish companies should not trade on overseas routes covered by the English Company. The financial records consist of: four ledgers of the Queenship Navigation Company Limited, 1899 to 1925; published accounts and balance sheets, mostly for the 1950s; a series of vessels' pro forma voyage accounts for eight companies of the group, 1965 to 1966, with a consolidated summary, traffic returns and trade figures for the main associated companies, 1955 to 1964; conference minutes and freight rates, 1871 to 1934, give an insight into the structure and operations of the Irish and English, Scottish and Irish and Belfast trades. The associate companies reported to the parent company weekly, in letter form, giving the position of their vessels and other information. Letters of this type in the collection cover the period 1955 to 1964. Otherwise there are only a few isolated letters and no letterbooks. The greater part of the collection consists of publicity material, brochures and advertisements: a large number of photographs, of ships, staff, wharves and warehouses; and draft histories of the companies making up the Group. The records of the following Coast Line associates are to he found elsewhere: the Ayr Steamship Company Ltd, the Burns and Laird Lines, and William Sloan and Company Limited at the Strathclyde Regional Archives; the Tyne Tees Steam Shipping Company Limited records at the Tyne and Wear Archives Department.
Coast Lines LtdPapers of Cowper Phipps Cole, consisting of three large albums of newspaper cuttings which relate to the Navy and to ship design and were collected by Coles himself between 1862 and his death. There are a number of later cuttings to 1878.
Coles , Cowper Phipps , 1819-1870 , CaptainPapers of Cuthbert Collingwood, including two letterbooks containing private letters received between 1793 and 1809, the rest of the collection is composed of official letterbooks. There is one for the PRINCE and one for the EXCELLENT; ten others form part of the records for the Mediterranean command. Several, however, are clearly missing. There is an admiral's journal, 1801 to 1804, and another for the latter part of the Mediterranean command.
Collingwood , Cuthbert , 1750-1810 , Vice-Admiral , 1st Baron CollingwoodPapers of Admiral Curzon-Howe comprising logs, 1868 to 1873, fishery reports, Newfoundland, 1892 to 1895, memoranda, 1888 to 1893, 1909 to 1910, and notes on manoeuvres, 1895, 1899.
Howe , Sir , Assheton Gore , Curzon- , 1850-1911 , Knight , AdmiralPapers of Captain Hubert Edward Dannreuther including papers relating to gunnery matters as well as order books, photos, letters and diaries.
Papers of Hubert Harold Dannreuther, 1927-1949.
Papers of Raymond Portal Dannreuther, 1937-1954.
Papers of Tristan Dannreuther, including logs, 1887 to 1891, night order books, 1911 to 1917, notebooks, 1890 to 1891, diaries, 1887 to 1958, and remark books, 1893 to 1912. There are numerous letters from Dannreuther to his mother written between 1885 and 1919, except for the years 1909 to 1914, and official documents relating to the ships under his command.
Dannreuther , Hubert Edward , fl 1880-1977 , Rear-Admiral Dannreuther , Hubert Harold , b 1917 , Captain Dannreuther , Raymond Portal , fl 1923-2006 , Captain Dannreuther , Tristan , fl 1872-1963 , CaptainPapers of Admiral Dawkins, including papers of his early career consist of official service documents and three diaries, 1851 to 1858. Those concerned with the loss of the VANGUARD consist of some official publications, such as the findings of the court martial, a large collection of press cuttings, some private letters and Dawkins' own account of the disaster.
Dawkins , Richard , 1828-1896 , Rear-AdmiralPapers of William and Dugald Dawson comprising 80 letters from Dugald Dawson (dated 1823-1840) and 64 letters from William Dawson (dated 1828-1843). Also included are 38 letters (including two private journals) from Captain William Dawson, addressed to his wife Barbara (dated 1849-1858), and a number of other letters and papers, chiefly of William's family.
Dawson , William , 1810-1858 , merchant Dawson , Dugald , 1805-1841 , overseerPapers from the collection of Andre De Coppet consisting of sixteen documents. The earliest, 1618, is an estimate of expenditure on seven ships 'at the narrow Seas' signed by the Lord High Admiral, Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham (1536-1624), the Comptroller of the Navy, Sir Guilford Slingsby (d 1632) and the Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Richard Bingley (fl 1590-1618). Two other seventeenth-century documents relate to prize money; a letter of 1667 from Lord Bellasis (1614-1689) to Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), with Pepys' draft reply. Three documents are addressed to Admiral Honore Ganteaume (1755-1818) from Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and consist of an order, 1798, regarding the blockade of Alexandria, and two letters, 1798 and 1805; the former discusses possible courses of action open to the French fleet against the British in the Mediterranean. The eleven letters of Lord Nelson (q.v.), 1799 to 1805, which make up the rest of the collection, concern events in the Mediterranean after the Battle of the Nile and those leading up to the Battle of Trafalgar. Four of these are to Sir John Acton (1736-1811), Prime Minister to Ferdinand I of Naples and Sicily. Complaints about Lord Keith (q.v.) are the main subject in the letter, 1799, to Sir William Hamilton (q.v.).
Andre , Coppet , De , 1892-1953 , American broker and collectorPassenger Safety Certificates.
Department Of Transport , Marine DirectoratePapers of Devitt and Moore. Those relating to vessels owned, chartered and loaded by the company include: copies of registers of vessels, 1859 to 1897; voyage books, 1883-1917; lists of sailing ships and steamers loaded by Devitt and Moore, 1836 to 1926 and F Green and Co, 1839 to 1918; a log book of the Port Jackson, 1908 to 1909; the log books of the Medway, 1912 to 1913, 1915 to 1916 and one log book of the St George, 1920 to 1921. The business records include: ledgers, 1903 to 1907, 1914 to 1921; cash books and journals, 1910 to 1914 and letterbooks, 1911, 1916 to 1920. the records relating to officers and cadets include lists of ship's officers and cadets, 1864 to 1916; registers of apprentices 1868 to 1899, 1902 to 1903, 1906 to 1917; and registers of midshipmen, 1897 to 1917. In addition there are three volumes of newspaper clippings, 1904 to 1918, note books, miscellaneous correspondence and papers relating to the history of the company, plans of vessels, photographs and sailing schedules.
Devitt & MoorePapers of Sir Alexander Duff, consisting of letters received from Lord Jellicoe (1859-1935) and Sir Charles Madden (q.v.), 1916 to 1933, and a few letters from Jellicoe to Lady Duff, 1934; a series of notes and letters, 1914 to 1919, on the convoy system; papers on mercantile shipping, conferences and convoys, 1918, and some of Duff's retrospective views on convoys written in 1931 and a private diary kept between 1914 and 1916.
Duff , Sir , Alexander , 1862-1933 , Knight , AdmiralPapers of Robert Duff including logs, 1744 to 1747, 1749 to 1762 and for part of 1779; letter and order books, 1745 to 1762, 1775 to 1780; a register of Newfoundland fishing vessels, 1775; a list of ships, 1770; various signals and sailing directions and a family account book, 1769 to 1778.
Duff , Robert , fl 1720-1787 , Vice-AdmiralPapers of Eastern and Australian Steamship Co Ltd, containing a copy of the 1873 mail contract with the Government of Queensland: the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the third company (1894) and some early account books, 1894 to 1898. Later accounting records include company returns, 1920 to 1969, and there are minutes of Board meetings, 1906 to 1969. Included in the tonnage data, 1948 to 1969, are the contract and hull specification for the ARAFURA, 1952 to 1953.
Eastern & Australian Steamship Co LtdPapers of Edward Bates and Sons. The major part consists of carbon copies of the daily letters written privately between 1878 and 1902 by Edward Percy Bates from Liverpool to his father Edward Bates in Hampshire and his brother Sydney in London. When he was away from Liverpool the letters were written by another brother (usually Gilbert Bates) and later by his son Edward Bertram Bates. The letters contain information on all the family's business interests, including ships' movements and cargoes, the sale of cargoes and the state of the various markets. As well as personal matters, the correspondence reflects the close-knit circle of shipowners in Liverpool during this period. Records of ships include: a disbursement book, 1902 to 1914; a movements book with details of cargo, 1908 to 1916; cargoes, 1870 to 1896; ships' expenses at different ports, 1869 to 1902. In addition there are copies of correspondence between Gilbert Bates and Edward Percy Bates while the latter was on a trip to India, 1887 to 1888; a small duplicate letterbook records the business and personal letters written by Gilbert Bates 1880 to 1881 (including a visit to India) and continued by Edward Percy Bates, 1883 to 1884, when most of the letters were written to Sydney while be was on a visit to India; copies of letters sent from Liverpool to Bombay, 1879 to 1881; a few loose letters addressed to Edward Bates during the period, 1852 to 1867; by the Bombay office, 1861 to 1865, and by masters of the ships, 1862 to 1877. There are the carbons of letters written by Colonel Denis H Bates (1886-1959), mainly to Sydney E Bates, Percy E Bates and Aubrey Brocklebank, 1919 to 1924. There is a carbon copy of a diary of a visit to India kept by H G Wilson, chief accountant of Brocklebank's, and sent to Colonel Bates; carbons of reports sent by Wilson from India to Brocklebank's, the Anchor Line and Ellerman's, 1920 to 1921; and a few papers of Sir Percy Elly Bates on shipping and transport, 1916 to 1919.
Bates , Edward Percy , d.1896 , merchant Edward Bates & SonsPapers of Douglas George Eggins, consisting of eight day books, forming a continuous record between 1922 and 1958 of all the ships which he piloted in and out of Falmouth Bay and Harbour, together with the fees charged. There is also a typescript of the scheduled times of movement of craft before D-Day, 1944.
Eggins , Douglas George , fl 1894-1958 , master marinerPapers of Adml George Keith Elphinstone, consisting of 168 volumes and 350 boxes of loose papers all of which include letters, orders and memoranda received between 1772 and 1815. Keith's active career, before he commanded a station, is well covered by correspondence From 1796, however, the papers become very extensive. There is considerable material on the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope and on other matters during the Cape command (15 vols, 7 boxes). As Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, he received letters from Lords Nelson, Minto and Elgin (1766-1841), Sir Sidney Smith and a number of Turkish potentates (80 vols, 100 boxes). The papers covering his North Sea Command illustrate strategic and day-to-day problems and there are a large number of letters from Admiral Sir Bartholomew Rowley (d 1811) at the Nore, Admiral Holloway (d.1826) in the Downs, Commodore Edward Owen in Boulogne and others (55 vols, 185 boxes). No less comprehensive are the records for the final Channel command with correspondence from Sir Home Popham (1762-1820), the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) and some letters relating to Napoleon's surrender (25 vols, 50 boxes). Keith's private papers form only a very small part of the collection hut as a flag-officer he kept the most routine of letters: for each major command, particularly that of the Mediterranean, there are numerous accounts and returns which provide a detailed picture of victualling and the other general problems of an overseas fleet. There are also complete lists of ships' dispositions for all his major commands.
Elphinstone , George Keith , 1746-1823 , 1st Viscount Keith , Admiral