Letter from Thomas Clarkson of Playford Hall [near Ipswich, Suffolk] to Henry Hope, 'at the Bank', Wells, Somerset, 9 Jan 1826. Printed circular letter, asking for support for the petition to Parliament to urge them to carry out a plan for the improvement of the condition of the slave population. An addition in MS asks Hope to promote petitions in Wells, Shepton Mallet, Bruton and neighbouring towns. A note in another hand has been added to the dorse of the second leaf. A newspaper cutting Extracts from the new Jamaica Slave Code accompanies the letter.

Letter from George Leib Harrison of Claridges Hotel, London to Bonamy Price, 15 Aug 1881. Concerning a report on the effects of the Education Act of 1870 and its amendments, and 'Industrial education'.

Letter from Thomas Clarkson of Bury [St Edmunds, Suffolk] to Rev M Maurice, [1807-1816]. Urging him to restore the committee at Southampton to promote a petition to Parliament in favour of a plan for the improvement of the condition of the slave population.

Letter from Samuel Heathcote to an unknown recipeint, 19 Oct 1697. 'Sr I have considered those objections you thought would be made against Establishing by Act of Parliamt. Such Companys of Merchants as I propos'd And have set them Downe here below in their full strength as neare as I could remember, with my Answeres to each'. Heathcote refers to a long previous letter giving his proposals in full.

Autograph, with signature.

3 letters from Thomas Joplin of Levant House, St Helens Place, [London] to Joseph Hume, Esq, MP, Apr 1832.

(i) Presenting him with a copy of Analysis and History of the Currency Question, 6 Apr 1832.

(ii) Asking for an appointment to discuss certain propositions he intends to make to the 'committee which will be chosen on Bank affairs', Apr 1832.

(iii) Enclosing a copy of Joplin's petition, Apr 1832.

Autographs, with signatures.

Letter from Thomas Joplin of Levant House, St Helens Place, [London] to Joseph Hume, Esq, MP, 7 May 1832. Accompanying a copy of Joplin's petition.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Thomas Joplin of Gravesend, [Kent] to Sir Edward Knatchbull, Baronet and MP, 14 Feb 1844. 'It is these distresses that give life and power to the Anti-Corn Law League, although the Corn Laws have nothing to do with them.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Richard Oastler of Fixby Hall, Huddersfield, [West Riding of Yorkshire] to John Foster, Esq of 1 Vincent Square, Westminster, 23 Jun 1833. Chiefly relating to the Ten Hours Bill. Lord Althorp had advocated 2 sets of 8 hours as the maximum for children under 14 to work. 'The news came just in time for your Hudd meeting - one hour before we began - & thus before 15,000 to 20,000 people I had the opportunity of blowing the whole scheme to rags' [referring to a speech Oastler made at a meeting on 18 Jun 1833. Urging the London section not to yield a single point: 'If they yield they disgrace themselves and give us another year's excitement and in my opinion hurry on a bloody revolution'.

Autograph, with signature. With Oastler's black seal, bearing the motto: 'The Altar, the Throne and the Cottage'.

Letter from Sir Robert Peel to Sir Edward Knatchbull, 8 Jan [1846]. Making an appointment to discuss the Corn Laws.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Francis Place to [David] Booth, 20 Ampton Street, Grays Inn Road, [London], [1823]. Relating to an article by Booth in the Literary Register criticizing Jeremy Bentham on the Usury Laws and in opposition to the Bill for their repeal. 'I know you are sincere, and I assure you I am so when I say that Mr. Bentham would laugh both at your argument and your appeal to him.'

Autograph, with signature.

Manuscript volume containing transcripts of documents relating to the Royal African Company, 1742, namely a copy of a petition to the King in Council for a charter to enable the Company to fit out a naval force to attack Spanish settlements and shipping in America, dated 26 Mar 1742; copy of a report made on the petition by a committee of the Privy Council, dated 22 Jul 1742; copy reports to the committee by the Attorney and Solicitor General; a copy memorial of the Company in reply to certain questions in the various reports, dated 6 Dec 1742.

Manuscript volumes containing a selection of legislation and concessions given for the exploitation of French mines, compiled by 'le Sr Bruyard', Senior Clerk of [Daniel Charles] Trudain [de Montigny, Comptroller of Finances, Director of Bridges and Embankments], 1758, with details of legislation from 1413-1761. Includes a historical survey, a chronological table of legislation and concessions, general dispositions for the exploitation of the mines, and legislation and concessions for mining in each généralité. There is also printed matter bound into each volume, mainly comprising government edicts relating to the subject.

Manuscript volume containing notes in the hand of Rogers Ruding, Vicar of Malden, [1817-1818], consisting of extracts from legislation relating to coinage, and used in Ruding's Annals of the coinage of Great Britain (Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London, 1817-19). The extracts are marked 'used' or 'not used'. Includes a list of sources.

Collection of manuscripts relating to bankruptcy, 1850-1851, comprising answers to questionnaires circulated by the Committee for the Improvement of the Law of Debtor and Creditor from business firms in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA. Many of the replies are on printed questionnaires addressed to the Chairman of the Committee, William Hawes, MP.

Collection of transcripts, [1560]-1624, mainly relating to Privy Council matters, notably a petition presented to King James I by Sir Robert Heath, Solicitor General, 1624; a survey of the Forests and Chaces [Chases] of Bringwood, Mocktree and Darvell, with the Manor of Buriton, 1604; a letter from King James I to the Peers of England and the Privy Council concerning the composition of the Privy Council and the replacement of the ailing Lord Chamberlain by Thomas Howard, Lord Howard of Walden, 1603; copies of documents relating to the French conquest of Guiana, South America, including commissions granted by King Henry IV of France to Renée Marie, Lord Mountbarrot, and Daniel de la Touche, Lord of Raverdiere, for the conquest of Guiana, 1605 and 1609, the appointment of Robert Le Brette, Lord Dubosc, as Raverdiere's lieutenant in Guiana and other parts of America, including Brazil, 1609; the commission of Sir John Digby, Vice-Chamberlain, to negotiate a marriage between Prince Charles of England and the Infanta Maria, daughter of King Philip III of Spain, 1615; a letter written by Captain Charles Parker, one of Sir Walter Raleigh's company at Guiana, to Captain Alley, 1607; a declaration of proceedings in the Star Chamber against John Wrenham, who charged the Lord Chancellor of injustice against the King, 1618; a discourse of marriage written by Charles Blount, Earl of Devonshire, in defence of his wedding to Penelope, Lady Rich, [1605]; a discourse written by Dr Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Ely, against second marriage following a divorce, 1601; a discourse made by merchant adventurers on the occasion of a bill preferred to the High Court of Parliament, requiring free trade to all kingdoms and countries, [1610]; a consideration of the office and duty of a herald in England by John Dodridge, the Solicitor General, 1605; proceedings in the Star Chamber against Mary Countess of Shrewsbury for her refusal to give evidence against Arabella Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, 1618; an Act of Council upon the proceedings against James Whitlocke and Sir Robert Mansell for speaking against the King's Commission for reform of the Navy and also against the King's power and prerogative, 1609; speeches, and a memorandum on the union of England and Scotland, by Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, 1617; a copy of 'The present state of things as theye nowe stand, betweene the three greate kingdomes, France, England and Spayne, [1623], and 'A breviarie of the historie of England from William I, intitled the Conqueror, both written by Sir Walter Raileighe, Knight'; a speech by John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln and Keeper of the Great Seal of England, on the occasion of the collecting of the subsidy, Aug 1621; two versions of instructions by William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, Lord Treasurer to his son, Robert Cecil, 1561 and [1598]; letters from Sir Henry Sidney to his brother and to his son, Phillip, [1560]; a treatise entitled 'Toucheinge the Antiquities of Baronies delivered in the College of Antiquaries', [1600].

Manuscript volume containing a report by Sir Edwin Sandys on behalf of the parliamentary committee on free trade, entitled 'Instructions touching the Bill for Free Trade'. The report was read to the House of Commons by Sandys on 21 May 1604. Catalogued by Reginald Rye, Goldsmith's Librarian of the University of London, as the original manuscript. The manuscript contains material which was not printed in the Journals of the House of Commons.

Manuscript volume containing a copy of a letter dated 9 Jun 1744 from Elizabeth Forbes of the School of Sprinning, Jedburgh, [Roxburgh], to David Flint, Trustees Office, Parliament Close, Edinburgh, complaining of her summons by the baillies of Jedburgh for contravening the 'Acts in the Trades Seal of Cause' by ordering equipment from Kelso.

Lawyer's precedent book, 1677.

Manuscript volume containing notes in Latin on Samuel Stryk's Examen iuris feudalis, which was first published in 1675 and was widely used as a legal text-book due to its brevity and clarity.

Volume containing a miscellaneous collection of legal documents relating to Kent and Sussex, 1588-1814, mainly comprising printed bonds completed in manuscript, with a small number of articles of covenant, abstracts of title, letters of attorney and quitclaims. Includes a letters of 1691 to Mrs James Iggelden of Benenden, Kent, and papers relating to her family, 1691-1730.

Manuscript volume containing a law compendium, [1619-1628], compiled for the use of a Justice of the Peace, with notes under headings arranged alphabetically, giving references to Elizabethan and Jacobean statutes. It contains references to alehouses, archery, armour, artificers, assault, sadlers, drovers, bastardy, brewer, burglary, butchers, captains, soldiers, churchwardens, clergy, clerks of the market, cloth and dyers, witchcraft, constables, correction houses, coopers, coroners, counterfeiting, extortion, fairs and markets, forcible entry, forgery, goldsmiths, guns and crossbows, hawking, highways, bridges, horses, the hue and cry, hunting, husbandry, indictments and presentments, informants, enrolements, jurors, juries and inquests, labourers, servants and apprentices, larceny, liveries and retainers, manslaughter and murder, masons, matrimony and bigamy, mortuaries, Parliament, petty treason, plague, plays and games, preachers and ministers, prison and prisoners, bail, rape, recusants, restitution, riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, robbery and theft, sheriffs, transportation, treason, treasurers, trespass, vagabonds, usury, watch and ward, weights and measures, wines, wool and yarn.

The manuscript cites early editions of Ferdinando Pulton A Kalender, or Table, comprehending the effect of all the statutes that have been made and put into print beginning with Magna Charta...(Company of Stationers, London, 1606) and Michael Dalton The countrey justice, conteyning the practice of the Justices of the Peace out of their Sessions. Gathered for the better helpe of such justices...as have not been much conversant in the studie of the lawes of this realme (Company of Stationers, London, 1618).

Contains the following legal items: ff 1-14. 'Ordinances made by the Lord Chancellor for the better and moore reguler administratyon of iustice in the Chancery to bee duly observed saving the prerogatives to the Court. Tempore Bacon cancellarii', 1619; ff 14b-16: 'Addiconall Rules for the better governinge of the Court of Chancery and the Greate Seale published in open Court 31 October', 1620; f 33: An ordinance of 26 June 18 James I [1620], concerning the incompetence of certain Commissioners; ff 34-38: William [Dr John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln] Lord Keeper's speech in Chancery the 1st daie of Michaelmas terme [6 Oct] 1621; ff 39-47: 'Ordinances made by the Right Honourable Thomas Lord Coventry lord keeper of the greate seale of England with the advice and assistance of the Right Honourable Sir Julius Ceser knight Master of the Rolls in the terme of St. Michaell ' ... in the xith yeare of the Raigne of ... kinge Charles [1635] for the Redresse of sundry Errors defaults and abuses in the high Court of Chancery'; ff 57-60: Baron Bromley his Charge att Wenlocke 9 September 1615.

Manuscript volume containing a copy of a Parliamentary 'Act for Continuance of the Receipt of Excise until 29th Sept 1653', 1650.

A roll with printed oaths of allegiance and supremacy with signatures and addresses of the Land Tax Commissioners of the City of London for 1779.

Volume containing the printed reports of the Committee appointed to enquire into the original standards of weights and measures (in 1758 and 1759), Statutes on the same subject, and a report and inquisition on the same, with reference to the county of Renfrew (1827). These printed items are annotated in various hands, including that of John Joshua Probyn, 1st Earl of Carysfort.
The volume also contains two manuscript items, numbered 10 and 14, namely 'Remarks upon some of the practical provisions contained in the Weights and Measures Bill', as amended on recommitment (1 July 1822) and printed, written by A Campbell in 1823; and 'Powers in the Uniformity Weights and Measures Act (5 Geo.4, c.74) and statutes therein referred to for preventing other than legal weights and measures', in the hand of Lord Carysfort, written in 1824.

Draft of a bill 'for the more effectual prevention of the use of false and deficient measures', 1815, with proposals including Justices of the Peace to appoint persons to examine the measures within their districts; a penalty of 5-20s on conviction; proper measures according to the standard made by the Exchequer to be purchased out of the general rate and deposited with the clerks of the peace; some form of conviction to be given. The draft is endorsed '9 March 1815. Copy to Mr [Samuel] Whitbread [M.P. for Bedford] per post'.

Civic ordinances for the city of Hamburg, Germany, comprising 76 articles, with an index, concerning the regulation of civil life.

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.

Transcript of the laws relating to French colonial banks, entitled 'Loi sur les banques coloniales des 25 Avril, 26 Juin et 11 Juillet 1851'.

A commonplace book, 1799, with manuscript entries, probably written by H. A. Mayers, relating to legal and historical subjects.

Manuscript 'Reasons for Mr. Hornblower's petitioning the Honourable House of Commons for an Act to extend the term of his patent', [24 Feb 1792]; the patent had been granted in 1781 for 14 years, permitting the use of his steam engine in the Cornish mines. The case of James Watt is cited: in 1774 he obtained an extension of a patent 'of a similar nature, for 25 years certain'.

A collection of 26 miscellaneous legal papers, 1791-1800, most of them printed forms filled in in manuscript and issuing mainly from Paris, comprising summonses for non-payment of taxes, licences to distrain goods and chattels, notices to quit, safe-conducts, summonses requiring attendance at court, etc.

Single leaf of vellum, formerly used as a pastedown, containing Book 3, section 38 18 to 39 3, of the Decretales Gregorii IX, on the rights of patrons over churches and the financial liabilities of churches, dating from the mid-13th century. There are marginal annotations in a later, perhaps 14th century, hand.

Manuscript volumes containing abstracts of parliamentary bills relating to revenue, dating from the reign of King William III and Queen Mary II, c1689 -1743.

Counterpart indenture of a marriage settlement, dated 6 Aug 1678, whereby Scarborough Chapman, of Lyncombe and Widcombe in Somerset, in consideration of his intended marriage with Anne Brinsden, widow, of Bristol, and the sum of £400 received from her, conveyed to Humphrey Little, goldsmith, of Bristol, Samuel Price and Arthur Hart, merchants, of Bristol, a messuage in Lyncombe and Widcombe, near the church of chapel there, formerly in the occupation of Robert Fisher the elder and Robert Fisher the younger, both deceased, and now of John Weekes the younger and several others, for the term of the lives of Chapman and his future wife and their heirs male, and then to Little, Price and Hart for the term of 1000 years. Signed and sealed by Humphrey Little, Arthur Hart; the third seal is unsigned.

Letters of Attorney, 20 Dec 1606 by Timothy Sherman of Wackton (Wacton), Norfolk, appointing Thomas Palgrave to receive £20 due to him by warrant of Privy Seal dated 31 July 1604. Signed and sealed.

Bond in £40 by Sir John Dawnay, of Sessay in Yorkshire, to Jane Younge, otherwise Kyneston, widow of York, payable by 16 June next. Signed and sealed [seal wanting] 25 March 1585. With a note of payment in the margin.

Counterpart of a lease, 6 Dec 1716/17 made by William Thomas, citizen and clothworker, of the Parish of St Anne, to Thomas, Lord Howard of Effingham, of a messuage 'with all the furniture, goods and untensills' , on the west side of Greek Street, Soho, now in the occupation of Howard, for 7 years at a rent of £110 a year. Inventory included.

Two counterparts of leases, 25 May 1691, made by Elizabeth Fortrey, widow of the parish of St Andrew, Holborn, to Leonard Cunditt, innholder of the parish of St Paul, Covent Garden, of a piece of ground in Hog Lane (later renamed Charing Cross Road) in the parish of St Giles in the Fields, the first for 'the second ground plott or new house built or intended to be built', and the second for 'the fourth house'. Both leases were for 99 years at a rent of £3 a year. Plan annexed. Signed and sealed by Leonard Cunditt.

Indenture quadripartite of 11 Feb 1761 by which George Lane, of Bramham Park, Yorkshire (West Riding), with the consent of Ralph Bourchier, 'doctor in physick', of Great Ormond Street in the parish of St.George the Martyr, London, and his daughter and heir Margaret Bourchier, assigned to the Hon William Chetwynd, of Dover Street, London, the manors or lordships of Benningborough [Beningbrough], Overton [Ovington], Barforth and Newton-upon-Ouse, all in the North Riding of Yorkshire, formerly the estate of John Bourchier, deceased, for the remainder of a term of 500 years. Signed and sealed by the four parties. Ralph Bourchier inherited the estates on the death of his great-niece Mildred, wife of the Hon Robert Lane, in 1760.

Five fragments of Latin mediaeval manuscripts, formerly pastedowns, details as follows:

1. Fragment of a leaf containing part of a legal tract entitled Judicium Essoniorum relating to the procedure at assizes, dating from the 13th century. The text has variants and is in places abbreviated from that printed in G.E. Woodbine Four thirteenth century law tracts (New Haven, 1910). The text corresponds to the pp 119-20 of Woodbine's edition, where the composition of the work is attributed to Ralf de Hengham and the date of the composition put at 1267-1275.
2. and 3. Two consecutive leaves containing extracts from Part II of Gratian's Decretum, comprising Causa XXVI, quest. VII 16, to Causa XXVII, quest. I 19, on penance and the marriage of those who had sworn chastity. There is a glossary in a different hand and ink, with each section preceded by a symbol corresponding to one in the text. The leaves are possibly Italian and 14th century.
3. Leaf, foliated 109, in a late 14th century hand, containing part of Lib. XLII, 8, 1-10, of the Digestum Novum, relating to restitution to deceived creditors. With a glossary and marginal and interlineal annotations in several 13th-14th century hands. The fragment is probably English.
4. Fragment from the head of a bifolium, containing part of a commentary on Aristotle's De Anima Book III, heavily glossed and annotated in several 13th century hands. The fragment is probably English and early 13th century.

Inspeximus of 7 Sep 1462 with second Great Seal, made during the reign of King Edward IV. The text is illegible; for a possible subject of the document see Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward IV, A.D.1461-1467 (1897), under the same date.

Manuscript volume containing an historical treatise on the office of Admiral and the jurisdiction of the Admiralty entitled 'Mare Clausam', [1700], and an abridgement in English of fifteen chapters of Mare Clausam (1635) by John Selden, [1635]; details of proceedings of the Court of King's Bench in the case of William Shaw versus Catherine Weigh, 1728; a transcript of the judgements of Sir George Treby, Chief Justice of Common Pleas, and Sir John Holt, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in the case of Joseph Hardy (the 'Bankers Case'), 1696.

Indenture of bargain and sale of 17 Jun 1602 by Henry Newdegate of Hampton, Middlesex, to George Cole of Petersham, Surrey, of the manor of Ashstead, otherwise called Little Ashstead or the Pryor's Farm, Surrey. Consideration £500. Signed by Henry Newdegate; seal wanting.

Indenture of bargain and sale by the Wardens and Commonalty of the Mercers' Company of London to William Allen, Alderman of London, of six messuages in 'Towerstrete', now Great Tower Street in the parish of St Dunstan in the East, for a consideration of £133 6s. 8d. Abuttals given; names of present and former tenants and rents also given. Warranty. Leofric Foster, citizen and mercer, attorney to deliver seisin. Signed by Richard Malorye, Richard Carill, Thomas Revett, and Thomas More, endorsed 'livery of seisin', and dated 1 Mar 1565.

Tripartite indenture made 13 June 1679 between Thomas Jameson, vicar of the parish church of St John, Hackney, the Wardens and Commonalty of the Goldsmiths' Company of London, and Josiah Williams, blacksmith, and Josiah Ebrell, merchant, churchwardens of the said parish, whereby Jameson entrusted the Company and the churchwardens with £100, the interest of which at 5% was to finance two annual sermons (on Good Friday and Ascension Thursday) to be delivered in St John's by its vicar, and alms for the poor.

Single vellum leaf, formerly a pastedown, containing Lib.II, 20, 17-26, of the Decretales Gregorii IX, on testimonies in court. Includes a gloss and extensive interlineal and marginal annotations. The fragment is probably English, written in the late 13th century.

One folio of a Latin treatise on canon law, containing part of sections headed 'De prebendis et dignitatibus' and 'De monachis'. The form is that of a 'Summa Summarum' with reference to the gloss rather than to substantive law, and with discussion of the views of particular glossators and doctores. Marginal subject headings and running titles have been added by the scribe responsible for the text. The manuscript was probably written in Italy during the 14th century.
The fragment was formerly used as fly-leaves in a binding of a printed edition of the statutes of 1589, Anno XXXI Reginae Elizabethae, At a session of Parliament holden...the fourth day of Februarie...untill...the XXIX of March...were enacted as followeth (London, 1589).

Papers relating to Stephen Drew's Jamaica tontine and to the estate of Adam Smith of Bossue, Manchester, Jamaica, comprising: 1.Papers of Troward & Merrifield, 94 Pall Mall, London, solicitors to the trustees of the Dry Sugar Works Estate tontine, including in-letters, drafts and copies of out-letters, drafts and copies of minutes of meetings of subscibers, letter-books, accounts, lists of subscribers, nomination forms, and some printed items, including a printed prospectus, 1805-1821.

2. Papers apparently of J.W. Bromley, solicitor of 1 South Square, Gray's Inn, 1832-1836, relating to claims and counterclaims to compensation for the negroes on the estate of Adam Smith of Bossue, Manchester, Jamaica, whose will was proved on 4 Sep 1815. A printed form, dated 1836, of the Commissioners of Compensation, gives details of the settlement: William Shand, acting trustee under will of Adam Smith, claimant to compensation for 39 slaves, admitted counterclaim of William and Thomas Smith, executors and devisees in trust under will of Adam Smith (N.B. Copies of a number of letters to and from a William Shand in Jamaica are among the papers of Drew's Tontine.)

Manuscript volume, 1701-1704, containing the legal opinions of Sir Edward Northey, Attorney General, on cases submitted by the Treasury Board between 2 Oct 1701 and 29 Sep 1704 on matters including Customs and Excise, maritime law including the Navigation Act, prizes taken by Her Majesty's ships of war, the colonies, the Post Office, and the armed forces.