There are three volumes of cash accounts kept by Mary Pitt Herschel, wife of William Herschel, between 1795 and 1825. The first gives details of Sir William's salary as Court Astronomer and of the proceeds from selling telescopes; the other two are housekeeping accounts. There are also letters, proofs and notes about the publication of Herschel's catalogues of the brightness of stars and pamphlets about him and his sister, Caroline, who assisted him with his observations.

Administrative / biographical background
William Herschel was a self-taught astronomer who began life as an army musician in Hanover and came to England in 1758 as a refugee during the Seven Years War. In 1781 he discovered the planet Uranus and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. George III appointed him Court Astronomer. He settled at Slough in 1786 and built a telescope which was the largest in the world until it was dismantled in 1839. In 1788 he married Mary Pitt (nee Baldwin). Among a number of biographies is Angus Armitage, William Herschel (London, 1962).