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The Goulburn papers (301 items) contain the diplomatic correspondence and official documents of Henry Goulburn, British negotiator of the Treaty of Ghent. The collection includes the official and private letters between the British commissioners and the British Foreign Office, letters between the American and British commissioners, and drafts of the treaty. Included is one of the six original copies of Treaty of Ghent, written in the hand of Henry Clay and signed by each commissioner.

The Goulburn papers (301 items) contain the diplomatic correspondence and treaty drafts of the British and American negotiations for the Treaty of Ghent. The collection includes the letters between the British commissioners and the British foreign office, both official and private, and between the American and British commissioners. These comprise 80 letters, 74 drafts and copies of letters, and various enclosures, treaty drafts, and memoranda. Also present is one of the six original copies of Treaty of Ghent, written in the hand of Henry Clay and signed by each commissioner.

Goulburn and the other British commissioners primarily communicated with Prime Minister Liverpool, Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh, and Secretary of War Earl Bathurst, providing them with updates on the negotiation process and receiving instructions and peace guidelines from their superiors. The foreign office also kept the commissioners abreast of military developments in North America, such as the burning of Washington and their defeat at Plattsburgh, New York. Goulburn and his colleagues also exchanged notes, formal gambits, and treaty drafts with the American commissioners ("Ministers Plenipotentiaries") John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Albert Gallatin, and Jonathan Russell. The collection also contains copies of communications with President James Madison and Secretary of State James Monroe. The negotiations centered on agreements regarding frontier boarders, Native American land guarantees, naval impressments, Atlantic fishery rights, and general maritime rights. Together, these papers document the peace treaty proceedings throughout the fall of 1814, which ultimately led to the settlement at Ghent.

• October 5, 1813: Letter from Baring Ashburton to Lord Castlereagh concerning impressments and preliminaries to the negotiations with America
• November 8, 1813: Letter from St. John's merchants to Sir Richard Goodwin Keats concerning special fishing privileges near Newfoundland for France and the United States
• January 7, 1814: Newspaper clippings reporting peace overtures
• June 29, 1814: A proclamation from President James Madison which refers to the British blockade of the United States a "paper blockade"
• July 18, 1814: A memorial concerning Loyalist Reverend Bennet Allen's claim for lost property
• July 28, 1814: Instructions from Lord Castlereagh of the foreign office to the British Peace Commission containing requests and requirements for peace (14 enclosures)
• August 8, 1814: Protocol of the peace conferences as revised by the British and American commissioners
• August 9, 1814: Report to Castlereagh on preliminary meetings at Ghent, with enclosed letters from President Madison to the American commissioners
• August 14, 1814: Letter from Castlereagh to British commissioners concerning Indians, fisheries, and boundaries
• August 19, 1814: A draft note from British commissioners to the Americans outlining the British peace requirements
• August 24, 1814: The American commissioners rejection of the British terms
• August 30, 1814: Letter enclosing a copy of a note from Castlereagh to James Monroe offering direct negotiations instead of Russian mediation
• September 1, 1814: Letter from Henry Bathurst to Goulburn, rebuking him for almost breaking off negotiations
• September 4, 1814:Draft of the treaty with British alterations
• September 9, 1814: Letter in which the United States rejects the Canadian boundary proposed by Great Britain
• September 16, 1814: Letter from Henry Bathurst to Goulburn concerning pressures to make peace for political reasons in Britain
• September 17, 1814: Letter from Robert Liverpool to Goulburn concerning negotiating for Indian boundaries
• September 19, 1814: Draft letter from British commissioners to American commissioners concerning boundaries and Indian affairs
• October 4, 1814: Letter from Goulburn to Bathurst concerning the burning of Washington and the decision to communicate this intelligence to the American commissioners (response on October 21, 1814)
• October 8, 1814: Letter from British commissioners to American commissioners regarding an ultimatum on the Indian question
• October 13, 1814: Letter from American commissioners to the British commissioners defending the Louisiana Purchase and denying territorial ambitions
• October 18, 1814: Letter from Bathurst to the British commissioners concerning impressments, maritime law, fisheries, and the boundaries of Maine, Niagara, and Michilimackinac
• October 21, 1814: Letter from Liverpool to Goulburn concerning the grave political consequences of continuing the war
• November 10, 1814: American treaty submission with British comments
• November 21, 1814: Letter from Bathurst to Goulburn discussing the effect of Prevost's failure at the Battle of Plattsburgh on the peace process
• November 1814: American commissioners to British commissioners concerning the disposition of prisoners after the peace treaty is signed with an American amendment to article 8 of the treaty
• December 7, 1814: Letter from British commissioners to American commissioners concerning the charge of the British stealing slaves during the war
• December 10, 1814: Letter from British commissioners to Castlereagh concerning verbal alterations in the treaty, technical details, and general progress in negotiations
• December 14, 1814: Letter from British commissioners to Castlereagh concerning copies of the article relating to the Passamaquoddy Islands
• December 14, 1814: Letter from American commissioners to British commissioners concerning the Passamaquoddy Islands and the boundaries on the Mississippi River
• December 26, 1814: Letter from Bathurst to Goulburn congratulating him on the treaty signing
• December 26, 1814: Letter from American commissioners to British commissioners concerning a project for a commercial treaty between the United States and Great Britain
• December 28, 1814: Commercial treaty in the hand of John Quincy Adams
• December 29, 1814: Letter from American commissioners to British commissioners regarding stolen slaves that the British sold in the West Indies
• December 30, 1814: Letter from Goulburn to Bathurst explaining minor changes to the treaty

The collection contains one letter from Goulburn, stationed at the Irish Office, to an unknown recipient concerning Goulburn's interest in representing Cambridge University in the British House of Commons (February 8, 1826).

The Rowland Stephenson scrapbook contains numerous clippings, engravings, illustrations, notes, and ephemera primarily related to British banking and finance, the Royal Family, and prominent political and historical figures.

The Rowland Stephenson scrapbook contains numerous clippings, engravings, illustrations, notes, and ephemera primarily related to British banking and finance, the Royal Family, and prominent political and historical figures.

The scrapbook (23 x 18 cm) has brown board covers, is lacking a spine, and contains 184 pages in total. While it is unlikely that Stephenson himself created the scrapbook, it does appear that it may have been compiled by a close associate or relative of Stephenson's. Dated contents range from ca. 1767 to 1840 and generally speaking include numerous engraved portraits of various individuals (mainly royal personages, aristocrats, politicians, military and religious leaders, writers, artists, doctors, scientists, athletes, eccentrics, criminals, and historic figures), engravings and illustrations of buildings and other scenes, handwritten notes and ephemeral materials related to various subjects including royal finances and banking, multiple pasted in signatures, and newspaper clippings regarding various subjects including a reward notice for information on Stephenson's whereabouts after his disappearance following his embezzlement scandal. A number of engravings appear to have been clipped from European Magazine as well as R. S. Kirby’s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum; Or, Magazine of Remarkable Characters. Many undated engravings of pre-18th century historic figures were likely produced prior to 1767.

• Pressed plant life remnants of a “Willow from the grave of Buonaparte at St. Helena. 1838” (pg. 1)
• Engraved portraits of King George III, Aleksandr Suvorov, and the Duke of Wellington (pgs. 2-4)
• Handwritten list of debts held by Prince Regent George IV coupled with a newspaper clipping expressing caution about how to deal with being in debt (pg. 7)
• Engraved portrait of Prince Regent George IV with handwritten notes summarizing "Debts of this King paid by Parliament"; includes juxtaposed clipped engraving of a man with hand-drawn sight lines drawing attention to the total debt amount of £3,113,061 (pg. 8)
• Handwritten list of expenses for the coronation of King George IV, July 19, 1821 (pg. 9)
• Invitation to the coronation of King George IV (pg. 10)
• Printed poem about death of Princess Charlotte of Wales, November 6, 1817 (pg. 13)
• Handwritten list detailing pensions paid to certain dukes, duchesses, princes, and princesses (pg. 15)
• Two engravings showing portraits of Queen Victoria (ca. 1837) and the 1st Earl of Munster (ca. 1834) encircled by statistical references regarding “The Population of the British Empire according to the last census” (pgs. 16 & 48)
• Handwritten list showing stats related to the “Total personal charge of a King of England, on the scale of the reign of George the Third” (pg. 17)
• Engraved portrait of surgeon Charles Aldis (pg. 19)
• Engraved view of the comet of 1811 (between pgs. 19 and 20)
• Clipped handwritten cookery list dated December 29, 1767 (pg. 20)
• Engraved portrait of “Her late Most Excellent Majesty Sophia Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain,” dated December 1818 (pg. 23)
• Engraved view of “Frogmore, the favorite residence of Her late Majesty” coupled with smaller engraving of people ice skating (pg. 24)
• Handwritten notes detailing the history and operations of the Bank of England (pgs. 25, 27, 29, & 31)
• Three Bank of England checks dated February 14, 1826, Dec 10, 1818, and March 6, 1818, all marked with “Forged” stamps, accompanied by handwritten notes (pgs. 26, 28, & 30)
• Two unfilled stock certificates for £1 and £10 from the Hibernian Bank, Dublin, illustrated with vignettes (pg. 32)
• Handwritten statement detailing the Bank of England’s net profits from 1797 to 1816; includes tipped-in engraved portrait from 1803 of Abraham Newland, Chief Cashier for the Bank of England (pgs. 33-35)
• Handwritten note about scented “love letter paper” made in New Jersey alongside an engraved portrait of Raphael (pg. 37)
• Engravings including depictions of four honorary medals and views of “The Car on which the Remains of Lord Nelson were conveyed to St. Paul’s Jany. 9, 1806,” the "Palaquin presented by the Marquis Cornwall to Prince Abdul Calic, Eldest Son of Tippoo Sultaun…Sepr. 1796," and "A West View of the Iron Bridge over the Wear near Sunderland" (pgs. 39-41)
• Handwritten notes detailing the history of the Rothschild Family (pgs. 43 & 44)
• Engravings of Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital as well as a funding solicitation notice seeking contributions for the Foundling Hospital (pgs. 45 & 46)
• Tickets and other ephemera related to various lotteries (pgs. 49, 50, 52, 54, 55, 56, & 58)
• Engraved view of the Globe Theater (pg. 53)
• Clipping regarding election anecdote related to Lord Chief Justice John Holt accompanied by a tipped-in engraved portrait of Holt (pg. 62)
• Handwritten notes on the "Character of a Good Woman" (pg. 63)
• Handwritten notes on Freemasonry (pg. 64)
• Hand-drawn view of the comet of 1811 (pg. 65)
• Engraved portraits of Benjamin Thompson, the Count Rumford; John Elwes; Joanna Southcott; Thomas Paine; Rev. Thomas Raffles; Richard Carlile; Sir Richard "Dick" Wittington and his cat; Joseph Priestley; Prince Albert; engraver John Rowe; and London eccentric Ann Siggs (pgs. 74-85)
• Engraved depiction of a sleeping woman named Elizabeth Perkins of Morley, Norfolk, accompanied by handwritten notes detailing her sudden and mysterious entrance into a coma in 1788 (pg. 86)
• Ca. 1839 advertisement for a showing of Brother Jonathan, the mammoth ox from America (pg. 87)
• Engraved portraits of boxer James Belcher, eccentric dentist Martin van Butchell, and Madame de Staël Anne-Louise-Germaine Necker (pgs. 88-90)
• Plan of the King’s Theatre (pg. 94)
• Engraving showing the three defendants in the 1823 Radlett Murder: John Thurtell, Joseph Hunt, and William Probert (pg. 101)
• Handwritten copy of a letter sent from Rotterdam, Netherlands, dated August 18, 1817, instructing Stephenson’s firm to pay £100 to someone who was purpsoefully injured by one of their clients (pg. 103)
• Engraved portraits of Thomas Hobson accompanied by a printed poem, Henry Jenkins of Ellerton in Yorkshire “who lived to the Surpizing Age of 169,” and Thomas “Old Tom” Parr (pgs. 110-112)
• Engraved view of London and the observatory erected over the cross of St. Paul's Cathedral that was used by Thomas Hornor to create his panoramic view of London accompanied by a handwritten note about an individual nearly falling to their death after slipping on top of the cathedral's dome (pgs. 115 & 116)
• Engraved portraits of Lady Morgan Sydney Owenson and Charlemagne (pg. 117)
• Ca. 1840 advertisement for London-based rubbish collector John Allford attached to French cologne advertisement (between pgs. 117 & 118)
• Clipping regarding Edmund Burke's description of the Bible, an engraved portrait of Burke and an engraving of two Biblical-era priests preparing sacrifices (pgs. 123 & 124)
• Engraved portraits of Rev. Rowland Hill and George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (pgs. 125 & 128)
• Cut and pasted signatures of various individuals (pgs. 129-168)
• Engraved portraits of Governor Joseph Wall, Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Brougham and Vaux, Lord Durham, John Bellingham, T. S. Duncombe, Colonel George De Lacy Evans, Lord Thomas Erskine, George Canning, Granville Sharp, Henry Hunt, Richard Watson, Joseph Hume, William Cobbett, Daniel O'Connell, Charles Lennox the Duke of Richmond, Lord Palmerston, Thomas Spring-Rice, William Henry the Duke of Portland, Sir James Shaw, Lord Bexley Nicholas Vansittart, Sir Matthew Wood, Robert Waithman, W. T. Raynal, Sir Richard Birnie, Joliot de Crebillon, John Gully, Sir John Oglander, John Soane, Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal, Hippocrates, Josiah Ricraft, Dr. Herman Boerhaave, Henry Hastings, Marie and Catherine de Médicis, James Cook, Rev. Obadiah Sedgwick, Lord Burghley, King William IV, and Queen Victoria (pgs. 133-183)
• Hand-colored engraved portrait of Stephenson accompanied by his own clipped signature as well as a newspaper clipping of a reward notice offering £1000 pounds for Stephenson's apprehension following his alleged embezzlement and flight from London (pg. 171)
• Four tipped-in manuscript items including an undated note from Stephenson quoting "Lev: 12: Blair" about choosing one's path in life; a letter dated January 9, 1804, from B. Pratt to Stephenson regarding the importance of being careful with money; a letter dated August 29, 1827, from “Rody Moroney” to Stephenson thanking the latter for favors; and a letter dated March 23, 1822, from "the Independent Inhabitation of West Looe" to innkeeper Robert Reath inquiring about the whereabouts of Stephenson's friends and remarking on business matters impacted in the wake of a contested election (between pgs. 171 & 172)
• Clipping of a poem dated January 10, 1829, regarding Stephenson's alleged embezzlement and lamenting the volume of negative newspaper coverage devoted to Stephenson as well as to the Duke of Wellington (pg. 173)
• Loose letter dated March 19, 1828, from Michael Meredith to Stephenson expressing the former's willingness to work for Stephenson again in Leominster "if it should happen that your Honour should call on me again at any future Election" (between pgs. 173 & 174)
• Handwritten notes regarding the "Expenses of the Coronation of Queen Victoria" accompanied by a clipping that details the approximate value of the jewels found in Her Majesty's Crown (pg. 184)
• Engraved view of the passenger steamboat SS British Queen (pasted inside back cover)

The Viscounts Melville papers contain the letters of British statesman Henry Dundas, 1st viscount Melville, and of his son Robert Saunders Dundas, 2nd viscount Melville, first lord of the admiralty. The collection contains incoming correspondence and some copies of letters and drafts of memoranda by the Melvilles. The papers are almost entirely political in nature and deal with English, Scottish, American, Indian, and European affairs.

The Viscounts Melville papers (14 linear feet) contain the letters of British statesman Henry Dundas, 1st viscount Melville, and his son Robert Saunders Dundas, 2nd viscount Melville, first lord of the admiralty. The collection contains approximately 1,500 Henry Dundas items and 850 Robert Dundas items, and is primarily comprised of incoming official correspondence, some copies of outgoing letters, and drafts of memoranda by the Melvilles. The papers are almost entirely political in nature and deal with English, Scottish, American, Indian, and European affairs.

The Henry Dundas papers chiefly concern British political affairs and military engagements in France, America, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Russia, Spain, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Minorca, Portugal, Corfu, Trieste, Malta, Sicily, the West Indies, the East Indies, and South America. The majority of these span 1794 to 1805, and relate to his tenure as secretary at war and first lord of the admiralty.

• Diplomatic correspondence
• Memoranda on British trade
• Letters dealing with Indian and British patronage
• Military intelligence reports, defense plans, and secret naval memoranda concerning the war with France
• Secret reports on internal affairs of France covering 1791 to 1795 from his nephew George Buchan, Financier Walter Boyd, and J. Bedinfield
• Intelligence on English prisoners of war in France, including details on the treatment of prisoners
• Memorials that provide details on individual service member's careers
• Dealings with the Danish East India Company
• Miscellaneous naval material, such as reports on ship construction and repairs and on the fleets of other nations

American affairs consumed much of Melville's attention in the 1780s and 1790s while he served on the Committee of the Private Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations. Topics discussed include compensation claims from American Loyalists for losses during the war, and claims of British merchants against Americans for unpaid debts incurred during the war. Of particular interest are the letters between Melville and Grenville that relate to American debt issues (1785-1805 with a concentration in 1792). Also of note are letters from Thomas Jefferson and members of Congress concerning the 1794 Jay Treaty between England and the United States. Also present are the trial briefs prepared for Dundas' defense during his 1806 impeachment proceedings.

• January 14, 1735: Report to the Great Britain Board of Trade on the state of American and West Indies commerce and fortifications, covering 1734-1735 (40 pages)
• May 5 and July 14, 1763: Secretary of State Charles Wyndham, 2nd earl of Egremont to the Privy Council, concerning trade in the American colonies after the French and Indian War and a proposal to create a frontier military force
• June 12, 1784: Dr. John Halliburton to Henry Melville, relating his struggles as a Loyalist who fled from Rhode Island to Halifax during the American Revolution
• July 10, 1791: Lady Eglantine Wallace's account of the plan for the French Royal Family's attempted escape
• November 19, 1794: Draft of the Jay Treaty (American Treaty of Commerce, signed by Lord Grenville, along with a copy of a letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Hammond regarding the treaty, 81 pages)
• August 3, 1798: Mary Scott's description of the young King of Prussia
• July 18, 1799: Anonymous letter from a secret service agent in Göttingen concerning "cloak and dagger" operations to send intelligence through Frankfurt
• June 29, 1804: Secret intelligence from Admiral William Cornwallis concerning attacks on Brest and plans to burn the French fleet there
• October 17, 1807: William Sweetland's report on the Barbary Coast enclosed in a Sir Charles Flint letter

The Robert Dundas Melville papers relate primarily to his office as first lord of the admiralty from 1812 to 1830. These include material concerning the War of 1812, and secret admiralty memoranda documenting ship locations and movements, strength of forces, and instructions to and from various British admirals. Notably, Melville received copies of intercepted letters from Albert Gallatin, John Quincy Adams, John Speyer, S. Bourne, and R. G. Beasley to President James Madison from 1813 to 1814. The collection also provides insights into American-British tensions in the Great Lakes region in the years after the war. Between 1815 and 1820, Melville received many reports and letters related to the treatment of scurvy in the navy.

• June 6, 1812: Lord Keith's "Observations upon the Coast of America"
• January 6, 1813: Richard Bickerton concerning proposed attacks on Boulogne and Dieppe
• October 6, 1813: Admiral George Tate to Robert Melville containing a complete list of the Russian fleet
• November 23, 1813: George Campbell's plans for constructing naval vessels in the Great Lakes, with detailed ship diagrams
• February 26, 1814: Britain Navy Commissioner Samuel Bentham's detailed report on the Battle of Lake Erie (25 pages)
• July 15, 1814: Charles and George Baillie's presentation of a petition for abolishing the British slave trade
• March 1815: Many letters concerning the Duke of Orleans's plan to escape England
• September 25, 1815: Manuscript draft to Thomas Moore regarding communications about the "Merchants of Liverpool & Manchester engaged in the trade to Spanish South America."
• November 1815: Dr. William Beaty's letter on the value of providing lemon juice and vinegar to sailors for health at sea
• April 25-August 6, 1820: Anthony Maitland, 10th earl of Lauderdale, to Robert Melville concerning Trieste and Malta with detailed information on affairs
• August 25, 1823: Account of scurvy patients received yearly at naval hospitals at Haslar, Plymouth, Yarmouth, Deal, and Paington for the years 1803-1822
• 1825: Lord Auckland's report on prize ship laws

• The Melville Correspondence, 1780-1830 (146 items), containing official letters to and from the viscounts Melville
• Frederick Duke of York letters to Melville (32 letters), relating to militia and military matters, and including a color portrait of the Duke, and 1804 and 1810 accounts for field work expenses incurred by the Home Office, covering the years 1795 to 1803
• "Precis of Mr. Dundas's Correspondence with the Several Departments of his Majesty's Government," covering the Portland and Perceval ministries (46 pages), March 1807-July 23, 1810
• Four bundles of military letters and documents concerning conflicts in Europe, covering the years 1793, 1794, 1795, and 1804-1813