Great Britain -- Colonies -- Administration

A collection of manuscript deeds, wills, leases, letters, and other legal and financial documents concerning eighteenth- and nineteenth-century estates and plantations on islands in the British West Indies.

The papers consist of letters written by Mary Kingsley to English merchant John Holt and his wife. Among the topics discussed are British government policy in West Africa, treatment of Africans, the behavior of missionaries, the interests of the trading community, and public opinion in England. The letters were written during the period between Kingsley's return from her West African travels and before going to South Africa during the Boer War.

The papers document the West Indian portions of the economic fortunes and political career of the sugar planter and politician Ralph Payne, first Baron Lavington.