Subseries within ADM 11660-1839ORIGINAL SERIES (1st group): 1660-1839
The sub-series is almost all in-letters received by the Secretary of the Admiralty concerning the official or semi-official business of the Admiralty Office and the Navy
From the time of John Clevland, Secretary 1751-1763, it was the custom of the Secretary, when he had read each letter at the Board, to turn over the bottom right-hand corner of the letter and write on it a brief minute of the Board's decision.
These 'turn-over notes' formed the foundation both of the resultant minutes (found in ADM 3 and later ADM 167) and of the out-letters (ADM 2), but their terse phraseology is much closer than either to the actual discussion at the Board, during which they were written.
Related to these notes is a collection of Board 'rough minutes' in ADM 3. These are rough notes on scraps of paper of the Board's decisions on matters not arising from in-letters. Many of them simply record the names of officers to be promoted or transferred.