Records of Patrick Colquhoun, police magistrate, comprising letter to Henry Dundas, Home Secretary, relating to a salary dispute, 1793; letter to Richard Ford, magistrate, relating to apprehension of a criminal, 1797; letter to William Wickham, Under-secretary of State for the Home Department, relating to the river police, 1798; letter regarding the Wapping riots, 1798; letters relating to expenditure, 1799.

Also autobiographical notes giving an account of 'family and public services', including a detailed chronological account of his public services, beginning with his early career in Glasgow, where he was Chief Magistrate. He accepted the position of a police magistrate in London "not so much on account of the salary which was small; but from a strong impression on his mind that by great attention to the duty he had undertaken to perform he would be able after a time to suggest measures for the improvement of a System(?), than which nothing could be worse." His various activities have included regulating public houses, and establishing the river police office, soup kitchens and a public school in Westminster. He has published treatises on these and other subjects which have been read widely, and many of his suggestions have been implemented. In many connections he has been styled a "public benefactor".

This document appears to have been composed with a view to publication. In 1818 Colquhoun's son-in-law contributed to the European Magazine "an exhaustive account of his useful and disinterested labours," (Dictionary of National Biography, Vol IV, p.860), and it is possible that this was written for that article. However, as the account of his services ends at 1814 (although he was a police magistrate until 1818), and the watermark is 1814, the earlier date seems the more probable.

Registers and day books of burials in consecrated or church ground and unconsecrated or chapel ground, 1841-1952, showing name, abode, when buried, age, place of burial, when and by whom buried, private vault or grave, purchased monuments and where placed (registers are not available for consultation, please use microfilms X64/1-41); fee books, 1902-1966, including remarks, registrar, sub-district, date of certificate, digger, stone, bill number, name of deceased, age, time, depth, received by, minister, undertaker, secretary's signature, price, description of graves, square position (not always), size of coffin, undertaker's commission, amount; registers of private graves, 1841-1941, showing number of graves, description of place of burial, date and consideration of grant, names and addresses of purchasers, name and description of person interred, year and number (registers are not available for consultation, please use microfilms X64/42-46); registers of public graves, 1900-1965, showing number, date, name, age and time of burial (registers are not available for consultation, please use microfilm X64/47); register of private grave transfers, 1938-1966, showing transfer number, date, grave number, transfer from/to, address and remarks; correspondence relating to private graves; incumbents' account book, divided parish by parish, 1922-1966, and plans of the graves.

Also deeds and legal papers, 1841-1898; report to Directors by Committee of Proprietors appointed by an Extraordinary Court, to investigate expenditure and general state of the Company's affairs, 1843; report to Directors by Henry George Haywood on proposals for draining the cemetery, 1857; correspondence relating to staffing, sewers and the East London Eastern Extension Railway, 1849-1871; bills, 1841-1897; specification for sewers and roads, with sections, 1884; plans of cemetery including proposed southern extension, 1800s; impression in red wax of seal of Company, 1841; legal records, 1844-1942.

Papers, 1776-1991 (including some copies), some undated, collected by Anthony James Broomhall for his work on the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor and China's Open Century, comprising manuscript, typescript and printed notes and sources, largely undated, on Chinese and missionary history, on James Hudson Taylor, including his letters and personal papers, the chronology of his life, and his forebears, and on Frederick Howard Taylor; photocopies of drawings and photographs, including James Hudson Taylor and also Chinese buildings, cities, boats and rivers, and other scenes, copies of documents associated with Taylor, including his Bible and marriage certificate, and a photograph of his grave; maps of China and other parts of Asia, some including China Inland Mission stations; Broomhall's correspondence relating to his research, 1939-1991.

Records from the Lee Conservancy Board Engineer's Office at Enfield Lock. The engineer appears also to have been responsible to the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board (for example, see Acc 2423/062).

The collection consists of nineteenth and twentieth century plans, papers and volumes concerning the Lee Conservancy Board, the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board, and the British Waterways Board, covering many aspects of maintenance work on waterways and administration. The papers comprise:

• Plans 1760-1954 (ACC 2423/P/0001-3786) A large proportion of the collection consists of plans, many reused with annotations. Items relate to repair work on sewers and buildings, improvements to rivers and pumping stations, and the purchase of land for new projects.
  • Parliamentary Plans 1840-1965 (ACC 2423/PP/001-041) Plans produced for or submitted for Parliamentary Sessions to illustrate forthcoming work on waterways, for example, sewerage work, or waterways affected by the construction of railways.
  • Specific Plans 1867-1964 (ACC 2423/R/001-076) A set of plans illustrating large projects, which seems to have been kept as a set distinct and separate from the main ACC 2423/P plan series by the placing of the letter `R' before each original plan number.
  • General Plans 1828-1974 (ACC 2423/X/001-300) A collection of more general plans relating to projects focusing on improvements to the Lea River and Navigation, the Stort River and Navigation, the Bow Back Rivers and the Grand Union Canal.
  • Ordnance Survey Maps 1838-1955 (ACC 2423/05/001-139) Maps used to plan forthcoming work, with frequent annotations, particularly for the drafting of courses for sewers.
  • Engineers' Reports and Letter Books 1858-1961 (ACC 2423/001-136) Sets of volumes and files recording reports, contracts and specifications, and other maintenance records.
  • Administrative and Legal Documents 1829-1977 (ACC 2423/AL/001-119) Administrative files relating to accidents and damage, together with inventories of assets, minutes of meetings, and engineers' reports. Legal documents include material on agreements for sale and tenancy, the conveyance of property, and contracts.
  • Engineering and Maintenance Records 1892-1978 (ACC 2423/EM/001-097) Records relating to the maintenance and improvement of waterways, including development plans, moratorium surveys, pumping records, and related graphs and operation sheets.

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.

Letter from Sir Thomas Bazley of Eyford Park, Stow-on-the-Wold, [Gloucestershire] to C Manley, Esq, 13 May 1871. Thanking him for a 'further communication'. Bazley has come to Eyford Park for a few days to be among some workmen who are 'defining' his water stream. Hopes to meet Mr Buckland when he returns to town. Autograph, with signature. Headed with a crest and the motto 'Finem respice'.

MSS. 5958-5963 comprise journals of A B Barton, mainly written while he was a medical officer in the service of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P & O), 1853-1858. They cover his journeys between Bombay, Singapore and Hong Kong; to the Crimea; and to the Far East. They include descriptions of the progress of the Chinese rebellion (MS. 5959), tending to and transporting the sick and wounded from Balaclava to Scutari (MS. 5960), and his shipwreck off the coast of Ceylon, together with General Henry Havelock, on the steamer Erin (MS. 5962). Some are manuscript or typescript copies. MSS. 7589-7594 comprise journals and sketches mainly relating to the Yangtse expedition, led by Captain Thomas W Blakiston, on which Barton served as a medical officer, 1861. One journal, MS. 7591, also records the end of the expedition and Barton's journey to Ceylon via Singapore, with entries on hunting expeditions in Ceylon. The journals are all fair copies. MS. 7592 comprises a narrative of the Yangste expedition read by Barton to the Royal Geographical Society, based on his journals. MS. 7593 is a series of mainly topographical illustrations relating to the expedition, comprising sketches by Barton, plus photographs and engravings based on other sketches by Barton, some of which were used to illustrate Five Months on the Yang-Tse by Thomas W Blakiston (London: John Murray, 1862). MS. 7594 comprises later papers of Brian M Gould relating to Barton and his journals, 1967 and n.d.

Papers of John Frederick Baddeley, 1859-1926, including description of a journey from Aigun to Tsitsikar in 1910; papers on the Amoor [sic] railway; material for a book on the Amoor river; papers relating to the Russian Far East; a book in Russian "Journey on the Amur" published in 1859 and a small notebook containing hand-drawn maps of the river.