The papers consist mainly of family letters describing his experiences, 1850 to 1869, written to his parents in Jersey and their replies. There is a diary, 1867 to 1868, an out-letterbook, 1868 to 1869, and official service documents, 1852 to 1869.

Administrative / biographical background
Childers, first cousin of Hugh Childers (1827-1896), the politician, entered the Navy as a cadet in 1850 on board the Queen. From 1852 he was in the Britannia at the Crimea until late 1854, being present at the battles of Alma and Sebastopol. He then joined the Tribune, Mediterranean Station, and was in her in 1857 at the beginning of the Second China War, when she went to the Canton River, before crossing the Pacific to British Columbia in 1859. In 1860 he became a lieutenant and served in the Victorious and Firebrand, both in the Channel Fleet. Between 1861 and 1863 Childers went round the world in the Charybdis. After a gunnery course and a short period in the Canopus in 1867, he was appointed Transports Officer for the Abyssinian expedition in the Black Prince. His final appointment was the command of the Flirt in the North Sea, 1868 to 1869