Catalogue description Admiralty Harbour Department, Correspondence and Papers

The first 145 boxes in the series contain a single set of files, originally numbered 1-789. These include two sequences (files 1-664 and files 683-780) arranged broadly (but not strictly) in alphabetical order by place. The papers in boxes 146-149 do not have original file numbers.

Gaps in the numbering where there is no surviving file are noted as 'Missing at transfer', although it is possible that some of these files may never have existed. Alternatively, the contents of boxes 146-149 may fill some of the gaps in the numbering sequence. It is presumed that a register of the numbered files once existed but this does not survive.

From 1848 to 1863, harbours were administered from by the Harbour Department of the Admiralty. Between 1848 and 1853, this department was known as the Harbour and Railway Department, and between 1856 and 1862 as the Hydrographic and Harbour Department. After 1863, harbours became the responsibility of the Marine Department of the Board of Trade.