Records of the Levant Company, comprising English translation of the Company charter of 1661.

Letter from Samuel Plimsoll of 28 Park Lane, London to [?a newspaper editor], 26 Feb 1890. Complaining of frequent allegations that: 'I seek to subject English ship-owners to restrictions and regulations from which foreigners are exempted.' He has obtained evidence from the Board of Trade to show that foreign ships are not thus privileged.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Richard Cobden to R C Chawner, Esq of Wall, near Lichfield, [Staffordshire], 9 Apr [1844]. Asking him to give a 'free trade address from the boards of Covent Garden.'

Autograph, with signature. With the original envelope, bearing the seal of the National Anti-Corn Law League.

This collection consists predominantly of notes, correspondence, press cuttings and printed matter on subjects such as British industries (including aviation, tin, steel, cotton and coal), prices and wages, restrictive practices, and economic development overseas. The collection also contains some personal papers including bank books and university notebooks.

Records of the Newington Petty Sessional Division, 1775-1966, including court minute books; licensing calendars and registers; registers of rates recovery, registers of weights and measures offences and registers of Fire Brigade Act offences.

Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate. Court minute books or notebooks are rough notes of the proceedings recording the gist of the evidence given.

Correspondence and papers of Richard Jebb, 1885-1953, principally comprising correspondence 1884-1953 (correspondents include Leopold Stennett Amery, Lionel Curtis, Lord Grey, Sir Edward Grigg (later Lord Altrincham), W. Mackenzie King, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Alfred, Lord Milner, Sir Charles Tupper, and Sir Fabian Ware); also notebooks, journals of tours of colonies in 1898-1900 and 1905-1906, and diaries; photograph albums, mostly relating to tours of colonies; printed articles by Richard Jebb; drafts of Studies in Colonial Nationalism and a third volume of The Imperial Conference; carbon copies of Jebb's speeches and articles; reviews of publications; press cuttings from Morning Post leaders and articles and press cuttings from other newspapers including articles by Jebb and scrap book of cuttings on the Imperial conference, 1907; materials relating to the East Marylebone election, 1910; accounts and bound proceedings of colonial conferences, 1887, 1894, 1897 and 1902.

Manuscript volume, 1608, containing a memorandum outlining reasons why the States General (the Dutch National Assembly) should not abandon trade with the West Indies, entitled 'Memoire des très prégnantes raisons qui doisvent esmouvoir Messigneurs les Estats Généreaux des Provinces Unies pour n'abandonner le trafficq des Indes'.

A printed volume containing decisions of the French Conseil d'Estat relating to commerce, 1700-1708, but including three manuscript items as follows:

1. 'Essai des marchandises qu'il est permis de tirer des pays estrangers...suivant l' arrêt du Conseil du 18 Aoust 1705', a table listing items of merchandise permitted to be taken from Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Scotland, Germany, Ireland and Portugal, [1708]. (2 leaves. 11" x 8½").
2. 'Règlement que le roy veut estre observé dans l'ordre de distribution et raport qui sera fait par les sieurs intendans du commerce des affaires qui auront esté renvoyées au Conseil de Commerce', dated at Marly on 9 Oct 1708', followed by lists of areas of jurisdiction with their departmental officers. (14 leaves. 11" x 8½").
3. Incomplete manuscript index to the volume, which is paginated throughout in manuscript. (6 leaves. 11" x 8½").

3 letters from Henry George Grey (3rd Earl Grey) of Howick, [Northumberland] to J L Ricardo MP, 16 Jun-4 Jul 1855. Dealing mainly with a free trade agreement between Barbados and Canada, and a proposed loan to Turkey.

Autograph, with signature. With 1 envelope.

Letter from Richard Cobden of Manchester to Mr [?George] Moffatt, 23 Dec 1845. 'Not a word passed between [Earl] Grey and me upon any other subject than corn - I called on him solely for the purpose of urging the Whigs to stick to our principle, and to explain that the League could not swerve a hairs breadth from its path of Total and Immediate to suit any party. This is all that passed - [Viscount] Palmerstons name was of course never mentioned or referred to ... The Whigs are lower than ever by this exhibition of impracticableness at a moment when every other question ought to have been suspended at least till they had dealt some-how or other with that food crisis which alone called them into place and alone warranted them in assuming a power which otherwise they did not possess. At such a time to squabble over seats at the Council board! If I had been Lord John [Russell], history should have rather said of me that I had sent into the parish vestryroom for a dozen select men of the parish to form my cabinet, until I could in my place in Parlt. birng on the total repeal of the corn law, than that I had allowed any two or even twelve men to stop me in my course when once pledged to such an undertaking'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from W G Burns of Derby to Colonel [Thomas Perronet] Thompson, 23 Feb 1846. 'As I think it [a] pity you should be ignorant [of] the nature of the arguments [u]rged against free trade principles I send you a specimen of [w]hat a clerical opponent can [d]o ...'

Autograph, with signature. Written on the dorse of the title page and the end fly leaf of a pamphlet [by Henry Robert Crewe] The repeal of the Corn Laws (1846).

Letter from Richard Cobden of Manchester to F Buloz, Esq, Paris, 19 Dec 1845. Answering Buloz's request for a collection of the National Anti-Corn Law League's publications for an article in the Revue des Deux Mondes. Cobden explains that 'no complete collection of [tracts, articles, pamphlets and advertisements] has been preserved - Nor has there been any history of the League written in England.' He promises to give full information and 'copies of all our publications which are preserved' to a visitor 'if recommended by you'. He recommends Bastiat's Cobden et la Ligue [printed by Senlis, Paris, 1845]. 'I may also add the Monsr Fonteyrand ... paid us a visit here a few weeks ago to whom I explained the machinery of our organisation ... I am not sure that he would feel at liberty to assist in furnishing an article for your publication - But he is more competent than any other person in France to do it correctly - At all events, I wish you would see him ... and say that I shall be obliged if he will allow you to have access to the publications which I gave him and afford you all facilities in his power for preparing a description of the League ...'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from John King of Whitehall to William Fawkener, Esq, 9 Nov 1799. Covering letter stating that the Duke of Portland [Home Secretary] had referred a petition on Irish oat and bean exports to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland [Charles Cornwallis]. Enclosing a copy [missing] of Cornwallis's letter on the subject, sent 'for the information of the Lords of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council'.

[Written in another hand and] signed by John King. Endorsed: 'Letter from Mr. King transmitting Copy Letter from the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, upon the subject of the petition of the proprietors of mail coaches, praying that the exportation of oats and beans from Ireland may be allowed in favour of Great Britain only'; endorsement dated 20 Nov 1799.

Records of Kensington Petty Sessional Division, 1890-1973, including court registers; registers of offences under the Education Acts; registers of offences under Weights, Food and Drugs regulations; minutes and registers relating to licensing; indexes of off-licensed premises; Justices signing-in books; court files; and records of the North-Western Sub-Committee of County of London Licensing Planning Committee.

Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate. Court minute books or notebooks are rough notes of the proceedings recording the gist of the evidence given.

Minutes of preliminary meetings of the Cattle Feeding Stuffs Central Advisory Committee.

Papers of the India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ceylon Conferences. They include Minute Books (1885-1990), Annual Reports (1964-1972), Letterbooks (1952-1994), Visits of Conference Delegates (1967-1986) and Freight Tariffs (1915-1985) from various Conferences held between 1885 and 1994.

Papers relating to the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) (RIIA) Commonwealth Conference in Lagos, Nigeria, 1962, comprising correspondence between Professor Charles Edmund Carrington, RIIA and Prof Kenneth Robinson, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, draft papers on African politics, aid and trade, draft reports on the cold war in Africa, pan-africanism, Britain's application to join the European Common Market, and the future of Commonwealth co-operation in Africa

Manuscript volume containing a paper entitled 'A state of the trade to Sweden before and since the Prohibition', presented to the House of Commons as a petition for the relaxation of restrictions on trade with Sweden, 1717-1718.

Manuscript volume containing a report by Sir Edwin Sandys on behalf of the parliamentary committee on free trade, entitled 'Instructions touching the Bill for Free Trade'. The report was read to the House of Commons by Sandys on 21 May 1604. Catalogued by Reginald Rye, Goldsmith's Librarian of the University of London, as the original manuscript. The manuscript contains material which was not printed in the Journals of the House of Commons.

Manuscript volume, [1610], containing a treatise by Sir John Davies, Attorney General of Ireland, on royal regulation of commerce, beginning 'This question concerning your Majesties prerogative in laying Impositions upon Marchandizes'.

Papers of Frederick Cecil Chapman, 1937-[1970], notably comprising University of London extension lecture notes, covering psychology, welfare, accounting, secretarial and administration, commerce and society, [1937-1942]; notes, specimen papers, syllabus, County Hall courses and University of London Degree and Postgraduate courses on bookkeeping, commerce, vocational pedagogy and business economics, 1937-1942; notes and draft lectures on energy, government, aircraft production, post-war rehabilitation, hospitals and mental health, 1946-1947; notes used for teaching, commentaries on world events and quasi diary notes, 1947-1956; notebooks entitled 'Personal Copyright and Official Minutes including Provisional Legislation concerning the Royal Commission of Tribunal, Enquiries and Inquiries, 1958-1970', relating to the functioning of a variety of administrative and legislative authorities and boards; pamphlets by Chapman, entitled Random Papers and Reminiscences and Progress within the Empire.

This collection consists of Giffen's correspondence on subjects including the national finances, currency and bimetallism (particularly in relation to India), wages and prices, free trade, and expenditure on the army and navy; articles by Giffen, on diverse subjects including the national finances and monetary laws, the Political Economy Club, and househunting and housebuilding; papers on subjects including war risks to British trade and shipping and 'The Statist'; and press cuttings concerning currency, trade, public finance, and Giffen himself.

Tariff Commission reports and memoranda; agendas and minutes for meetings of the Commission and its committees; evidence presented by witnesses; questionnaires distributed to the industrial and agricultural sectors; indices to the reports and evidence; correspondence received by the Commission; unpublished reports and papers; notes, drafts, rough papers, statistics and lectures arising from the Reports and investigations of the Commission and used as reference material; financial and legal papers; published material other than that produced by the Commission, including books and articles by W A S Hewins; and minute books and financial papers of the Tariff Reform League.

Papers, 1889-1969, of the China Association, including minutes and committee papers of the General Committee and Executive Committee; correspondence with the Foreign Office, Board of Trade, Sino-British Trade Council, Tientsin and Hong Kong Chambers of Commerce, Hong Kong Association and the British Consulate in Shanghai; annual reports (1889-1962); and separate items including the minutes and papers of the China Association's School of Practical Chinese Endowment Fund (1908-1955). Also includes committee papers and minutes of the British Chambers of Commerce in Hankow and Tientsin, the Hong Kong Association, the Sino-British Trade Council, and the British Residents' Association in Shanghai. Also includes photographs of banquets (1896-1906), and albums of newspaper cuttings on China (1940-1947) and Japan (1942-1949).

Letter from J M Hyde of 4 Westcome Park, Blackheath, Kent to J Briggs, 22 Mar 1873. Thanking him for a letter which 'gives me a notion of the v[er]y extreme ideas of a decided oponent [sic] to the dictum of Home Industry being of any national importance - I will send you a copy of a letter addressed by me to Mr [Adolphe] Thiers, it contains the view I hold on the subject of the onesided system of competition, - onesided free trade has introduced ...'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Richard Cobden to Mrs Drummond, 16 Shamrock Place, Edinburgh, 12 May 1845. Thanking her for a present to his young daughter. Referring to [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, who 'is now I fear a little under the shade, in consequence of his Maynooth vote, with some of his constitutents', and to the bazaar given by the National Anti-Corn Law League at Covent Garden.

Autograph, with signature. With the original envelope (with a decorative border in the form of wheat ears), bearing the seal of the National Anti-Corn Law League.