The papers consist of logs, 1870 to 1872, 1877 to 1881, 1885 and 1915 to 1916, and semi-official letters received, 1914 to 1917, including some from Admirals Lord Fisher (1841-1920), Jellicoe (1859-1935), Beatty (1871-1936), Sir Charles Madden (q. V.) and Prince Louis of Battenburg (1854-1921). In addition, there is detailed material on the resignation of Lord Fisher in 1915. There are also a large number of private papers and letters received, 1889 to 1917, letters to his son Louis Henry Keppel Hamilton (q.v'.). 1906 to 1915, scrap and photograph albums, official service documents, notes on manoeuvering the Hood, 1893 to 1894, and reports and memoranda, 1917.

Administrative / biographical background
Hamilton entered the Navy in 1869 and served in the Bristol in the West Indies, 1870 to 1871, and then in the Ariadne in the Mediterranean, 1872. From 1877 to 1878 he served in the Martin training brig on a cruise to the West Indies. In 1878 he joined the Liffey which sailed to Coquimbo where the crew took over the Shah. On the return voyage Hamilton thus found himself as part of the Naval Brigade in the Zulu War of 1879, for which service he was mentioned in despatches. He was also made a lieutenant in this year. He then served in the Mediterranean in the Thunderer until 1881. In 1892 he was made a commander and appointed to the Hood, 1893 to 1896, in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to captain in 1898. In 1907 he was made rear-admiral and from 1914 to 1916 was Second Sea Lord. He then became Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth, in which command he died.