The collection of primarily bound volumes comprises the business documents of Robert Newman and Co., and related companies, 1774-1955. The documents themselves include letter books, journals, ledgers, account books, memorandums and ship registers, and relate chiefly to trading in Newfoundland, Canada. Many of these internal working documents were originally intended to serve as permanent records. They can provide the researcher with a general overview of the financial and statistical history of the firm, giving a record of transactions as they occurred. In addition, they offer a degree of descriptive information, showing the development of codes and ciphers used by the firm, an insight into labour relations, and a detailing of the raw materials used for trade.

The records relate to the following company names; Hunt Newman Roope and Co; Hunt Roope and Co; Hunt Roope Teage and Co; John Newman and Co; Newman and Co; Newman Hunt and Co; Newman Hunt and Lyon; Newman and Land; Newman Land Hunt and Co; Newman and Roope; Robert Newman and Co.

Volumes 2 and 102 are missing from the collection and number 91 was not originally used when the items were acquisitioned.

Printed reports of the House of Commons Committee of Secrecy, 1721, appointed to enquire into the 'Act for Enabling the South Sea Company to increase their present capital stock by redeeming such publick debts and incumbrances...and for calling in Exchequer Bills remaining uncancelled...'.

Papers, 1889-1969, of the China Association, including minutes and committee papers of the General Committee and Executive Committee; correspondence with the Foreign Office, Board of Trade, Sino-British Trade Council, Tientsin and Hong Kong Chambers of Commerce, Hong Kong Association and the British Consulate in Shanghai; annual reports (1889-1962); and separate items including the minutes and papers of the China Association's School of Practical Chinese Endowment Fund (1908-1955). Also includes committee papers and minutes of the British Chambers of Commerce in Hankow and Tientsin, the Hong Kong Association, the Sino-British Trade Council, and the British Residents' Association in Shanghai. Also includes photographs of banquets (1896-1906), and albums of newspaper cuttings on China (1940-1947) and Japan (1942-1949).

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.

Volume of typescript copies of Sir Robert Hart's letters to Sir Francis Arthur Aglen, 1888-1911.

Records, 1909-1932, of Serdang Central Plantations Ltd, comprising Articles of Association, correspondence, annual reports and agreements relating to the voluntary liquidation and reconstruction.

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.

Records of the Foreign Cattle Market at Deptford, 1864-1988, including general administrative papers (letter books, committee papers, petitions, reports); printed copies of bye-laws, privy council orders and reports; machinery and equipment catalogues and inventories; posters; plans, drawings and maps; general financial papers (tenancy and rental agreements, rent ledgers, statements of income and expenditure, accounts, cash books, acquittance books). Also articles regarding the use of railways at the Market, particularly the Grove Street Tramway.

Minutes and committee papers of the Metage on Grain Committee, Court of Common Council, 1872-1896.

Records of the Port of London Health Committee, Court of Common Council, including minutes, 1872-1957; committee papers, 1872-1956; report books, 1873-1946 and subject files, 1878-1957. Subjects include air pollution, smoke abatement, Basildon New Town (with plans), the disposal of condemned meat, the transfer of Denton Hospital to the National Health Service (NHS), bye-laws regarding houseboats, the inspection of ships and reports of the Medical Officer of Health.

Morrison and Hobson family papers, 1807-1963. The papers are the product of a period of considerable spiritual, cultural and political change in China. They are a significant source for study of the development of Protestant missions in China (in particular the role of the medical mission and the introduction of Western medicine), and also provide evidence of the involvement of the missionaries with issues of British trade and diplomacy.

MSS. 5827-5852: correspondence and papers, especially of the Revd Robert Morrison (1782-1834), missionary in China, 1807-1834; John Robert Morrison (1814-1843), Chinese interpreter, Colonial Secretary of the Hong Kong government; and Dr Benjamin Hobson (1816-1873), medical missionary in China, 1839-1859. The majority comprise personal and domestic correspondence of the Morrison and Hobson families and their friends, with less emphasis on official papers, although the collection includes letters on the Peacock expedition to Siam and Cochin China led by Edmund Roberts (1784-1836), United States merchant and diplomat, 1832 (MS.5830), and letters to Benjamin Hobson from leading missionaries. 1843-1862 (MS.5839). Insight into missionary work in China can be gained in particular from the letters of the Revd. Robert Morrison. MS. 7127: 'Domestic Memoir of Mrs Morrison', by the Revd. Robert Morrison, addressed to his children Mary Rebecca and John Robert Morrison (1814-1843), 5-7 January 1824. Mary Morrison, Robert's first wife, died of cholera at Macao on 10 June 1821. This memoir was compiled by Robert Morrison during the voyage home from China aboard H.E.I.C.S. Waterloo.

Papers of John, Commander Hamilton, consisting of very full records for all of the BOMBAY CASTLE's voyages, including expenses, signal books, lists of passengers, and accounts of the French prize. There is also an extract from the Castle Huntly's log, 1819.

Records of Westways Greetings including sale catalogues and unused greeting cards published by Lip Productions Limited, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America and imported by Westways Greetings for sale in the United Kingdom. The cards depict gay and Christmas themes mainly marketed to the gay and lesbian community. Some of the cards depict Black people / people of African descent and other ethnic origin.

No administrative records of the firm are known to survive.

This collection was catalogued by Ros Hamner, volunteer, as part of Speakout London project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, supervised by Sally Bevan and Richard Wiltshire, Senior Archivists.

Records of Charles Lester and Company Limited, general traders, comprising board and general meeting minutes.

Access to records less than 30 years old (or records less than 70 years old which relate to staff) should be sought from Elementis plc (contact details may be obtained from a member of staff).

Records of the Borneo Company, as follows:
1.Deed of settlement; memorandum and articles of association: Ms 27174-7;

2. Board, AGM and committee minutes; annual reports and accounts: Ms 27178-90;
3. Secretary's papers: Ms 27191-8;
4. Accounts: Ms 27199-231;
5. Overseas operations records:-
   Agency and general agreements-Ms 27232-43;
   Java and Sumatra-Ms 27244-58;
   Malaya and Singapore-Ms 27259-76;
   Philippines-Ms 27277;
   Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei-Ms 27278-304;
   Siam-Ms 27305-29;
6. Investments, takeovers and subsidiary company papers:-
   Australia-Ms 27330-45;
   Canada -Ms 27346-50;
   Hong Kong-Ms 27351;
   Colombia-Ms 27352;
   Cuba-Ms 27353;
   India-Ms 27354-5;
   Java and Sumatra-Ms 27356-9;
   Malaya and Singapore-Ms 27360-400;
   Netherlands-Ms 27401-2;
   Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei-Ms 27403-19;
   Siam-Ms 27420;
   United Kingdom-Ms 27421-3;
7. Publicity and sales material: Ms 27424-6;
8. Staff records: Ms 27427-43;
9. Property records (London only): Ms 27430-6;
10. Centenary celebrations and notes for centenary history: Ms 27437-43;
11. Photographs: Ms 27444-66;
12. Branch records:-
    Sarawak: Kuching-Ms 27467-70;
    Siam: Bangkok -Ms 27471-4.

Records of Gilman (Holdings) Limited, comprising memoranda and agendas for meetings.

Records of Matthew Clark and Sons, wine and spirit brokers, comprising partnership agreements, 1887-1923; annual reports and accounts, 1948-98; correspondence and other administrative papers, 1804-1992; memoranda books, 1861-c 1930; accounts, 1810-1945; sale catalogues and price lists, 1821-1995; papers concerning operations, 1849-1995; accounts of the directors of the firm, 1888-1970; photographs; staff list; leases and histories of the company, 1847-2005.

Papers of John Michie, director of the East India Company, and Jonathan Michie, wine merchant, comprising personal and East India Company papers, including correspondence, accounts, receipts and memoranda.

Records of the Russia Company, including:

• Copies of charters, 1554-1628;
• Court minute books, 1666-1999;
• Financial records, 1699-1995;
• Correspondence, 1879-1943;
• Correspondence and other papers, 1711-1888, 1885-c.1908, 1916-1919, 2005;
• Annual reports, 1905-1953;
• Stamp duty book, 1896-1947;
• Administrative records, 1877-1946;
• Papers relating to the Anglican chaplaincies in Russia, 1894-1917, 1993-7;
• Records of the Council for British Repatriated from Russia, 1919-1932;
• Records of the British Factory, St. Petersburg, 1774-1875.

Records of Wallace Brothers concerning Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited, including memorandum and articles of association; board minutes; annual reports and accounts; agreements; papers relating to shareholders; correspondence; financial records; and papers relating to branches in Rangoon, Moulmein, Bangkok and Borneo.

Records of E D Sassoon and Company Limited including records relating to the foundation of the company such as memoranda and articles of association, certificates of incorporation and special resolutions; a board minute book and power of attorney.

Records of E D Sassoon and Company Limited including accounts, balance sheets and reports.

Records of T Wiggin and Company, merchants, comprising ledgers 1858-74; waste books 1864-72; out-letter book 1865; correspondence and accounts 1865-72.

Letters to William Hurt from Thomas Rogers, writing from Surrat (Surat), Mesulapatam (Masulipatam) and Gulcondah (Golconda, now Hyderabad).

Daybooks of Sir Charles Peers, relating to his business as London partner of William Morley and Company, of Malaga, merchants and importers.

Particulars of expenses incurred on the account of Thomas Pengelly, merchant of London, by the purchase of broadcloths at Aleppo [Syria], 8 Dec 1656.

Account book of an unidentified Dutch merchant in London, apparently trading mainly with Antwerp, Belgium.

Records of Whiffen and Son Ltd, manufacturing chemists, 1752-1972, including history of the company; articles of partnership and other contracts and agreements; legal documents relating to property; correspondence; circulars; financial accounts; papers relating to shares and shareholders; stock records; newspaper cuttings; photographs; staff wages books and pensions papers; records relating to staff associations and sports clubs including minute books; reports on chemical manufacture, laboratory notebooks and chemical analyses; papers relating to sales; papers relating to imports and foreign suppliers; advertisements; registers of product labels; samples of packaging; rules, regulations and legislation regarding factories and safety measures; papers regarding the Second World War including war damage to factories and papers relating to staff on active duty.

Also records of Saint Amand Manufacturing Company Limited including ledgers, letter books and journals.

Letter from Lancelot Hobson of Athens, Greece to Mr John Wise, merchant, of London, 1685. '... tis some yeares since you have not been pleased to make reply unto divers addressed you'; urging that friends should make 'further tryall of trade heere since tis now ye most open scale of [text missing] whither are brought to be shipped all ye good of Morea and Thessally [text missing] might be purchase against English commodities ...'. Goods mentioned include corn, cheese, wool, valonia [acorns used for dyeing fabric and tanning leather], silk, wax, tin, pepper, Brazil wood, indigo, oils, soap, aniseed and buffalo hides.

Begun on 24 Feb 1685 written in one hand and completed in another hand on 18 Ap 1685; the second hand appears to be Hobson's own.

Letter from John Stuart Mill of Blackheath, [Kent] to an unidentified recipient, [1860]. Referring to a proposed article on the Anglo-French Treaty [of Commerce (1860)]. 'I never write well unless I feel moved to write on the particular subject, which on this subject I do not'.

Autograph, with signature. Written on black-edged paper.

Mainly letters written and received between 1770 and 1835 by Simon Taylor, his family and heirs, and his friends, agents and business partners, relating to their Jamaican estates and business interests. Over a quarter are contained in Simon Taylor's letterbooks. Though the majority of the correspondence consists of letters either to or from Simon Taylor up to his death in 1813, there is also correspondence of other family members, like his brother Sir John Taylor (1741-1786) and his widow Lady Elizabeth Haughton Taylor (1758-182[?2]), their son and his heir Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor, and his cousin and business partner Robert Taylor. Subject matter ranges from the domestic (illness, family quarrels, disinheritance, bigamy) to business (slaves, sugar, trade and shipping, the effects of hurricanes, the introduction of a steam engine on an estate), to the Maroon and French wars and the politics of Abolition. The collection also includes correspondence of George Watson Taylor, 1815-1819, and detailed reports on the estates made for Anna Susannah Watson Taylor in 1835. Genealogical tables for the Taylor, Haughton, Brissett and Hibbert families have been added to the collection at a later date.

The collection consists of chapters, drafts, notes and correspondence of Ralph Davis on published works (1971-1979); tables and statistics concerning overseas trade, exports and imports in the 18th and 19th centuries; teaching materials, course notes, etc (1964-1975); correspondence (1965-1978).

Copy of power of attorney granted on behalf of Jose Fernandez y Lopez, resident in Havana, Cuba, to Messrs Morris and Elkan of London, concerning a brand of cigars and tobacco, 1902.

Correspondence relating to the trade of Sandbach, Tinné and Co. with British Guiana, 1808-1909, including correspondence with McInroy, Parker & Co. of Glasgow (9 letters, 1817-1829), with McInroy, Sandbach & Co. of Demerara, British Guiana (about 40 letters 1815-1852), with Blackwood, Conor and Co. from 1879 and with Sandbach, Parker and Co. from 1870.
Single correspondents include P.J. Tinné, Liverpool (1816); James McInroy, Demerara (1808) and Glasgow (1811), both to Samuel Sandbach in Liverpool; Peter McLagan, Georgetown, Guiana (1821), to S. Sandbach; George Rainy, Demerara (1828-1832), and Cheltenham (1839); and some copies of letters from other correspondents.
The letters concern the shipping of coffee, rum, sugar, cotton, and other merchandise to England, and contain incidental references to French, Dutch and English plantations in Guiana, financial arrangements, the state of crops and the labour force, and the use of machinery in plantations e.g. for cane-grinding. The letters of George Rainy also discuss the partnership, apparently between himself, Sandbach, and Tinné.
Also included are an invoice of goods shipped to Demerara, 1810; an account of McInroy, Parker & Co., with Sandbach, Tinné & Co., 1817; copies of the loading lists of ships; 5 printed cheques of Messrs. Hodsoll & Stirling, 345 Strand, London, May 1810, and 2 of Sir Charles Price, Kay, Price & Coleman, 1 Mansion House St., London, 1815 and 1816; a 'Memorandum of Copper, Bricks, Tools etc. required in the new machinery in Plantation Providence' (1866); a printed prospectus for Dissolved Peruvian Guano (1866); a 'Sketch showing proposed exchange of land between Plantations Peters Hall and Providence' (1869); and a 'Memorandum on Sandbach, Parker & Co.'s Sugar Purchases from Estates [in Guyana]' (1907).

Manuscript volume containing a report giving a list of all the costs of the upkeep of a galley in a squadron, [1700-1750], requested by 'S R Gerosna', entitled 'Relazione distinta di tutta la somma che si spende e consuma per il manteninento di una galera dalla squadra di questa S R Gerosna'. Includes frequent references to the port at Malta, and to Sicily, Sardinia and other islands in the Mediterranean, and notes of advice for captains of galleys trading in the area.

A signed holograph proposal, 1739, for preventing the illicit practice of wool, tea and brandy smuggling, submitted to both Houses of Parliament.

Draft and notes, [1914-1938], for a history of English public finance from the later medieval period to the Stuarts, mostly abstracted from sources at the Public Record Office, London. Notes, [1914-1938], on various topics, notably economic aspects of New Zealand, 1836-1845, Senegal and Gambia, 1737-1804, trade on the Gold Coast, Africa, 1750-1800, and the functions of the Board of Trade, 1744-1807.

Papers concerning relations between Britain and Russia 1922-1923, with particular reference to the recognition of the USSR by the United Kingdom, trade relations and famine relief, collected by Charles Roden Buxton MP. The include circulars by the Union of Democratic Control, including ED Morel's reports on his visit to Russia and of the National "Hands off Russia" Committee.

Notebook containing a draft address to Robert, Earl of Oxford, by the subscription commission of the Corporation for carrying on trade to the South Seas, [1711], including a list of subscribers of more than £3,000. The names of Governors and Directors of the Corporation are indicated by a mark in the margin. The last page of the book has been reused for personal accounts, including the purchase of female mourning clothes, 1720.

Records, 1869-1975, dating largely from the 20th century, of the Guthrie Corporation, its predecessors and associated companies, comprising letterbooks and financial records, relating chiefly to plantation interests in Malaya and Singapore.

Personal correspondence, 1921-1929, with Rev Canon Claude Jenkins, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at King's College, University of London, notably on Johnstone's application for the post of Head of History at Royal Holloway College and Jenkins' work with the Church of England. Visitors' book, 1913-1961, and autograph books, [1944], belonging to Johnstone. Presentation address from Royal Holloway College, given upon her retirement in 1942. Copy of 'Who's Who in relation to war trade', 1918, used by Johnstone in her work at the Board of Trade. Family papers, 1860-1916, including teaching certificates, 1860-1881, for Herbert and Sarah Anne Johnstone (Johnstone's mother and father); ledger, 1889-1910, containing a diary entry by Sarah Anne Johnstone describing Johnstone's exposure to scarlet fever; and a copy of 'Exile song', 10 Jan 1916, written by F H Johnstone (brother of Johnstone) and William Stephens. Photographs, [1890-1942], of Johnstone, her family, and students at Royal Holloway College.

Photocopies of nine letters of Lancelot Lawford to his wife (unnamed) from Shanghai, 1913, and Peking (Beijing), 1917, describing political and military events in China.

Papers, 1780s-1790s, largely of Captain Francis Light, including several hundred Malay letters, primarily letters received by Light and his business partner, Captain James Scott, from rulers and dignitaries of the Malay Sultanates.

The letters cover the history of relations, negotiations and conflicts between Light, the rulers of Kedah and the Governor General in Bengal leading up to and including the settlement of Penang in 1786 and the armed conflict of 1791. There are also letters dealing with business affairs between Light and Malay nobles such as the purchase, shipment and sale of commodities, ammunition, slaves and opium, and the maintenance of good political and economic neighbourly relations; letters from the Sultanate of Selangor; letters from royal merchants at the Malay courts; and letters concerning trade from various rulers and nobles in the Peninsula and Sumatra, especially from Aceh, Asahan and other North-Sumatran states.

In addition, the collection contains several dozen letters and documents from the same period relating to Bencoolen (Benkulen) and the West Sumatran Presidency, which are unrelated to Light.

Papers, 1893-1940, of the Rev Charles Perry Scott and the Rev Percy Melville Scott, together with those of fellow missionaries of the North China and Shantung Mission. Also included is a continuous series of the North China and Shantung Mission Quarterly Papers (January 1893-October 1936), and the correspondence and diaries of Maurice Woodforde Scott dating from his time in China with Butterfield & Swire (1934-1937).

Papers, 1951-1981, of Maurice Alfred Maybury, relating to his professional posts.
Papers relating to Uganda, 1951-1962, comprise government publications and reports, 1951-1959, on the Uganda Protectorate, including trade and commerce; unpublished manuals, 1952-1954, relating to trade; handbooks, 1955-1958 and undated, largely relating to trade; press cuttings, 1956-1957, the subjects including community development, banking, and official visits; miscellaneous papers, 1955-1962 and undated, including an invitation, economic survey on Uganda, and calendars.
Papers relating to Ethiopia, 1963-1974, comprise reports, 1970-1972 and undated, documenting his advisory work on commerce, industry and tourism; written accounts of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, undated; miscellaneous reports and proposals, 1963-1974 and undated, the subjects including prices, grain, and foreign and domestic trade.
Papers relating to Lesotho, 1954-1981, comprise Maybury's offer of employment as Export Promotion Adviser, 1975; general United Nations staff information, 1954, 1973-1977; UNCTAD/GATT International Trade Centre briefing papers, 1973-1974; Maybury's official project reports, 1976-1977 and undated, on export promotion in Lesotho; correspondence relating to the same project, 1977; additional reports and papers by Maybury, 1977, relating to trade promotion; miscellaneous reports and proposals, 1971-1981 and undated, relating to trade promotion.

Diaries, correspondence, genealogical papers, photographs and press cuttings, 1793-1966, of Edward Charles Mackintosh Bowra and Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra.