Sir William Penn's life after 1650 is well covered but for the earlier period there are only a few orders, instructions and isolated documents. The collection includes a log, 1650 to 1651, accounts of battles, 1652 to 1653, a log of the SWIFTSURE and sailing and fighting instructions, both to and from Penn, for the expedition to the West Indies. The 1665 campaign is covered by an incomplete log of the ROYAL CHARLES, a description of the battle of Lowestoft, several sailing and fighting instructions and orders of battle. There are also administrative papers and personal letters covering Penn's tenure of office at the Navy Board.
The Pole papers consist of eight volumes of private letters from a wide variety of correspondents, 1769 to 1822. Two particularly large series are those from Admiral Sir William Young (1751-1821) and Pole's brother, Reginald Pole Carew, while Prince William Henry also wrote a considerable number of letters to Pole. The loose papers are mainly administrative and include accounts, prize papers, orders and memoranda. They also contain papers concerning Pole's representation of Plymouth from 1806 to 1818; printed papers and general letters on naval mutiny, 1795 to 1797, with particular reference to the mutinies of 1797; reports and surveys on the Sea Fencibles, 1804 to 1806, and other general reports on such matters as medical experiments, 1791, and experiments with gunpowder, 1796.

Administrative / biographical background
Penn served under the Commonwealth in the Irish Fleet. He then went to the Mediterranean in the CENTURION and FAIRFAX, 1650 to 1651, before becoming First Captain of the TRIUMPH. During 1652 and 1653 he was Vice-Admiral of the Fleet under General Robert Blake during the First Dutch War. The following year he was appointed General and Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, in the SWIFTSURE, for the expedition to capture Hispaniola, returning home in 1655. During the Second Dutch War, Penn was appointed to the Royal Charles, the Duke of York's flagship, in a capacity similar to that of 'Captain of the Fleet'. He served at the Navy Board as a Commissioner between 1660 and 1663, influencing the tactical instructions and drawing up the code long-known as the 'Duke of York's Sailing and Fighting Instructions'. See Granville Penn, 'Memorials of the professional life and times of Sir William Penn. From 1644 to 1670' (London, 1833, 2 vols). Pole entered the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth in 1770 and joined his first ship in 1772. He went out to the East Indies, becoming a lieutenant in 1777 and a captain on his return to England in 1780. In 1788 he became Groom of the Bedchamber to Prince William Henry. On the outbreak of war in 1793 he was appointed to the COLOSSUS, Mediterranean Station, and was present at the capture of Toulon. Reaching flag-rank in 1795 he was appointed, in the ROYALl GEORGE, Captain of the Fleet to Lord Bridport (q.v.) and was involved in the mutinies of 1797. In 1800 he became Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland, and in 1801 succeeded Nelson as Commander-in-Chief in the Baltic. Between 1803 and 1806 he was chairman of the Commission of Naval Enquiry. After a short spell at the Admiralty in 1806 he saw no further service. He was Member of Parliament for Newark, 1802 to 1806, and for Plymouth, 1806 to 1818. In 1830 he was appointed Master of the Robes on the accession of William IV.