The papers were presented by Captain A.J.F. Milne Home, R.N., in 1949 and 1965. They consist of logs, 1817 to 1827 and 1837 to 1839, letterbooks, 1827 to 1839, and letters and papers, 1838 to 1847. There are also a number of ship's books relating to the Snake and the Crocodile. For the North American command there are official out-letterbooks, letters received and memoranda to squadrons, 1860 to 1864, as well as private letters from the Duke of Somerset (1804-1885), First Lord of the Admiralty, and to and from Sir Frederick Grey (1805-1878), First Naval Lord, between 1861 and 1862. There are also notebooks and sailing orders for this period. For the Mediterranean Command there are letterbooks, general and squadron memoranda and sailing orders, 1869 to 1870. For his period at the Admiralty there are copies of private and semi-official letters, 1854 to 1855, 1869 and 1873 to 1876, and letters to his brother, David Milne Home, 1820 to 1847. There are a considerable number of official papers relating to the loss of the Megaera and the Captain and the first, second and third Reports of the Royal Commissioners appointed to enquire into the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, 1882. Finally there are diaries for 1825, 1833 to 1835, 1837, 1840 to 1841, 1843 to 1845, 1849 and 1870.

Administrative / biographical background
Milne, son of Admiral Sir David Milne (q.v.), was entered on the books of the Leander in 1817 but probably did not go to sea until 1820, when he joined the Conway on the South American Station. Again on this station between 1824 and 1830, he served in the Albion, 1824 to 1825, the Ganges, 1825 to 1827, and the Cadmus, 1827 to 1830. He became a lieutenant in 1827. In 1837 he was promoted to commander into the Snake, North America and West Indies Station, where he operated against slavers, and in 1839 was appointed Captain of the Crocodile on the same station. He transferred to the Cleopatra for a brief period in 1841 and then returned home. Milne was Flag-Captain to his father from 1842 to 1845 in the Caledonia, Devonport, and from 1845 to 1847 was in the St. Vincent at Portsmouth. He was on the Board of Admiralty until 1859, having become a rear-admiral in 1858. During the American Civil War Milne was Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies. On his return, he again joined the Board of Admiralty until 1869 when he commanded the Mediterranean Station for a year. In 1872 he was appointed Senior Naval Lord and after his retirement in 1876 he continued to be called upon for important tasks, including membership of the Carnarvon Commission on Colonial Defence, 1879 to 1882