Manuscripts
HMS Bristol ship's surgeon logbook
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St. Andrew Oliver St. John logbook for HMS Centurion
Manuscripts
Midshipman St. Andrew Oliver St. John kept this logbook that describes the day-to-day activities, along with hand-drawn maps and technical diagrams, of Vice-Admiral Edward Seymour's HMS Centurion expedition to relieve the city of Peking (now known as Beijing) during the Boxer Uprising. The log details the ship's journey through Hong Kong, Taku, Weihai, and other locations as well as provides an eyewitness account of intense resistance from Chinese forces and Seymour's retreat to Tianjin. Many of the entries were reviewed and initialed by Vice-Admiral Seymour. The volume is accompanied by a list of commercial code signals and a page from a 1901 edition of The Navy and Army Illustrated which contains images of the Centurion crew and officers.
mssHM 84493
Account book recording expenditure on the building of Newgate prison in Bristol, 1690-1693
Manuscripts
This manuscript account book records expenditure during the course of the building of the Newgate prison in Bristol. A special levy of sixpence was imposed on Bristol householders to cover the cost of the building works. The monies collected from different parishes are recorded here, together with details of loans from different private citizens. The volume includes a record of individually itemized expenditure on all manner of building materials including lime, timber, marble and nails, as well as lists of artisans and laborers, among them lime burners, masons, plumbers, carvers and others.
mssHM 81171
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Journal of...voyage in ship Katherine of Bristoll...unto the iland of Barbados [and of other journeys in the same and other ships]: manuscript
Manuscripts
Other ships include the Friendship, and the Michael, both of Bristol; other destinations include Goteburg (Sweden), Boston, Antigua, and the Cape Verde Islands.
mssHM 648
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Muster or "Compleat" Books for the HMS Norge
Manuscripts
Muster or "Compleat" books for the Norge, consisting of printed pages, filled in, recordfing the names of each member of the crew (including marines), the day he was mustered in, his place of birth, age, time of discharge and why, articles of clothing and tobacco supplied and - less regularly - details of pay. A very few loose pages laid into vol. 4 give details of supplies issued to individual sailors.
mssHM 70983 (vols. 1-4)
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Journal and logbook of John T. Hudson
Manuscripts
The logbook and journal covers two trading voyages from the Sandwich [Hawaiian] Islands to the Coast of upper and Lower California from November 13, 1805 through July 13, 1807. Excellent early journal of clandestine trading operations along the California coast, describing all transaction carried on the shore by Capt. Hudson with such details as the names of the padres, missions, ranchers, etc., with whom he traded, as well as otter skins purchased, prices paid, exchange of goods, etc.
mssHM 30491-30492
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(HM 81771-81832)
Manuscripts
Letters that Hardy wrote to his parents during his Civil War service constitute the bulk of the collection. The letters describe the work on the defenses of Washington, D.C., including Forts Massachusetts (Stevens), DeRussey, Talbot, Ripley, Alexander, Franklin and Sumner; life in camp, particularly the food, healthcare, and various sports and amusements; the men of his regiment, including the hated regimental surgeon suspected of killing off "weak soldiers" and an "old Hypocrite" of a chaplain' encounters with fugitive slaves, slaveholders, Confederate prisoners, Union conscripts, etc. Hardy also discusses the affairs at home, (including the fate of his dog), and renders his opinion on war news and state and national politics, e.g. the draft and the Copperheads. Longing for a battle, he also shared various schemes that would allow him to be transferred to cavalry or the Navy. The letters also contain accounts of the beginning of Grant's Overland campaign and the battle of Poplar Springs where he lost his arm as well as descriptions of the Columbian Hospital in Washington, D.C. and the Beverly Hospital in New Jersey.
mssHM 81771-81832