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Papers collected by Henry Wellcome, comprising fifty volumes and loose papers. The largest group of items is of ships' logs. Those for the Navy include logs for the PRINCESS OF WALES, 1735 to 1737, and ROYAL GEORGE, 1744 to 1759; those for other merchant vessels include the log of the BENSON, on a voyage from Liverpool to Jamaica, 1782, and of the ESTHER, plying between Whitehaven, Hamburg and Virginia, 1794 to 1795. Of a less official nature is an account of the survival of three members of the crew of the EARL TEMPLE, East India Company ship, wrecked on the Cochin China coast, 1766; also the diary of Richard Joyce who served on board the gun brig RICHMOND, was captured, released and served as a midshipman with the East India Company, 1810 to 1816. Shore-based activities are represented by a 'common place book' kept by John Rolt, a chief clerk in the Navy Office, 1806 to 1809, and by the diaries kept by a member of the St Andrews Waterside Mission, Gravesend, working among the crews of merchant ships, 1887 to 1905. Related to education within the Navy are a handwritten copy of the rules and regulations to be observed by the students of the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, 1816; lecture notes on practical navigation, c 1855; and a notebook on gunnery as taught on the EXCELLENT, 1858 to 1859. The reports include the copy of one in Spanish on an expedition against England by Spain, ca.1588; a report on the slave trade, c 1730; and another on the settlements and slave trade on the Gold Coast, c 1824. There is also a copy of landing instructions for the troops in Egypt, 1801.

Papers of Olive North. They include Olive's account of the sinking of the RMS LUSITANIA and her rescue, correspondence shortly before and after the disaster, press cuttings relating to the RMS LUSITANIA and lists of passengers and crew.

This class is made up of contemporary first-hand narrative accounts, contained in sixteen volumes. Narratives of naval actions include a volume of accounts of the Battle of Beachy Head, 1690, for presentation to the King; and an illustrated pocket-book of Lieutenant Lewis Stephen Davis (fl 1777-1799) containing accounts of various actions including the First of June, 1794, Cape St Vincent, 1797, and the Nile, 1798. There are five volumes relating to wrecks and salvage including an account of the loss of the merchant ship LUXEMBURGH , 1727; of the CENTAUR, 1782, by Captain John Nicholson Inglefield (1748-1828) with the verdict of the court martial, 1783. (A version of this was first published in 1782 in London as Captain Inglefield's narrative concerning the loss of His Majesty's ship the Centaur of seventy-four guns.) There is an account of wrecks and disasters on the north Norfolk Coast, 1880 to 1939, by William John Harman (1854-1944), a local fisherman; and also an account of the wreck of and salvage work carried out on the LUTINE which was sunk in 1799, written in 1898 by the salvage engineer Johan J Fletcher (fl.1893-1900). There are two foreign narratives in this section; one, a French manuscript, is 'Campagne Navale de M de Tourville' (1642-1701), which is an account of the movements of the French fleet in the Mediterranean in 1693, with pen and ink drawings and coloured illustrations of flags, probably written by Captain Longeron of the L'ORGUEILLEUX. There are also four annotated printed works, including the author's copy of the 1790 edition of A History of the late siege of Gibraltar, 1779-1783 by Colonel John Drinkwater (later Bethune, 1762-1844) with annotations and additional illustrations, and the galley sheets of The Submarine Peril, published in 1934 by Earl Jellicoe (1859-1935), with manuscript corrections and additions.

Papers of George Prideaux Brabant Naish. Included are personal and research papers of the Reverend Francis Naish, some relating to his identification of the Burlesdon wreck as the GRACE DIEU. There are also papers which relate to George Naish's command of the Anti-Submarine Fixed Defence Station, Fort Agami, Alexandria, 1945-6. Papers relating to his role as Secretary to the Society for Nautical Research between 1947 and 1977 may be found in the archive of the Society at this Museum.

This catagory contains examples of various types of ships' papers and documents relating to the operation of merchant ships. There are examples of Charter Parties, including one of 1322 between Walter Giffard, master of the cog OUR LADY of Lyme and Sir Hugh de Berham for a freight of wine; the remainder are twentieth-century examples. The earliest example of a Bill of Lading is for the TRIPLE CROWN of Bristol, 1689; there are others from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among the examples of Bills of Sale of ships and shares of ships is one for the Dutch East India Company ship DEHELDWOITEMADE, sold to James Mather, a London merchant, 1782; and also one for the SPECULATOR, a French prize, formerly LE CARME, sold in 1810. Examples of documents relating to insurance include a Statement of General Average for the POLLY AND EMILY made after she had been damaged in a gale in 1895. There are also Muster Rolls and Articles of Agreement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (see also entry no.13); Bills of Health, nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Safe Conducts, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and various nineteenth-century passenger documents and papers relating to wreck and salvage, including an order issued by Sir Cyril Wyche (1632-1707) and Sir Henry Capel (d 1696), Lord Justices of Ireland, for the arrest of the pilot of the wrecked TALBOT pink, 1695.

Volumes of the wreck register, Marine Department of the Board of Trade, 1855 to 1898, giving the names and details of wrecks of British vessels reported to the Marine Department. The information includes the name of the vessel, its official number, port of registry, port number and year of registration, tonnage, name of managing owner, master, date and place of wreck, cause and the number of lives lost. Printed reports clipped from shipping newspapers, as well as manuscript reports from the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen are often included as well as references to Lloyd's List , Mitchell's Maritime Register and Board of Trade correspondence (see MT/9 at the Public Record Office).

Papers of Walter Lord relating to the TITANIC, including orignal letters from survivors, both passengers and crew (see LMQ/7); copies of the second class dinner menu (LMQ/1/12/2, issued as postcard souvenirs) and much contemporary publicity material concerning the ship itself such as deck plans, drawings and White Star brochures, all providing a view of the the great size and splendour of this luxuriously appointed vessel (LMQ/1/9). Also present are 12 fascinating original photographs, showing TITANIC survivors in the lifeboats approaching the SS CARPATHIA at about 8 a.m. on 15 April 1912. They are the only known photographs to show survivors being picked up from the sea (LMQ/1/12/1).

The fifty-four letterbooks which have been acquired individually are predominantly naval, dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. The Napoleonic war period and the nineteenth century are most fully represented. Unless stated otherwise, it can be assumed that the items are copy letterbooks and not bound volumes of original letters. Of the six seventeenth-century letterboooks the largest is that of official correspondence of Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), 1662 to 1679, which also contains some shorthand in his own hand. (Some of these letters are reproduced in Helen Truesdell Heath, ed., The letters of Samuel Pepys and his family circle (Oxford), 1955)) There is a bound volume of 15 original letters and legal documents written by Sir Anthony Deane ([1638]-1721), shipbuilder and member of the Navy Board; the letters, dated from 1662 to 1679, are to a merchant, Sir Robert Clayton (1651-1704). For the same period there is a letterbook of George Monck, Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670), with some shorthand, written between 1665 and 1666 while he was joint Commander-in-Chief. Additionally, a small volume containing two letters by Monck, 1652 and 1663, includes some contemporary pamphlets and prints. A slim letterbook of Sir John Narbrough (1640-1688), when in command of the FORESIGHT, 1687 to 1688, consists of letters and reports written by him when recovering treasure from a Spanish wreck off Hispaniola. There is also an early eighteenth-century volume of copies of over a hundred letters written by James II to George Legge, Lord Dartmouth (q.v.) between 1679 and 1688. The earliest letterbook of the eighteenth century is that of Vice-Admiral John Baker (1660-1716), aboard the STIRLING CASTLE commanding in home waters and the Mediterranean, 1708 to 1709. A private letterbook of an officer who cannot be positively identified, kept between 1727 and 1731, includes a list of men killed and wounded at the siege of Gibraltar, 1727. It gives detailed dimensions of the ROSE at the same period, a description of travels in Italy, 1731, and of St John's, Newfoundland, 1732. Six letterbooks (some of which also contain orders) of Admiral Sir Piercy Brett (1709-1781) all relate to the Channel when Brett was in the LION, 1745 to 1746, the NORFOLK, 1757 to 1758, DEPTFORD, 1760, ST GEORGE, 1760 and the NEWARK, 1761. There is a small volume of in- and out-letters and orders to and from Prince William Henry (1765-1837). These date between 1786 and 1788 when the Prince was in command of the PEGASUS in home waters, 1786, in the West Indies from 1786 to 1787, and in Canada in 1787. Finally for this period is a letterbook of John Pearse, commander of H.E.I.C.S. EDGECOTE, 1747 to 1750. Thirty-one volumes relate to the Napoleonic Wars, the first of which is a bound volume of eighteen original letters, 1793 to 1804, from Admiral Collingwood (q.v.) to Sir Edward Blackett (d.1804). There follows a book of seven private original letters from Lord Mulgrave (1755-1831) to Collingwood , 1807 to 1809; a letterbook of Admiral George Berkeley (1753-1818) when in command on the coast of Portugal, 1809 to 1810; original letters from Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren (1753-1852) to Lord Melville (1771-1851), First Lord of the Admiralty, written mainly between 1812 and 1814 from Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he was Commander-in-Chief, North America ; a letterbook of John Jervis, Lord St Vincent for 1806 and 1807, when Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, and a letterbook of Admiral Sir Charles Penrose (1759-1830), 1813 to 1814, when commanding the PORCUPINE. At this time the ship was off the coast of France, collaborating with the army under the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), to whom a large number of the letters are addressed. Examples of volumes belonging to officers of lesser rank include that of Lieutenant (later Captain) Robert Ramsay (fl 1779-1815), in the EURYDICE, home waters and North America, 1807 to 1808, and in the MISTLETOE.

Papers of Joseph Newsam Knowles, including papers relating to Knowle's command of the cutter SPEEDY, 7 Mar-4 Nov 1833 and n.d.; private correspondence received by Knowles and his father, 1 Dec 1827-17 May 1834 and n.d. mainly relating to attempts to further his career; misc. papers, 1932, 14 Jul 1834 and n.d. including a letter regarding Knowles' papers and an untitled poem; Goldsmith's Almanck, 1798, with notes on the Knowles family etc; accounts of the wreck of and the rescue of survivors from the FRANCIS AND MARY, sailing from St John's, New Brunswick to Liverpool, discovered by HMS BLONDE, taken from the Morning Herald, 28 Mar 1826 with a manuscript copy and a statement taken by Knowles from the survivors; certificate of membership of the United Grande Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of England, 28 Mar 1831 and letters advising him of meetings, 6 Jan-7 Apr 1831; Vellum cover marked '1. 15th June 1816 J.K. Checque on Bankers Book', containing a notice of recognizance for the Cornwall Quater Sessions, 30 Oct 1833 and a note, n.d.; private correspondence mainly from Mr Elliot Carrett, solicitor, regarding the sale of real estate at Dewsbury, 21 Apr-14 Jul 1834; notebook containing a list of the Royal Navy and tables relating to ordnance, sails, masts and yards etc, ca.1825, marked 'Lieutenant Edward Goodlad - Royal Navy'; Two track charts of HMS FORTE, Rio de Janeiro to cape Horn, Jul 1828.

Papers 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.