The papers consist of two letterbooks, however, which contain private letters received between 1793 and 1809, were presented in 1928 by Mr C.H.B. Caldwell. The rest of the collection is composed of official letterbooks. There is one for the PRINCE and one for the EXCELLENT; ten others form part of the records for the Mediterranean command. Several, however, are clearly missing. There is an admiral's journal, 1801 to 1804, and another for the latter part of the Mediterranean command. There are no papers for Collingwood's early life.

Administrative / biographical background
Collingwood entered the Navy in 1760 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1775. After serving in the Mediterranean and in American waters, he spent most of the American War in the West Indies, becoming a captain in 1780. He did not return to England until 1786. It was during this period that he became a firm friend of Nelson. From 1793 to 1795 he commanded the Prince and took part in the battle of the First of June 1794. He was then in the Excellent, 1795 to 1798, Mediterranean Fleet, distinguishing himself at the battle of St. Vincent in 1797. Between 1799, when he became rear-admiral, and 1802 he was in the Channel in the Triumph and the Barfleur, returning there on the renewal of the war in 1803. After Trafalgar, 1805, when he was second-in-command to Nelson (q.v.), he succeeded to the command of the Mediterranean Fleet, which appointment he held until his death. Among a number of biographes there are G.L. Newham Collingwood, A selection from the private correspondence of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood (London, 1828) and Oliver Warner, The life and letters of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood London, 1968). The papers have been used in Edward Hughes ed., The private correspondence of Admiral Lord Collingwood (Navy Records Society, 1957).