The papers consist of memoranda issued to the fleet in the Crimea, 1854; the commission appointing Stopford as admiral-superintendent of Malta Dockyard, 1855; and records of arrivals and sailings of ships at Malta, 1855 to 1856.

Administrative / biographical background
Montagu Stopford entered the Navy in 1810 on HMS SCIPION, flagship of his uncle Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, commander-in-chief on the Cape of Good Hope station. He was on the SCIPION during the capture of Java in the following year. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1819 and to captain in 1825. He then saw intermittent service on various stations, including command of the frigate HMS PIQUE beween 1842 and 1846. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1853 and for a period of four years was admiral-superintendent of Devonport Dockyard. He was Captain of the Fleet during the Crimean War and between 1855 and 1858, and admiral-superintendent of Malta Dockyard. He became a vice-admiral in 1858. In recognition of his services during the Crimean War he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). He died at Edinburgh in 1864.