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.

Bound typescript autobiography, 'The Record of a Busy Life', by William Adams, 1891, detailing his life in Chile, London, and the Midlands, including family history, family and associates, business, and other reminiscences, with a two-page printed biography from the Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (vol cxxiv, Session 1895-1896, pt ii) inserted.

The Admiralty records at the National Maritime Museum cover the administration of the Navy from 1688-1832 (when the Navy Board was abolished) in considerable detail. There are also a few records from 1832-1883. Together they consist of 7,497 bound volumes and a large mass of loose papers.

The majority of orders and letters are original documents, often minuted, but there are a few volumes of indexes, minute and letterbook copies of correspondence. The collection includes over 5000 Lieutenants' logs forwarded to the Navy Board in connection with the work of passing the Officers' accounts.

The Admiralty records now at the National Maritime Museum, consist of the original orders from the Admiralty to the Navy Board from 1688-1815 (ADM/A&N&RP&Q&P&OT), and the Navy Board replies from 1733-1831 (ADM/B&BP&D&DP&F&FP). Orders to the Navy Board relating to transports during the period when there was no Transport Board were bound up separately as were those relating to the special appointment of General Bentham, as Inspector General of Naval Works, during the Napoleonic War. The Navy Board letters respecting the fitting of ships from 1804-1809 were separated from the general correspondence, and bound with a chronological index at the beginning. In addition to these main series of orders from the Admiralty to the Navy Board, there are some copies of orders for the Ticket Office from 1774-1815, and some loose papers relating to the Marine Office and a few orders for the Office of Stores (ADM/J&K).

The Admiralty orders to the Victualling Commissioners from 1707-1815 (ADM/C) are included in this collection, as well as the abstract of Admiralty orders from 1694-1819 (ADM/G) and the Victualling Board's replies from 1703-1822 (ADM/H). The Admiralty orders to the commissioners for taking care of sick and wounded seamen from 1702-1806 form a complete series, supplemented by the Commissioners replies from 1742-1806 (ADM/E). Orders relating to prisoners of war were bound up separately and cover the years from 1743, some distinction being made for the different nationalities (ADM/M). Both these series of orders were continued when the Transport Boards took over the Commissioners; the former series has been preserved in this collection up to 1815 (ADM/ET), and the latter from 1796-99 (ADM/MT).

The Lieutenant's logs which total 5,205 volumes are bound according to the name of the ship, some Captain's logs being included (ADM/L). There are also bound up with some logs, accounts of expenses of paper and ticket books. The Lieutenant's log was accompanied by a certificate from his captain stating that he had complied with the printed instructions and not been absent from his ship. These journals were deposited first in the Admiralty Office and a certificate was made out, for which the chief clerk received 2s 6d.' though captains usually paid 5s 0d. The chief clerk then abstracted details of the voyage of each ship from her logs "specifying the day of her sailing - of her arrival at each port, her stay there and departure there from". The logs were then passed to the Navy Office where the clerk of the acts made out certificates "to enable the lieutenants and masters to receive their wages". It was also his duty to "arrange and keep the journals and log books of every ship that may be delivered of the proceedings from the time of such journals and log books". The logs in this collection have been preserved from the time of Pepys until 1809, when the procedure for keeping logs was altered, and contained much useful information. The logs were kept according to the nautical calendar, which counted the day as starting at mid-day, until 1805 when the civil practice was adopted.

The only records for the period after 1832, which are included in this collection, are those of the Surveyor's department for the years 1832-39. These letters, addressed to the Board of Admiralty, contain some interesting material on ship-building. There are also a number of volumes of papers relating to the preparation of naval estimates for the years 1849-1883, as far as the Victualling department was concerned.

Financial records of the Aircraft Insurance Committee.

Papers and photographs relating to Alderson's RNVR and RN service, [1932]-1939, including photograph of Alderson as a Surgeon Sub Lt, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve [1932]; loose pages from a photograph album with 87 captioned photographs relating to Alderson's service on HMS GLORIOUS, Mediterranean Fleet, 1935-1936, notably photographs of HMS COURAGEOUS, HMS HERMES, HMS REVENGE, HMS NELSON, individual RN and RAF officers, and flying operations from HMS GLORIOUS, 1935-1936; typescript memorandum entitled 'Medical organisation for war', HMS GLORIOUS [1937]. Papers relating to the loss of HM Submarine THETIS, Liverpool Bay, 1 Jun 1939, including typescript statement by Alderson, Assistant Medical Officer, HMS DOLPHIN, on his medical examinations of Capt Harry Percy Kendall Oram, RN, and Lt Frederick Greville Woods, RN, two of the four survivors to escape from HM Submarine THETIS, Jun 1939; correspondence between Alderson and other RN Medical Officers relating to the recovery of the survivors of HM Submarine THETIS, Jun 1939; typescript memorandum entitled 'DSEA (Davis Submarine Escape Apparatus)-effect of breathing oxygen under pressure' [1939]; typescript memorandum by Alderson entitled 'Summary of information as to the medical aspects of the sinking of HMS THETIS and the escape of four survivors by DSEA (Davis Submarine Escape Apparatus)', 3 Jun 1939. Papers and photographs relating to Alderson's service as Medical Officer, HMS KELLY, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet, 1939-1940, and to HMS KELLY reunions and commemorations, 1958-1959, including typescript copy of news-sheet 'K D F News' (K Destroyer Flotilla News), relating to the return to the UK from France of HRH Prince Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, Duke of Windsor and Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, on board HMS KELLY, 13 Sep 1939, with photograph of the Duke and Duchess on board HMS KELLY with Capt Lord Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1939; two photographs of Mountbatten, three photographs of HMS KELLY, and one HMS KELLY Christmas card, 1939; typescript routine orders, Medical Section, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet, Nov 1939; correspondence between Alderson and Mountbatten, 1939-1940, relating to Alderson's appointment as Medical Officer, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, and to Mountbatten's recovery from jaundice, Jan-Feb 1940; correspondence, memoranda and notes relating to patients from HM Destroyers KIMBERLEY, KELLY and KELVIN, treated by the Medical Section, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, 1939-1940; lists of medical stores and routine medical supply orders, 5 Destroyer Flotilla, 1939-1940; printed and manuscript medical reports detailing the overall health of the ship's companies of HM Destroyers KELLY, KELVIN, KHARTOUM, KIMBERLEY, KINGSTON and KIPLING, 1939-1940; typescript list of dead and wounded, following German torpedo strike, HMS KELLY, 9 May 1940, with detailed manuscript casualty reports for individual ratings, and photograph of the damage to HMS KELLY, May 1940; eight photographs of Alderson and AF Rt Hon Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, at ceremony at the grave of an HMS KELLY crew member, Hebburn, County Durham, Nov 1958, and at an HMS KELLY reunion, 1959. Photograph album entitled 'Singapore Commission, Jan 3rd 1950-June 30th 1952', containing 150 photographs, 1949-1952, relating to the voyage to Singapore and Alderson's subsequent service at the Royal Naval Sick Quarters, HMS TERROR, Singapore, 1950-1952.

Collection includes manuscript memorandum by Amlot to 6 Sqn RAF Headquarters relating to the suppression of terrorist activities in Palestine, 15 Sep 1938; and press cuttings relating to the Royal Pakistan Air Force, 1948-1950, including mention of Pakistan's procurement of Dakota aircraft, Nov 1949; Amlot's inauguration of the first University Air Sqn at Dacca, East Pakistan, Nov 1949; articles written by Amlot relating to Royal Pakistan Air Force training, strategy, and force strengths, Aug-Sep 1950.

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 principally comprising text of lecture on the outbreak of hostilities between Japan and China in 1937, including a detailed account of the Battle of Shanghai as witnessed from HMS DANAE, 1937; draft of lecture recounting his experiences on board HMS DIDO during the evacuation of Crete, Apr-Jun 1941, [1945].

Photographs relating to his service in the UK, Middle East and Singapore, including photographs of civil and military aircraft, notably flying boats, 1928-1936.

Papers of Maj Gen Ian Helstrip Baker, notably concerning armoured warfare, 1955-2003, including instructions, memoranda, reports and notes on training exercises including Exercise GAMEBIRD, Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Libya, Jul 1964; Exercises OPEN GLOVE and TREBLE CHANCE, Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt and 16 Parachute Bde Group, Sep 1964; Exercise DOUBLE STRETCH 72, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Feb-Mar 1972; Exercise RED RAT, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Sep-Oct 1972; MACLEOD, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Aug-Sep 1972; Exercise READY RAT, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, 11 Sep 1972; Exercise LONG LOOK, for 7 Armoured Bde trials of ZB298 radar, Oct 1971-Apr 1972; organisational trial Exercise SQUARE RAT, Germany, 28 Dec 1972; Exercise FIRST STRETCH 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Feb 1973; Exercise DOUBLE STRETCH 73, 1 Armoured Bde, Germany, Mar-Apr 1973; Exercise HURST PARK 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Apr 1973; Exercise QUEEN'S PATROL, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany (relating to operations in Northern Ireland), May 1973; Exercise RED RAT 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Aug 1973; Exercise FOUR SQUARE, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Sep-Nov, 1973; photographs of [FV214 Conqueror battle tanks], Royal Armoured Corps, Bovington, Dorset and photograph of an amphibious jeep, partially submerged, 1960; photograph of Crown Prince Birendra of Nepal and others watching a Hornet Launcher vehicle being loaded with Malkara missiles by personnel of Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Candahar Barracks, Tidworth, 15 Apr 1964; captioned photographs relating to Baker's visit to [1 Bn, Royal Green Jackets], Belfast, Northern Ireland, including: battalion personnel on patrol; Falls Road and Hamilton Street, Belfast, showing the aftermath of explosions; IRA weapons discovered, including rifles, knives, an RPG7 rocket launcher and RPG7 rockets, a car bomb and smaller incendiary devices, Aug 1972; photographs of Baker, Nov 1979 and in Brigadier's uniform; handing over briefing notes by Baker as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, 17 Gurkha Div, Overseas Commonwealth Land Forces, 25 Jun 1962; training instructions for Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Tidworth, Mar 1963-May 1964; briefing notes on the Parachute Sqn, Royal Armoured Corps, by Baker, 1964; Royal Armoured Corps training pamphlet, 'The technique of shooting from AFVs. Part 4: the application of fire from Saladin armoured cars' (MoD, Feb 1967); 1 Royal Tank Regt standing operational procedures, Jun 1969; briefing notes for Baker as Commander, 7 Armoured Bde, by Administration and Quartering staff, 7 Armoured Bde, 18 Jan 1972 and by Brigade Majors, 7 Armoured Bde, 7 Feb 1972; 7 Armoured Bde standing operating procedures relating to headquarters and operations (vol. 1), and administration and logistics (vol. 2), Feb 1972; training directives by Baker as Brigadier Commanding 7 Armoured Bde, Mar-Sep 1972; notes on the creation and history of the Desert Rat badge of 7 Armoured Bde, 1940-1972; training directive by Baker as Brigadier Commanding 7 Armoured Bde, Mar 1973; correspondence and accounts by Lt Col R A Pascoe, 1 Bn Royal Green Jackets, of the battalion's service in Belfast, 8-14 Oct 1972.

'Low level Beaufighters over Burma: a review of the low level attacks carried out during September by 27 and 177 Beaufighter Squadrons', an official report including photographs and map, written by Baldwin in 1943.

Photocopies of reports relating to the role of HMS SCOURGE in Operations NEPTUNE and OVERLORD, Jun 1944, France.

Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, 1788-1811, comprise microfilm, and enlarged prints from the microfilm, of papers held in the Sutro Collection, State Library of California concerning subjects including the Africa Association.

Letter from Sir Joseph Banks of Soho Square, London to an unknown recipient, 12 Aug 1815. Relating to 'the undertaking now in hand for exploring the rapid Currents of the Zaira'. Reference is made to the mutiny of the Bounty, 'which began by turning the Commander adrift and ended in the Peopling of Pitcairn's Island. A less economical Outfit succeeded and the business was happily effected. Hence I deduce that in all matters of Naval Equipment it is better to adopt a Plan of sufficient extent at first than to do it after a failure, which if attributable to parsimony will in a Country like this meet with censure.' He advocates the use of a steamboat, 'a Fort impregnable to Native Armies and capable of sending out a subordinate Expedition'. This letter appears to be either a copy or a draft letter made by an amanuensis.

The collection includes Robert Hammond's record of service and his survey, when Master of the Society of Pilots of the Cinque Ports, of the southern North Sea in the cutter GEM, 1841. The volumes collected by Barker himself consist mainly of logs of naval ships. They include that of the ORION, in home waters, kept by an Edward Barker in 1794, containing an account of the Battle of First of June; the Clyde, 1796 to 1800, kept by Lieutenant John Smith (fl 1780-1805), in home waters; of the CHALLENGER, 1828 to 1831, East Indies Station, kept by Commander John M R Ince (fl 1808-1850); the CALEDONIA, 1835 to 1836, Mediterranean station; the FLY, 1842 to 1846, surveying Australian waters, and the PILOT, 1850, East Indies station. There is also a journal of a voyage in the merchant ship VESTAL from North America to the West Indies, 1759 to 1760, by the author William Falconer (1744-1824); some of Falconer 's unpublished poems appear at the end of this journal.

Papers of Admiral Robert Bax, Henry Bonham Bax and Captain Bonham Ward Bax.

Papers of Captain Bonham Ward Bax comprising his logs of the HMS DWARF, 1871 to 1874, and his letterbook in the HMS SYLVIA.

Papers of Henry Bonham Bax, comprising an illustrated list of buoys and light vessels owned by Bax as an Elder Brother of Trinity House.

Papers of the Baynes and Nias Families:

Papers of Henry Compton Anderson Baynes inclusing official service documents, 1866 to 1901; an article on 'Armament of Battleships', undated; a letter, 1888, concerning Whitehead torpedoes; a few letters about Baynes's fishery protection work in the North Sea in the 1890s and three night order books, 1893, 1895 and 1901.

Papers of Sir Robert Lambert comprising official service documents, details of ships on the Pacific Station 1854 to 1860, an autobiographical outline of his career, 1810 to 1857, invitations to social events, and other personal papers.

Papers of Sir Joseph Nias, comprising letters and orders received, 1815 to 1867, and service papers, and eighteen letters from Sir William Parker to Nias while he was Senior Officer at Hong Kong, 1841 to 1842.

Papers of Sir Robert Lambert comprising official service documents, details of ships on the Pacific Station 1854 to 1860, an autobiographical outline of his career, 1810 to 1857, invitations to social events, and other personal papers.

Papers of Sir Henry William Bayntun comprising notes, memoranda and various letters relating largely to the MILFORD, as well as some navigational notes; Bayntun's letterbook for the LEVIATHAN, 1804 to 1805, and the AFRICA, 1806 to 1808.

Papers relating to Beaufoy Brown's life and RN career, 1925-1979, including scrapbook with newspaper cuttings and fifty five photographs, Aug 1927-Jul 1929, including Atlantic Fleet exercises, 1927, the loss of HM Submarine H47, off St David's Head, Pembrokeshire, following collision with HM Submarine L12, 9 Jul 1929, and photographs of HMS REVENGE, HMS FORRES, HMS RODNEY, HMS HOOD, HMS NELSON and HMS ADVENTURE, 1927-1929. Two Midshipman's journals, 26 Aug 1927-12 Jul 1930, relating to service on HM Ships REVENGE, RODNEY and WALKER, including manuscript sketches and maps, two photographs of the main armament of HMS RODNEY, and photograph of HMS CENTURION, RN radio-controlled target ship, Portland, Dorset, Nov 1928, with twelve loose photographs, 1925-1929, including HMS RODNEY, HMS STURGEON and group of Cadets, Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Devon, 1925. Typescript report by Beaufoy Brown on the visit to Malta of the Yugoslav training ship JADRAN, 9-11 Jul 1934. Papers and photographs relating to the development and deployment of X craft midget submarines and Chariot manned torpedoes, 1943-[1950], including sixty seven photographs relating to the training of crews for X craft midget submarine operations, 1943-1945, notably six aerial photographs, taken by 544 Sqn, RAF, of Bergen harbour, Norway, before and after Operation GUIDANCE, the sinking by X Craft of German merchant ship BARENFELS, Apr 1944, and Operation HECKLE, the destruction of a floating dock, Laksvaag, Bergen, Norway, Sep 1944; edition of The Illustrated London News, 15 Dec 1945, with article on X Craft operation against Japanese cruiser TAKAO, Singapore, Jul 1945; edition of The Dittybox, the Navy's own magazine, containing article by G V Galwey entitled 'Life in a midget submarine', Feb 1948; typescript text of lecture by Beaufoy Brown on World War Two midget submarine operations [1950]. Photograph album containing 111 photographs relating to Beaufoy Brown's service as Executive Officer, HMS GAMBIA, Mediterranean and East Indies, 1951-1952, including peace keeping patrols, Port Said, Egypt, 1951, and inspection of ship by acting Adm Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commnder-in-Chief Mediterranean, Malta, 1952. Typescript Curriculum Vitae for Beaufoy Brown [1965], and obituary, 1979.

Papers of Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford including logs, 1852 to 1858; diaries, 1875 to 1879, and letters concerning the Huascar incident. There are no papers for Bedford's later career. In the Department of Pictures are six albums containing watercolours and photographs. Two of them cover his service in the SHAH, 1876 to 1878, and the third his career in the TRIUMPH, 1879.

This collection contains a single manuscript volume, the 'Naval Surgeons Casebook'. The volume begins with details of cases, symptoms and cures of Nathaniel Bedford's patients at St George's hospital during 1781. The rest of the volume contains descriptions of cases, sickness, and treatments during his travels whilst a ship's surgeon in the West Indies during 1781-1783.

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.

Letter of Cunard Steam Ship Company Ltd to William Blair-Bell confirming his passage to New York, 1925.

Papers of Sir Edward Berry comprising logs, 1787 to 1788, 1796 to 1797, 1799 to 1806, 1812, 1813 to 1814, and twenty-five letters from Nelson, 1797 to 1805.

Papers relating to Bethell's life and career, 1894-1932, and to his death in action, as First Lt, HMS NESTOR, 13 Destroyer Flotilla, Battle of Jutland, North Sea, 31 May 1916, including Birth Certificate and Certificate of Baptism, 1894; RN record and certificates relating to Bethell's naval career, 1907-1915; one Christmas card, 1913, and three letters to his sister Agatha [Hilda] Bethell, 1915, and eight letters to his mother, Hilda Mary Bethell, Lady Bethell, 1914-1916. Two letters from the Admiralty notifying the family of Lt Bethell's death, 1916; two letters to Hilda Mary Bethell, Lady Bethell, from Cdr Hon (Edward) Barry (Stewart) Bingham, Capt of HMS NESTOR, on Lt Bethell's heroism and on the loss of HMS NESTOR at the Battle of Jutland, 1916; two letters to Agatha [Hilda] Bethell from Lt William Stephen Richard King-Hall, HMS SOUTHAMPTON, on the Battle of Jutland and the sinking of HMS NESTOR, with extract from account of Jutland by Lt Harold Percy Keeley, HMS ATTACK, 1 Destroyer Flotilla, Grand Fleet, Jun 1916; seven letters and telegrams of condolence, notably including HM King George V, Rt Hon Arthur James Balfour, First Lord of the Admiralty, V Adm Sir David Beatty, 1 Battlecruiser Sqn, Grand Fleet, Capt Wilmot Stuart Nicholson, HMS AURORA, and Capt Charles Edward Le Mesurier, HMS CALLIOPE, 1916-1918; three letters on the loss of HMS NESTOR and the death of Lt Bethell from Surgeon Probationer Alexander Joe, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 1918. Edition of Supplement to the London Gazette, containing details of the award of a posthumous Mention in Despatches for Lt Bethell, 4 Oct 1918; nine letters between Adm Hon Sir Alexander Edward Bethell and the Admiralty relating to whether Lt Bethell's heroism was worthy of the award of the VC, Jan-Feb 1919; edition of Parliamentary debates, House of Commons (Hansard) containing questions asked in Parliament by Rt Hon Thomas James Macnamara, Financial Secretary to the Admiralty, relating to Lt Bethell's heroism during the Battle of Jutland, 12 Mar 1919. Photograph of Bethell [1914]; edition of Falklands, Jutland, and the Bight by Cdr Hon (Edward) Barry (Stewart) Bingham, RN (John Murray, London, 1919); official scroll and bronze plaque, sent to the next of kin of servicemen killed in action [1919]; certificate of Mention in Despatches, 1920. Copy of manuscript poem relating to the loss of HMS NESTOR by Robert Malise Bowyer Nichols entitled 'The souls of the righteous', 1931, with related correspondence from John Masefield, Poet Laureate, Cdr Hon (Edward) Barry (Stewart) Bingham, RN and Lt Dudley Rowe, RN, 1931.

Papers of Capt Henry Bethune comprising a series of logs for the above ships and a notebook on navigation and steam.

Printed bill of lading completed in manuscript for the ship Sprightly Packett, 19 Oct 1782, at Bristol and bound for Cork with eight hogsheads of dye goods.

Printed bill of lading, 1799, completed in manuscript for the schooner Pearl bound for Demerara (British Guiana) from Stonington, Connecticut, USA. Cargo includes mess beef and pork, prime beef and pork, mutton, bass, codfish, mackerel, horses, mules and cattle.

Nine printed bills of lading, completed in manuscript, for ships bound for Marseilles, including those for Le Décidé bound from Salonika, 1728; St Jean l'Évangéliste, from Istanbul, 1733; Le Benjamin, from Smyrna, 1763; Sainte Marie, from Port Maurice, 1765; La Fortune, from St Pierre, Martinique, 1765; La Napolitaine, from Naples, 1778; L'Aimable Marguerite, from Smyrna, 1779; S. Giovanni Battista, from Genoa, 1787 and 1788. Also includes a similar bill of lading for La Vièrge de Grace, bound from Marseilles to St Malo, 1729. Merchandise carried included raw cotton, yellow wax, fish, oil, vinegar, soap, coffee and silk.

Two bills of sale of vessels registered at Liverpool, details as follows:

1. Sale of 4/64 share of the barque Charlotte for a consideration of £675, by Philip Nelson, shipowner, to Henry Gardner, produce broker, both of Liverpool, 1 Jun 1866.
2. Sale of 8/64 share of the barque Cecilia, for a consideration of £900, between the parties as above, 25 Feb 1869.

Records of Binny and Company Limited, steamship agency, traders, textile mill operators and engineers, including articles of association; annual reports; financial accounts; investment ledgers; correspondence; memoranda; papers regarding company history; and photographs of staff, offices and works.

Two albums of black and white photographs relating to service in Iraq with No 1 Armoured Car Company, 1936, including images of sailing aboard the HMS DORSETSHIRE, Mar 1936; Port Said and the Suez Canal, Egypt, Apr 1936; No 1 Armoured Car Company on deployment in the desert near Salman Pak, Iraq; reconnaissance trip to Kurdistan, Aug 1936; landscapes and snapshots of local life, Iraq; the streets of Baghdad, Iraq; armoured vehicles and aeroplanes at headquarters; biplanes in flight; snapshots of Blackton and colleagues at headquarters and at an athletics event; accommodation and recreation facilities at headquarters. Also loose photographs of the battleship HMS RODNEY and of seaplanes being tested, including the Saro Windhover, [1933].

Account book of Thomas Blossom, coachbuilder, including costs and a detailed list of each stage of his work on repairing and building coaches and carriages of (named) gentry, 1809-14; summary entries of coach work, 1808-9; and Blossom's note of cargoes received at Tahiti and Eimeo (Windward Islands, French Polynesia) from the London Missionary Society, 1821-6.

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).

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 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 Henry Theodore Augustus Bosanquet including seven volumes of personal papers and newspaper cuttings, 1879-1955. Bosanquet's service afloat is covered by logs and watchbills, 1883 to 1894. Bosanquet's notes on historical and technical subjects are elsewhere in the Museum manuscript collections.

Papers of Ivor Bowen, 1926-1973, relating to his career in aeronautics, comprising manuscript volume entitled 'Bomb and Bombsight figures'; photographs, some captioned, relating to a long haul flight to Singapore, 1946, including exterior and interior details of plane and an aerial view of Singapore; Air Ministry Laboratory report, 'Bomb ballistics experiments, Orfordness, 1926', written by L C Bygrave and Ivor Bowen, including aerial photographs, photographs of recording equipment, bomb at moment of release, cine film stills of explosion, detailed technical drawings of recording equipment and periscopic bomb sight, and graphs of time lags, trail angles and fall times of bombs; publications relating to aeronautics including Air Ministry manuals, chiefly on air navigation, 1926-1941; typescript draft handbook, 'Aircraft compass installations', by C S Hudson, for publication by HMSO, [1949]; patents issued to General Precision Laboratory, USA, 1956-1959; lecture text, 'The development of visual landing for flight simulators' by G M Hellings, Chief Scientist, General Precision Systems Ltd, Oct 1961; technical product descriptions including for Miniature Inertial Navigation System (MINS), produced by Kearfott Division, USA and Kearfott C702519001 floated rate-integrating gyro, Aug 1962; performance data for floated rate-integrating gyro King II, produced by Kearfott Division, USA, Dec 1962; offprint articles on aeronautics, 1962; memoranda and minutes of meetings of the Air League, 1963-1973; 'Unservile State Papers, no 15: A Defence for Britain' by Anthony Paice, Liberal Publication Dept, [1966]; letter from I J Bettison, General Equipments Ltd, Adelaide, Australia, 3 Jun 1963, on selling flight simulation training systems; and 'extracts from the technical supplement to the annual report of the Aeronautical Research Council', 1 Apr 1965.

Medical log of the slave-ship LORD STANLEY, kept by Christopher Bowes the ship's surgeon between 23 March-26 July 1792. The ship traded between the African coast and the Isle of Grenada, West Indies. Of the 389 slaves on board, 16 died. The log gives the daily sick rate and there are brief notes of the cases and treatment.

At the end of the manuscript, Christopher Bowes states it is a "just and true journal" which he then presents to Custom House, at St George, Grenada in 1792. This is witnessed and signed by George Ferguson [Possibly George Ferguson, Governor of Tobago c1781]. The next page of the volume contains a statement signed by George Ferguson, saying that this is a "true copy of the original journal", and is dated September 5th 1792. Therefore it is likely that this manuscript is a copy of the original journal, which was perhaps retained in Grenada.

At the front of the volume is a letter to Arthur Bowes Elliot (grandson of Christopher Bowes) dated 5th October 1911, from Sir Ronald Ross (FRCS) 1857-1932, regarding the contents of the volume, and the diseases the slaves were suffering from.

'MIL F 83300 Military specification of piloted V/STOL aircraft' issued by US Government Printing Office, 1970.

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 Sir Cyprian Arthur George Bridge including a few watch bills and other papers relating to the AUDACIOUS, 1874 to 1877; out-letterbooks, 1881 to 1885 and 1898; private letters received, 1895 to 1898, 1901 to 1904, and admiral's journals, 1895 to 1898.

Papers of Albert Francis Barclay Bridges, including a journal, 1912 to 1918; pocket diaries, 1918 to 1920, kept whilst in the Mediterranean and Black Sea; and a photograph and scrap album belonging to his brother, William M Bridges mainly relating to the surrender of the German fleet, 21 Nov 1918.

Copies of papers, 1916-1958, including account of the Battle of Jutland, witnessed by Brind from HMS MALAYA, 5 Battle Sqn, 1916; text of lecture 1919, relating to anti-submarine warfare, 1914-1918, and possible future development; notes, dated 1931, on the conduct of the Dardenelles campaign; report on night fighting by single ships, 1924; night order book, HMS BIRMINGHAM, South East Asia, 1929-1940; report written in 1946 on the sinking of HMS ROYAL OAK, Scapa Flow 1939, by German submarine U47, quoting from U-boat's log; texts of speeches, 1947-1958; letter of condolence from Adm Hon Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax to Edith Blagrove, widow of R Adm Henry Evelyn Charles Blagrove, killed in the sinking of HMS ROYAL OAK 1939, with details of the circumstances of his death; letters home from the Far East, 1949; official report on the blockade of Shanghai and British inability to defend Hong Kong from possible future attack by Chinese Communist forces, 1949; newspaper cuttings relating to the HMS AMETHYST Incident, Yangtze-Kiang river, China, 1949, and Brind's order, as Commander-in-Chief Eastern Fleet, for the successful breakout 1949; notes and lecture texts relating to the role of NATO, 1953-1955; typescript notes on the post war role of the Royal Navy, 1955.

Records of the British India and Queensland Agency Company, comprising articles of association, agreement, and journal.

Records of British India Associated Steamers Limited, including board minutes; annual reports; and financial accounts.

Papers of the British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd, comprising minute books: Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company Limited, 1856 to 1862; British India Steam Navigation Company Limited, 1863 to 1961. The annual reports cover the years 1865 to 1970. Accounts: ships' accounts, 1927 to 1958; general journals and ledgers, 1935 to 1959; specialized accounts for supplies, repairs and stevedoring, pay and pensions, 1938 to 1969; Calcutta office's general accounts with London, 1935 to 1955; Passage Books, 1951 to 1969, summarizing passenger carryings on the various services. British India owned a great deal of property (godowns, wharves, repair yards, office and staff accommodation) in India and elsewhere, which are documented in a register of properties, 1889 to 1965, with supporting files. Information about ships' voyages, portage accounts, etc exists only for the period 1960 to 1970. British India operated a fleet of landing craft for the Ministry of Transport and there are files and log books for these, 1966 to1970. Correspondence: letters to and from the Secretary, 1865 to 1900; files relating to mail contracts, trooping, relief expeditions, 1863 to 1962. Some confidential correspondence is included in the collection; three of Lord Inchcape's letterbooks, 1912 to 1932, and two confidential letter files, 1885 to 1893. Staff Records: records of commanders, officers, engineers, cadets and stewards, 1868 to 1957, are contained in forty volumes and there are extensive pension fund registers. Technical Records: technical files, 1958 to 1967 relate to major maintenance and repair work and new buildings. British India issued a yearly handbook containing detailed information about the fleet, the various liner services, rates of freight and passenger fares and the company 5 agents; there is a bound set, 1866 to 1939 and 1949 to 1969. Parallel with these, although more recent, are copies of the British India house magazines and news letters. There is also a file of press cuttings on the occasion of the Company's centenary in 1956.