Records of Harrisons and Crosfield (Holland) N.V., including articles of association; correspondence and memoranda; financial accounts; and papers concerning the liquidation of the company.

Access to records less than 70 years old which relate to staff should be sought from Elementis plc (contact details may be obtained from a member of staff).

Records of merchants Stratton and Gibson (later known as Stratton, Gibson and Fuller) comprising two series of account books, 1798-1817.

Records of East India and general merchants Tribble, Pearson and Company. The records comprise partnership and tenancy agreements 1914-1957, financial records 1940-72, records of sales and purchases, including correspondence and ledgers, 1929-72, correspondence regarding finance and insurance 1933-70, correspondence with customers 1941-1975, records relating to trade, including papers regarding trademarks, specification books of products and a trade association membership certificate, 1900-1970, correspondence regarding the destruction of the company office 1941-1943, advertising material c 1942 and c 1950, cable books, telegraphic code book and postage book 1897-1959.

The collection also includes a register of members of the International Produce Exchange (1926) Limited 1926-1927 and 1955-1956; its connection with the firm is unknown.

Accounts ledger of Lewis and Baily, merchants and shippers, 1711-12; with accounts of John Pope, merchant, 1716-17.

Outgoing letter book of Peter Bond Burgoyne and Company, wine importers.

Agreements for the hire of vessels at Bathurst, Australia, to the River Gambia Trading Company Limited.

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.

Papers of Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt, consisting of various reports, 1850 to 1884, which include surveys (particularly of the Black Sea area); remarks on Crete and the Cretans; on the coal trade of the Black Sea; on a new harbour at Malta; on an electric cable between Malta and Alexandria; reports submitted to the Teignmouth Harbour Commission and Fishery Commission reports for England and Ireland. Spratt's correspondence consists of a few letters received and some draft replies, 1853 to 1860. The memorandum of his service, 1837 to 1862, contains an account of his part in the Crimean War. His publications are also listed.

Records of Whitbread International Limited, a subsidiary company of Whibread and Company Limited, brewers. Records include ledgers detailing Whitbread exports and ship stocks from the 1920s through to the 1970s along with advertising from the launch of various Whitbread products abroad most notably that of Mackeson Stout and Whitbread Premium Draught Beer.

Papers of Commander Alexander Montgomerie. There are account books for the BWSBOROUGH, 1777 to 1781; a letterbook, 1786 to 1788, and a log book of the BOMBAY CASTLE, 1793 to 1794.

Papers of Capt Archibald Hamilton, consisting of journals, owners' instructions, accounts of stores, navigational work books, cash books, as well as accounts of the engagement off Pulo Aor and the subsequent court of enquiry. There are also private and general trade accounts and several items of economic interest, including a fabric pattern sample book the papers relate to Montgomerie Hamilton, younger brother of Archibald. There are a number of logs of other East India Company ships, 1765 to 1785, and some papers of William Reid, relating to trade with North America, 1734 to 1735.

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 Clive Macmillan Schmitthoff, c 1880-1990, including official and personal correspondence on topics including royalties, publisher contacts, conferences, obituaries of friends, wartime correspondence, references, academic societies, course notes, arbitration rules in the London Chamber of Commerce summer schools, c 1980-1995 and professional commercial treaties - correspondents include the Board of Trade, the International Chamber of Commerce and the Institute of Import and Export; press cuttings; appointment diaries; notebooks; lecture notes; articles; videos and cinefilm, c 1960-1985; photographs, including family photographs c 1890-1994; minutes of meetings and other papers relating to arbitration, Frankfurt, 1968-1969, Turkey, 1968 and Uganda, 1990; City of London College photographs and correspondence with London Chamber of Commerce Law Committee, c 1945-1990; personal papers including nationalisation documents, revocation right to practice in Germany and papers relating to his change of name and correspondence and papers relating to his wife's family (Ilse Auerbach).

Administrative records of the London Business School, 1965-1998, comprising:
Governing Body minutes and papers, 1976-1998, including copy of Royal Charter, lists of Governors and correspondence on Governing Body membership;
Executive Committee minutes and papers, 1981-1983;
Management Board minutes, 1989-1993
Faculty Board minutes and papers, 1986-1989, including Doctoral Programme reports, 1986-1988; review of LBS subject areas by Academic Board, 1986; reports of the Sloan Programme, 1987-1988; reports of the Design Management Unit, 1987-1989; report of Masters' Programmes, 1987-1989; reports of Institute of Finance and Accounting, 1987-1988; reports of Centre for Business Strategy, 1987-1988; reports of Computing Services, 1987-1989; Library reports, 1987-1989; reports of the Centre for Management Development, 1987-1988; report of the New Enterprise/Extended Enterprise programmes, 1987; report of Information Systems and Computing Committee, 1987; report of London Executive Programme, 1987; report of Continuing Executive Programme, 1988; reports of the Alumni Association, 1988-1989; report of the Programme for Enterprise, 1988; report of the Centre for Marketing and Communications, 1988; report of the Audio-Visual Unit, 1989; report of the Financial Services Unit, 1989;
Buildings and Estates papers, 1965-1997, including architects plans for Sussex Place, 1967; Land Registration original documents, 1965-1988; Park Road shops - correspondence and management report, 1989-1991; Taunton Place building, 1996-1997; Windsor Castle Public House, Park Road, 1982-1989; gardens and landscaping papers, 1990-1992; Park Road planning appeal papers, 1979;
House Committee minutes and correspondence, 1969-1987;
Appointments Committee: correspondence, applications and minutes, 1973-1976;
Investment Committee: minutes and papers, 1983-1986, 1989-1995; Phillips & Drew Investment Reports, 1987-1989;
Computing Service: papers, 1988-1992;
Dean for Executive Education: correspondence 1989-1992;
Library Papers, 1985-1992;
Centre for Management Design: correspondence, 1975-1987;
Paintings and Gifts: correspondence and photographs, 1965-1990;
MBA Programme: correspondence and papers, 1972-1993;
External Affairs: correspondence, 1989-1994;
Personnel Department: papers, 1990-1994;
Coopers & Lybrand (Chartered Accountants): correspondence, 1964-1998;
University Grants Committee/Universities Funding Council/HEFCE: correspondence and papers, 1987-1994; HEFCE Auditors Visit, Apr 1995, correspondence and papers;
George Bain (Principal 1989-1997): Report on Bain's visit to US business schools, 1989;
Fundraising: Development Office reports and correspondence, 1990-1991; Development Advisory Board - Minutes and Papers, 1991-1993;
Regent's College: papers on proposed purchase, 1994-1995.

Letter from Victor de Riqueti, Marquis de Mirabeau to 'mon cher Monsieur duchesne', 25 Jun 1775. Asking him for his good offices on behalf of 'un pauvre provençal', who was in Paris 'pour une affaire à la terray qui ruineroit tout le commerce'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Sir Robert Peel of Whitehall to Andrew Rankin, Esq of Glasgow, 10 May 1843. Acknowledging receipt of a letter regarding the removal of import duties on cotton wool.

Written in another hand and signed by Peel. With the original sealed envelope bearing Peel's coat of arms.

Letter from John Burnett of the Board of Trade to Professor H S Foxwell, 11 Nov 1889. 'There can be little doubt that there were trade combinations in existing [sic] very early in the eighteenth century'.

Autograph, with signature.

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.

Paper entitled The Strike in the London Boot Trade, 1885-1886.

Collection of transcripts, [1560]-1624, mainly relating to Privy Council matters, notably a petition presented to King James I by Sir Robert Heath, Solicitor General, 1624; a survey of the Forests and Chaces [Chases] of Bringwood, Mocktree and Darvell, with the Manor of Buriton, 1604; a letter from King James I to the Peers of England and the Privy Council concerning the composition of the Privy Council and the replacement of the ailing Lord Chamberlain by Thomas Howard, Lord Howard of Walden, 1603; copies of documents relating to the French conquest of Guiana, South America, including commissions granted by King Henry IV of France to Renée Marie, Lord Mountbarrot, and Daniel de la Touche, Lord of Raverdiere, for the conquest of Guiana, 1605 and 1609, the appointment of Robert Le Brette, Lord Dubosc, as Raverdiere's lieutenant in Guiana and other parts of America, including Brazil, 1609; the commission of Sir John Digby, Vice-Chamberlain, to negotiate a marriage between Prince Charles of England and the Infanta Maria, daughter of King Philip III of Spain, 1615; a letter written by Captain Charles Parker, one of Sir Walter Raleigh's company at Guiana, to Captain Alley, 1607; a declaration of proceedings in the Star Chamber against John Wrenham, who charged the Lord Chancellor of injustice against the King, 1618; a discourse of marriage written by Charles Blount, Earl of Devonshire, in defence of his wedding to Penelope, Lady Rich, [1605]; a discourse written by Dr Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Ely, against second marriage following a divorce, 1601; a discourse made by merchant adventurers on the occasion of a bill preferred to the High Court of Parliament, requiring free trade to all kingdoms and countries, [1610]; a consideration of the office and duty of a herald in England by John Dodridge, the Solicitor General, 1605; proceedings in the Star Chamber against Mary Countess of Shrewsbury for her refusal to give evidence against Arabella Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, 1618; an Act of Council upon the proceedings against James Whitlocke and Sir Robert Mansell for speaking against the King's Commission for reform of the Navy and also against the King's power and prerogative, 1609; speeches, and a memorandum on the union of England and Scotland, by Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, 1617; a copy of 'The present state of things as theye nowe stand, betweene the three greate kingdomes, France, England and Spayne, [1623], and 'A breviarie of the historie of England from William I, intitled the Conqueror, both written by Sir Walter Raileighe, Knight'; a speech by John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln and Keeper of the Great Seal of England, on the occasion of the collecting of the subsidy, Aug 1621; two versions of instructions by William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, Lord Treasurer to his son, Robert Cecil, 1561 and [1598]; letters from Sir Henry Sidney to his brother and to his son, Phillip, [1560]; a treatise entitled 'Toucheinge the Antiquities of Baronies delivered in the College of Antiquaries', [1600].

Manuscript volume containing a treatise by Samuel Lambe, [1657], headed 'Seasonable observations humbly offered to his Highness The Lord Protector', advocating the increase of Britain's naval strength, the establishment of banks and a 'Court of Merchants' as a means of encouraging trade. The following papers were either inserted in the volume or came from the binding: orders of 24 Apr and 14 May 1629 signed by John Jordan of Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire, to the constables of Fawley, Buckinghamshire, concerning the collection of the composition for 'His Majestie's provision' and the maintenance of a night watch.

Manuscript volume containing a copy of a petition to the House of Lords by the wool producers of Suffolk, 1788, protesting against the bill 'for preventing the exportation of Live Sheep Wool'. The manuscript is endorsed 'Mr Kirby's brief'. The petition was drawn up at a public meeting held at Ipswich on May 29th, 1788.

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'.

Letter from Jean-Baptiste Colbert of Versailles, [France] to M Daguesseau, 1 Jan 1683. Promoting the manufacturers of Saptes and Clermont in France, and their exports to the Levant.

With autograph signature.

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).

3 letter from Richard Pery of London to Richard and John Wisse (or Wise), merchants, of Totnes, Devon, 1621. Concerning the sale of wine and related payments.

All letters are autograph, with signatures and seals.

Letter, May 1 1802 addressed to the Rt Hon William Wickham, Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whitehall. 'Lord Sheffield has caused the tracts sent herewith relative to Ireland to be bound together with the wish they may be usefull (sic) in respect to reference to Mr. Wickham. The first gives details of the state, manufactures & commerce of Ireland to the year 1785. The speech on union continues those details to the present times and the observations on the export of wool to Ireland shews the state of the woollen manufacture in both countries'. Autograph, unsigned.

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.

Manuscript notebook containing details of supply granted by Parliament for 1740, with the votes from 17 Nov 1739 to 10 Mar 1740 authorising it. Includes details of the resolutions of the Ways and Means Committees from 26 Nov 1739 to 11 Mar 1740.

Manuscript volume containing a discussion of the present exploitation of commerce in Egypt, relative to the French nation, 1762, including lists of goods suitable for import and export, and sections dealing with currency, credit and transport.

Letter from William Huskisson of Eastham, [Worcestershire] to [? Charles] Grant [? afterwards Baron Glenelg], 9 Dec 1825. Referring to 'our commerical Convention with the Hans Towns'.

Autograph, with signature.

Manuscripts relating to North American trade, namely:

1. 'An account of the value of the imports into England from the North American Colonies from Christmas 1739 to Christmas 1761.' The account shows the value of imports from each of the 12 colonies, with an abstract of the total amount for each year.
2. An account similar to the above, showing the value of exports from England to the North American Colonies, 1739-1761.
   There is no evidence to show by whom or for whom the accounts were drawn up. They appear to have been for official use.

Papers of the Gordon family of Letterfourie, Banffshire, Scotland, relating to their merchant interests and financial matters, 1735-[1800], comprising, including a bond in £250 of 1735 discharged in 1751 by James Gordon and his son Patrick to John Gordon; two letters from Strauss & Schmidt, Lisbon, to James Gordon, 1763; an invoice and bill of lading, dated Oct 1770, for goods shipped on the Hambro Packet from Hamburg by order of Alexander Gordon & Co., Madeira; a letter from C. Grant, Edinburgh, to James Gordon, 7 Dec 1785; two receipts of 1799 for money paid by a Mrs. Gordon; and a letter from James and Alexander Gordon at school to their parents in Letterfourie, [1800].
The collection also contains material not apparently relating to the Gordon family: accounts of John Scott, vintner in Portsoy, 'for Letterfouries servants and horses when sundry times in Banff', 22 Dec 1798-3 Jun 1799; a 'Certificate of the term of payment of Lady Fraiser [of Durris]'s annuities, 19 Nov 1776, signed by the town clerk of Aberdeen; and a receipt of 1780 for payment for goods bought from E. Fielder, stationer, London, by a Mr. Ruddick. The connection between the Gordon items and the last two items is unknown.

Manuscript volume containing a report [to the House of Lords] by the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, 16 Dec 1703, on the state of trade.

Manuscript volume containing a treatise entitled 'The means of a most ample increase of the wealth and strength of England in a few years', 1706, including sections concerning the economic history of England, government regulation of trade and the East India Company. Includes a dedicatory epistle to Queen Anne.

A volume entitled Customs of ye Stanarys & Journall of ye Convocators 1703. It relates chiefly to the stannary of Blackmore, but also other Cornish stannaries. Concludes with a note that information used 'were copied out of a manuscript I had of Mr Thomas Hawkins. Signed John Hill.'

Papers relating to property of John Michie, Director of the East India Company, at 'Muffets' or North Mimms, Hertfordshire, comprising a list of the fields, woods, etc. with their acreages, dated May 1780. There is also a list of those paying land tax, with the amounts, headed 'Present rate of North Myms Common' 7 Jul 1780.
On the reverse of one list is a brief memorandum headed 'By the Joint Committee of private Trade and Shipping', concerning an enquiry into the conduct of captain Peter Douglas of the Queen and Captain John Coggan of the Shrewsbury for 'parting company outward bound contrary to the orders of the Secret Committee' in 1777, dated 5 May 1780, initialled by four of the Company directors, and with a note that it was read in court. The documents are accompanied by a wrapper endorsed 'Muffets. (Account of Grounds by Messrs. Michie'.

Letters and accounts from Gunter, Greenway & Co. to Joseph Previté concerning the import and export of groceries. The account books cover the period March 1840 to March 1843.

Manuscript copy of Reflections on the importation of bar-iron, from our own colonies of North-America, printed in 1757, possibly by Joseph Sykes, in response to The case of the importation of bar-iron (1756), written by the Reverend Josiah Tucker on behalf of the Iron Manufacturers of Great Britain. The volume also includes copies of 2 letters, of 29 April 1765, from Joseph Sykes in Hull to the Master Cutler [Sheffield], and of 1 May 1765 from David Barclay & Sons, London, linen merchants, to Mr [William] Dixon [in Sheffield], both concerning the debate on the import of American as opposed to Swedish iron and proposals for additional duty upon Swedish iron before the Board of Trade.The above items are bound with a printed version of The case of the importation of bar-iron (1756), by Josiah Tucker.

Two unpublished manuscripts written between 1746-1750 regarding trade and commerce. References are made to the South Sea Company and British trade in America.

Information regarding the value of the trade of Britain and Ireland, 1698-1765.

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").

A volume giving information on the quantity and value of goods imported and exported to and from England, 1696-1701. The volume has the book plate of John Holroyd, Earl of Sheffield.

The Dalton papers consist of diaries, correspondence, speeches, personal papers, photographs and printed material, covering subjects such as Foreign Office papers, economic reform, political and Labour Party issues, defence policy and production, Dalton's honours and offices, the Special Operations Executive, the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and the Board of Trade. There are also annotated copies of Hansard and various Labour Party pamphlets. They comprise the following:
Diaries, 1916-1960
Papers, 1929-1960: 1. Foreign Office papers, 1929-1930; 2. Economic reform, 1932-1938; 3. Political and Labour Party papers, 1936-1940; 4. Defence policy and production, with particular reference to the Royal Air Force, 1936-1940; 5. Correspondence, 1932, 1935-1940; 6. Speeches, 1929-1940; 7. Political papers and speeches, 1940-1945; 8. Political and general correspondence, 1940-1945; 9. Political papers and correspondence, 1945-1955, 1960; 10. Letters of congratulation etc, 1947-1957; 11. Letters from Ruth Dalton, 1948-1952; 12. Writings, 1919, 1950-1961; 13. Address and engagement books, 1959-1961; 14. Honours and offices, 1918, 1940-1960; 15. Financial records, 1919-1964; 16. Various undated papers, 1919-1964; 17. Cartoons and photographs; 18. Papers found after the completion of the list (mostly concerning the Special Operations Executive, the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and the Board of Trade), 1940-1942; 19. Additions (family ephemera), 1936-1965.
Printed material, 1918-1959: Annotated copies of Hansard and Labour Party pamphlets.

Correspondence to and from Frederic and Ethelberta Harrison, including family correspondence and photocopies of Harrison's correspondence with Edward Spencer Beesly; Frederic Harrison's writings and speeches, including diaries on subjects such as the cotton famine in Lancashire, essays on subjects such as positivism, peoples education and the French Revolution, autobiographical notes, and ephemera; and press cuttings.

Volume of typescript copies of Sir Robert Hart's letters to J D Campbell, 1903-1907.

Manuscript letterbooks, 1898-1906, containing copies of letters from James Duncan Campbell in London to Sir Robert Hart.

Manuscript letterbook, 1860-1863, of George H Fitzroy whilst at Shanghai, containing copy letters to various recipients, the subjects including his personal and financial affairs, property, and employment.