The materials comprising the British Correspondence and Miscellany Collection are dated from 1556 to 1972 (bulk 1740-1890). The papers are arranged into the following series: Correspondence, 1556-1972 and undated; Subject Files, 1699-1902 and undated; Pictures, 1795-1921 and undated; and Miscellaneous Material, 1814-1836 and undated An artificial collection, the papers are, for the most part, unrelated by provenance. The collection consists chiefly of correspondence, and topics include numerous political events and activities of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries in Great Britain and the colonies (particularly India and Africa).
The Correspondence Series includes numerous letters to and from British notables. Among the major correspondents represented are: the 8th Duke of Argyll, the 1st and 2nd Barons Auckland, Charles Bradlaugh, John Bright; Robert Brownrigg; George Canning, John Wilson Croker, the 1st Earl of Durham, John Foster, the 1st Baron Dover, George Joachim Goschen, John Hay, the 3rd Marquess Lansdowne, W.E.H. Lecky, Captain John Lenty, the 1st Earl of Liverpool, the 3rd Earl of Lucan, William Melbourne, Lord Broderick Midleton, Viscount Milner, David Christie Murray, Thomas Nimmo, Baron Northcote, Pierce O'Mahoney, the 3rd Viscount Palmerston, the 1st Baronet Pollock, George Rose, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, William Sheowring, John Deas Thompson, the 1st Duke of Wellington, William Wilberforce, and Edward Wodehouse.
Among the items in the Correspondence Series are a copy of John Bright's 1851 speech entitled "Papal Aggression" (Bright correspondence); material regarding the Horseguards (Brownrigg correspondence); a testimonial to the character of Sir Francis Burdett written by Lady Hester Stanhope (Burdett correspondence); a letter regarding Wellington's correspondence concerning a transport ship wrecked in the Tagus during his last Iberian campaign (Canning correspondence); letters from David Dundas, including two accompanying circulars (1804 and 1805) from the War Office (Dundas correspondence); and correspondence (and accompanying transcripts) between King George I and M. Braconnier (1709) concerning the King's inability to send a detachment large enough to oppose the French along the borders of the Rhone and Lake Geneva (George I correspondence). Other items include correspondence relating to George Henry's mission in Nyasaland (Henry correspondence); material concerning the cargo ship "The Sea Witch" (Lenty correspondence); correspondence regarding Marsden-Smedley's unsuccessful campaign for Parliament in 1910 (Marsden-Smedley correspondence); and Wellesley's transcript of a testimonial to the character of Charles Wyatt written by the Governor General of India (Wellesley correspondence). The Murray correspondence includes handwritten biographical notes and a printed review (1908) of David Christie Murray's Reflections.
Papers in the Subject Files Series concern a wide range of political, military, and economic matters. They include an anonymous account (1743) of the battle of Dettingen (in French); papers (1856-1860 and undated) relating to the raising of ships at Sebastopol during the Crimean War; a collection of letters from various correspondents concerning decimal currency (1856-1869); papers concerning Newfoundland fisheries (1901-1902); and a document pertaining to the impressment of sailors (1745).
