The collection mainly consists of notebooks, both in Laughton's hand and that of his father, relating to their research into various nautical subjects at the Public Record Office, British Museum, and other repositories. Among these are notes on Nelson, extracts from Pepys' diary, and notes for articles on HMS VICTORY (1765). There are also blueprints used in the restoration of the VICTORY; minutes from meetings of the Technical Committee, 1927-1928; and minutes of the Advisory Committee, 1929. There are a series of notes on lectures by Professor Laughton, including those given at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in the early 1900s. The collection contains a typed copy of Laughton's 'Nautical Dictionary'; a card index for Dictionary of National Biography entries; a number of albums containing newspaper cuttings; and various letters, including correspondence with Dr Roger C. Anderson, 1925-1937. Finally, there are some manuscripts written by others, including Harold H. Brindley, and a copy of a log kept by Dudley M. Stone on board the steel sailing ship MONKBARNS, during a voyage from Buenos Ayres to Sydney, 1913.

Administrative / biographical background
Leonard George Carr Laughton was born at Southsea, Hampshire, in 1871, the son of the naval educator and historian Professor Sir John Knox Laughton and his first wife Isabella Laughton née Carr. He was educated at Eastbourne College and St Johns College, Oxford. He shared his father's passion for maritime history and collected many notes and references on a vast array of naval subjects from records at the Public Record Office, British Museum, Pepysian Library, and other repositories. He also studied archaeology and etymology. Laughton was the prime mover, alongside others such a Harold H. Brindley, Commander Charles N. Robinson, Sir Alan Moore, William Wyllie and Harold Wyllie, in the formation of The Society for Nautical Research (SNR) in 1910 and was the editor of ‘The Mariner’s Mirror’ until 1913. He was involved in the restoration of HMS VICTORY (1765) and in 1923 completed a report for the Victory Technical Committee, following research on the appearance of the ship at the Battle of Trafalgar. To follow, he made a study of ship decoration in the sailing era and published ‘Old Ship Figureheads and Sterns’ in 1925. He also wanted to produce a nautical encyclopaedia or dictionary, but was never satisfied that he had found out enough to justify publication. He died at Dover in 1955.