Catalogue description King William's Chest

The contents of a chest or cabinet used by William III, both as Prince of Orange and subsequently as King, to preserve his papers, public and private. Before 1689 they cover his dealings with his uncles Charles II and James II and ministers and subjects in England. Thereafter they trace the course of his resistance to Louis XIV of France. They indicate the extent to which William held the reins of foreign policy and confined his interest in his kingdom to the provision of support for his campaign against French sway in Europe. The archive terminates following the peace treaty of Ryswick, which it partly documents.

About half these documents are foreign in content, many in language too, and even among the domestic ones there is a bias towards military, naval, Irish and Scottish affairs which concerned the king as leader of the allied coalition against Louis XIV, though there is also correspondence with his Secretaries of State and other officials on home matters.

William III, King of Great Britain, 1650-1702

Nearly all calendared in: Calendar of State Papers Domestic Charles II ed M A E Green F H B Daniell and F Bickley 28 volumes (London 1860-1947) Calendar of State Papers Domestic James II ed E K Timings 3 vols (London 1960-1972) Calendar of State Papers Domestic series of the reign of William and Mary ed WJ Hardy and E Bateson 11 volumes (London 1895-1937) Please speak to staff at the Map and Large Document Room enquiry desk for the precise location. Many letters were printed in full in: Sir John Dalrymple Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland (London 1771-1773) Correspondentie van Willem III en van Hans Willem Bentinck eersten Graaf van Portland ed N Japikse Ryks Geschiedkundige Publication kleine serie 23-24 26-28 (The Hague 1927-1937).