PRO 30/24c1160-1866Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury and successors: Papers
This collection consists of deeds and grants with a large collection of papers concerning the Ashley and Cooper families, papers, diaries and correspondence relating to the first, second, third and fourth Earls of Shaftesbury; letters and papers of John Locke, including several pamphlets in his handwriting, and the original or 'First Set of the Fundamental Constitutions' for the government of Carolina; letters and papers relating to Carolina and the first settlement on Ashley River; and documents concerning Ireland, Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas and other Foreign Plantations, and the East Indies: and a memoir of George Frederick Handel.
After the death of the fourth earl in 1771, the collection largely peters out. The later records relate mainly to matters of family, estate and local interest and illustrate the development of an aristocratic family in Dorset.
The census of Dorset seamen in 1664 is notable, among other papers dealing with impressment.
This collection was among the earliest gifts of private papers of public relevance deposited in the Public Record Office.