The papers consist of letterbooks, 1804 to 1807, 1815 to 1816, order books, 1810 to 1814, admiral's journals, 1804 to 1807, 1815, and promotion lists, 1804 to 1809. The papers were subsequently bequeathed to the National Maritime Museum in 1992.

Administrative / biographical background
Pellew entered the Navy in 1770. He became a lieutenant in 1778, a commander in 1780, a captain in 1782. In 1795 commanded a frigate squadron in the INDEFATIGABLE in the Channel. From 1802 to 1804 he was Member of Parliament for Barnstaple. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1804, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, with his flag in the CULLODEN and remained there for five years. In 1808 he became a Vice-Admiral and held the North Sea command from 1810 until 1811, when he was appointed to the Mediterranean with the CALEDONIA as his flagship. He was promoted to Admiral in 1814 and went again to the Mediterranean in 1815. In the next year he was ordered to suppress the Moorish pirates who operated from Tripoli, Tunis and Algiers. Pellew negotiated treaties with Tunis and Tripoli but the Dey of Algiers refused to comply with Pellew's demands. Pellew then combined with a Dutch squadron at Gibraltar in August 1816 and together they bombarded Algiers, forcing the Dey to release prisoners and sgree to the treaty. His final command was at Devonport from 1817 to 1820. See Edward Osler, 'The life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth' (2 vols, London, 1835, 1841) and C. Northcote Parkinson 'Edward Pellew Viscount Exmouth Admiral of the Red' (London, 1934).