Letter from P K Seaman of HMS Wolverine, docked at St Helena, to his father, 1 Jun 1851. '... I have already told you that we have caught 3 slavers ...'.

Autograph, with signature. 4 sketches of vessels captured by the Wolverine are pasted to the second leaf of the letter.

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 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.

Manuscript volume containing a list of twelve different castes of inhabitants of Bombay, India, 1828, with particulars of their trades, customs, countries, and food, with a few remarks on the names of their priests, holidays, dress, and marriage and burial customs.

Manuscript 'Notes relatives à la station de la cote d'Afrique. Gorée. July 1820', partly written by Alphonse Louis Théodore Moges, Comte de Moges, and comprising an account of the French colony of Senegal, with special reference to Gorée Island and Albréda, their products, inhabitants and trade. Particular attention is given to the slave trade, and means of suppressing it are suggested. The author makes his observations after a two-year sojourn in the area begun, therefore, soon after Gorée had been restored to France in 1816. He passes antagonistic comments on the English and their trade. The first two paragraphs and the corrections throughout are in the hand of the signatory, Alphonse de Moges; the remainder of the manuscript is in another hand.

Collection of papers concerned chiefly with Hewitt's work in the West Indies 1767-1771 and 1776-1781, financial papers and accounts, 1759-1781; a diary of his voyage to the West Indies, 1766; correspondence, 1772-1781, especially to the Treasury Board concerning his salary; documents concerning personal property, mainly bonds concerning payment for Crown lands in Dominica, 1767-1777, and papers relating to slaves owned by Hewitt, 1768-1781; legal papers, 1768-1781; official papers concerning land in Tobago, St Vincent and Dominica, 1764-1781, including commissioners' instructions, surveys, maps and correspondence; papers created following the death of William Hewitt, mainly relating to the settlement of his estate, 1781-1790.

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.)

Slave pass, 'Pass Jane about town for one month 'till 10 oclock at night'. Signed by W. Woodbridge on 23 Mar 1845.

The collection, c1930, contains records and minutes of the International Commission of Enquiry to Liberia. It also contains correspondence and verbatim records of testimonies given by witnesses.

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 of The Moot, mainly consisting of Sir Fred Clarke's set of the circulated discussion papers, 1939-1942; also an incomplete run of the Christian News-Letter, 1939-1949.

Papers collated by Elizabeth Millicent Chilver, mainly relating to anthropological work in Cameroon, 1963-1989, notably papers by various authors on the anthropology of the Cameroon Grasslands, 1963 and 1989, covering subjects including matrilineal society, witchcraft, magic and divination, with notes on the authors by Chilver; working notes on the Kingdom of Bum in the north-west province of Cameroon, compiled by Chilver in 1993, including a volume of photographs; translations of German documents dated 1908-1913 relating to German policy in the Bamenda Division in the north-west province of Cameroon; photographs of Chilver and Audrey Isabel Richards in Uganda and Cameroon, with an explanatory postcard by Chilver; copy of a memoranda by Dr Mervyn David Waldegrave Jeffreys, Senior District Officer in charge of the Bamenda Division, and Mr F R Kay, District Officer, on land tenure in Nigeria and the South Cameroons, 1936; copies of press cuttings about womens' demonstrations in south-west Cameroon, 1994; and two letters to Chilver regarding conditions in Uganda, 1953-1957, from Lady Helen Cohen, wife of the Governor of Uganda, and Mrs Noni Crossfield.

Bills, receipts and business letters handled by the agents of the Dukes of Bedford. Usually each bill bears the signature of the then Duke and / or his agent sanctioning payment to be made, as well as the signature of the recipient of the money or the recipient's agent. The remaining manuscripts are records of money coming in to the Bedford estates or business letters or market reports from accredited agents of the Dukes of Bedford. The collection has been arranged in subject sections. Each section is in chronological order.

Correspondence of Francis Horner with individuals including Charles James Fox, Francis Lord Jeffrey, James Loch, Rev Thomas Robert Malthus, Sir John Archibald Murray Lord Murray, and Professor Dugald Stewart; correspondence received by Horner's father and brother after his death; miscellaneous political notes by Francis Horner; and brief letters from John Allen reporting the progress of the illness of Charles James Fox.

Biographical material of Edward Dene Morel, including diaries and photographs; papers and correspondence concerning Morel's parliamentary candidature and activities as an MP, his publications, the Congo Reform Association and its publications, trials and atrocities in the Congo, the Union of Democratic Control, and research into the origins of World War One and armaments after the war; general correspondence; books of outgoing letters concerned mainly with the Congo Reform Association and the publication of the 'African Mail'; material relating to the newspapers with which Morel was involved, including the 'West African Mail', the 'African Mail', and 'West Africa'; books, pamphlets and articles by Morel and others on Africa, the Congo, and World War One; British and Belgian parliamentary reports and discussions concerning the Congo; and family correspondence.

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.

Joint archive, largely dating from 1910-1945, of the International Missionary Council and Conference of British Missionary Societies, relating to co-operative missionary endeavours in Africa (chiefly British Africa, but also including areas under Belgian, Portuguese and French control).

General files on Africa include records on missionary work and related issues including land rights, colonial administration, diet, co-operative organizations, customs including polygamy, initiation, and witchcraft, medical work, and alcohol traffic; the IMC and its relation to African mission councils; International Institute of African Languages and Cultures; population and health in Africa; Africa Education Group, relating to educational policy, provision and finance, including women's education, training of educational missionaries, African marriage customs and their relation to Christian practice, adult education, and missionary work in rural areas; High Leigh (Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire) Conference (1924) on educational missionary work in Africa; Le Zoute Conference (1926) on missionary work in Africa; educational policy; Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies, relating to Colonial Office policy (including British colonies outside Africa), the topics including women's education, use of the vernacular and bilingualism, teacher training, language teaching, social and economic development, finance, indigenous art, biology, superannuation, English examinations, and higher education teaching materials, with sections relating to particular African colonies.

Files on East Africa include general records on British colonial policy and administration, agriculture, and Swahili; and education in East Africa. Files on Kenya include records on the Kenya Missionary Council and Christian Council of Kenya; the political situation and land question; indigenous labour and slavery; Indian population; and educational policy, practice, finance, the conscience clause in religious education, women's education, and educational advisor; and correspondence on missionary work and related issues. Files on Tanganyika include records on the Tanganyika Missionary Council, relations between different missionary societies, indigenous life, colonial administration, German and other missions; Tanganyika Mission Property Trust; and education in Tanganyika. Files on Uganda include records on land tenure, education, including women's education, and Swahili; and missionary societies in Ruanda-Urundi. Files on Abyssinia comprise records on missionary work and religious freedom, including the Italian occupation.

Files on West Africa include general records on education, including the Phelps Stokes Commission. Files on the Gold Coast include records on education, colonial administration, the Basel Mission, the Bremen Mission and other missionary societies, the Christian Council of the Gold Coast, medical and educational missionary work. Files on Sierra Leone include records on education. Files on Nigeria include records on the Christian Council of Nigeria and other Christian and missionary organisations and on education. Files on the Cameroons include records on various missionary societies. Files on French Africa include records on education.

Files on French West & Equatorial Africa include records on missionary activity and education. Files on the Congo include records on the Congo Protestant Council, missionary activity and conferences, religious freedom and interdenominational relations including Roman Catholicism; Belgian government policy regarding missions and the Brussels Bureau representing Belgian missions; education; and missionary work of various nations.

Files on Portuguese Africa include records on missionary work, including medical work, and interdenominational relations; religious liberty, Portuguese government policy, and the Lisbon Centre for liaison. Files on Portuguese West Africa include records on the Angola Evangelical Alliance, Portuguese colonial administration, and various missionary societies. Files on Portuguese East Africa include records on the Portuguese East Africa Evangelical Missionary Association, work of various missionary societies, religious liberty and Portuguese government policy.

Files on Central Africa and Nyasaland include records on colonial administration, work of missionary societies, land tenure, indigenous labour and slavery, and on colonial educational policy in Nyasaland. Files on Northern Rhodesia include records on the General Missionary Conference of Northern Rhodesia, colonial administration, mining, and education; and on the United Missions in the Copperbelt, including its foundation, policy, annual reports, finance, miners' unrest, property, education policy, women's work, social welfare, literature and literacy, British Committee, correspondence with other societies, reorganisation, Team/Field Committee, and personnel. Files on Southern Rhodesia include records on the South Rhodesia Missionary Conference, indigenous affairs including land tenure, education, indigenous preachers, and colonial administration. Files on South Africa include records on the General Missionary Conference of South Africa and the Christian Council of South Africa, missionary work, indigenous affairs including land tenure, interethnic relations, and education. Files on South and South West Africa includes records on German missions and indigenous affairs. Files on the protectorates of Swaziland, Basutoland and Bechuanaland include records on education and the transfer of the protectorates to South Africa.

There are also files on the Egypt Mission Property Trust.

Papers, 1786-1875, of John and Sarah Thomas, including John Thomas's journals and memoranda books, 1821-1875, including his religious reflections, life in England and Tonga, and missionary work; sermon notes, undated; manuscripts on Tonga and the South Seas, including mythology, religion, history, and ranks of chiefs, undated; photographs, prints and drawings, most unlabelled, of people and places in Tonga, undated [1820s-1850s?]; two accounts of the life of Sarah Thomas by John Thomas [1867 or after]; miscellaneous correspondence, 1825-1873, of John and Sarah Thomas, including letters from John Thomas to Wesleyan Mission House; journals of Sarah Thomas (née Hartshorn), 1826-1855, including her experiences in Tonga; account book for building a new Methodist chapel in Glasgow, 1786-1792; steward's account book, 1813-1820, of the Methodist Society, Glasgow, including Leaders' meetings minutes, 1813-1820.

Typescript legal papers (some copies) on a case of Civil Appeal in the Federal Court, Malaysia, 1980, concerning the succession to the 14th Undang (ruling chief) of the luak (territory) of Jelebu in the state of Negri Sembilan, including constitutional questions, and some information on the historical background; with two related booklets, 1981.

Typescript copy, 1991, by Elizabeth Mardel of journal (1891) of William Walmsley, chronicling his journey to Zanzibar, everyday events, his impressions of customs and life in Zanzibar, including slavery, and his illness. The diary stops a few days before Walmsley's death.

Papers, 1835-c1975, of and relating to the Rev Thomas Pyne, comprising correspondence and accounts, 1839-1845 and undated, documenting Pyne's guardianship of (John) Ossoo Ansah and (William) Quanti Massah in England (1840), associated expenses, and aspects of their trip including invitations to dinner, entrance permits to London Zoo and to George Heriot's Hospital [School], Edinburgh, undated plan of a breakwater, Falmouth(?), undated print of Brighton Pavilion and other ephemera relating to places visited, photographs of paintings of the princes, and various visiting cards; other correspondence and papers of Pyne, 1835-1873 and undated, including printed Thanksgiving sermon preached at St Peter's Church, New York, including anti-slavery sentiments, 1835, pamphlets by Pyne on peace, 1844 and undated, and astronomy, 1852, a letter from L'Institut d'Afrique to Pyne concerning honorary membership, 1843, miscellaneous pamphlets relating to African affairs, and a photograph of Pyne, 1870; correspondence, notes, transcripts from original documents, and other papers, 1950-1953, c1975 and undated, concerning Pyne and his papers, and the two princes, including their portraits.

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

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

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

Papers, c1917-1990, of Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf relating to his work on tribes and anthropology in India, Ceylon, Nepal, Tibet and the Philippines.

Papers relating to anthropological fieldwork, 1936-1989, comprise diaries, 1936-1985, some by Betty Fürer-Haimendorf, including detailed accounts of fieldwork; field-notes, 1936-1989; research proposals and reports relating to fieldwork, c1953-1985; fieldwork questionnaires, 1949-1957, on marriage, economic status and kinship; house-lists and genealogies, undated; diagrams and charts on distribution of tribes, families, households, and herds, undated; maps, undated; official correspondence and permits to travel, c1974-1988; miscellaneous papers, c1960-1981, including some relating to travel arrangements.

Papers relating to tribal welfare and development, Andhra Pradesh, c1918-1985, comprise tour notes, c1918, 1945-1946; correspondence between Fürer-Haimendorf and the Revenue Department of the Nizam's Government, 1939-1949; reports on Hyderabad Tribal Affairs, c1935-1949; Gondi reading charts for adults produced as part of an education scheme, 1943-1948; correspondence with tribesmen concerning the alienation of tribal land, 1976-1978; notes on the position of Indian tribal populations, c1960-1985; press cuttings on tribal affairs in India, c1977-1984; Government reports and publications, c1949-1979; miscellaneous papers on tribal welfare, undated.

Working papers for teaching and research, c1949-1979, comprise conference and symposia papers, 1960-1978; lectures and seminar papers, c1949-1977; working papers (subject files) on miscellaneous research topics, c1960-1979 but largely undated; working papers created by René de Nebesky-Wojkowitz on Tibetan dance, religion and ritual, and on medicine and medicinal plants, undated.

Publications and accompanying material, c1917-1990, comprise published texts and articles, 1932-1990; rough drafts and working copies (books) [1939]-[1990]; rough drafts and working copies (articles), largely undated; publications containing photographs by Fürer-Haimendorf, 1937-1960; illustrations used in texts by Fürer-Haimendorf, undated; reviews of Fürer-Haimendorf's publications, 1943-1982; reviews by Fürer-Haimendorf, 1958-1983; extracts and notes from anthropological works by other authors, undated; bibliographies compiled by Fürer-Haimendorf, undated; a large collection of published and unpublished works by other authors, c1917-1989, largely on social and cultural anthropology, and particularly on India, Nepal and Tibet.

Miscellaneous papers, c1935-1989, include further correspondence with colleagues, other scholars, students, publishers, academic institutions and other organisations.

Papers, c1900-1992, collected by Jean Boyd, relating to northern Nigeria from the late 18th century to the 1990s.

Papers on Nana Asma'u include copies of her manuscript poems (1820-1865) and later papers relating to her work, including translations, 1976-1984. Papers on works by Shehu dan Fodio include copies of his poems on male-female relationships (1789 and undated) and later papers relating to his work, 1975-1981. Papers on works by Asma'u's female relatives and descendants include copies of poems and writings by various authors (c1860-1934 and undated) and later papers relating to the subject, c1950-1990. Other material comprises field notes on the remnants of Asma'u's disciples, the Yan Taru, 1973-1990; papers on the milieu in which Asma'u lived in Gobir, c1900-1984, including Gobir chiefs; papers, including press cuttings, on the situation of women in northern Nigeria in the 1980s, the subjects including Muslims, prostitution, women's organizations, medical matters, and women's education.

Papers, 1903-1992, including articles, reports and press cuttings, on Sokoto relate to geological history, prehistory, palaeontology, archaeology, pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history, the subjects including the social and economic history of the city of Sokoto, colonial administration, British fears over Mahdism, and local government and economic issues in Sokoto state in modern Nigeria.

Three volumes contain over 500 postcards, many in colour, relating to Nigeria, including images of people, cultural events, various places, and other aspects of Nigerian life [late 20th century].

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.