This series contains reports and memoranda on the purchase of stores and stocks, including details of tyre contracts and lists of contractors, proposed contracts for the sale of bus bodies and war risk clauses, the use of firezone oil and waste oil and fuel rationing as well as Railway Executive Committee correspondence on petrol allocation and coupons.

Papers relating to British railway history, especially that of the Great Western Railway (GWR) and railways in the London area, including books, maps, periodicals, timetables and several thousand photographs, c 1920s-1980s. The books represent a strong collection on British railway history from earliest times to the early 1980s. There are some substantial runs of major periodical titles. There is a large collection of early railway maps including Airey and Railway Clearing House (RCH) maps; also Ordnance Survey maps and railway junction diagrams, a substantial collection of Bradshaw guides, working and passenger timetables, with the following archival material:

Clinker Collection comprising notes and correspondence relating to the publications of Charles Ralph Clinker on railway history, particularly his Register of closed passenger stations and goods depots in England, Scotland and Wales, 1830-1977 (1963, revised 1978) and papers relating to his 1982 revision of the History of the Great Western Railway (London, 1964) by E T MacDermot; timetables, including those for the Bristol area, 1880s-1970s; General Strike, 1926; timetables during other strikes, 1920s; Great Western and Midland, various notices; Midland and South Western Junction Railway timetables, 1885-1947; operation instructions, GWR, London Midland and Scottish (LMS), London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), Southern Railway (SR); GWR working of stations, 1939-1965; LMS Railway train marshalling, 1943-1944; LMS timetables, 1890s-1940s; train arrangements during World War One and World War Two, 1914-1918, 1939-1945; papers relating to Broadgauge conversion; papers relating to Golden Valley Railway and Leominster-Kington Railway; ephemera relating to the Hay Railway, 1811-1977; Southern Railway plans for stations west of Salisbury, 1905- (mainly 1920s-1930s); Severn Bridge, General Manager's file, 1936-1943; logging of train performances, 1918-1927; books and periodicals, including rare and 19th century printed material on the early railway system, particularly guidebooks and station instructions.

Garnett Collection, mainly comprising railway maps, particularly those produced from 1869 by John Airey, an employee of the Railway Clearing House (RCH), and subsequently by the RCH itself, and also includes Ordnance Survey maps and railway maps produced by the various railway companies; catalogues and research notes by Garnett, including lists of maps prepared by Airey and the RCH, 1869-1960; Macaulay [Zachary] series for Great Britain, Ireland and London, 1851-1908; notes on tramways and railways in Port Talbot area; catalogues of station handbooks, 1851-1956, and railway junction diagrams (the Airey and RCH maps, station handbooks and junction diagrams were used to determine ownership of stations and junctions for commercial purposes).

Research notes and photographs relating to Railway structures by Stuart Kear (9 vols); typescript of Chronology of the construction of Britain's railways, 1856-1922 by Leslie James; research notes by John Palmer on 19th century railway periodicals and the Eastern Counties Railway in its formative years; research notebooks and papers of Harold Vernon Borley on the history of railways in London, used for his Chronology of London railways (Railway and Canal Historical Society, Oakham, 1982).

Locomotive and General Railway Collection, featuring several thousand photographs (photographer unknown) of British locomotives, particularly steam trains, 1920s-1970s.

Wookey Collection, comprising several thousand photographs of British railway stations and signal boxes.

Mowat Collection (of Professor Charles Loch Mowat, 1911-c1969), comprising 2500 photographs in albums of railway scenes, 1926-1969 (mostly 1942-1969, with a few before 1924). These are mostly of small and medium sized railway stations (trains are generally incidental), covering most of the United Kingdom, with particular emphasis on the GWR and Wales, with coverage of Somerset and Dorset, Midland and South Western Junction, Lincolnshire, Midland Railway in the West Country, Great Eastern, Glasgow and Edinburgh Suburban, Bristol Suburban, Ireland, and narrow gauge lines in the UK such as Ffestiniog, Penrhyn, Bishop's Castle and Ditton's Prior. He also covered south east of Manchester in 1962, including the Hayfield, Macclesfield, Buxton (London North Western and Midland) and North Staffordshire lines. The collection also includes Mowat's index to his photographs and 14 notebooks containing track diagrams and notes on the stations he photographed, c 1920-1969.

Papers mainly concerning the construction and administration of bridges, roads, piers, railways, harbours, reservoirs and canals in Scotland, 1782-1841, including correspondence of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811), Robert Saunders Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville (1771-1851), and Sir Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas (1741-1820). The collection comprises letters, petitions, memorials, plans, estimates, reports, financial accounts, legal papers, trustees minutes and circulars relating to bridges including the Dee, Don, Urie, Findhorn, Montrose, Nairn, Pease, and Spey; canals including the Borrowstone Canal Navigation, the Clarence Canal, the Forth and Clyde Navigation, and the Union Canal (Falkirk to Edinburgh); ferries such as the Dysart Ferry, Queensferry, and Tay Ferries; harbours and piers notably Burntisland Harbour and Pier, Kinghorn Harbour, Hartlepool Pier, and Newhaven Pier; the Gala Water Railroad; the North Esk Reservoirs; roads in Aberdeen, Inverness, Dalkeith, Edinburgh, Glenlaidnaig, Glenlichorn, Lanarkshire, Lauriston, Perth, and Stirling.

Press cuttings, leaflets and reports of proceedings of the Parliamentary Committee on the proposed Cheltenham and Oxford Railway Company.

Papers relating to the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company, comprising printed letters to shareholders, reports of directors, reports in newspapers and notices of requirement of land to build the railway, addressed to Charles Fox and Sarah Fox of Wellington, Somerset.

Records, 1926-1951, of the Chinese Government Purchasing Commission (CGPC), including information on the state of Chinese communications; the workings of the Chinese Ministries of Communications, Railways and Industries; Chinese banking; construction and engineering technology and the work of British manufacturers; and some information on Chinese educational and cultural institutions in receipt of subsidies from the Board of Trustees for the Administration of the Indemnity Funds Remitted by the British Government.

Records, 1926-1951, relating to the foundation and constitution of the CGPC comprise printed report of the Anglo-Chinese Advisory Committee (China Indemnity Advisory Committee), 1926; correspondence, largely letters from the Board of Trustees to the CPGC, 1931-1950, concerning the constitution of the Commission, procedural issues, personnel and financial matters; file on procedure on appointment of a new member of the Commission, 1947-1948; correspondence concerning events preceding the winding-up of the Commission, 1951.

Financial records, 1931-1951, comprise papers on the Board Account, 1937-1950; papers on the Chin Fund (apparently a grant paid to Constance Chin, a patient of the Bethlem Royal Hospital), 1945-1951; summaries of expenses relating to purchase orders made by Chinese ministries, 1931-1951; Indemnity Fund cash books, 1937-1950; invoices and receipts relating to CGPC business, 1937-1951; financial statements and correspondence relating to banking matters with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, 1931-1951, the subjects including investments and tax.

Operational records, c1928-1951, relating to the administration of purchase orders, comprise register of tenders/purchase orders, 1942-1946; contract registers (not comprehensive), 1931-1949, recording the management of contracts for the supply and delivery in China of plant, machinery and other materials manufactured in the UK for the Chinese government, and over 1,000 related contract files for engineering companies and manufacturers for industrial, construction, railway and other projects; tender forms, 1934, issued to contractors by the CGPC; specifications and standards, c1928-1937 and undated, largely for the construction of railways and carriages; correspondence concerning administration of purchase orders, 1932-1951, relating especially to delivery of locomotive spare parts and related materials; registers of export licences issue to British manufacturers under wartime regulations, 1941-1946; applications for export licences, 1939-1945; registers of shipments, insurance, freight and inspection fees, 1931-1951; shipping letters, 1937-1950, issued for CGPC shipments; general correspondence concerning the administration of the CGPC, 1931-1951, including correspondence with solicitors and correspondence concerning the CGPC premises in Tothill Street, London.

Annual reports and accounts, 1931-1950, comprise typescript accounts and reports, 1931-1950, of the CGPC and published annual reports, 1931-1950, including summaries of receipts and payments; and annual reports of the Board of Trustees, 1931-1938.

Miscellaneous records, c1932-1950, comprise one file including papers on subjects including railways, training Chinese students, Japanese imperialism, and CGPC records, a photograph of ships in harbour, and maps of China and the Far East.

Records, 1939-1943, of the China Purchasing Agency Ltd comprise standing regulations of the Board of Directors, undated; correspondence, 1939-1943, concerning various purchase orders; miscellaneous items, c1939-1940, including list of tenders passed for acceptance, 1939, and an undated schedule of materials shipped.

Personal correspondence of William Blair-Bell, 1920-1931, including 5 photocopies of documents relating to William Blair-Bell's private practice and to his personal dress etc, 1923-1928; page of a letter sent to Blair-Bell by a firm of monumental masons relating to the churchyard memorial to his mother and brother, 1931; copy letter of Blair-Bell to the Secretary of the Royal Automobile Club complaining of treatment he had received at a hotel recommended by the RAC; letter of thanks to Blair-Bell from Dorothy Leith. Murray, wife of Herbert Leith Murray, FRCOG, and Blair-Bell's successor as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Liverpool University; photocopy of a letter of congratulations from J M Munro Kerr to Blair-Bell, almost certainly on the latter's appointment as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Liverpool University; photocopies of two letters to Blair-Bell from solicitors and insurers relating to a verdict of negligence against Blair-Bell in a motor accident; letter of thanks to Blair-Bell for a donation to a fund for the medical care of an individual; two letters regarding references for chauffeurs, 1924; letter from an antiquarian bookdealer, 1921; copy letter to a travel agent, 1925; letter from Sir Ewen J Maclean thanking him for a testimonial; 1921; letter relating to rental of shooting rights, 1924; correspondence with American Hospital suppliers, 1926.

Papers of Donald Whatley Roy, 1897-1948, and including correspondence, 1898-1948; medical certificates, including one a as a Foundation Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 1897-1930; articles and speech, 1930-1938; card announcing results of the III MB Pt 1, 1903; testimonials, 1908-1929; passenger lists of ships on which he was surgeon, 1910; applications, 1916-1934.

Records, 1848-1984, of the Melanesian Mission, including minute books; correspondence, journals and diaries of pioneer missionaries including R H Codrington and J C Patteson; correspondence of more recent missionaries; logs relating to the Mission vessels including the first 'Southern Cross' log book, 1855. Material relating to the Church of Melanesia includes the proceedings of the Provincial Synod from its inception in 1975, conference reports, and lists of missionaries from the Mission's beginnings to the 1920s. Printed materials include the Southern Cross Log, 1895-1954, 1963-1973, and Annual Reports, 1864-1939 (1917 and 1923 missing). There are also a large number of photographs and manuscript maps of the Diocese of the Melanesian Mission dating from 1875 onwards.

Diary, 1825-1827, of the Rev William Fidler, describing his voyage from Bristol to St Vincent accompanied by his wife Anna and other Methodist missionaries, and containing detailed descriptions of events and places during his first two years in the West Indies, and religious reflections.

Papers of Harry St John Bridger Philby, 1918-1955, including notebooks, journals, observations, letters and annotated typescript of Arabian Highlands. The journal and notebooks cover his journey across the Empty Quarter (Al Rub al Khali) in 1932. Typewritten reports cover his motorised journeys around Saudi Arabia from 1946-1955. His observations formed the basis for maps of Arabia prepared and published by the Royal Geographical Society.

Library Manuscripts comprise manuscript items donated to the Royal Geographical Society. They are chiefly single files or a small number of items which are not large enough to warrant forming a special collection. The papers include, astronomical and meteorological observations, diaries, correspondence, notes, conference papers, reports, articles, photographs, sketches and maps covering all aspects of geography and exploration across the globe and date from 1691 to 1994. Highlights include:

Memorandum on a map of South America, by John Arrowsmith.

Papers of Maj R A Bagnold, 1929-1933, comprising positions, routes and heights in Egypt and letters from Bagnold.

Letters from Sir John Barrow to Lord Melville, 1935-1945 and letters to Barrow from Murzuq, 1822 and J D Dundas, 1818.

Papers of Dr Heinrich Barth, 1846-1952, letters and copy of a sketch map of Timbuktu.

Notes on heights of mountains in America by Capt F W Beechey, 1826.

Letters from the King of Siam to Sir John Bowring, 1855.

Letters relating to the British Arctic Air Route Expedition, 1928-1932.

Correspondence and reports of the British Ornithologists' Union Expedition to New Guinea, 1908-1911.

Papers of G Wyman Bury, 1913-1918.

Papers of Capt R F M Crozier, 1836-1906.

Account of a journey to Lhasa and central Tibet by Sarat Chandra Das, 1902.

Papers of Lt James Barker Emery, chiefly relating to Mombassa, 1822-1835.

Plan and elevation of the Screw Yacht FRAM as reconstructed in 1898.

'Narrative of a small party of HMS LEVEN under command of Lt C W Browns sent to explore the Zambesi by one of the survivors, a native of Angola', by Antonio Jozi, 1823.

Journal of Joseph Kaye's voyage from London to Genoa.

Papers and maps relating to William Kennish's exploration in South America for a canal route.

Papers relating to the Kufara expedition led by H W C J Penderel and P A Clayton to Gilf Kebir, 1933.

Papers relating to the Livingstone Award, 1875-1970.

H B Molesworth's diary of a journey to Mokalla (Mukalla), 1893.

Letters from Sir John Morrison to Henry Dundas and others concerning Persia and trade with Persia, 1783-1792.

Narrative of a shipwreck on the southern shores of Arabia by B A R Nicholson, 1836.
Correspondence of Walter Oudney, 1821-1823.

Papers of Adm Sir W E Parry, relating to the Arctic, 1819-1823.

Papers relating to the Pitcairn Islands, 1831-1885.

Annotated 'Code of Naval Signals' belonging to Adm Sir Home Popham, 1799.

Letter from Sultan Husain Sufrari, 1708.

Account of explorations on the coast of Patagonia by B Villarino, 1782.

Travel journals of J Washington, chiefly in South America, 1822-1829.

Letters to A F R Wollaston, 1896-1926.

Journal of the scientific research voyage of HMS Challenger from 1872-1875. Illustrated with watercolours and line drawings. The typescript contains the text of the journal.

Papers of Sir Allen William Young, 1857-1920, including ship's logs of the voyages of the PANDORA and the HOPE to the Arctic and the COROMANDEL and the MARLBOROUGH to India; journals kept on the FOX (the search for Sir John Franklin) and other voyages; nine scrapbooks of press cuttings entitled 'Shipping' and miscellaneous items.

Papers of William Sherriff relating principally to historical and survey work on plans for a Burma-China railway through the Shan States of Northern Burma, [1885-1900], including a survey by Sherriff on the feasibility of a Burma to China railway for Rangoon Chamber of Commerce, [1886-1899]; article by Sherriff in the Manchester Guardian, 'Railway communication with China - The Burmah-China Railway', 09 Mar 1900; correspondence, 1888-1890; blueprints for the Burma Railways Mandalay Kunlon railway, 1899; note by [A] R Colquhoun entitled 'Amongst the Shans', 1885; report by Capt A Bowers, 'Bhamo Expedition Report in the Practicability of reopening the trade route between Burma and Western China', 1869; memorandum on a possible railway route on to the Shan Plateau, 1889; reports on the Shan States, 1887-1889 and notes by Sherriff relating to Burma.

Journal of William Alley describing fourteen voyages to India, Malaya and the East Indies in several ships. The typescripts cover most of the journal's text and include material from the records of the East India Company reporting Alley's activities.

Papers of A G E Jones including biographical notes on Sir Allen Young, 1981; biographical notes on John L Cope, 1982; lists of ships leaving London for New South Wales and Van Diemans Land, 1786-1825; copies of press cuttings relating to finding the grave of one of Franklin's men in North Canada, 1984; copies of two letters on the loss of the log book of the DISCOVERY, 1904; copy of an article by Jaones in 'Notes and Queries' Dec 1984 on the crew of the TERROR and Franklin's last voyage; copies of two pages from the log of the SOUTHERN CROSS; typescripts of 'The Southern whale fishery' and 'Danial Bennett and Company', 1968.

Collection comprises photographs of both the ambulance train and the servicemen's hospital in Berkshire showing servicemen and nurses [including Eliza Wakelin]; and two letters regarding Miss Wakelin's health.

Records of the Middlesex County Council Fire Brigade Department Auxiliary Fire Service, 1948-1965, including policy and administration files relating to: civil defence, planning, repair depots, personnel management, staff regulations, conditions of service, minutes of meetings of officers, tactical studies, tactical instructors, competitions, recreational facilities, and liaison with other authorities.

Files relating to recruitment and training including: recruitment policy, recruitment publicity including films, courses at civil defence training schools, rescue training, training films, exercises, promotions, women's section, allowances and expenses, medical examinations and long service medals.

Files relating to appliances and equipment including housing of vehicles and appliances, motor cycles, Bedford self propelled pumps, equipment for water relaying, stores and provisions, extension ladders, and training pamphlets.

See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual scope and contents.

In-Letters of the Board Of Admiralty consisting of 324 volumes and 45 boxes of loose letters to the Board of Admiralty from subordinate boards, 1703 to 1832. The majority are letters from the Navy Board concerning the construction and fitting of ships, dockyard management, appointments, the settlement of accounts and naval finance, 1738 to 1832 (235 vols, classmarks ADM/B, ADM/BP, ADM/Y). There are also letters from the Victualling Board concerned with the problems of purchasing, packing and supplying provisions to ships, 1703 to 1714, 1714 to 1732, 1732 to 1769, 1787 to 1822 (51 vols, 34 boxes, ADM/D, ADM/DP); letters from the Sick and Hurt Board relating to the care and housing of sick and wounded seamen, 1742 to 1754, 1755 to 1764, 1794 to 1806 (37 vols, 11 boxes, ADM/F, ADM/FP).

Records of Albyn Line Ltd, comprising Directors' and shareholders' minute books, 1901 to 1966, containing an unbroken series of balance sheets and profit and loss accounts; a full series of cash books and ledgers, 1901 to 1966; ships' voyage books, 1953 to 1966, containing information on costs, types of cargo, freight rates, rates of hire, fuel costs etc; voyage papers for some of the voyages of the last three ships from 1962 to 1966; insurance records, 1952 to 1966, and a random collection of chief officers' log books, 1960 to 1966. There are also the records of Allan Black and Company, the managers, relating to internal office administration, 1958 to 1966 and papers relating to the voluntary liquidation, 1966. There is no correspondence apart from two out-letterbooks.

Papers of Roger Charles Anderson, relating in the main to the Royal Navy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but also includes papers on merchant shipping and on the French, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish and Venetian navies. One of the earliest is a volume containing documents written in the seventeenth century relating to the part played by Sir Thomas Fairfax (1612-1671) in the English Civil War; a copy of the account by Sir Walter Raleigh ([1552]-1618) of his expedition to the Orinoco, 1617, and an 'Explanation of Sea terms', a shortened version of the 'Seaman's Dictionary', c 1620, by Sir Henry Mainwaring (1587-1653). Connected with merchant shipping is a group of eight Bills of Sale of shares in merchant ships, seven of which are dated between 1637 and 1643.

There are four volumes of orders, patents and instructions relating to the administration of the Navy after the Restoration, including those issued to the Navy Board in 1662 and to the Victualling Board in 1683. Of the same period are the letterbook of the Chatham dockyard Commissioner, 1670, and an account of the construction of docks at Plymouth, 1698. The building and equipment of ships for the Navy is the subject of several volumes: one contains dimensions and costs of His Majesty's ships by William Keltridge, 1675, with later additions; another, by Edward Battine (fl 1679-1692), is entitled 'The Method of Building, Rigging, Apparelling and Furnishing His Majesty's Ships of War', 1689; a later notebook, dated 1793, contains illustrations and explanations related to shipbuilding. Detailed estimates of the 'charge' of maintaining the Navy are given in several volumes, 1672, 1689, 1701, 1800. One provides the establishment of men and guns for each ship, corrected to 1685; five contain lists of ships and vessels in the Navy, 1688, 1701, 1750, c 1797, 1846. Numerous other notes and lists on the establishment of the Navy, some made by Anderson himself, supplement these originals. Naval operations are represented by the letterbooks of Commodore Curtis Barnett (d 1746), 1744 to 1746, when he was in command of the British squadron in the East Indies. Less official records include some early journals: the 'Discourse of a voyage' made by the captain of the Fellowship of Bristol, employed on the King's service on the coast of Ireland, 1641 to 1642; extracts from journals relating to the proceedings of Prince Rupert's fleet, 1648 to 1650, 1651 to 1652, 1652; 'The daily motion and public transactions of His Majesty's fleet' under Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, 1666; a copy of the journal of Captain (later Admiral) John Narbrough (1640-1688) on board the Prince, 1672, and St Michael, 1673, with accounts of the Battle of Solebay, 1672; an account of a voyage to the coasts of Africa, the Straits of Magellan, Brazil, Guyana and the Caribbean islands, 1695 to 1696; a copy of the journal of Sir George Rooke (1650-1709), 1700 to 1703 (printed by the Navy Records Society, ed. 0. Browning, 1897); and a copy of 'A Pirate's Journal' kept by William Davidson (d 1797), 1788 to 1789.

Papers of Francis Godolphin Bond comprising forty letters from William Bligh to Bond, twenty-eight of which deal with the voyage of the PROVIDENCE, three with the mutiny on the BOUNTY and the remainder with Bligh's efforts to promote Bond's career. There are also letters from others on the PROVIDENCE and some notes by Bond on the voyage about Bligh .

Papers of Harry Woodfall Brent comprising two volumes of official service documents, 1851 to 1887; an order book of the BELLEROPHON; a volume of correspondence relating to the HIMALAYA and a log of the MONARCH, 1886, Channel Station, kept by Henry Dacres Menzie Brent.

Papers of Reginald Harold Arthur Bond including night order books, some service documents and Bond's own personal papers, including diaries, kept during various commands. There are also numerous photographs, including views of B. I. Hospital ships, for example the VASNA, and views of the troopships EMPIRE TROOPER and NEVASA. Amongst the ephemera are printed books and pamphlets, including several on various campaigns throughout World War Two, published by the Ministry of Information.

Papers of Sir Willam Abdy, comprising logs, 1750 to 1753, and two combined letter and order books, 1761 to 1766. There are also copies, made by Abdy in his retirement, of despatches describing actions, 1778 to 1782 and 1793 to 1797, and of the Agamemnon's log, 1782 to 1783.

Papers of Chatham Dockyard comprising 1,063 letterbooks containing the correspondence between yard officials, the Admiralty and Navy Boards, 1669 to 1900, together with internal yard records. There is also a collection of sixty-seven plans of the yard, 1718 to 1867. The volumes can be divided into three main groups: those relating to the Resident Commissioner; to the Commissioner's administrative successor, the Admiral Superintendent; and to the yard officers.

RESIDENT COMMISSIONER'S RECORDS: These consist of: Admiralty letters to the yard Commissioner, 1716 to 1764, 1788 to 1817 (13 vols); two copy letterbooks record in-letters during the period 1754 to 1788; Navy Board letters to the Commissioner, 1697 to 1698, 1791 to 1792, 1797, 1800 to 1829 and 1832 (57 vols); abstracts of Board orders to the Commissioner, 1788 to 1803 (1 vol); letters to the Commissioner from the yard officers, 1802 to 1808 (1 vol); local in-letters, 1809 to 1810, 1813 to 1815, 1818 to 1819, 1820 (5 vols). Out-letters from the Resident commissioner consist of: letters to the Admiralty, 1716 to 1733, 1774 to 1817 (6 vols); to the Navy Board, 1689 to 1695, 1696 to 1702, 1703 to 1757, 1760 to 1764, 1789 to 1794, 1795 to 1817, 1818 to 1822, 1826, 1828 to 1829 (51 vols); warrants to the yard officers, 1781 to 1817 (4 vols); memoranda to the officers, 1810 to 1821 (5 vols); in- and out-correspondence with sea officers, including the Port Admiral, 1793 to 1819, is recorded in four letterbooks.

ADMIRAL SUPERINDENDENT'S RECORDS: These consist of: abstracts of Admiralty orders to the Commissioner and Admiral Superintendent, 1766 to 1829, 1831 to 1867, 1870 to 1872, 1873, 1874 to 1875, 1876 to 1877 and 1882 to 1883 (25 vols); Admiralty letters (originals) to the Superintendent, 1832 to 1852, 1853 to 1900 (651 vols). Fifteen volumes contain indexes to Admiralty letters and orders, 1852 to 1854, 1878 to 1879, 1880 to 1882, 1884 to 1887 and 1890; one, memoranda from the Superintendent to the yard officers, 1846 to 1853.

DOCKYARD OFFICERS RECORDS: These consist of: copies of Navy Board orders to the yard officers, 1796 to 1801, 1803 to 1814, 1814 to 1815, 1816 to 1817, 1818 to 1819 and 1820 to 1821 (32 vols); letters and warrants (originals) from the Board, 1672 to 1675, 1717 to 1781, 1783 to 1795, 1796 to 1822 and 1829 to 1831 (154 vols); copies of officers'letters to the Navy Board, 1695 to 1698, 1790 to 1792, 1796 to 1801, 1802 to 1809, 1810, 1811 to 1820 (30 vols); and one letterbook containing copies of letters to the Superintendent, March to May 1869.

MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS: Three volumes record orders and letters to the officers at Sheerness from the Navy Board, 1690 to 1691; from the Chatham Commissioner, 1694 to 1697; and from both Board and Commissioner, 1769 to 1772. Further single volumes include records of stores issued and received, 1669 to 1770; of contracts, 1792 to 1823; of charts received and issued, 1809 to 1832; and a survey book of sails of ships, 1764 to 1788.

PLANS: These include nine general plans of the yard and surrounding land, 1733 to 1846; twenty plans of docks and slips, 1747 to 1861; and thirty-eight plans of yard buildings, 1718 to 1750.

Papers of William Wylly Chambers including official service documents, 1826 to 1843; logs, 1836, 1839 to 1841; letterbooks, 1836, 1840 to 1841; order books, 1827 to 1837; books of expenses for various stores and other ship's papers, mainly for the PELORUS.

Papers of Capt John Christopher, consisting of certificates and letters of reference, a disbursement book of the MINMANUETH 1865 to 1871, an account book relating to the LIZZIE MORTON 1875 to 1877 and a rough notebook 1870 to 1871.

Papers of Clumber House. The collection mainly consistis of eleven volumes of copies, some of them contemporary, of original documents. Dating from the early seventeenth century is a copy of 'Admiralli Angliae a tempore regis Edwardi secundi ano 1307 ad anui domini 1590'; some notes added to the text in a different hand extend this list of admirals to cover the years 1264 to 1618. Slightly later is a seventeenth-century copy of judges' opinions regarding the payment of ship money, 1638. There is a collection of bound documents relating to naval administration which includes copies of 'A brief discourse of the Navy', 1638, and 'The Navy Ript and Ransact', c 1659, by John Hollond (fl 1624-1659) (printed in Hollond's Discourses, ed. J.R. Tanner, Navy Records Society, 1896). Also relating to politics and maritime affairs is a volume of original seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century documents compiled c 1815 by an antiquarian, William Hamper (1776-1831). Four volumes, possibly compiled for or by Josiah Burchett, Secretary to the Admiralty, ([1666]-1746), contain notes, transcripts and some original documents relating to the Navy, 1659 to 1743; they include copies of orders issued by the Admiralty and King in Council and a volume of accounts, tables and orders relating to the equipment, management and expense of maintaining the Navy, including the dockyards, c 1732. Notes and transcripts, c 1799, formerly belonging to William Locker (1731-1800) comprise two volumes; these were compiled for a history of the Navy and include some biographical sketches of naval officers. Finally, there is the log of the H.E.I.C.S. Melville Castle, 1786 to 1788.

Papers of Coast Lines Ltd. They include: seven minute books of the Board and General Meetings of the parent company, 1913 to 1969. There is less information on the associated companies, although there are minutes of the General Meetings of the Belfast Steamship Company Limited, 1852 to 1943. Miscellaneous early documents include the Deed of Constitution of 1836 for the City of Cork Steam Packet Company Limited, and an agreement of 1837 between the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company and the City of Dublin and British and Irish Steam Packet companies, to the effect that the two Irish companies should not trade on overseas routes covered by the English Company. The financial records consist of: four ledgers of the Queenship Navigation Company Limited, 1899 to 1925; published accounts and balance sheets, mostly for the 1950s; a series of vessels' pro forma voyage accounts for eight companies of the group, 1965 to 1966, with a consolidated summary, traffic returns and trade figures for the main associated companies, 1955 to 1964; conference minutes and freight rates, 1871 to 1934, give an insight into the structure and operations of the Irish and English, Scottish and Irish and Belfast trades. The associate companies reported to the parent company weekly, in letter form, giving the position of their vessels and other information. Letters of this type in the collection cover the period 1955 to 1964. Otherwise there are only a few isolated letters and no letterbooks. The greater part of the collection consists of publicity material, brochures and advertisements: a large number of photographs, of ships, staff, wharves and warehouses; and draft histories of the companies making up the Group. The records of the following Coast Line associates are to he found elsewhere: the Ayr Steamship Company Ltd, the Burns and Laird Lines, and William Sloan and Company Limited at the Strathclyde Regional Archives; the Tyne Tees Steam Shipping Company Limited records at the Tyne and Wear Archives Department.

Papers of Sir Alexander Duff, consisting of letters received from Lord Jellicoe (1859-1935) and Sir Charles Madden (q.v.), 1916 to 1933, and a few letters from Jellicoe to Lady Duff, 1934; a series of notes and letters, 1914 to 1919, on the convoy system; papers on mercantile shipping, conferences and convoys, 1918, and some of Duff's retrospective views on convoys written in 1931 and a private diary kept between 1914 and 1916.

Papers of Robert Duff including logs, 1744 to 1747, 1749 to 1762 and for part of 1779; letter and order books, 1745 to 1762, 1775 to 1780; a register of Newfoundland fishing vessels, 1775; a list of ships, 1770; various signals and sailing directions and a family account book, 1769 to 1778.

Papers of William and Dugald Dawson comprising 80 letters from Dugald Dawson (dated 1823-1840) and 64 letters from William Dawson (dated 1828-1843). Also included are 38 letters (including two private journals) from Captain William Dawson, addressed to his wife Barbara (dated 1849-1858), and a number of other letters and papers, chiefly of William's family.

Papers of Douglas George Eggins, consisting of eight day books, forming a continuous record between 1922 and 1958 of all the ships which he piloted in and out of Falmouth Bay and Harbour, together with the fees charged. There is also a typescript of the scheduled times of movement of craft before D-Day, 1944.

Papers of Cicely Fox Smith, consisting of some manuscript material including logs of three East India merchant ships 1851 to 1854; a number of letters and photographs which she received from various correspondents; and a few articles and newspaper cuttings; there are also letters relating to the restoration of the VICTORY, 1920 to 1929. The collection has some useful materials for the study of the sailing ship.

Collection includes a register of work 1746-1818, ships accounts 1715- 1803, log books including the NEWCASTLE (b 1859), LORD WARDEN (b 1862), DOVER CASTLE (b 1858) and WINDSOR CASTLE (b 1857), work book of Henry Green 1824, ship voyage accounts 1836-60 and other miscellaneous material.

Papers of Samuel Grant, consisting of detailed diaries, 1793 to 1803 (some of them in shorthand), and correspondence and naval papers connected with his work as a purser, 1781 to 1803. These include passes, indentures for a clerk, certificates, financial papers, lists of stores and lists of ships There are also some financial and legal papers relating to the family property in Pembroke.

Papers of Adml Thomas Graves including logs, 1742 to 1744, 1746 to 1748 and 1779 to 1782; a letterbook, 1793 to 1794; order books, 1788 to 1793; a book of sailing directions with some orders, 1755 to 1756; letters and a volume on courts martial, 1771 to 1780 and 1786 to 1787. There are some loose papers which relate to Graves' court martial and to his Governorship of Newfoundland. The latter contain some documents on hydrographic surveys, among which is a letter of 1764 to Graves from Captain James Cook (1728-1779). There are also some commissions, official letters and drafts, 1764 to 1767, 1777 to 1782, a few private letters, 1782 to 1797 and a biography of Graves up to 1790. Some papers of Admiral Sir Thomas Graves (c 1747-1814), another cousin of Lord Graves, are also in the collection. They are orders received as Captain of the Savage, North American Station, 1779 to 1781, and official letters received, 1800 to 1804.

Records of the General Steam Navigation Co Ltd. They consist of: minutes of the Board, 1824 to 1859, 1861 to 1893, 1896 to 1970; minutes of the managing committee of the Board, 1833; Deeds of Settlement and printed extracts from Acts of Parliament relating to the company, 1825, 1840, 1845, 1874; two commercial agreements with other companies, 1874, 1906; Directors' half-yearly reports to shareholders, with balance sheets, 1825 to 1906; profit and loss accounts, 1896 to 1924; Employee Record of Service Book, 1850 to 1914; circulars and instructions to staff, 1874, 1875, 1884, 1903; Sailing Bills, 1839, 1844, 1874, 1875, 1939; books of time tables, 1876 to 1914; notes on various ships in the company, 1842 to 1904; copies of Certificates of British Registry, 1836 to 1965. Only a small amount of correspondence survives, including several letters to and from the Board, 1832 to 1922; some items concerning the working of the Holland to Hamburg mail contract, 1834, and a few letters from shareholders, 1902, 1906 and 1916 to 1920. There are also documents recording the history of the Company, including records of General Steam Navigation Company ships and men in the two world wars, copies of parliamentary papers, newspaper cuttings and photographs. In addition, there are records of three companies acquired by G.S.N. Moss Hutchinson Line Limited: the records consist of Memorandum and Articles of Association, with attendant papers, 1934 to 1968; Directors' minute book, 1941 to 1971; annual returns, 1941 to 1965, return of Directors and Secretaries, 1954 to 1964; balance sheets and profit and loss accounts, 1916 to 1971. Those for the New Medway Steam Packet Co Ltd include Directors' minute books, 1919 to 1968; annual returns, 1920 to 1937; annual reports and balance sheets, 1931 to 1938; profit and loss accounts, 1929 to 1960; and ledgers, 1920 to 1960. Grand Union (Shipping) Limited: these include Memorandum and Articles of Association, 1937; Directors' minute book, 1937 to 1957; and balance sheets and profit and loss accounts, 1938 to 1966. (Section 3: GSN/: 16ft: 488cm) Ships' Plans: these were presented in 1963. The collection consists of books with arrangements and particulars of twenty-nine G.S.N. ships in the 1920s and 1930s. Further details are available in the P and O collection.

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.

The papers in the Museum relate to the Henleys' shipping and other commercial interests between 1771 and 1830. From about 1784, when Joseph seems to have taken charge, the records become fairly systematic and the 'ships' collections' begin. Most of the 109 wooden boxes (now replaced) related to individual ships, but 24 related to general matters. A small number of the ships were owned jointly with someone outside the family, usually the master; only one seems to have been divided into sixteenths. The bulk of the collection consists of ships' boxes, containing correspondence from masters, agents, brokers, merchants, government boards and sailors and their families. Masters' voyage accounts and vouchers have nearly always survived from 1784 on onward, together with some Articles of Agreement, portage bills, crew lists and wages and receipts; sometimes, and especially during the last decade of the eighteenth and the first decade of the nineteenth centuries, memoranda books were kept detailing Henleys' own expenditure on ships; and papers relating to freights including Charter Parties, Bills of Lading, manifests, protections, customs documents, freight and brokers' accounts were often retained. 'Transport papers', relating to voyages under charter to the Government, include agents' orders and certificates, individual orders and receipts for victualling ships, and forms with details of troops victualled. The subjects range over every aspect of the employment of the ship, including building, maintaining, victualling and manning, the process of chartering or seeking cargoes, and the convoys in which she sailed. The general boxes contained books with accounts, receipts, memoranda and lists covering all Henleys' activities and are the main source of information for the early years from ca.1771. There are detailed records of their activities as coal merchants, especially for the last years of the eighteenth century; there is a continuous series of cash books, 1807 to 1824, with various 'weekly expense' books and petty cash books kept by individual clerks. The Henleys ran their own sail loft and there is a run of account books from 1813 to 1824, in addition to material covering other years. The rest of the general boxes contained papers on other aspects of their activities: boxes of loose receipts covering business and domestic expenditure, a box relating to the premises at Wapping containing correspondence about leases, building and repairs, with detailed receipts for building and rebuilding the Henleys' three houses, counting house and warehouse; boxes with accounts, receipts and correspondence relating to shipping matters generally and sometimes to particular ships or groups of ships. At different times it was the practice to keep freight papers separate from ships' papers. There were four boxes relating to the supply of coal to government departments, particularly the dockyards and the Ordnance Board, 1790 to 1802 and 1807 to 1820. There were three boxes of correspondence and accounts reflecting the activities of James Kirton, 1800 to 1825; he had been successively carpenter, mate and master in Henley ships from the earliest years and set up as a shipowner and agent in Newcastle at the turn of the century. There is also correspondence with agents in other places.

The earliest item in this category is an account of the capture of Cadiz, 1596, with a list of ships taken and burnt. There are four documents relating to the seventeenth century, including a short report to the King of the Four Days Battle, June 1666, signed by Prince Rupert (1619-1682) and the Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670). Among the seventeen eighteenth-century documents are an extract from the journal of Sir Charles Wager (1666-1743), May to July 1708, relating to the battle of Cartagena and the subsequent courts martial of two of his subordinates; a report of the battle of Minorca, 1756, criticising the conduct of Admiral John Byng; an account of the battle of Quiberon Bay, 1759, with a list of the French fleet; an account of the proceedings of the MONMOUTH, May 1759 to June 1760, during the blockade of Brest; and a journal of the mutiny at the Nore, 1797, probably kept by an aide-de-camp to Sir Charles Grey (1729-1807). The fourteen nineteenth-century documents include a description of the events of the war between Denmark and England, 1801; an account of an attack on and destruction of a French convoy off Toulon and in the Bay of Rosas, 1809, written by an unnamed officer of the LEVIATHAN; and the last record of the expedition in search of the North-West Passage led by Sir John Franklin in the EREBUS and TERROR. It was deposited by Lieutenant Graham M Gore (d [1847]) on King William Island, 28 May 1847, and added to by Captain Francis R M Crozier ([1796]-1848) and Captain James Fitzjames (1813-1848) after abandoning their ships, 26 April 1848, recording the death of Franklin and other members of the expedition. In April 1859 it was found by Lieutenant William Hobson (1831-1880) of the FOX. Among the six items relating to the twentieth century are a typescript report, in English, of the actions between the Russians and Japanese at Chemulpo and Port Arthur, February 1904; and an account of the battle of Jutland, 1916.

This category includes single documents concerned with particular events relating to merchant shipping. Among the six items are an account by a passenger of an eventful voyage in 1829 in the ISAAC HICKS from Liverpool to New York; and a small diary of a voyage in a deep-sea trawler, the BELGAUM of Grimsby, in 1964.

Papers of Captain Henry George Hamilton, consisting of official service documents, letters to his family, 1822 to 1830, and from Australia, 1839 to 1843.

Papers of Adml Sir Frederick Tower Hamilton, consisting of logs, 1870 to 1872, 1877 to 1881, 1885 and 1915 to 1916, and semi-official letters received, 1914 to 1917, including some from Admirals Lord Fisher (1841-1920), Jellicoe (1859-1935), Beatty (1871-1936), Sir Charles Madden and Prince Louis of Battenburg (1854-1921). In addition, there is detailed material on the resignation of Lord Fisher in 1915. There are also a large number of private papers and letters received, 1889 to 1917, letters to his son Louis Henry Keppel Hamilton, 1906 to 1915, scrap and photograph albums, official service documents, notes on manoeuvering the HOOD, 1893 to 1894, and reports and memoranda, 1917.

Papers of Sir Louis Henry Keppel Hamiltom. The diaries cover most of his career and all periods afloat from 1908 to 1928. There are also diaries for journeys in the merchant ships Lagos, 1915, and in the Usaramo to Lisbon in 1924. In addition there are official reports and signals for the time when Hamilton commanded the First Cruiser Squadron and a very full collection of letters written by him to his family, 1906 to 1956. There are also photograph albums of Osborne and Dartmouth, 1903 to1907 of the Durbar, 1911, and of other periods in Hamilton's life. Finally, there are lecture notes and memoranda from Dartmouth, 1922 to 1924, and papers relating to Australia, 1947.

Papers of Sir Henry Keppel, consisting of logs, 1824 to 1825, 1830 to 1831, 1834 to 1835, 1842 to 1845, 1847 to 1851, 1853 to 1857, 1860 to 1861; private journals, 1867 to 1869; annual diaries, 1834 to 1838, 1842 to 1844, 1855 to 1857, 1867 to 1869; private letterbooks, 1867 to 1869, 1874 to 1875 and loose papers. These are mainly letters received, 1841 to 1900, the bulk of which date from 1870. Of the two groups of Keppel's letters to his family, one covers the Crimean War and the other his tour of the Far East, 1897 to 1900.

Papers of London and Rochester Trading Company Ltd., comprising the company's financial and business records including contract agreements for ship specifications for the building of company barges, bills of sale for various barges, general arrangement plans and miscellaneous material re: company's lease arrangements and other business records.

Records of the Marine Insurance Company. Although some records date from the 1930s, most relate primarily to the 1950s and 1960s. They include: Head Office Books, 1957 to 1968, containing registers of debits against policies, with some details of ships, cargoes and voyages; hull closings, 1957 to 1964; cargo closings, 1957 to 1964; building and port risks, 1937 to 1960; book and proof sheets, 1957 to 1968, summarizing business and premiums paid; declarations and certificates, 1957 to 1970, containing details of cargoes sent; premiums and policies, 1932 to 1970; treaties relating to reinsurance, 1957 to 1967; reinsurance agreements, 1950 to 1969; reinsurance closures and recoveries, 1958 to 1969; records of client companies, 1945 to 1966; claims records, 1933 to 1969; salvage records, 1952 to 1966. The company records include: correspondence, 1945 to 1966; ledgers and cash books, 1917 to 1969; investment records, 1911 to 1948; and results and accounts, 1923 to 1967.

Papers of Charles Wadsworth Murray, including notebooks dealing with his time at Stornoway and contain information about German submarine warfare. There are lists of ships lost and of those that engaged enemy submarines and accounts of the loss or surrender of submarines. There are also three manuscripts unrelated to the main collection, consisting of an order book of Captain Richard Grindall, 1801 to 1805; a Navy Prize Office register, 1803 to 1820, and a log of the REVENGE, Captain Sir John Gore, Mediterranean, 1812 to 1813.