The papers in the Museum relate to the Henleys' shipping and other commercial interests between 1771 and 1830. From about 1784, when Joseph seems to have taken charge, the records become fairly systematic and the 'ships' collections' begin. Most of the 109 wooden boxes (now replaced) related to individual ships, but 24 related to general matters. A small number of the ships were owned jointly with someone outside the family, usually the master; only one seems to have been divided into sixteenths. The bulk of the collection consists of ships' boxes, containing correspondence from masters, agents, brokers, merchants, government boards and sailors and their families. Masters' voyage accounts and vouchers have nearly always survived from 1784 on onward, together with some Articles of Agreement, portage bills, crew lists and wages and receipts; sometimes, and especially during the last decade of the eighteenth and the first decade of the nineteenth centuries, memoranda books were kept detailing Henleys' own expenditure on ships; and papers relating to freights including Charter Parties, Bills of Lading, manifests, protections, customs documents, freight and brokers' accounts were often retained. 'Transport papers', relating to voyages under charter to the Government, include agents' orders and certificates, individual orders and receipts for victualling ships, and forms with details of troops victualled. The subjects range over every aspect of the employment of the ship, including building, maintaining, victualling and manning, the process of chartering or seeking cargoes, and the convoys in which she sailed. The general boxes contained books with accounts, receipts, memoranda and lists covering all Henleys' activities and are the main source of information for the early years from ca.1771. There are detailed records of their activities as coal merchants, especially for the last years of the eighteenth century; there is a continuous series of cash books, 1807 to 1824, with various 'weekly expense' books and petty cash books kept by individual clerks. The Henleys ran their own sail loft and there is a run of account books from 1813 to 1824, in addition to material covering other years. The rest of the general boxes contained papers on other aspects of their activities: boxes of loose receipts covering business and domestic expenditure, a box relating to the premises at Wapping containing correspondence about leases, building and repairs, with detailed receipts for building and rebuilding the Henleys' three houses, counting house and warehouse; boxes with accounts, receipts and correspondence relating to shipping matters generally and sometimes to particular ships or groups of ships. At different times it was the practice to keep freight papers separate from ships' papers. There were four boxes relating to the supply of coal to government departments, particularly the dockyards and the Ordnance Board, 1790 to 1802 and 1807 to 1820. There were three boxes of correspondence and accounts reflecting the activities of James Kirton, 1800 to 1825; he had been successively carpenter, mate and master in Henley ships from the earliest years and set up as a shipowner and agent in Newcastle at the turn of the century. There is also correspondence with agents in other places.

This category includes single documents concerned with particular events relating to merchant shipping. Among the six items are an account by a passenger of an eventful voyage in 1829 in the ISAAC HICKS from Liverpool to New York; and a small diary of a voyage in a deep-sea trawler, the BELGAUM of Grimsby, in 1964.

Papers relating to Beaufoy Brown's life and RN career, 1925-1979, including scrapbook with newspaper cuttings and fifty five photographs, Aug 1927-Jul 1929, including Atlantic Fleet exercises, 1927, the loss of HM Submarine H47, off St David's Head, Pembrokeshire, following collision with HM Submarine L12, 9 Jul 1929, and photographs of HMS REVENGE, HMS FORRES, HMS RODNEY, HMS HOOD, HMS NELSON and HMS ADVENTURE, 1927-1929. Two Midshipman's journals, 26 Aug 1927-12 Jul 1930, relating to service on HM Ships REVENGE, RODNEY and WALKER, including manuscript sketches and maps, two photographs of the main armament of HMS RODNEY, and photograph of HMS CENTURION, RN radio-controlled target ship, Portland, Dorset, Nov 1928, with twelve loose photographs, 1925-1929, including HMS RODNEY, HMS STURGEON and group of Cadets, Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Devon, 1925. Typescript report by Beaufoy Brown on the visit to Malta of the Yugoslav training ship JADRAN, 9-11 Jul 1934. Papers and photographs relating to the development and deployment of X craft midget submarines and Chariot manned torpedoes, 1943-[1950], including sixty seven photographs relating to the training of crews for X craft midget submarine operations, 1943-1945, notably six aerial photographs, taken by 544 Sqn, RAF, of Bergen harbour, Norway, before and after Operation GUIDANCE, the sinking by X Craft of German merchant ship BARENFELS, Apr 1944, and Operation HECKLE, the destruction of a floating dock, Laksvaag, Bergen, Norway, Sep 1944; edition of The Illustrated London News, 15 Dec 1945, with article on X Craft operation against Japanese cruiser TAKAO, Singapore, Jul 1945; edition of The Dittybox, the Navy's own magazine, containing article by G V Galwey entitled 'Life in a midget submarine', Feb 1948; typescript text of lecture by Beaufoy Brown on World War Two midget submarine operations [1950]. Photograph album containing 111 photographs relating to Beaufoy Brown's service as Executive Officer, HMS GAMBIA, Mediterranean and East Indies, 1951-1952, including peace keeping patrols, Port Said, Egypt, 1951, and inspection of ship by acting Adm Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commnder-in-Chief Mediterranean, Malta, 1952. Typescript Curriculum Vitae for Beaufoy Brown [1965], and obituary, 1979.

Copies of papers, 1916-1958, including account of the Battle of Jutland, witnessed by Brind from HMS MALAYA, 5 Battle Sqn, 1916; text of lecture 1919, relating to anti-submarine warfare, 1914-1918, and possible future development; notes, dated 1931, on the conduct of the Dardenelles campaign; report on night fighting by single ships, 1924; night order book, HMS BIRMINGHAM, South East Asia, 1929-1940; report written in 1946 on the sinking of HMS ROYAL OAK, Scapa Flow 1939, by German submarine U47, quoting from U-boat's log; texts of speeches, 1947-1958; letter of condolence from Adm Hon Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax to Edith Blagrove, widow of R Adm Henry Evelyn Charles Blagrove, killed in the sinking of HMS ROYAL OAK 1939, with details of the circumstances of his death; letters home from the Far East, 1949; official report on the blockade of Shanghai and British inability to defend Hong Kong from possible future attack by Chinese Communist forces, 1949; newspaper cuttings relating to the HMS AMETHYST Incident, Yangtze-Kiang river, China, 1949, and Brind's order, as Commander-in-Chief Eastern Fleet, for the successful breakout 1949; notes and lecture texts relating to the role of NATO, 1953-1955; typescript notes on the post war role of the Royal Navy, 1955.

Papers of William Wylly Chambers including official service documents, 1826 to 1843; logs, 1836, 1839 to 1841; letterbooks, 1836, 1840 to 1841; order books, 1827 to 1837; books of expenses for various stores and other ship's papers, mainly for the PELORUS.

Papers of Capt John Christopher, consisting of certificates and letters of reference, a disbursement book of the MINMANUETH 1865 to 1871, an account book relating to the LIZZIE MORTON 1875 to 1877 and a rough notebook 1870 to 1871.

Papers of Clumber House. The collection mainly consistis of eleven volumes of copies, some of them contemporary, of original documents. Dating from the early seventeenth century is a copy of 'Admiralli Angliae a tempore regis Edwardi secundi ano 1307 ad anui domini 1590'; some notes added to the text in a different hand extend this list of admirals to cover the years 1264 to 1618. Slightly later is a seventeenth-century copy of judges' opinions regarding the payment of ship money, 1638. There is a collection of bound documents relating to naval administration which includes copies of 'A brief discourse of the Navy', 1638, and 'The Navy Ript and Ransact', c 1659, by John Hollond (fl 1624-1659) (printed in Hollond's Discourses, ed. J.R. Tanner, Navy Records Society, 1896). Also relating to politics and maritime affairs is a volume of original seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century documents compiled c 1815 by an antiquarian, William Hamper (1776-1831). Four volumes, possibly compiled for or by Josiah Burchett, Secretary to the Admiralty, ([1666]-1746), contain notes, transcripts and some original documents relating to the Navy, 1659 to 1743; they include copies of orders issued by the Admiralty and King in Council and a volume of accounts, tables and orders relating to the equipment, management and expense of maintaining the Navy, including the dockyards, c 1732. Notes and transcripts, c 1799, formerly belonging to William Locker (1731-1800) comprise two volumes; these were compiled for a history of the Navy and include some biographical sketches of naval officers. Finally, there is the log of the H.E.I.C.S. Melville Castle, 1786 to 1788.

Papers relating to early career, including material on early aviation, 1911-1913, and texts of lectures given at the RAF Staff College, Andover, 1922-1926. Material relating to post as Air Officer Commanding, British Forces in Iraq, 1928-1935, including correspondence, memoranda and telegrams relating to operations in Iraq and Kuwait, 1928-1930, and negotiations for the Anglo-Iraq Treaty, 1930; news cuttings and notes relating to political and military affairs in Iraq, and the situation of the Assyrians and Kurds, 1930-1935. Papers created as Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Air Defence of Great Britain, 1933-1935, mainly relating to a Royal Review of the RAF at Mildenhall, Suffolk, and Duxford, Cambridgeshire. Papers relating to post as Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Middle East, notably memoranda, cypher signals, letters and notes, 1931-1936, relating to RAF operations, mainly planning and preparation for the possibility of war between the League of Nations and Italy following the Italian invasion and annexation of Abyssinia; correspondence with ACM Sir Edward Leonard Ellington, Chief of Air Staff, 1935-1936; memoranda, telegrams, correspondence and newscuttings on operational matters relating to the Arab Rebellion against the British Mandate in Palestine, 1936; material collated by Brooke-Popham for lectures on the Middle East, 1930, 1936; correspondence, memoranda and minutes relating to the formation and working of an Executive Committee on Assyrian Settlement, 1943-1947. Papers relating to the creation and implementation of the Empire Air Training Scheme in Canada and South Africa, 1939-1945, including personal correspondence with Arthur William Street, Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Air, 1940. Papers relating to post as Commander in Chief, Far East, notably telegrams and memoranda relating to the requirements of the RAF and Army in the Far East, 1940-1949; personal correspondence with Maj Gen Sir Hastings Lionel Ismay, Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence, 1940-1941; semi-official correspondence with Street, 1940-1941; material relating to the replacement of Brooke-Popham as Commander in Chief, Far East, Nov 1941; telegrams relating to reconnaissance sightings of Japanese convoys, the decision not to launch Operation MATADOR, the outbreak of war with Japan, and the sinking of RN battleships HMS PRINCE OF WALES and HMS REPULSE, Dec 1941; papers, correspondence and proofs relating to the publication of various despatches and reports concerning operations in Malaya, 1941-1947. Papers created whilst Inspector General of the Air Training Corps, 1942-1947, 1950-1952, mainly comprising inspection reports and material relating to the post-war organisation of the Air Training Corps. Booklets, memoranda, and reports collated by Brooke-Popham relating to RAF training, policy and operations, [1914]-1946. Material relating to research for and writing of articles, lectures and pamphlets, mainly relating to history, aviation or training, 1923-1952. Printed material, 1890-1953, mainly relating to aviation. Maps and photographs, 1917-[1945], including aerial photographs of the Western Front during World War One, 1917-1918.

The collection consists of diaries, correspondence and other papers from the period in which Ross was medical officer of the coolie ship Hong Bee, travelling between Penang and the China coast via Hong Kong. MS.6117 includes a temporary commission in the Royal Army Medical Corps, 1916.

Volume containing two copies of a printed register relating to Netherlands herring fisheries, 1749, entitled Naamlyst der boekhouders, schepen, en stuurluiden van de haring-shepen, in't Yaar 1749, van Enchisen en de Ryp, ter haring-shepen uitgevaren (Jan von Guissen, Enkhuisen, 1749), giving details of the ships, owners and captains of the fleets of Enkhuisen and De Rijp. Added in manuscript are details of the total catch for 1749, and the catch for individual ships on various voyages.

Letter from Hugh Hamilton to an unknown recipient, [c1661-1678]. 'Richt Honorabill, your lords[hip] was pleased to remembir his mgisty of his promeissing me on prays [prize] schip and to deseyr me to seick out the naim of on ...'. Hamilton had found the officers unwilling to give him information, sent an express to Plymouth, and so discovered that the 'Toun of [?]Dantzicke', a 260-ton ship carrying French salt, was to be sold on 8 May. Asking his correspondent to speak to the King [Charles II], so that he 'may gett his warren [warrant] for the forsaid schip with all furniter and tackling', and the correpsondent is to say that 'hir ladning of frensch salt is of no considerebill walleu [value]'. He should consider it a great favour and obligation from his correspondent if the king would 'bestou ye schip and ladning upon me ...'.

Autograph, with signature: 'Heugh Glenauly'.

Medical log of the slave-ship LORD STANLEY, kept by Christopher Bowes the ship's surgeon between 23 March-26 July 1792. The ship traded between the African coast and the Isle of Grenada, West Indies. Of the 389 slaves on board, 16 died. The log gives the daily sick rate and there are brief notes of the cases and treatment.

At the end of the manuscript, Christopher Bowes states it is a "just and true journal" which he then presents to Custom House, at St George, Grenada in 1792. This is witnessed and signed by George Ferguson [Possibly George Ferguson, Governor of Tobago c1781]. The next page of the volume contains a statement signed by George Ferguson, saying that this is a "true copy of the original journal", and is dated September 5th 1792. Therefore it is likely that this manuscript is a copy of the original journal, which was perhaps retained in Grenada.

At the front of the volume is a letter to Arthur Bowes Elliot (grandson of Christopher Bowes) dated 5th October 1911, from Sir Ronald Ross (FRCS) 1857-1932, regarding the contents of the volume, and the diseases the slaves were suffering from.

Papers of Sir Francis Leopold McClintock, 1848-1860, including journal while serving as a lieutenant in HMS ENTERPRISE in the first Franklin search expedition, 1848-1849, as abbreviated and rewritten on his return; a photocopy of sledging journal from the same expedition; a photocopy of a record deposited in 1853 on Banks Island; a progress report, etc., deposited in Beechey Island depot in 1858; microfilms of journals and reports written by McClintock and others, 1848-1859 (from originals among the Arctic Reports in the TNA); and a letter to Sir Charles Bright from HMS BULLDOG, 28 Nov, 1860.

Letter of Cunard Steam Ship Company Ltd to William Blair-Bell confirming his passage to New York, 1925.

Photocopies of 13 letters, 1882-1899, from Alexander Russell to his sister, Barbara Russell, recounting trips on missionary and other vessels in the South Pacific, including visits to Sydney (Australia) and Fiji.

Records of the companies making up the Inchcape Group, including:

• Adamson, Bell and Company: see Dodwell and Company;
  • Adamson (W. R.) and Company: see Dodwell and Company;
  • African Marine and General Engineering Company: see Smith, Mackenzie and Company;
  • African Wharfage Company: see Smith, Mackenzie and Company;
  • Alexandra Brickworks Limited: see Borneo Company;
  • Anglo Siam Corporation: see Anglo Thai Corporation;
  • Anglo Thai Corporation: Ms 27001-034;
  • Arbuthnot, Ewart and Company: see Anglo Thai Corporation;
  • Argonauts Investments Limited: see Assam and African Investments Limited;
  • Assam and African Holdings Limited: see Assam and African Investments Limited;
  • Assam and African Investments Limited: Ms 27035-45;
  • Assam Company Limited: Ms 8794-8803; 9924-9936; 11497-504; 23723-5 and 27046-103;
  • Assam Estates Limited: Ms 27104-7;
  • Australasian United Steam Navigation Company: 27108-45;
  • Baghdad Light and Power Company: 27146-7;
  • Bahrein Slipway Company: see Gray, Mackenzie and Company;
  • Bally Paper Mills Company: see Borneo Company;
  • Bangalore Woollen, Cotton and Silk Mills Company: see Binny and Company;
  • Barnagore Jute Factory Company: see Borneo Company;
  • Barry and Company: see Macneill and Barry;
  • Barry, J. B. and Son: see Duncan Macneill and Company;
  • Bhooteachang Tea Company: Ms 27148;
  • Binny and Company: Ms 27149-73;
  • Borneo Agencies Limited: see Borneo Company;
  • Borneo Company: Ms 27174-474;
  • Borneo Motors Limited: see Borneo Company;
  • Brae and Chingoor Tea Estates Limited: Ms 27475-7;
  • British India and Queensland Agency Company: Ms 27478-9;
  • British India Associated Steamers Limited: Ms 27480-6;
  • Bruseh Tin and Rubber Estates Limited: see Borneo Company;
  • Bulkships Limited: Ms 27487;
  • Cawnpore Electric Supply Corporation: Ms 27488;
  • Cheerie Valley Tea Company: Ms 27489;
  • Child, Macfarland and Company: Ms 27490-1;
  • Dalhousie Jute Company: Ms 27492;
  • Delmege, Allen and Company: Ms 27493-4;
  • Delmege, Forsyth and Company: 27495-7;
  • Dilmun Navigation Company: see Gray, Mackenzie and Company;
  • Dodwell and Company: Ms 27498-526;
  • Dodwell, Carlill and Company: see Dodwell and Company;
  • Dodwell Motors Limited: see Dodwell and Company;
  • Duncan Macneill and Company: Ms 27527-90;
  • Eastern and Australian Steampship Company: see Australasian United Steam Navigation Company;
  • Ewart, Latham and Company: see Anglo Thai Corporation;
  • Ewart, Lyon and Company: see Anglo Thai Corporation;
  • Ewart, Ryrie and Company: see Anglo Thai Corporation;
  • Ganges Transport and Trading Company: Ms 27591-2;
  • Garden Reach Spinning and Manufacturing Company: Ms 27592A;
  • Garden Reach Workshops Limited: see Rivers Steam Navigation Company;
  • Gibb, Livingston and Company: Ms 27593-6;
  • Gillanders, Ewart and Company: see Anglo Thai Corporation;
  • Gilman (Holdings) Limited: Ms 27597;
  • Gourepore Company: Ms 27598;
  • Gourepore Electric Supply Company: Ms 27599;
  • Gray, Dawes and Company: Ms 27600-87;
  • Gray, Mackenzie and Company: Ms 27688-745;
  • Gray, Paul and Company: see Gray, Mackenzie and Company;
  • Greenwood Tea Company: Ms 27746-52;
  • Haboko Tea Company: see Borneo Company;
  • Hain (Edward) and Son: see St Mary Axe Securities Limited;
  • India General Navigation and Railway Company: Ms 27753-65;
  • India General Steam Navigation Company: see India General Navigation and Railway Company;
  • India Rivers Steam Navigation Company: see Rivers Steam Navigation Company;
  • Islay, Kerr and Company: Ms 27766-9;
  • Java Agency Company: Ms 27770;
  • Kalline Tea Company: Ms 27771-4;
  • Kenya Landing and Shipping Company: see Smith, Mackenzie and Company;
• Kilburn and Company: see Macneill and Barry Limited;
  • Kilburn, Brown and Company: Ms 27775-82;
  • Koyah Tea Company: Ms 27783;
  • Macdonald, Hamilton and Company: Ms 27784-7;
  • Mackay and Company: Ms 27788-92;
  • Mackay, Lynch and Company: see Mackay and Company;
  • Mackinnon, Mackenzie and Company: Ms 27793-848;
  • Mackinnon (W.) and Company: Ms 27849-50;
  • Macneill and Barry Limited: Ms 27851-94;
  • Macneill and Company: see Macneill and Barry Limited;
  • Macneill and Kilburn Limited: see Macneill and Barry Limited;
  • Macneill and Magor Limited: see Macneill and Barry Limited;
  • Macneill, Barry and Company: see Duncan Macneill and Company;
  • Majagram Tea Company: Ms 27895;
  • Mediterranean Transport Company: Ms 27896-902;
  • Mesopotamia Persia Corporation: see Gray, Mackenzie and Company;
  • Metro-Dodwell Motors Limited: see Dodwell and Company;
  • New Rivers Company: see Rivers Steam Navigation Company;
  • Ngambo Limited: see Assam and African Investments Limited;
  • Northern Dooars Tea Company: Ms 27903-8;
  • Nuddea Mills Company: Ms 27909;
  • Pahang Consolidated Company: see Borneo Company;
  • Pakistan River Steamers Limited: see Rivers Steam Navigation Company;
  • Pakistan Rivers Steam Navigation Company: see Rivers Steam Navigation Company;
  • Rejang Agencies Limited: see Borneo Company;
  • River Steamers Company: see Rivers Steam Navigation Company;
  • Rivers Steam Navigation Company: Ms 27910-28101;
  • St Mary Axe Securities Limited: Ms 28102-5;
  • Salonah Tea Company: Ms 28106-11;
  • Sarawak Rubber Estates Limited: see Borneo Company;
  • Sarawak Steamship Company: see Borneo Company;
  • Scottish Assam Tea Company: Ms 28112-16;
  • Siam Forest Company: see Anglo Thai Corporation;
  • Silonibari Tea Company: Ms 28117;
  • Singapore Plywood Company: see Borneo Company;
  • Smith, Mackenzie and Company: Ms 28118-53;
  • Tanganyika Landing and Shipping Company: see Smith, Mackenzie and Company;
  • Tarrapore Tea Company: Ms 28154-5;
  • Thanai Tea Company: Ms 28156-62;
  • Upper Assam Tea Company: Ms 28162A;
  • Western Cachar Company: Ms 28169-73.

Also published history 'Pioneering Spirit: The story behind Inchcape's remarkable journey', 2010.

Records of Inchcape and Company Limited (1939-2010), including subject files belonging to Kenneth James William Mackay (third Earl of Inchcape) and other directors and seniors. Files concern the formation of the holding company in 1958 and also individual companies within the group.

Records of the British India and Queensland Agency Company, comprising articles of association, agreement, and journal.

Records of Gray, MacKenzie and Company Limited, general merchants and agents in the Persian Gulf, including partnership agreements; articles of association; correspondence; legal papers; financial accounts; annual reports; papers relating to property; historical notes; papers relating to Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company Limited, Bahrein Slipway Company Limited and Dilmun Navigation Company Limited.

Papers of Lord Terence Lewin. The bulk of the collection relates to the period following Lewin's retirement from the Navy. There are substantial numbers of lecture notes, together with correspondence concerning Defence policy and organisation, the Falklands conflict, the George Cross Island Association, the Siege of Malta anniversary and memorial and various maritime societies. Also featured are a small amount of naval documents, including midshipman's journals from HMS VALIANT, Order books for HMS CORUNNA, URCHIN and HERMES, Lewin's paybook from 1949 and his 'metioned in dispatches' certificates. Also included are a folder concerning the loss of HMS SOMALI, (a destroyer that was torpedoed and then broke in two whilst being towed by HMS ASHANTI), photo albums of the aircraft carrier, HMS HERMES, and a notebook kept by Lewin as Chief of Defence Staff during the Falklands campaign. The 'Personal Papers' section includes school reports and certificates, together with honours such as his Barony, Grant of Arms and Warrant of Appointment. The collection is also well served with photos of Lewin at varying stages of his career.

Collection of books, papers and photographs relating to the Stephens family of Fowley, [1887-1980], comprising unsorted papers, newspaper cuttings, photographs and postcards relating to the Stephens family and their ships. Including the following: Lloyd's Register certificate confirming classification of the LITTLE SECRET, 1887. Bill of lading and charter party documents for the RIPPLING WAVE, 1890-1892. Bill of lading and charter party documents for the ISABELLA, 1894-1908. Statement of general average for the LITTLE MYSTERY, Captain J.H. Greet, from Herring Neck, Newfoundland, to Figueira with a cargo of codfish, 1905. Statement of general average for the R.T.K., Captain Henry Purches, from Batteau, Labrador, to Seville with a cargo of codfish, 1905. Board of Trade Examination of Oath document for Robert Acford, master of the R.T.K., lost after a collision in 1910. Folder of typescript reports relating to damage and loss of cargo during the voyage of the ISABELLA from Newfoundland bound for Oporto, 1911-1912. Last log of the ISABELLA, 22 April to 11 October 1913. Original photographs of the vessels JANE BANKS, LITTLE GEM, LITTLE MYSTERY, MARIA JOSE, OCEAN SWELL, SPINAWAY and others.

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.

Papers of Rear-Admiral Edwin John Pollard, including accounts, memoranda and sailing orders for 1858 to 1861, 1863 to 1865 and 1878; a notebook recording the ships in which Pollard served as a junior officer; a watch bill, 1860 to 1861; a book of technical details on the RUPERT and the DEFENCE and newspaper cuttings. 1858 to 1878.

Papers of Sir James Hawkins Whitshed. They include a letterbook of the ROSE, 1784 to 1785; sailing directions and orders of battle, 1800 to 1801, and three letters concerning the possibility of mutiny in the Channel Fleet, 1800.

Papers of Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby, [1858-1894]. Except for a few service papers and a letterbook, 1858 to 1870, the entire collection dates from 1865 onwards. The most important part of the collection is Hornby's official, semi-official and private correspondence, 1873 to 1894, in which many leading naval officers and other figures of the day are represented. There are also some letters written by Hornby and some correspondence of his wife and of his daughter, Mrs Egerton. Relating to Hornby's commands, there are official letterbooks for the years 1870 to 1874 and 1877 to 1880, memoranda and orders, 1865 to 1874 and 1877 to 1880, private letterbooks, 1865 to 1874, 1877 to 1878 and 1885 to 1891, and registers of telegrams received and despatched, 1877 to 1880. There are printed memoranda and papers relating to his time at the Admiralty, including the work of the Construction and Torpedo Committees.

Papers of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. There are copies of the Royal Charter granted to the Company in 1839 and subsequent renewals: a continuous series of minute books of Directors' meetings, 1839 to 1934 (three volumes); of General Meetings, 1842 to 1933 and a less complete set of Directors' reports, 1850 to 1902. A minute book of the Stores Committee, 1842 to 1843, illustrates the deployment of the very large stocks of coal necessary to maintain the services. The Mail Contracts for the various services are well documented. In- and out-correspondence, 1842 to 1868, with 'Public Departments' (the Admiralty, the Post Office and Board of Trade) is contained in nineteen volumes. A very early letterbook, 1826 to 1828, contains letters from the Post Office to Lieutenant Edward Chappell R.N. (d.1856) who subsequently became Secretary of the Company. A Marine Superintendent's confidential letterbook, 1826 to 1899, casts light on staff selection. General correspondence, 1904 to 1943, both in and out, is largely about the carriage of mail, legal matters and inter-company communications. Four memorandum books (1860 to 1904, 1884 to 1902, 1905 to 1909 and 1915 to 1917) are Directors' 'vade mecum's', containing a valuable cross-section of information about the Company's operations. Route books and 'Details of Service' 1841 to 1920, locate the services geographically. Agency arrangements are dealt with in nine books, 1876 to 1954, containing details of agreements entered into by the Company, including mortgages, leases or purchases of properties, powers of attorney and commissions. The technical part of the collection includes builders' specifications for ships, 1876 to 1954; fleet regulations for officers and engineers, 1850 and 1950; instructions to pursers, 1876; a treatise by Captain Chappell on 'Smith's Patent Screw Propeller', 1840; a Fire and Boat Station Bill for the Avon, 1845; reports on the stranding of the Magdalena, 1949, and a number of early log books, 1842 to 1869. The only account books are two cash books, 1839 to 1849, and some day-to-day cash books from the West End passenger office, 1959 to 1969. There are no service records although there is an album of photographs of captains, 1870, and information about pensions, national health and unemployment insurance. Finally the collection contains a wealth of publicity material of various dates. (Section 3: RMS/: 100ft: 30m) Ships' Plans: consist mainly of linen tracings of general arrangements, profiles and deck plans of nine Royal Mail steamships, 1850 to 1880, and paper prints of cargo spaces on six early twentieth-century vessels.

Naval manuscripts collected by the Royal United Services Institution. The manuscripts almost all relate to the Royal Navy. There are in addition eight personal collections of naval officers which are described in Volume I: those of Altham (entry no.3), Beaver (14), Broughton (31), Burt (34), Henderson (132), Holburne (136), Oliver (217) and Riou (247).
List of ships and officers: In all there are twenty lists of the ships in the Navy, c 1685 to 1880, some giving dimensions, armament and other details; one of 1780 lists His Majesty's armed vessels on the Canadian lakes and the St Lawrence; another of 1880 includes ships in European navies. The lists of naval officers consist of accounts of Flag Officers, 1660 to c 1755; captains, 1660 to 1715, 1688; and a list of french naval officers, 1792. In addition there is a list of naval chaplains, 1626 to 1903.
Orders and Regulations: The earliest of the orders are General Instructions to be observed by commanders of His Majest's ships, 1683, and three volumes of orders and letters to the joint Admirals commanding the fleet, 1693, one of the volumes containing orders from the Admiralty and another those from the Queen. Related to these are the proceedings of the Councils of War held by the Admirals, 1693. There is also an index to the General Naval Instructions, 1803. relating to the management of the fleet are Vice-Admiral Byron's (1723-1786) sailing and fighting instructions, 1778 to 1782; St Vincent's orders and memoranda, 1800 to 1802; and orders received on board the VALIANT, 1807 to 1808. Regulations for the management of ships include Captain (later Admiral) Thomas Graves' (1747?-1814) standing orders for the MAGICIENNE, 1782, and the orders of Captain (later Admiral) Richard Goodwin Keats for the SUPERB, 1804. Also of note are the Port Orders issued in 1811 by the Commander-in-Chief of ships in the River Thames, Sir Charles Hamilton (1767-1849). Logs and Journals: The logs record the voyages of nineteen ships, 1755 to 1837. The earliest were kept on board the TERRIBLE, 1755 to 1756, and the MARLBOROUGH, 1756 to 1757; the others include the logs of the MELPOMENE, 1803 to 1805; the VALIANT, 1810 to 1814; and VOLAGE, 1833 to 1837. of the journals, the earliest was kept by Thomas Lawrie (fl.1757-1759) on board the AMAZON while in the West Indies, 1757 to 1759. There is a copy of the account of the mutiny on the BOUNTY, 1789, by John Fryer (1752-1817); an account of 'a voyage from Batavia in the island of Java' to England on board the BENGAL MERCHANT, 1815; and another of a voyage from Sydney to Pitcairn and Norfolk islands on the MORAYSHIRE, 1856, by Lieutenant George Gregorie of the Royal Marines. There are two journals by naval chaplains: the earliest was kept by Henry Sainsbury in the DEFENCE mainly in the Mediterranean, 1795 to 1797, and the later one by an unnamed chaplain in a ship on the South American station, 1897. More varied in content are the memoranda books of Lieutenant William Bryan Wake, 1782 to 1799.
Letterbooks and Letters: The collection includes a small number of letters and letterbooks, some personal and some official. There are six letters by Nelson, 1794 to 1805; two by Collingwood, 1805 and 1809; two by St Vincent 1789 and 1810; and some letters and papers relating to Sir Charles Douglas (d.1789), 1776 to 1830. Letterbooks include two kept by Captain (later Rear-Admiral) John Bythesea (fl.1846-1906), despatches and orders received, 1846 to 1862, and letters sent, 1856 to 1868; and one kept by Colonel and Chief Staff Officer of the Portsmouth Dockyard Volunteers, 1848. Naval
Administration and Law: Relating to various aspects of naval administration are a number of warrants.

Papers relating to the South Africa Conference (1892-1971). The collection consists of a series of volumes dating from 1892 to 1971. SAC/1-4 relate to the various trade routes between Europe and Southern Africa, and consist of minutes of the various meetings held. SAC/6-9 consists of the South Africa Conference major meetings, including meetings with D.O.A.L, between shipowners, committee and joint minutes. SAC/10 is a volume containing various agreements between the conference and the countries it traded with.

This class consists of sixteen documents relating to shipbuilding, eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. They include a description of the machine which steered the IPSWICH across the Atlantic after the rudder had been carried away, 1746; the agreement for the building of an East India Company ship, the PRESTON, 1798; a patent for improvement in side propellors for ocean and river vessels, 1865; and papers relating to Admiral Sir Percy Scott's (1853-1924) proposed battleship design, 1911.

Papers of William Stewart, consisting of letters to Sir William, 1879 to 1884, including those from the First Lord, William Henry Smith (1825-1891) and other private correspondents. His period in the Marlborough is represented by letters as well as a book of remarks on the discipline of the ship. There is a book entitled the 'Dimensions, cost etc. of H.M. Ships built under contract and in the Dockyards', 1860 to 1873. The collection also contains the proceedings of the Naval Brigade attached to the expeditionary force for the relief of Tokar in 1884 when Lieutenant Houston Stewart, Sir William's son, in command of the Right Half-Battery, was killed at the action of El Teb. A midshipman's log for the ARIADNE, Portsmouth, 1871, MINOTAUR, Channel Squadron, 1872, and NARCISSUS, West Indies, October 1872 to 1873, belonged to Lieutenant Houston Stewart. Finally there are a few letters written to Sir William's father, Sir Houston Stewart, between 1853 and 1854 when Sir Houston was Superintendent of Malta Dockyard.

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 Lt-Commander Waters including folders containing notes and articles, with some photographs; notebooks; and various essays on naval subjects.

The earliest of the four volumes in this class is a notebook with carefully executed pen and ink diagrams entitled 'The Indicator and Dynamometer with Their Practical Applications'. It was written in 1859 by Captain Brown of the MOHAWK. There are two notebooks kept by stokers on courses at the beginning of the twentieth century; one is by Acting Leading Stoker John H Osborne, 1913, and the other, which is illustrated, is by Henry Arnell, 1908. Ther is also Arnell's copy of the Stoker's Manual , 1912.

Papers of Cuthbert Grasemann, consisting of original documents, together with Grasemann's notes and transcripts either used in his book or intended for use in a book on Isle of Wight transport. Relating to the latter subject are transcripts of letters extracted from the Ryde Pier Company's letterbook, 1848 to 1852; original letters and office copies of correspondence between local officers of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and of the Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company with their respective general managers, 1870 to 1872. Relating to cross-channel services are lists of the vessels employed, 1790 to 1939; of Newhaven to Dieppe steamers, 1856 to 1933; of the steamers of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Company, 1845 to 1896; a table of passengers carried on South Railway routes to the Continent, 1850 to 1938. In addition there is an illustrated book of the lights and buoys on the south and east coasts of England from Harwich to Land's End, prepared ca.1832 for Captain David Stephenson (c 1779-1846), an Elder Brother of Trinity House, and containing detailed sailing directions.

Papers of Adml Edward Hawker. They consist of logs covering Hawker's service afloat, two order books for the BELLEROPHON and BRITANNIA and a notebook of vessels captured 1805 to 1806. There is also a letterbook of his father, Captain James Hawker, kept during his command of the IRIS, 1779 to 1781, on the North America and West Indies Station.

Papers of Adml George Keith Elphinstone, consisting of 168 volumes and 350 boxes of loose papers all of which include letters, orders and memoranda received between 1772 and 1815. Keith's active career, before he commanded a station, is well covered by correspondence From 1796, however, the papers become very extensive. There is considerable material on the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope and on other matters during the Cape command (15 vols, 7 boxes). As Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, he received letters from Lords Nelson, Minto and Elgin (1766-1841), Sir Sidney Smith and a number of Turkish potentates (80 vols, 100 boxes). The papers covering his North Sea Command illustrate strategic and day-to-day problems and there are a large number of letters from Admiral Sir Bartholomew Rowley (d 1811) at the Nore, Admiral Holloway (d.1826) in the Downs, Commodore Edward Owen in Boulogne and others (55 vols, 185 boxes). No less comprehensive are the records for the final Channel command with correspondence from Sir Home Popham (1762-1820), the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) and some letters relating to Napoleon's surrender (25 vols, 50 boxes). Keith's private papers form only a very small part of the collection hut as a flag-officer he kept the most routine of letters: for each major command, particularly that of the Mediterranean, there are numerous accounts and returns which provide a detailed picture of victualling and the other general problems of an overseas fleet. There are also complete lists of ships' dispositions for all his major commands.

Papers of Sir Edward Berry comprising logs, 1787 to 1788, 1796 to 1797, 1799 to 1806, 1812, 1813 to 1814, and twenty-five letters from Nelson, 1797 to 1805.

Papers of Capt Henry Bethune comprising a series of logs for the above ships and a notebook on navigation and steam.

Papers of Henry Theodore Augustus Bosanquet including seven volumes of personal papers and newspaper cuttings, 1879-1955. Bosanquet's service afloat is covered by logs and watchbills, 1883 to 1894. Bosanquet's notes on historical and technical subjects are elsewhere in the Museum manuscript collections.

Papers of Albert Francis Barclay Bridges, including a journal, 1912 to 1918; pocket diaries, 1918 to 1920, kept whilst in the Mediterranean and Black Sea; and a photograph and scrap album belonging to his brother, William M Bridges mainly relating to the surrender of the German fleet, 21 Nov 1918.

Papers of Sir Cyprian Arthur George Bridge including a few watch bills and other papers relating to the AUDACIOUS, 1874 to 1877; out-letterbooks, 1881 to 1885 and 1898; private letters received, 1895 to 1898, 1901 to 1904, and admiral's journals, 1895 to 1898.

Papers of Philip Carteret, including logs of the GUERNSEY and ENDYMION; a letterbook, 1779 to 1780, and a large number of loose papers including letters from Byron and others and various notes on his ships and voyages. The ENDYMION is the only ship for which there is much material, there being but few notes about his voyages of circumnavigation. His private journals for the years 1779 to 1789 cover the period in considerable detail and there are many letters relating to the movement for the increase in half-pay. The collection includes letters from Carteret's son, Samuel, to his mother, 1794 to 1796, some written from the Expedition at Plymouth, and the remainder from the Mediterranean and the West Indies. There are also letters from his other son, Philip (later Silvester, q.v.), relating to his voyage in the Lion with Lord Macartney's Embassy to China, 1794 to 1796.

Papers of Cowper Phipps Cole, consisting of three large albums of newspaper cuttings which relate to the Navy and to ship design and were collected by Coles himself between 1862 and his death. There are a number of later cuttings to 1878.

Papers of Henry Chatfield, including notes on ordnance and shipbuilding and on the sailing trials between the St. Vincent and the Queen, 1844. There are two letters relating to the Dockyard Committee of Enquiry, 1858 to 1859, and a copy of Chatfield's dissension from its Report. There are also printed copies of Parliamentary Reports relating to the dockyards, 1805 and 1860, and a pamphlet written by Chatfield in 1834, 'An elementary essay on the principles of masting ships'.

Papers from the collection of Andre De Coppet consisting of sixteen documents. The earliest, 1618, is an estimate of expenditure on seven ships 'at the narrow Seas' signed by the Lord High Admiral, Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham (1536-1624), the Comptroller of the Navy, Sir Guilford Slingsby (d 1632) and the Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Richard Bingley (fl 1590-1618). Two other seventeenth-century documents relate to prize money; a letter of 1667 from Lord Bellasis (1614-1689) to Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), with Pepys' draft reply. Three documents are addressed to Admiral Honore Ganteaume (1755-1818) from Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and consist of an order, 1798, regarding the blockade of Alexandria, and two letters, 1798 and 1805; the former discusses possible courses of action open to the French fleet against the British in the Mediterranean. The eleven letters of Lord Nelson (q.v.), 1799 to 1805, which make up the rest of the collection, concern events in the Mediterranean after the Battle of the Nile and those leading up to the Battle of Trafalgar. Four of these are to Sir John Acton (1736-1811), Prime Minister to Ferdinand I of Naples and Sicily. Complaints about Lord Keith (q.v.) are the main subject in the letter, 1799, to Sir William Hamilton (q.v.).

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.

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.

Copy of typescript letter sent by Sir John Gerald Lang, Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty, to V Adm Sir William Gerrard Andrewes, Commander in Chief, America and West Indies Station, regarding the efficiency of the cryptographic staffs of HMS SUPERB and HMS SNIPE during naval operations in the Antarctic, 13 Apr 1953

Printed programme of the review of the British and Commonwealth naval and merchant fleet by HM Queen Elizabeth II at Spithead, 15 Jun 1953, including map of the review published by the Admiralty, 1953

Photocopy of manuscript diary, in Spanish, written by Antonio Jorge Felipe Petane, leader of Argentinean scrap metal expedition to South Georgia Island, south Atlantic, 11 Mar 1982-14 Apr 1982. Passages detail events leading to the outbreak of the Falklands War, 2 Apr-12 Jul 1982, including the sailing of Argentinean expedition merchant ship ARS Bahia to South Georgia, 12 Mar 1982; the early sense of optimism and patriotism experienced by members of the Argentinean expedition; the raising of the Argentinean flag in South Georgia, 2 Apr 1982; impressions of British, French, and German reactions to the Argentinean occupation of South Georgia; reactions to the dispatch of British troops to the Falkland Islands; reactions to Argentinean government support to the expedition and its occupation of South Georgia; the occupation of the Falkland Islands by the Argentinean Fleet, 2 Apr 1982; Argentinean claims to the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, and the islands of the South Atlantic; crew reaction to the fighting at the Port of Grytviken, during which three Argentinean soldiers were killed, 3 Apr 1982; the author's arrest by members of the Royal Marines from HMS ENDURANCE, 24 Apr 1982. Includes typescript English translation.

Copies of detailed narrative diaries and transcripts of Naval signal messages on RN operations, 1939-1945, including service at RN Gunnery School, Chatham, Kent, 1939, on HMS JERVIS in the North Sea, 1940, with the Mediterranean Fleet, 1940-1941, with Combined Operations Command, Dieppe and Normandy, 1942-1944, and the British Pacific Fleet, 1945-1946. Also, typescript copies of operational orders for Operation NEPTUNE, Normandy, 1944.

Papers relating to service in HMS GLOUCESTER, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, World War Two, including photocopy of diary, 1939-1940, naval messages, 1940-1943, and photographs; official service records, 1941-1958; and papers relating to naval career, 1949-1964, including article dated 1965, 'A Perspective View of Naval Engineering', on the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy.