The collection contains items, including journals, official and private letters, and newspaper cuttings, relating to all of the above members of the family (please see individual biographical entries for further details of their careers).

Papers of Sir Augustus Phillimore. They consist almost entirely of Phillimore's private and semi-official correspondence from 1835 until the end of his life. These include many letters from relatives, including Phillimore' s numerous brothers and sisters, and some of his letters to them. The remainder are mostly from naval officers. Admiral Sir George Ommaney Willes (1823-1901) was a regular correspondent from the 1840s onwards. There are official letterbooks, papers relating to Jamaica and some papers for the Channel Squadron, a few letters and official service documents and some biographical notes.

Papers of Sir William Christopher Pakenham. The papers relate to official and personal aspects of Pakenham's life and cover the period 1884-1933, though the main focus is 1904-1922. They are particularly strong on his period as naval attache to Japan (1904-1905), with whom Great Britain had an alliance and include copies of reports to the Naval Intelligence Department; accounts of battles at Port Arthur and Tsushima including position charts and photographs and freqent personal letters to his aunt, Lady Jessica Sykes. They also cover his period in the eastern Mediterranean and role intervening in the Armenian massacre of 1909, including requests from the local population for protection. In the period leading up to and during World War I there are reports and correspondence of both a strategic, technical and operational nature. In the period after World War One, there is a lengthy series of personal correspondence with Admiral David Beatty (1871-1936). Other correspondents include Admiral Charles Beresford (1846-1919); Winston Churchill; Admiral Sir Asheton Gore Curzon-Howe (1850-1911); Admiral John Arbuthnot Fisher (1841-1920); Lord Geddes, British Ambassador, Washington (1879-1954); Walter Hume Long, politician (1854-1924) and Sir Claude MacDonald (1852-1915). Includes the dispute between Fisher and Beresford over naval reform and the controversy over the Battle of Jutland. There is correspondence, lecture notes and photographs relating to the tour of the coast of Noth America in 1922 and the later grounding and salvage of his ship HMS RALEIGH.

Papers of Captain Murray Thomas Parks, including official service papers 1876 to 1878; letters sent home 1878 to 1890; and a midshipman's log for the INVINCIBLE and CRUISER 1881 to 1882.

General Records: This group contains a large vellum-bound volume of Spanish diplomatic papers, mainly dating between 1603 and 1672, but with a section dealing with the Armada, 1587 to 1588; two English documents relating to the expedition to Cadiz, 1596; an enquiry into the loss of ships in the convoy guarded by Sir George Rooke (1650-1709) and the Streights Squadron, 1693; a gathering of Italian papers relating to the capitulation of Malta, 1799 to 1807. There are also a number of items relating to Lord Nelson and his family, 1805 to 1845. (PHB/: PHB/P: 2 vols: 3 items) Merchant Shipping Records: relating to merchant shipping, including the journal of the Blackham on a voyage to Constantinople, 1696 to 1698; the log of H.E.I.C.S. Ceres, 1743 to 1745; of H.E.I.C.S. Wager, 1745 to 1746; and an account in verse of H.E.I.C.S. Ceres, 1812 to 1814, on a voyage to China. There is also a memorial of 1774 by a Harwich pilot to the Treasury, seeking to establish an excise cutter there. Among the documents are Bills of Sale, 1651, 1695, 1775; Letters of Marque, 1780, 1799. (PHB/: PLA/P: 4 vols: 12 items) Royal Navy: Administration: This group consists of nineteen volumes and four documents relating to the administration of the Navy. It includes the naval accounts from 1422 to 1427 of William Soper (fl.1410-1459), Clerk of the King¹s ships; a list of ships' stores 'wasted' in the Prymrose after the Rochelle expedition, 1573; a volume of the records collected by Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631), the antiquarian and collector, containing summaries of papers on naval matters and defence from the time of Henry III to Elizabeth I; a copy, dated 1638, of the first 'Discourse of the Navy of England' by John Hollond (fl 1624-1659); regulations for the Ordnance Office, 1683; an account, written by a clerk, of the dispute between Samuel Pepys and Colonel Middleton (d 1672) about the importation of cottons and kerseys, 1667 to 1668; two lists of official documents transferred by Pepys to his successor on leaving the Admiralty, 1689; two volumes of Navy Board orders to Deptford and Woolwich dockyards, 1644 to 1722; and eleven volumes of papers, bound by Phillipps in no particular order, relating to general administrative matters, including sea-men's pay, 1711 to 1790; however, among these papers are three letters from Vice-Admiral Benbow (1653-1702) written from Jamaica, 1699. Finally, there are a number of lists; of Admiralty Commissioners, 1673 to 1782; of ships, 1625 to 1636, 1705, 1706 to 1745, and of foreign navies, 1755 to 1778 (PLA/: PLA/P: 2 1/2ft: 76cm) Royal Navy: Law and Prize Money: This group consists of a volume, 1658 to 1673, containing a collection of sentences and decrees made at the Court of Admiralty; a volume of 1685 chiefly concerning the powers and rights of the Lord High Admiral, with an abstract of the judgements of Oleron, translated from the French; a further seventeenth-century volume concerning maritime customs and law from the time of Henry III; a French treatise of maritime law, 1690; a volume containing bound letters from senior naval officers expressing their opinion on the prize money dispute between Lord Nelson (q.v.) and Lord St Vincent (q.v.), 1801 to 1802; vindication of the conduct of Surgeon D.T. McCarthy, court-martialled 2 lines 1 field in 1804.

Papers of Sir Watkin Owen Pell, consisting of his diaries, 1824 to 1863, and his official, semi-official and private correspondence from 1809 onwards. This includes a number of letters from Admiral Sir George Cockburn, 1834 to 1851, and from the Spencer family, 1827 to 1856. There are extracts from logs, notes and drafts for a biography begun by his daughter, Mrs S M Maude, some account books and some items relating to Greenwich Hospital. There are also a few letters, diaries and account books of his wife, Lady Pell, and a few diaries and papers of Lieutenant Edwin Pell, 24th Regiment, dating mainly from 1809 to 1812 when he was serving in the Peninsular War.

Papers of John Platt, including a number of logbooks, orders and instructions, signals, watch/quarter/station bills, material relating to impressment, victuals and a number of sketch books and miscellaneous papers. Not all of the material belonged to John Platt, with one notebook being signed by a Charles Platt, 50th regiment and other documents signed by a G E Platt and an Edward Platt.

Papers of Sir George Pocock. They cover only one period of Pocock's career in detail, that of his time in the East Indies, 1754 to 1760, and include letters from the Admiralty, the East India Company Secret Committee at Madras, Company officials and local officials. The papers relating to the capture of Chandernagore in 1757 include the capitulation, papers signed by General Thomas Lally (1702-1766) and letters from Robert Clive (1725-1774). The private correspondence consists of letters received by Pocock between 1763 and 1789 from the Nabob of the Carnatic, 1766, and other native rulers in India. The collection also contains some papers of Pocock's son, Sir George Pocock (1765-1840), and his grandsons, Robert and Edward; this section is mostly of bills, receipts and accounts for the years 1792 to 1862.

Papers of Admiral Alfred Arthur Chase Parr. They include: three logbooks (HMS VICTORIA; HMS MINOTAUR and PYLADES; HMS ZEALOUS, REVENGE AND HERCULES) 1864-1872; and documents from Parr's service in the 1875-1876 Arctic Expedition, including observation records, two expedition journals recording his personal experiences, official proceedings of the Expedition and a printed chart of the Northern shores of Greenland.

Papers of Adml John Child Purvis, 1761-1817, comprising logs and admiral's journals for the years 1761 to 1763, 1778 to 1783 and 1793 to 1810, letter and order books, 1781 to 1783 and 1793 to 1810, and correspondence and loose papers, including some letters with the Spanish authorities, mostly 1806 to 1810. There is also an autobiographical essay. There are also some papers relating to Purvis's son, Lieutenant Richard Fortescue Purvis, 1806 to 1817.

Papers of Cpt William Pryce-Cumby, comprising a book containing copies of orders and memoranda, 1796 to 1798, 1801 and 1804, a watch, station and quarter bill for the THALIA, a private letterbook, 1803 to 1808, night order books, 1807 and 1814, and passwords in use in Pembroke Dockyard in 1837.

Papers of Sir James Porter, almost entirely comprising letters to his family, 1889 to 1913, and include accounts of various battles during the South African War. There are some Gallipoli signals and letters arranging for hospital trains, 1914 to 1917. Also included in the collection are about one hundred letters relating to the family, into which Porter married, of Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets M W Cowan (1830-1903).

Papers of Sir Henry Daniel Pridham-Wippell, comprising operational orders, signals and letters relating to the Mediterranean, including fleet narratives and reports on operations in the Western Desert, 1940 to 1941; and the Dover Command War Diaries, 1940 to 1944.

Papers of Sir Thomas Harvey consisting of a journal, 1805 to 1807, loose papers containing letters and orders, 1807 to 1809, and a few miscellaneous memoranda.

Papers of Adml John Harvey Rainier, consisting of a series of logs, 1862 to 1897, with a gap between 1874 and 1884, and loose papers about the relief of Kandanos. There is also a volume of copies of letters relating to the promotion to commander of J.H. Rainier's uncle by marriage, Captain William War Percival Johnson, 1831 to 1835.

Papers of John Sprat Rainier. They consist of logs, 1795 to 1800, 1802 to 1805 and 1808 to 1811, and a few loose papers.

Papers of Adml Peter Rainier consisting of his logs, 1778 to 1782, and letter and order books, 1794 to 1805.

Papers of Cpt Peter Rainier, containing a log of the CAROLINE, 1802 to 1803, a signal book, 1803 to 1804, a letter from Admiral Rainier to his son, 1805, and loose papers relating to Rainier's service, 1803 to 1814 and 1831 to 1835.

Papers of Adml Peter Rainier consisting of his logs, 1778 to 1782, and letter and order books, 1794 to 1805.

Papers of John Sprat Rainier. They consist of logs, 1795 to 1800, 1802 to 1805 and 1808 to 1811, and a few loose papers.

Papers of Cpt Peter Rainier, containing a log of the CAROLINE, 1802 to 1803, a signal book, 1803 to 1804, a letter from Admiral Rainier to his son, 1805, and loose papers relating to Rainier's service, 1803 to 1814 and 1831 to 1835.

Papers of Sir Thomas Harvey consisting of a journal, 1805 to 1807, loose papers containing letters and orders, 1807 to 1809, and a few miscellaneous memoranda.

Papers of William Mcpherson Rice, comprising a 'Journal kept in passing through the different offices of HM Dockyard, Deptford, 1820', papers relating to the excavation of an ancient vessel found in the River Rother in Kent, in 1822; a log and a diary of Rice's voyage to South America and papers on the TERROR. There are also service papers, some correspondence, including several letters from Admiral Sir Thomas Byam Martin (1773-1854), and a sketchbook. Three older documents, presumably collected by Rice, also form part of the collection, as do the service papers of Charles Brown, Master, RN, 1815-1850.

Papers of the Royal Indian Navy (1612-1947) Association, including papers of the Association, 1750-1986. The majority of documents relate to individual naval personnel, 1914-1947, from the RIN, RIM, RINR, RINVR and WRINS services.

Papers of John Charles Gawen Roberts. They consist of logs, 1801 to 1804, 1812 to 1815; letter and order books and ship's general orders, 1812 to 1815.

Papers of Robert Roddam, comprising an almost complete service record from 1746, including a log, 1759 to 1778, together with letter and order books, 1746 to 1783, 1789 to 1792, and two signal books. There is a very full administrative correspondence during the American War of Independence and the 1790 crisis. There are no personal papers in the collection.

Papers of Sir Nowell Salmon, comprising diaries from Nowell Salmon and his wife Emily Salmon, and three diaries from Sophie Saunders. The collection also includes letters belonging to various members of the family between 1857 and 1961.

The papers of Edward Montagu, the first Earl, consist of five volumes containing papers relating to his political career 1656-1669. The papers of John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich, consist of five volumes of appointment books, 1771 to 1782, purchased from the Montagu family in 1957 and transcripts. In 1956 and 1960 the Secretary of the Navy Records Society deposited on loan transcripts of Sandwich's papers, 1771 to 1782, not included in the Society's publication. The Heritage Lottery Fund has supported the purchase of additions to this collection.

The papers consist of five volumes of Sandwich's appointment books, 1771 to 1782. These were purchased from the Montagu family in 1957. The remainder of the collection consists of transcripts. In 1956 and 1960 the Secretary of the Navy Records Society deposited on loan transcripts of Sandwich's papers, 1771 to 1782, not included in the Society's publication. The Heritage Lottery Fund has supported the purchase of additions to this collection.

Five volumes containing papers relating to Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich's political career, 1656-1669.

Papers of Adml Sir James Scott, comprising logs, 1834 to 1839, a night order book, pay book, sick book and other documents relating to the running of the PRESIDENT.

Signals: Foreign. There are three printed sheets of French signal flags, 1766, in this category.

Signals: Theory. Included in this small group of documents are a description of Colonel Pasley's telegraph of 1804 and 'Observations on Signal Shapes as applied to the character of Signals Flags', 1818, by Captain Thomas Shortland (1771-1827).

Papers of William Henry Shirreff. There are three letterbooks for the years 1818 to 1820, one for 1830 to 1837 at Gibraltar, another for 1838 to 1841 and a report on dockyards made to the Admiralty in 1846.

Papers of Philip Ruffle Sharpe, comprising diaries, 1857-1859, and letterbooks, 1867-1870 and 1875-1877, together with official service documents and a few letters and photographs, Sharpe's own copy of The Voyage of the Rattlesnake, by John MacGillivray (London, 1852, 2 vols), and typescript extracts from an autobiography up to 1849. The letters include one from Sharpe's brother-in-law, William R Hobson, a lieutenant in the FOX, under Captain F L McClintock, describing the finding of relics of the expedition led by Sir John Franklin. There are service papers, three logs and a notebook kept by Commander Philip William Carwithen Sharpe (1884-1957), Sharpe's son, as a midshipman in the MAJESTIC, Channel, 1900 to 1901, DIANA, Mediterranean, 1901 to 1902, and ARIADNE, West Indies, 1902 to 1903. There are also a few service papers of Second Officer Mary Gertrude Sharpe, WRNS (Mrs M G Corran).

Papers of James Joseph Lawson Sisson, consisting of a diary, 1859-1860, logs, 1865-1869 and 1872-1876, family letters received and Sisson's own letters to his father, 1860-1883. There is also some biographical material, a pocket book and sketch book.

Papers of Arthur Hale Smith-Dorrien, comprising four volumes of watercolours, photographs, newscuttings and documents covering his career from his schooldays in 1865 until the end of his naval service, together with three volumes of caricatures and sketches.

Papers of Sir William Sidney Smith, consisting of loose letters and notes written between 1790 and 1840 by many of the important naval figures of the day. There are notes on his experiences as a prisoner of the French, a number of letters relating to the Mediterranean, 1799 and some to his brother John Spencer Smith, who was Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople, 1798 to 1801. Finally there are many letters received by Smith during his retirement abroad.

The collection, consisting of nineteen volumes, relates to the administration of the Navy, naval policy during the war with France, 1690 to 1698, and questions of Admiralty jurisdiction, and falls into four main groups. The first, of six volumes, contains letters received by William Blathwayt between 1690 and 1703; they concern the conduct of the war and questions of naval administration, including some, 1697 to 1703, from Josiah Burchett, Secretary of the Admiralty (1666?-1746). The second group of four volumes relates mainly to the time of the Dutch Wars when Robert Southwell was a Commissioner for Prizes. It contains drafts, orders and precedents relating to the Commission, 1661 to 1705, as well as a volume devoted to the legal problems of wrecks, 1687 to 1705. There are also some letters from Blathwayt to Robert Southwell for this period. The third group of four volumes contains letters by Lord Nottingham, 1690 and 1692 to 1693, to Blathwayt and Sir Robert Southwell, some with draft replies. Apart from reporting on naval affairs, there are later private letters, 1711, 1716, and Irish affairs, 1703, are also mentioned. The final four volumes are miscellaneous in nature, including a volume relating to the conduct of the war, 1695 to 1697; a working reference book on the proceedings of the Commission of Prizes, 1665 to 1667; and two volumes of miscellaneous papers relating to all the subjects mentioned above, 1674 to 1708.

Papers of Francis Henry Eldred Shipton comprising just one logbook kept in HMS DEFENCE 1877 to 1879, NORTHUMBERLAND 1879 to 1880 and CARYSFORT 1880 to 1881.

Papers of James Maurice Shipton comprising a series of logbooks kept by him as midshipman and mate between 1803 and 1809.

Papers of James Maurice Shipton comprising a series of logbooks kept by him as midshipman and mate between 1803 and 1809.

Papers of Francis Henry Eldred Shipton comprising just one logbook kept in HMS DEFENCE 1877 to 1879, NORTHUMBERLAND 1879 to 1880 and CARYSFORT 1880 to 1881.

Papers of Capt Thomas Stephenson, comprising order books, 1795 to 1801; a log, 1798 to 1799; a signal log, 1799, and sailing directions of the Channel, North America and the West Indies. There are also two logs of the COLUMBIA, 1814 to 1815, kept by Midshipman F. Thompson, a signal notebook by Thomas Michel, and the personal papers of Lieutenant John Houghton, (1787-1820), 1813 to 1815, a nephew of Stephenson's also on board the COLUMBIA.

Papers of Adml John Lort Stokes. They include logs, 1837 to 1843, 1848 to 1849, 1851 and 1859 to 1863, letter-books, 1841 to 1843, 1848 to 1851 and 1860 to 1862, and correspondence, 1844 to 1858. There are no papers for the first voyage of the BEAGLE. For the second and more famous voyage, 1831 to 1836, on which Charles Darwin sailed, there are some official service documents of Stokes, some orders, notes on surveying, rough notes on navigation in South American waters and a few rough sketches. For the third voyage, 1837 to 1843, there are survey notebooks, some letters and orders, a night order book, a game book, a list of the crew, some accounts, an album of sketches and some loose sketches. The bulk of the collection relates to the voyage of the ACHERON. There is a draft narrative of the first part of the voyage, together with survey notebooks, an abstract of the ship's positions, miscellaneous letters and papers and views, sketches and rough charts. This last group comprises about 150 single items, mostly coastal views. Some of the more finished sketches can be identified as the work of William Swainson (1789-1855), Frederick John Owen Evans (1815-1885), later Hydrographer to the Admiralty, and W.J.W. Hamilton, an artist who accompanied the expedition. His sketchbook is also in the collection. Finally there are survey notebooks and a calculations book for the English Channel survey.

Papers of Adml Sir Robert Stopford, comprising an order book, 1803 to 1805, official service documents and private and semi-official letters from many important officers of the time. Among them is one from Horatio Nelson, 1805, from the Duke of Wellington, 1811, and a series of thirty-five from William, Duke of Clarence, 1827 to 1828, when Lord High Admiral. For the Mediterranean command there are letters from the 2nd Earl of Minto and Lord Ponsonby (1770-1855), ambassador at Constantinople. Finally, there is a volume of letters from well-known literary and social figures received by Stopford and Field-Marshal Thomas Grosvenor (1764-1851) between 1791 and 1850, including one from Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) (Stopford and Grosvenor both lived at Richmond, Surrey). Also, the log of HMS SPENCER, kept while Capt Stopford was attached to the Channel Fleet in 1803-1804.

Papers of Adm Robert Fanshawe Stopford, comprising loose papers mounted in a volume, relating mainly to the TALBOT and ASIA periods, with official service documents. An additional volume relates to Stopford's time as a midshipman, featuring sailing and wind calculations, together with observations on forts in the Dardanelles and Sevastopol.

Papers of William Stokes Rees, including logs, 1868 to 1870 and 1872 to 1873, two workbooks, 1897, out-letterbooks, 1898 to 1901, and loose papers which relate to the expeditions in Africa, 1895 to 1897. There is also a typescript, 'Yarns from an Admiral's Reminiscences', as retold to Commander Stokes-Rees.

Papers of Archibald Thomas Stewart. They consist of two logs, 1892 to 1896, as well as documents collected by Stewart. These include some letters received by Lord Charles Beresford, 1886 to 1889, and a small manuscript booklet entitled 'Reasons by the officers of the Brunswick for leaving the fleet, 1st June 1794'.

Papers of Charles Steevens, consisting of a letter to Steevens from the Nabob of Arcot, 1760, and the draft and printed copy of his life written by his grand-nephew, Nathaniel Steevens. Also in the collection is the plan of learning of the Naval Academy, Portsmouth, 1753, of Charles Stevens, midshipman (1735-1756), nephew of Rear-Admiral Steevens, and a book of jokes, morals and proverbs.

Letters and orders from Horatio Nelson and others to various correspondents including Emma Hamilton, 4 May 1795-8 Dec 1806, also engravings mostly of Nelson, of VICTORY and of memorial in St Paul's. Letters from Nelson, Emma Hamilton and others, 29 May 1787-3 Jun 1808, also advertisements, engravings and drawings, mainly of Emma in her 'attitudes', also Nelson, William Hamilton, Greville and others, and scenes of Merton.

Papers of Sir William Eric Campbell Tait containing two logs, 1903 to 1905, a photograph album, 1908 to 1914, and loose papers; these include letters of proceedings, 1929 to 1930, remarks on the officers and men of the Argentine Navy, on Brazilian and American naval personnel, and intelligence reports, 1932 to 1933.

Papers of Sir William George Tennant, including official service documents; midshipman's logs, 1905 to 1909; diaries of war service, written up in 1919, and one for the cruises of 1925; a work book, 1927; papers on the loss of the REPULSE , 1941; tactical and secret papers on the 'Mulberry' operations, 1944, and engagement diaries, visitors' books, notes for speeches and lectures, 1946 to 1949, as well as many general papers and notebooks relating to Tennant's historical interests and the role of the three services in defence strategy.

Papers of Rear-Admiral Thursfield. They consist of correspondence with his family, 1896 to 1918; logs, 1898 to 1902; notes for torpedo courses at Vernon, 1905, and for the course at the Royal Naval College, 1906; watch, station and fire bills, 1913; lecture notes, 1921 to 1922, and standing orders for the Concord, 1922 to 1923.

Papers of Sir James Richard Thursfield. They contain correspondence with Sir John Fisher, 1900 to 1908, articles and pamphlets by Thursfield, 1906 to 1910, reports on naval manoeuvres, 1894 to 1901, and a long series of confidential Admiralty and official memoranda sent to him by Fisher.

Papers of Richard Tiddeman, consisting of logs, 1729 to 1762, account books, 1745 to 1762, and ships' muster rolls, 1743 to 1749. There is also an account book of an unidentified merchant in Bristol, 1698 to 1724.