The collection consists of order and letter books, and other official correspondence relating to Gosselin’s command of warships at the time of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. There are some papers providing details of the organization of military transports during the British expedition to Sweden and then the convoy Gosselin led to the River Tagus in Portugal in 1808. A volume recording Gosselin’s income relating to prizes, freight money and passengers, 1794-1807, is particularly useful for reference (see GSS/5). To support this, there is much in the way of financial records, including correspondence with navy and prize agents, cargo manifests, accounts of sales of condemned vessels and cargo, and details of the distribution of prize money. There are also receipts for purchases of provisions, equipment and personal items made at foreign and home ports.

Administrative / biographical background
Gosselin was born at St Peter Port, Guernsey, in 1765. He was the second son of Colonel Joshua Gosselin (1739-1813) of the North Regiment of Militia on Guernsey. He first went to sea on HMS ACTAEON (1778) in 1778. In the following year he was on HMS ARDENT (1764) when she was captured by a Franco-Spanish fleet off Plymouth and subsequently spent three months as a prisoner in Normandy. While serving on HMS BARFLEUR (1768), flagship of Sir Samuel Hood, and then on HMS CHAMPION (1779), he was present at some major actions in North America and the West Indies, including the Battle of the Saintes off Dominica in 1782. His first command was the sloop HMS DISPATCH ex ZEPHYR (1779) on the East India Station in 1793. He was in command of the sloop HMS KINGFISHER (1782) at the Glorious First of June of 1794 in the Atlantic and in the following year was in the squadron of Vice-Admiral William Cornwallis when a small French convoy was captured off Brittany. Between 1796 and 1801 Gosselin was in command of HMS SYREN (1782) in operations on the coast of France and in the West Indies. Later he was in command of HMS VILLE DE PARIS (1795) as flag captain to Admiral Cornwallis, the frigate HMS LATONA (1781) and the inshore squadron off Brest, and HMS AUDACIOUS (1785) in the squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, and afterwards in the Channel Fleet. During the Peninsular War, Gosselin led a convoy carrying a large force of troops to the River Tagus in August 1808, and covered the embarkation of the army at Corunna. After 29 years in appointments at sea, the condition of his health prevented him from further service afloat. He was promoted to the rank of admiral in 1841 and was the most senior officer on the active list when he died aged 92 in 1857. A memorial to Gosselin exists at St Leonard's Church at Bengeo in Hertfordshire. His service record can be found under the reference ADM 196/4/349 at The National Archives.