Catalogue description Privy Council: Minutes and Associated Papers

This series consists of bound volumes of Privy Council proceedings, 1670 to 1795, and entry books of the same from 1795 until 1928, when they were discontinued.

From 1795 most of the volumes of minutes are indexed. Until 1826 there are a number of gaps in both minutes and entry books. Before c1750 the bound volumes consist of rough notes by the clerks of the council taken apparently during the actual sessions of the council and its committees. From the middle of the eighteenth century, however, they constitute a more formal record and both the volumes and the entry books were evidently compiled as a record of council decisions after its business had been concluded. In a few instances, the entry books also contain associated papers. From the middle of the nineteenth century the records seem to be little more than an abstract of orders in council.

The minutes reflect the wide range of business undertaken by the council, including blockade, licencing of foreign trade, quarantine regulations, Irish and colonial affairs, Channel Islands business, and the consideration of a variety of petitions, particularly regarding the grant of charters.

For a detailed account of the composition of this series see R B Pugh 'Privy Council Minutes Newly Transferred to the Public Record Office' in Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, XXII, 11-21 (1949).