The records comprise deeds and legal, administrative and financial papers relating to the Castle Wemyss Estate, Jamaica, 1802-1845, belonging (during the period covered by the papers) successively to Gilbert Mathison, Simon Halliday and Rev Walter Stevenson Halliday. The deeds and legal papers record the ownership of the estate and financial claims upon it by other parties, as well as compensation claims under the Abolition Act. They include the title deeds to the estate 1802-1845; together with correspondence and other papers concerning financial claims upon it (particularly an annuity payable to Catherine Mathison, widow of Gilbert) 1830-1845, compensation payable under the Abolition Act 1834-1835, and the fate of the estate in 1843-1845 when it was no longer viable financially.
The administrative and financial papers illustrate the management of a West Indian sugar estate by attorneys on behalf of absentee landlords, and the process of shipping the sugar and rum produced back to London for sale by a firm of merchants. A fairly complete series of correspondence between Simon Halliday and his attorneys and merchants survives for the period 1823-1828, giving many details of the practical problems of managing a sugar estate and of ensuring an adequate performance by the attorneys. There are many reports on the progress of crops, as well as references to maintenance work required, the need for new cattle (a continuing problem on the Castle Wemyss estate) and the work and health of the slaves. There is further detailed information on the slaves in a series of returns; in addition there are lists of them in the title deeds to the estate after 1807 (following the abolition of the slave trade). There are references to specific events involving the slaves in the correspondence and/or the returns: for example, the case of Catalina alias Susannah Mathison who induced an abortion by taking Vervain and Contrayerva in 1824; and allegations of mistreatment of the slaves by one of the overseers, in 1827.
The correspondence of 1823-1828 also includes letters between Halliday and the firms of merchants he used in London to sell his produce. The state of the sugar and rum markets are regularly discussed, and both attorneys and merchants report on the despatch and receipt of shipments of sugar and rum, on which the successful running of the estate depended. There is one instance of a ship being wrecked and part of the cargo lost.There are also financial accounts, both of the attorneys and of the merchants, which illustrate the returns and financial problems of the estate.

Collection of papers relating to politics, genealogy and slavery in Jamaica, comprising:

1. 'Plott or no Plott; in a dialogue between a clergyman of the city and Mr. A. of Hanover Square', in which the protagonist appears to support the reaction of Sir Robert Walpole's ministry to the Jacobite conspiracy of May 1722. Mentions the reaction to the Quarantine Bill [of 1721], the declaration of the City of London clergy against Quakers [concerning the Affirmation Act of 1722], and the South Sea Bubble, memory of which was 'too fresh to be forgot'. The manuscript possibly dates from 1722.
2. Copy of a legal opinion by Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, Attorney-General, concerning the claims of John Kynaston to the barony of Powys, 25 Mar 1731. Kynaston's claims were contested by Sir Nathanial Curzon, Bt.
3. A political satire in verse, dating from the 18th century, and beginning 'A Hen, a farmer's pride and care / who lives at W-- or elsewere'. A note in pencil plausibly suggests that the subject of the satire was John Wilkes.
4. Papers, 1832-1868, assembled by Lyndon Howard Evelyn, with a copy of a covering letter (dated 15 Jul 1868) to George Sclater-Booth, Secretary to the Treasury, which supported a claim to compensation for dismissal from the post of Collector of Customs in Jamaica in 1834. Includes testimonials, copies of letters, a printed Statement of certain services...laid before the government by Governor Sir Henry Barkly K.C.B., for its consideration describing Evelyn's role in the slave revolt of Jan 1832 in Jamaica, and 'The entire narrative of Mr. Evelyn's oppression'.

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.)

Letter written by Richard Lawson, dated 21 May 1800 on the island of St Thomas, Virgin Islands, addressed to Messrs. Anderson [of London], concerning Lawson's schooner Nonesuch which 'arrived here about a couple of months ago...with a Cargo of Negroes which turned out extreemly well'; and business of Mr. Lalanda of St Thomas in the court of the Vice-Admiral relating to the capture of a vessel taken to Jamaica while on its way to St Domingo.

Papers, 1817-1951, of and relating to John Philip, comprising correspondence and papers, 1817-1849, including manuscripts and pamphlets, on his call to South Africa and the reluctance of his Aberdeen congregation that he should leave; the situation in South Africa and government policy, leading to the writing of his Researches; the ensuing court case (against William Mackay); the Wesleyan intrusion in Griqualand; also including editions of South African newspapers, 1824; letters from Robert Moffat concerning the mission station at Kuruman, 1845; manuscript papers by Philip concerning South Africa and the life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton sent to Sir Edward Buxton, 1846; papers concerning Philip and South Africa, 1910-1951, including correspondence and press cuttings, some relating to W M Macmillan's Cape Colour Question (1927). The subjects include missionary activities and journeys, settlement in the region, race relations, slavery, and colonial policy.

Records, 1902-1977 and undated, of and accumulated by the Restatement of African Law Project (RALP), School of Oriental and African Studies, comprising papers of RALP relating to administration, including minutes; and research material, such as notes, publications, theses, and other collected papers, on tribes and places including Basutoland (Lesotho), Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia and Zambia, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Tanzania, and Uganda, relating to customs, aspects of law including succession, slavery, marriage and divorce, land tenure, legal systems, including customary law, legislation, courts, and particular legal cases.