The collection was purchased in 1946 by Sir James Caird, with the exception of one volume which was purchased in 1965. There are three volumes with papers on miscellaneous administrative affairs, 1765 to 1789. They include notes on court martial proceedings, 1746; dockyard reports, 1764 to 1766 and 1773; reports and letters relating to the conduct of the American War of Independence, 1775 to 1776, and a letter of 1780 from Lord Rodney (1719-1792); and two reports relating to the Parliamentary Commission to enquire into Fees, dated 1789. Two volumes of verbatim reports and papers relate to Keppel's court-martial, 1778 to 1779, and a volume of letters received by Jackson, 1770 to 1793, mainly relates to the trial. Finally, there is a volume containing a memorial of the services of Admiral Samuel Goodall (d.1801), dated 1787.

Administrative / biographical background
Sir Thomas Phillipps purchased this collection of loose documents relating to naval affairs, 1765 to 1793, and was responsible for binding some of them. They were formerly *The papers of Sir George Duckett (1725-1822), who changed his name from Jackson in 1797 as a condition of a legacy. Jackson was made Deputy Secretary to the Admiralty in 1766 and appointed Judge Advocate of the Fleet in 1768. In this capacity he was largely responsible for the conduct of the court martial of Admiral Lord Keppel (q.v.) and the subsequent enquiry into the evidence of Sir Hugh Palliser (1723-1796). Jackson resigned from the secretaryship in 1782 but was Judge Advocate until his death.