British historical material including correspondence to and from colonial governors, orders and grants from central government to local administration, and information from the localities.

The "Calendar" includes the West Indies 1574-1738, and the East Indies, China, Japan and Persia (Iran) 1513-1634. It is a catalogue of state papers comprising extended abstracts or transcripts in modernised spelling of the most important range of British historical material during this time in these territories, which are essential to all historians working on Britain and its colonies.

The material includes a wide range of subject areas such as correspondence to and from colonial governors, orders and grants from central government to local administration, and information from the localities. The material is also important as since it includes correspondence from the colonial governors as well as information about the slave trade and piracy, it comprises one of the most substantial sources of North American history before the Revolution.

Material included: Correspondence to and from colonial governors, orders and grants from central government to local administration, and information from the localities, in the following areas: Administration; agriculture; boundary disputes; immigration; industry (ship building, fisheries); land grants; legislation; plantations; piracy eg. depositions of sailors from court cases; the slave trade, relations with the French, Spanish and Dutch (including intercepted letters); reports of conferences with native Indians, and trade.

Countries and states included: Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Carolina, Connecticut, Cuba, Delaware, Dominica, Florida, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia.