Pickford, William, Baron Sterndale, Master of The Rolls, 1848-1923.

The papers relate almost exclusively to the inquiry into the North Sea Incident, an attack made by warships of the Russian Baltic Fleet on Hull fishing trawlers on the Dogger Bank, in October 1904. They contain evidence presented at the International Commission of Inquiry such as witness declarations, Pickford's personal notes and the official conclusions drawn up by the Commission.

Administrative / biographical background
Pickford was called to the northern bar in 1874 and moved from Liverpool to London in 1892 to conduct proceedings in the Admiralty Court. In 1905 he was leading counsel for Great Britain at the Paris based inquiry into the attack by Russia's Baltic fleet on a small fleet of British trawlers on the Dogger Bank. Pickford was raised to the peerage as a baron in 1918 and was appointed Master of the Rolls in October of 1919.