Sir John Barrow to G.C.B., 1809 May 1

The Berkeley collection consists of seven manuscript boxes of letters and naval orders spanning the years 1808 to 1813. All of the letters in this collection concern the naval operations under Berkeley's command. They include naval appointments, administrative orders, dismissals, discharges, conscription of U.S. seamen, and coordination of supply ships with the British Army.

The letters in the collection were written primarily by men associated with the British Admiralty, the British Embassy in Portugal, or the British Army in Portugal. These men include Sir John Barrow (1746-1848), Second Secretary of the Admiralty from 1807 to 1845; Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave (1755-1831), First Lord of the Admiralty from 1807 to 1810; John Charles Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon (1757-1838), envoy to the court of Portugal from 1808 to 1810; Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), eventual conqueror of Napoleon; and William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington (1763-1845), Secretary of the Admiralty from 1807 to 1809.

Most of the letters are written to Berkeley; however, a few are initialed G.C.B. and some appear to be in Berkeley's hand. The letters are arranged alphabetically according to the author; within each author section the letters are arranged chronologically. Copies, as well as originals, are arranged in this manner.