The collection includes Hammond's record of service and his survey, when Master of the Society of Pilots of the Cinque Ports, of the southern North Sea in the cutter Gem, 1841. The volumes collected by Barker himself consist mainly of logs of naval ships. They include that of the Orion, in home waters, kept by an Edward Barker in 1794, containing an account of the Battle of First of June; the Clyde, 1796 to 1800, kept by Lieutenant John Smith (fl.1780-1805), in home waters; of the Challenger, 1828 to 1831, East Indies Station, kept by Commander John M.R. Ince (fl.1808-1850); the Caledonia, 1835 to 1836, Mediterranean station; the Fly, 1842 to 1846, surveying Australian waters, and the Pilot, 1850, East Indies station. There is also a journal of a voyage in the merchant ship Vestal from North America to the West Indies, 1759 to 1760, by the author William Falconer (1744-1824); some of Falconer 's unpublished poems appear at the end of this journal.

Administrative / biographical background
Robert Edward Barker (ca.1820-1910) served with the General Steam Navigation Company before becoming a customs official in 1866. He inherited part of the collection, five volumes, from his uncle, Robert Hammond (fl.1796-1851).