Catalogue description Secretaries of State: State Papers Foreign, Portugal

Mainly in-letters to the Secretary of State from the English (later British) ambassadors, envoys, and ministers to the Kingdom of Portugal.

The majority of the letters are dated at Lisbon, the capital, but the series includes despatches from the consulates at Lisbon, Oporto and Madeira. A few early papers are dated at Gibraltar and in Spain. Also in the series are many draft replies by the Secretary of State, a number of petitions, royal letters, and some intercepted despatches. There are also a few printed papers.

Selected documents dated before August 1589 are described in the Calendar of State Papers Foreign Series of the Reign of Elizabeth I ed A J Butler S C Lomas and R B Wernham (London 1901-1950). For references to the more important papers for the period August 1589 to December 1595 see the List and Analysis of State Papers Foreign Series Elizabeth I I-VI ed by Richard Bruce Wernham (London 1964-1993). Please speak to staff at the Map and Large Document Room enquiry desk for the precise location. Part of the list is published in the Descriptive List of the State Papers Portugal 1661-1780 in the Public Record Office London ed C R Boxer (Academia das Ciências de Lisboa Lisbon 1979).