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General Records: This group contains a large vellum-bound volume of Spanish diplomatic papers, mainly dating between 1603 and 1672, but with a section dealing with the Armada, 1587 to 1588; two English documents relating to the expedition to Cadiz, 1596; an enquiry into the loss of ships in the convoy guarded by Sir George Rooke (1650-1709) and the Streights Squadron, 1693; a gathering of Italian papers relating to the capitulation of Malta, 1799 to 1807. There are also a number of items relating to Lord Nelson and his family, 1805 to 1845. (PHB/: PHB/P: 2 vols: 3 items) Merchant Shipping Records: relating to merchant shipping, including the journal of the Blackham on a voyage to Constantinople, 1696 to 1698; the log of H.E.I.C.S. Ceres, 1743 to 1745; of H.E.I.C.S. Wager, 1745 to 1746; and an account in verse of H.E.I.C.S. Ceres, 1812 to 1814, on a voyage to China. There is also a memorial of 1774 by a Harwich pilot to the Treasury, seeking to establish an excise cutter there. Among the documents are Bills of Sale, 1651, 1695, 1775; Letters of Marque, 1780, 1799. (PHB/: PLA/P: 4 vols: 12 items) Royal Navy: Administration: This group consists of nineteen volumes and four documents relating to the administration of the Navy. It includes the naval accounts from 1422 to 1427 of William Soper (fl.1410-1459), Clerk of the King¹s ships; a list of ships' stores 'wasted' in the Prymrose after the Rochelle expedition, 1573; a volume of the records collected by Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631), the antiquarian and collector, containing summaries of papers on naval matters and defence from the time of Henry III to Elizabeth I; a copy, dated 1638, of the first 'Discourse of the Navy of England' by John Hollond (fl 1624-1659); regulations for the Ordnance Office, 1683; an account, written by a clerk, of the dispute between Samuel Pepys and Colonel Middleton (d 1672) about the importation of cottons and kerseys, 1667 to 1668; two lists of official documents transferred by Pepys to his successor on leaving the Admiralty, 1689; two volumes of Navy Board orders to Deptford and Woolwich dockyards, 1644 to 1722; and eleven volumes of papers, bound by Phillipps in no particular order, relating to general administrative matters, including sea-men's pay, 1711 to 1790; however, among these papers are three letters from Vice-Admiral Benbow (1653-1702) written from Jamaica, 1699. Finally, there are a number of lists; of Admiralty Commissioners, 1673 to 1782; of ships, 1625 to 1636, 1705, 1706 to 1745, and of foreign navies, 1755 to 1778 (PLA/: PLA/P: 2 1/2ft: 76cm) Royal Navy: Law and Prize Money: This group consists of a volume, 1658 to 1673, containing a collection of sentences and decrees made at the Court of Admiralty; a volume of 1685 chiefly concerning the powers and rights of the Lord High Admiral, with an abstract of the judgements of Oleron, translated from the French; a further seventeenth-century volume concerning maritime customs and law from the time of Henry III; a French treatise of maritime law, 1690; a volume containing bound letters from senior naval officers expressing their opinion on the prize money dispute between Lord Nelson (q.v.) and Lord St Vincent (q.v.), 1801 to 1802; vindication of the conduct of Surgeon D.T. McCarthy, court-martialled 2 lines 1 field in 1804.

Papers of Sir Peter William Gretton. A small proportion of the documents relate to Gretton's naval career (1926-1963) and include reports, standing orders, workbooks and journals. The majority of the archive, however, relates to Gretton's life after active service, including: his correspondence with naval personal, fellow academics and political figures; projects and research on a variety of naval defence topics, including the 1966 Defence White Paper, and work for the Ditchley Foundation and the Institute of Strategic Studies; typescripts and preparatory material for speeches, lectures, book reviews and contributions to radio and television programmes presented by Gretton; and research and copies of articles for newspapers and leading publications, including the Naval Review and the Dictionary of National Biography. All of Gretton's published books (see above Biography) and unpublished works are extensively represented by correspondence, notes, research materials and full drafts, in the case of 'The Forgotten Factor' (on the Spanish Civil War), 'The Battle of the Atlantic', 'The True Glory' (on minor naval actions in World War Two) and 'The Victorian Navy'. The collection also includes a small number of personal papers, including an outline of Gretton's working life, October 1942-July 1969, written by his wife, and a bound volume of memoirs, written by Gretton himself.

Papers of the Elliot family including:

Papers of Lord Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto, comprising sixty-two volumes and covering the official correspondence of Lord Minto when he was Commissioner at Toulon and Viceroy of Corsica. In addition, there is an account of the attack and defence of Toulon, 1793, a journal for March 1794, a few loose papers and some correspondence between Elliot, Nelson and Lady Hamilton.

Papers of Lord Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto consisting of correspondence and papers covering the period when he was First Lord of the Admiralty. There are forty volumes of in-letters and some draft replies in his own hand including the letters from commanders connected with the events of the Carlist war, 1836 to 1841. There are also loose papers which consist of reports and memoranda and correspondence on a wide variety of naval topics. Further naval papers of the 2nd Earl form part of the Minto collection in the National Library of Scotland.

Papers of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet, content is mainly official and consists of account rolls of the Treasurer of the Chambers, 1762 to 1770, and an account made as Treasurer of the Navy, 1776 to 1777. There are some miscellaneous papers and a few letters, some personal and some official, relating to the settlement of Elliot's naval accounts. There are other papers relating to Elliot as Treasurer of the Navy and as Lord of the Admiralty in the National Library of Scotland.

Papers of George Eliott, consisting of three cases of orders and letters relating mainly to the siege of Gibraltar.

Papers of of Hugh Elliot consisting of diplomatic correspondence, 1803 to 1806, and contain sixty-two letters from Nelson (q.v.), together with drafts and copies of Elliot's replies and correspondence with Admiral Collingwood (q.v.). There are also intelligence reports and other material which throw light on the diplomacy of the Neapolitan Court.

Papers of Adm John Elliot, consisting only of one volume, containing a biographical note and seventy-two letters sent mostly by Elliot to his father or brother, 1745 to 1805. There are also letters received, including some from Lords Sandwich (q. v.) and Barham (q.v.). Also included is a description by Captain Erasmus Gower (q.v.) of Lord Macartney's Embassy to China in 1793 and another of the First of June, 1794.

Three logs kept by Willaim Elliot between 1803 and 1810.

Papers of Alfred Ernle Montacute Chatfield, consisting mainly of semi-official and private letters, 1932 to 1940, from Churchill (1874-1965), Lord Lothian (1882-1940), Admirals Sir Roger Backhouse (1878-1939), Sir Frederic Dreyer (1878-1956), Sir W.W. Fisher (q.v.), Lord Beatty (1871-1936), Sir John Kelly (q.v.), Sir (William) Howard Kelly (q.v.), Sir Charles Little (1882-1973), Sir Eric Fullerton (q.v).), Sir Dudley Pound (1877-1943) and other commanders-in-chief. The topics referred to in this correspondence include the battle of Jutland, 1916, the Invergordon Mutiny, 1931, the Naval Disarmament Conference, 1935, the Abyssinia crisis, 1935, the Spanish Civil War, 1936, the problems of defence and rearmament during the 1930s, international relations and control of the Fleet Air Arm. There are also photograph albums relating to the Royal Tour of India, the Mediterranean Command and the India Mission.