The papers comprise 41 autograph letters signed by George James Perceval to his parents, with an additional copy of an extract of a further letter, covering the period July 1805 to January 1815. They mainly relate to events while he was at sea as a midshipman on HMS ORION (1787) and then HMS TIGRE (1793). There are further documents relating to Perceval's early career; including six letters from Captain Edward Codrington to Lord and Lady Arden; three letters from Captain Benjamin Hallowell to Lord Arden; and letters received by Lord Arden from Princess Augusta, George Hardinge, as well as pages from 'The London Gazette' and a printed dispatch from the Admiralty. Also included, although with no clear connection to the Perceval family, is an account of the Battle of Trafalgar written by James H. Eden, clerk of HMS AGAMEMNON (1781).

Administrative / biographical background
George James Perceval was born in London in 1794, the third son of Charles George Perceval, 2nd Baron Arden, and his wife Margaretta Elizabeth Perceval née Wilson. He was educated at Harrow and entered the Navy at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. From July 1805 he was a first class volunteer in HMS ORION under Captain Edward Codrington, serving in the blockade of Cadiz and at the Battle of Trafalgar later that year. During 1807 he was in the Mediterranean on the sloop HMS SABRINA, before transferring to HMS TIGRE commanded by Captain Benjamin Hallowell. He commanded a boat from the TIGRE during the capture of the French armed storeship LAMPROIE and other vessels in Rosas Bay off Spain at the start of November 1809. Perceval was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1813 and served on HMS TENEDOS during the War of 1812, including an expedition up the Penobscot River and the blockade of New York. Perceval was promoted to commander in 1815 and was present at the bombardment of Algiers while in command of HMS INFERNAL in 1816. After gaining the rank of captain in 1818, he was no longer employed on active service. He was promoted to rear-admiral on the reserved list in 1851, vice-admiral in 1857 and admiral in 1863. Perceval was a magistrate for the county of Surrey, and a member of Parliament for the western division of Surrey from 1837 to 1840. As the eldest surviving son of Baron Arden on his death in 1840, he succeeded to the peerage and entered the House of Lords. In the following year he succeeded to the earldom of Egmont on the death of his cousin Henry Frederick. Perceval died at Nork House, Epsom, Surrey, in 1874.