Premidnantly comprises the papers of Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford: including logs, 1852 to 1858; diaries, 1875 to 1879, and correspondence concerning issues such as: Huascar incident; letters home from HMS SHAH, letters from HMS TRIUMPH and letter to his wife from HMS MONARCH; newscuttings regarding the Benin Expedition, and biographical cuttings relating to Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford, including his death. Also includes smaller sub-collections relating to Rear Admiral Edward James Bedford (BED/100) e.g. notebooks of Bedford family ancestry; and Vice-Admiral Arthur Bedford (BED/200).

Related Materials: In the Department of Pictures are six albums containing watercolours and photographs (References: ALB1791 - ALB1795, ALB1797). Two of them cover his service in the Shah, 1876 to 1878, and the third his career in the Triumph, 1879.

Administrative / biographical background
Frederick George Denham Bedford entered the Navy with a cadetship awarded by the Naval School at New Cross. In 1854 he was at the Crimea as a midshipman in the Sampson. However, he went to the Baltic in March 1855, when he was appointed to the Vulture, and he took part in the destruction of the Russian fortress at Sveaborg. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1859, to commander in 1871 and to captain in 1875 into the Serapis, which took the Prince of Wales to attend ceremonies proclaiming Queen Victoria Empress of India. Bedford was next appointed to the Shah, 1876, as Flag-Captain to Rear Admiral de Horsey (1827-1922), Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station. In this ship he was engaged in the duel with the Peruvian ironclad Huascar. As a consequence of this action, the ironclad Triumph replaced the Shah and Bedford transferred to her. In 1880, on his return home, he attended the torpedo course at Portsmouth. Bedford then joined the Board of Admiralty, 1889 to 1892. In 1895 he became Second Sea Lord and was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the North American and West Indies Station, 1899 to 1903. From 1903 to 1909 he was Governor of Western Australia. See F.G.H. Bedford, The life and letters of Admiral Frederick George Denham Bedford (published privately, 1960).