Manuscript copies of papers relating to the Aire and Calder Navigation Company's proposed Leeds and Selby Canal, [1714-1772], as follows.

1. Memorandum, [1771], upon the monopoly enjoyed and the exorbitant charges imposed by the farmer of the Aire and Calder Navigation, and the danger of the proprietors' wish to reroute the navigation away from Knottingley, Yorkshire, '...[which] proceeding would depopulate the... town reduce the property of individuals therein below it's present value and... totally deprive the same of all the natural advantages of it's situation...'. (Single sheet. 13" x 7¾").
2. Memorandum of a meeting held on Monday, 30 December, 1771, at Bluits Inn, York, under the chairmanship of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount Irwin, held to oppose the plans of the Aire and Calder Navigation to alter the route of the navigation by Act of Parliament. A list is given of the more notable attenders at the meeting. A plan of intended alterations was produced by Messrs. Wilson, Birt and Smeaton, but not considered, grievances of objectors to the plan were heard, and a subscription entered into to prevent 'the course of the rivers Aire and Calder from being altered by the present undertakers...and... [to concert] the proper means for reducing and ascertaining the tolls and duties on the said rivers...'. Adjournment to 28 January, [1772]. (Single sheet. 19½" x 14").
3. Subscription list dated 30 December 1771 [referred to above] composed of thirteen names, headed by that of Lord Irvine. (Single sheet. 7" x 8").
4. Articles of agreement of 9 July, 1714, made between (1) William Milner, of Leeds, and John Smith, of Heath, Yorkshire, on behalf of themselves and the other undertakers of the navigation on the rivers Aire and Calder, (2) Robert, Marquis of Lindsey, Lord Great Chamberlain and Privy Councillor, and (3) Arthur Ingram and Thomas Atkinson, both of Knottingley, on behalf of themselves and other inhabitants of that town. To settle disputes touching the erection of a lock and dam at Chapel Haddlesey (1) will, on or before 29 September, 1715, make one or more new large cuts or sluices with a turnpike in the middle of the dam at Chapel Haddlesey in the river Aire at least 15 yards wide...and maintain them at their own costs. They will also deepen by one foot the drain running out of Haddlesey Ings into the river Aire, and will erect a good and substantial bridge with two leaves over the Aire near the ferry by Chapel Haddlesey Marsh as good and substantial as Beal Bridge lately built on the said river, and make a good and sufficient causeway to Chapel Haddlesey. There are other clauses relating to tolls, flooding, etc. Bond in £2000 by (1) to (2) to observe and perform all covenants conditions, etc. (2 leaves. 15½" x 10").

Letters, 1927-1941, of and relating to Jack F Blackburn, mainly comprising his letters to his mother Margaret Blackburn in Guildford, 1927-1941, concerning his activities and discussing family affairs, describing visits as a naval officer to the ports of Singapore, Malaya, Cairo, and Aden, and including information on his work with the Chinese Maritime Customs; also including two letters from well-wishers to his mother congratulating her on Blackburn's behaviour on HMS LADYBIRD in 1941.

Papers, 1776-1991 (including some copies), some undated, collected by Anthony James Broomhall for his work on the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor and China's Open Century, comprising manuscript, typescript and printed notes and sources, largely undated, on Chinese and missionary history, on James Hudson Taylor, including his letters and personal papers, the chronology of his life, and his forebears, and on Frederick Howard Taylor; photocopies of drawings and photographs, including James Hudson Taylor and also Chinese buildings, cities, boats and rivers, and other scenes, copies of documents associated with Taylor, including his Bible and marriage certificate, and a photograph of his grave; maps of China and other parts of Asia, some including China Inland Mission stations; Broomhall's correspondence relating to his research, 1939-1991.

Manuscript journal of George Caley, entitled 'Remarks on the weather &c', containing a travel diary, 1811-1817, describing a canal journey from London to Manchester and a journey to St Vincent in the West Indies.

Manuscript volume containing a [transcript of a] speech by the Recorder of Chichester to King James I, [1600-1606], requesting a licence to export grain produced in Sussex from the city's port in order to pay the costs of cutting a channel from Chichester to the sea.

Papers of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), 1971-[1983], including minutes of the Commercial Carrying Group/Inland Shipping Group, 1971-1982; minutes and reports of the Regional Inland Shipping Committees, 1976-[1983]; official IWA/ISG correspondence, 1973-1980; IWA and ISG address and membership lists; ISG publications, [1972]-1982, including fact sheets; press cuttings, papers and printed material not relating to ISG, 1975-1979.

Memorandum of agreement of 20 July, 1865, between (1) the Company of Proprietors of the Canal Navigation from Leeds to Liverpool and (2) the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Liverpool, whereby (1) will excavate, make and maintain three side basins and wharves connected with their canal at Philip Street Wharf, Liverpool, for the exclusive use of (2) in the removal of refuse. Term - 21 years. Rent - £1750 p.a.

Records of the Maryon-Wilson family relating to their estates and property holdings. Papers relating to the Manor of Charlton include rentals, correspondence, agreements, court rolls, deeds, leases, legal papers, papers relating to the Woolwich ferry and the Thames Steam Boat Company, plans of the estate, tithes and papers relating to the Charlton churches of St Luke, St Thomas and St Paul, photographs of Charlton House, and papers relating to the Blackheath regiment.

Papers relating to the Manor of Hampstead include court rolls and minutes, admissions and enfranchisements, licence books, plans and surveys, leases, papers relating to the Hampstead Heath Act, and family papers.

The collection includes a small number of documents relating to the family estates in Sussex and Essex.

Manuscript transcript of an Act of Parliament (16 and 17 Charles II, c.11) for making the river Medway navigable in the Counties of Kent and Sussex, copied in c1740.

The working drawings of John Smeaton, civil engineer. They illustrate his researches on waterwheels and applied mechanics, and the relative efficiency of overshot as opposed to undershot wheels. With supplementary engravings and manuscript notes.

Records, 1869-1967, of John Swire & Sons Ltd, comprising the bulk of known surviving material stored in the London Office, covering the development of the firm from about 1870 to 1947, and including series of correspondence coming in and out of the London Office; legal material including original deeds and leases; accounts; organisation papers; and photographs. The importance of the collection lies in the comprehensiveness of the nineteenth and twentieth century correspondence in illustrating the development of the firm and its subsidiaries from the London side where policies were decided, and from the Eastern side where they were implemented. It also gives a good picture of leading figures and firms involved in the Far Eastern trade at that time such as Jardine, Matheson & Company, the China Merchants Company and Holt's, and reveals aspects of Chinese trade and British business philosophy at the end of the Victorian era.

Papers, 1927-1973, concerning the Rev Forbes Tocher, comprising manuscript letter from George Wilson to Mrs Tocher concerning the Lalor case, 1927; typescript letter from Butterfield and Swire, Shanghai, to Forbes Tocher thanking him for his help in releasing Captain Lalor, 1928; undated press cutting announcing the award to Tocher of the CBE, following his release of Captain Lalor, and giving an account of the events [1928]; photocopy of undated notes by Tocher concerning his work securing the release of Captain Lalor in 1927; press cuttings from Scottish newspapers on celebrations to commemorate Tocher's 55 years as a minister, giving accounts of his life and career, 1964; typescript copy of funeral oration to Tocher, 1973.

Papers, 1903-1940, of the Rev W H Warren, comprising four station reports from Shaohsing, 1903-1914; two printed China Inland Mission reports from Shanghai, 1931; Warren's manuscript account of an attack by pirates on a mission party travelling from Shanghai to Chefoo schools (Yantai), 1935; typescript report on events in China and their implications for missionary work, 1937; typescript report from Shanghai, 1940; Nosu hymnbook, undated.