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.

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, 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 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.

Inventory of Lady Anne Belasyse's goods and monies taken in her houses in Whitton, Middlesex, Great Queen Street, St. Giles in the Fields, and St James's Square, Westminster, on 13 and 14 September 1694 and on 5 February 1694/5.

The remainder of the volume is an incomplete inventory, ca. 1612 to 1642, of the goods of an un-named sheep farmer. The location of his property is not disclosed but from internal evidence it is unlikely to be in Middlesex and probably is in north west Berkshire.

The collection comprises correspondence, diaries, notes and drafts from the personal papers of members of the Hodgkin and Howard families. The bulk of the material dates from the nineteenth century.

The single largest accumulation of material relates to Thomas Hodgkin MD (1798-1866), the pathologist and philanthropist: almost half of the collection. Around the papers of this one individual, however, are numerous smaller tranches of material generated by related persons, resulting in the dividing of the archive into numerous sections dealing with other individuals or groups of people. A brief outline of the history of the family will help to explain the structure of the collection, and to set out the links between the Hodgkins and the various other Quaker families that occur in it.

The Hodgkin family were for many generations resident in Warwickshire; since the middle of the seventeenth century they had been Quakers. A handful of documents from the early eighteenth century represent this phase (section A), leading down the generations as far as John Hodgkin of Shipston (1741-1815), the grandfather of the pathologist. The first individual concerning whom there is substantial documentation is John Hodgkin of Pentonville (1766-1845), the father of the pathologist and thus referred to in the catalogue as John Hodgkin senior, who left Warwickshire for London and set up as a tutor (section B). He married Elizabeth Rickman (1768-1833), and some papers of this Sussex Quaker family are also in the collection as section C; they include material on her sister Lucy Rickman (1772-1804) who married the architect Thomas Rickman (1776-1841) and her apothecary-preacher uncle Joseph Rickman (1745-1810). Her sister Mary (1770-1851) married John Godlee (1762-1841) and had several children who occur as correspondents in this collection.

John Hodgkin senior and Elizabeth Rickman Hodgkin had four sons, of whom the first two (John and Rickman) died in infancy; the third and fourth survived. The elder of these, Thomas Hodgkin MD (1798-1866) or "Uncle Doctor" as he was known to succeeding generations, has already been mentioned. His papers, covering the wide range of his medical, general scientific and philanthropic activities, are held as section D of the archive.

Thomas Hodgkin MD married relatively late and left no children: it is from his younger brother, John Hodgkin junior (1800-1875), that the contemporary Hodgkin family descends. The latter practised law into his early forties but then, like his brother, devoted himself to philanthropic activity. His papers constitute section E of the collection. He married three times and left children by each marriage. His first wife, Elizabeth Howard Hodgkin (1803-1836), died in childbirth in 1835, her fifth child surviving only a few days. Her four other children all lived to marry and have descendants of their own. John Eliot Hodgkin (1829-1912) became an engineer and a collector of books and manuscripts; a small collection of his papers constitutes section F. Thomas Hodgkin junior (1831-1913) founded a bank (later merged with Lloyds) and had a parallel career as a historian; it was he who cared for the family archive now listed here. Documentation relating to him constitutes section G. Mariabella Hodgkin (1833-1930) married the lawyer, Edward Fry (her children included Roger Fry the art critic) and Elizabeth Hodgkin (1834-1918) married the architect Alfred Waterhouse. John Hodgkin junior's second marriage, to Ann Backhouse (1815-1845), joined the Hodgkins with a prominent Quaker family in the North-East (the Backhouses of Darlington were bankers and were based in Darlington), but the marriage lasted only a few years before her death of Bright's disease. The one child of this marriage, Jonathan Backhouse Hodgkin (1843-1926), appears in this collection chiefly as a small boy; later, he was to marry into the Pease family, a North-Eastern Quaker family of industrialists and bankers several of which occur in the archive as correspondents. Likewise, the six children of John Hodgkin's third marriage, to the Irish Quaker Elizabeth Haughton Hodgkin (1818-1904), are on the whole thinly represented here. What papers there are in this collection relating to children other than Hodgkin's two elder sons are all grouped together as section H.

Two more sections complete the Hodgkin material: I brings together miscellaneous pre-twentieth-century material that was found amongst the Hodgkin papers but not attributable to any specific individual, whilst J deals with twentieth-century members of the family, chiefly descendants of Thomas Hodgkin junior since it was his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who administered the collection until its presentation to the Wellcome Library.

John Hodgkin junior's first marriage, to Elizabeth Howard, linked the Hodgkins to another important Quaker family. Elizabeth was the daughter of the meteorologist and chemist Luke Howard (1772-1864), best known for his system of describing clouds which, with a few modifications, is that which is used today, and Mariabella Eliot (1769-1852), whose forename and surname recur in the Hodgkin and Howard families. The bulk of the Howard family papers are deposited elsewhere, but the family is well represented in this collection: there are papers relating to Luke Howard (section K) and to his daughters Elizabeth (section L) and Rachel (1804-1837) (section M).

Elizabeth Howard's brother Robert (1801-1871) married Rachel Lloyd (1803-1892), member of a Birmingham Quaker banking family, who was known in the family as Rachel Robert Howard to avoid confusion. Rachel "Robert" Howard was to play a notable role in the upbringing of the children of John Hodgkin junior's first marriage after the death of their mother. Her sister, Sarah Lloyd (1804-1890), married Alfred Fox (1794-1874) of Falmouth - a link to yet another significant Quaker family. Their daughter Lucy Anna Fox (1841-1934) was to marry Thomas Hodgkin junior. Correspondence of the sisters Rachel and Sarah Lloyd, and other family members, constitutes section N.

Finally, a few papers relating to the later history of the Howard family are held as section O.

Papers of Adam and Company Limited covering the period 1825 to 1914. They relate to the sugar trade and import merchanting, including in-letters, bills of lading, charter parties, invoices, account sales and disbursements accounts; to ships' agency work, in particular that of the Clan Line; to insurance matters, consisting of policies and claims; to marine casualties, notes of protest and particular and general average statements and survey reports. There is a great deal of detailed information about the employment of immigrants and the conditions relating to their welfare. There is also a census of slaves employed on the Pipon estates in 1826 ('Greffe de l'Enregistrement des Esclaves'). Note that this collection is uncatalogued and there is no detailed list available.

Papers collected by Sir Bruce Ingram, consisting of twenty-seven logs, journals and letterbooks and some single documents. Seven volumes formerly belonged to Admiral Sir Charles Tyler: they include his letter and order books, 1786 to 1789, 1779 to 1802, 1808, 1812 to 1813; the log of the WARRIOR, 1799 to 1800, 1802; and his journal, 1813 to 1815 when he was Commander-in-Chief at the Cape of Good Hope. Individual logs include three kept by midshipmen serving aboard the WARRIOR, 1809 to 1811; SULTAN, 1810 to 1813; and GALATEA, 1810 to 1813; and those kept by a master's assistant in the schooner FAIR ROSAMUND, 1833 to 1835, in the Spanish slave schooner LA PANTINCA taken as a prize, 1834, and in the brigs CONFLICT and FORESTER, 1834. A single letterbook contains the letters written and received by Rear Admiral Thomas Fremantle, 1813 to 1814, when in command of a squadron in the Adriatic. The earliest of the journals are those kept by the Captain of the PELICAN during the La Rochelle expedition, 1628; by Jeremy Roch (1659-1692) during voyages on the ANTELOPE, 1665 to 1667, and the CHARLES GALLEY, 1689 to 1691; and by Francis Rogers on a voyage to the East Indies in the ARABIA MERCHANT, 1701 to 1705, which includes accounts of trade at Charleston, 1711. All three were printed in a book edited by Sir Bruce Ingram, Three Stuart Sea Journals (London, 1936). Later journals include that of Bertolemeo Muscat who served aboard the French brig LE NATIONAL during the Egyptian expedition, 1798; the journal of the Reverend Edward Mangin, aboard the GLOUCESTER and VALIANT, 1812; that kept by a midshipman who landed with a party of men from the FALMOUTH on Tristan da Cunha in 1816. Also noteworthy in this collection are the memoirs of Peter Cullen, surgeon, 1769 to 1812, and a report on the fortifications along the south coast of England in 1779.

Ships' logs from Merchant Shipping. There are some examples of logs kept by commanders, but the majority for which the keeper can be established are by other officers or by midshipmen; there are also five kept by pursers and two by passengers. The format of the logs varies but many from the late-eighteenth century are written on a standard printed form incorporating the arms of the Company. A few are illustrated, notably that of the DUTTON, 1791, kept by Captain James Hamilton, which has daily coloured sketches of the ship showing the set of the sails. Many include lists of the ship's company, passengers and troops. The earliest volume contains copies of logs of several ships between 1659 and 1687 and bears the inscription 'John Ouldham His Book 1697/8'. Another early example is the log of the UPTON GALLEY, 1701 to 1703, to Bengal and back, kept by her commander, John Camell. In some cases a series of logs covers the career of an officer from midshipman to chief officer or commander such as that kept by Henry Wise (fl 1819-1833) in seven volumes on the CASTLE HUNTLEY, from 1819 to 1829, and in the ASTELL, 1830 to 1831, and EDINBURGH, 1832 to 1833, during which time he rose from midshipman to chief officer; and six volumes kept by Searles Wood (fl 1783-1808) between 1783 and 1785 and 1791 and 1802 on various ships, rising from fourth mate to commander.

The latest log is that of the EARL BALCARRES, 1835 to 1837, by the purser, Richard Binks, which includes copies of estimates for rigging, sails, painting and plumbing and stores, together with dimensions and deck plans. In this section there are also five volumes relating to the Bombay Marine and Indian Navy including the log of the SCORPION, a Bombay Marine snow, 1793 to 1794, kept by Captain William Selby which includes a letter and a memorial relating to the capture of the SCORPION by the French in 1794; and two volumes kept by William H Carpendale, midshipman, on various ships of the Indian Navy between 1846 and 1851.

Royal Navy ship's logs. The earliest log begins in 1737 and the latest in 1917 but the majority, over three hundred volumes, are from the nineteenth century. Being, on the whole, kept privately, the format and size of the volumes vary widely. Over three-fifths of the volumes, where the rank of the keeper can be ascertained, were kept by midshipman or naval cadets, but there are examples of logs kept by other ranks from master's mate to admiral. Many of the logs are illustrated with sketches, maps, diagrams and photographs. Of particular note in this respect are the log of the QUEEN CHARLOTTE, 1790, kept by Lieutenant (later Captain) John Mason Lewis (fl 1790-1831); four volumes kept by Sub-Lieutenant (later Commander) Francis H Boyer (d 1926) on various ships between 1869 and 1876; two logs kept on several ships, 1870 to 1873, together with a sketchbook by Henry Bridges Molesworth (1855-1954), midshipman; and the log of the RALEIGH, 1874 to 1876, by Charles Molyneux Howard Oakley (1858-1876), also when a midshipman. Of the forty eighteenth-century volumes, the earliest is the log of the WINDSOR, 1737 to 1741, signed by her captain, George Berkeley (1693?-1746), including an account of the attack on Cartagena in 1741.

There are also two logs by Rear-Admiral Charles Watson (1714-1757) as captain of the princess louisa, 1746 to 1747, including a description of the battle of Cape Finisterre, 1747; an unsigned copy of the log of Admiral Sir George Pocock on the NAMUR, 1762 to 1763, during the siege of Havana; a log of the WINCHELSEA, 1787 by John Dykes (fl 1776-1805), Master, with sailing instructions and copies of his correspondence, 1789; A log of the BRUNSWICK, 1793 to 1794, up to but excluding the First of June, kept by Captain John Harvey (1740-1794) together with the ship's muster and pay book 1792 to 1794; and three logs kept by Prince William Henry (1745-1837) as midshipman on various ships between 1779 and 1783.

There is a series of four logs of the LEVIATHAN, 1795 to 1799 and 1802, which was present at the attack on Leogane in 1796 and at the Minorca landings, 1798; these were possibly kept by Lieutenant (later Captain) William Buchanan (fl 1794-1833) and one volume has additions in the hand of Commodore (later Admiral) Sir John Duckworth, while the log for 1802 includes an index to his letterbooks and a register for 1800. Finally there are also three logs kept by Richard Caley (d 1799), Master's Mate and later Lieutenant, in several ships, 1781 to 1798, including the BLENHEIM at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 1797. Among nineteenth-century logs, numbering over three hundred, are two by Samuel Wise, Master's Mate, on the POLYPHEMUS, 1805 to 1808, which was present at the battle of Trafalgar, 1805; a log by Admiral Sir Augustus William Clifford (1788-1877) as lieutenant in the TIGRE, 1807 to 1809; a log by Lieutenant Thomas Pickering Clarke (fl 1800-1862) on several ships, 1800 to 1807, including a narrative of the Walcheren Expedition, 1809; and a log of Admiral Sir Stephen Lushington (1803-1877) as midshipman on the GANYMEDE, 1818 to 1819. There is also a log of the SPITFIRE, 1835 to 1839, by Robert R Arnott (fl 1834-1839), Assistant Surgeon, together with a rough medical record, 1839; a copy of the log of the VERNON, 1836 to 1837, signed by Captain (later Rear-Admiral) John W M'Kerlie (1774-1848), together with printed sailing reports of the VERNON and a punishment book, 1834 to 1837; and a log of the POLYPHEMUS while engaged in the suppression of the slave trade, 1853 to 1854. Another log of this vessel, 1855 to 1856, kept by Commander (later Captain) Frederic P Warren (d 1891) records her wreck off Jutland on 29 January 1856. Among the volumes relating to the Crimean War there is a log kept by Midshipman (later Captain) Cecil G S Stanley (d 1891), in the ALBION and QUEEN, 1853 and 1855.

Instructions for the Guidance of the Captains and Commanding Officers of Her Majesty's Ships of War employed in The Suppression of the Slave Trade (2 volumes, HMSO, 1892). Volume One includes general instructions for visiting, searching and detaining vessels, sending to port of adjudication, sheltering fugitive slaves, filling in forms and certificates, dealing with British vessels, vessels of no name or nation, vessels from West African states, and vessels covered by the General Act of the Brussels Conference. Volume Two lists treaties with states not party to the Brussels Act and provides special instructions for dealing with vessels from the Argentine Confederation, Bolivia, Borneo, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Equator, Hayti [Haiti], Liberia, Mexico, New Granada, Uruguay and Venezuela; East African Slave Trade: Instructions for Officers of Her Majesty's Navy when employed on detached boat service (Admiralty, 1892), excerpted from the Instructions for the Guidance of the Captains and Commanding Officers of Her Majesty's Ships of War with added vocabulary of Swaheli (Swahili) phrases.

Letter from Henry John Pye of Cacombe Priory, near Banbury, [Oxfordshire] to John Crisp, Esq, of the Anti-Slavery Society, 18 Aldermanbury, London, 16 Aug 1832. Concerning the conditions under which the slaves work and stating that, if elected to the next parliament, he would vote for the abolition of slavery.

Autograph, with signature.

Mainly letters written and received between 1770 and 1835 by Simon Taylor, his family and heirs, and his friends, agents and business partners, relating to their Jamaican estates and business interests. Over a quarter are contained in Simon Taylor's letterbooks. Though the majority of the correspondence consists of letters either to or from Simon Taylor up to his death in 1813, there is also correspondence of other family members, like his brother Sir John Taylor (1741-1786) and his widow Lady Elizabeth Haughton Taylor (1758-182[?2]), their son and his heir Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor, and his cousin and business partner Robert Taylor. Subject matter ranges from the domestic (illness, family quarrels, disinheritance, bigamy) to business (slaves, sugar, trade and shipping, the effects of hurricanes, the introduction of a steam engine on an estate), to the Maroon and French wars and the politics of Abolition. The collection also includes correspondence of George Watson Taylor, 1815-1819, and detailed reports on the estates made for Anna Susannah Watson Taylor in 1835. Genealogical tables for the Taylor, Haughton, Brissett and Hibbert families have been added to the collection at a later date.

Papers of the Brougham family of Brougham, comprising correspondence and papers of four brothers, Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, c1790-1866, William Brougham, 2nd Baron Brougham and Vaux, 1813-1886, James Brougham, 1796-1833, John Waugh Brougham, 1809-1829, of their political associate James Atkinson, 1817-1835, and family and estate papers, 15th century-1932 (largely 19th century).

Papers of James Richardson including printed reports on the commerce of North Africa, 1845-1846; letter dated 28 Oct 1848 concerning James Macqueen's 'Itinerary of a Moorish merchant, Hamed Essagheen'; note on the route from Tripoli to Kouka; note on 'routes to the interior' of Africa, (Timbuktu, Sudan, Bornou, Fez and the route of the annual pilgrim caravan); 'Aheer'; 'Tour of nine months through the heart of the desert of Sahara', bound with 'The Touricks', n.d. and 'M Caillie's account of Timbuctoo compared with the information procured by Mr James Richardson during his late tour through the great desert', 1847.

Papers, notes, tables, etc. relating to Geoffrey John Cusance de Mead's research (for which he was awarded a London PhD in 1954) on the administrative noblesse of France during the eighteenth century, with special reference to the Intendants of the généralités.

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.)

Papers of the De Morgan family, [1756-1928], comprising material relating to the suffragette movement, such as photographs, newpapers, press cuttings and pamphlets; correspondence of Augustus de Morgan, with correspondents including Sir Frederick Richard Pollock, Sir George Biddle Airy, Sir John William Lubbock, John Wrottesley (2nd Baron Wrottesley), John Radford Young, Sir John Frederick William Herschel, John Finlaison, and General Sir John Briggs; correspondence of William Frend de Morgan, mainly with members of his family and Sir Edward Coley Burne Jones; material relating to the de Morgan and Frend families, notably family photographs, drawings, letters, legal documents and memorabilia; letters from Sophia and Mollie de Morgan to Joan Antrobus; manuscript and typescript copies of stories and essays by William and Mary de Morgan; papers relating to Sophia de Morgan's Memoir of her husband Augustus, including letters, reviews and working notes; bundle of letters containing correspondence concerning a petition to the women of America from the women of England about the abolition of slavery; printed material, mainly works by Augustus de Morgan; letters to Francis Baily, [1820-1940]; letters from Thomas Henderson to Thomas Galloway, 1834-1842; 5 watercolours of Scotland by Frances Shakerley, [1920-1930].

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.

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, 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.