IT has been possible, in the footnotes of the preceding pages, merely to
hint at the extent of my obligation to the researches of others. My own
researches have been confined to the material deposited in the Public
Record Office, British Museum and National Maritime Museum in
London, and in the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. As far as
possible I have tried to fill in some of the main gaps in the use of original
sources concerning the formulation of naval policy, and in particular I
have directed my attention to the period between 1835 and 1853, which
is the more interesting, and more in need of elucidation as these were the
years of recurrent crises.

Not only the Admiralty records and papers, but those of the Foreign
and Colonial Offices could be explored almost indefinitely, and I was
obliged to use a certain amount of discrimination. Much Admiralty cor-
respondence contains only decisions and instructions, and not the
reasoning behind them, which was my main quest, but, as I have tried
to indicate in the footnotes to the text, official and private papers often
proved complementary. Invaluable memoranda, minutes by individual
members of the Board of Admiralty, and sundry other comments and
recommendations are, however, to be found scattered through these
official papers. Some groups of them are worthy of particular notice.

Much of the basic material of this book is drawn from the Departmental
Business series, Adm. 1/3459-3500, which ends in 1839, but which is
broadly continued in the General Series, Adm. 1/5495-5632. This was
supplemented by material relating to specific departments and problems,
such as Adm. 2/1387-91, which related to the Steam Department. Much
of value is to be found under the miscellaneous headings, notably Adm.
7/167, 577, 595, 617, and 87/34-37.

The in and out correspondence of the secretary's department (Adm. 1
and 2) with other government departments, with various branches of the
Service and its administration, and with commanders-in-chief, was con-
suited on specific problems, but of especial importance are the volumes
of collected secret orders and correspondence, Adm. 2/1381-2 and 1692-
7, and the volumes of special minutes of the Board of Admiralty (not to
be confused with the rough minutes, which were of little or no value),
Adm. 3/261-5.

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