McKenna Papers at Churchill Archives Centre

A list of the personal papers of Reginald McKenna in the possession of Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge.

MCKN/3

MCKN/3/1

"Private Correspondence of the Right Honourable Reginald McKenna". Printed list to part of McKenna's correspondence, prepared by the Admiralty in 1912. 1 file. Mar 1912.

MCKN/3/2

Correspondence with King Edward VII and King George V. Correspondents include: 1st Lord Knollys, Private Secretary to the King, on subjects including King Edward's regret at appointing the Tsar of Russia to be Admiral of the Fleet without proper consultation, shortened periods of command for the Channel and Home Fleets and naval appointments (5); the Prince of Wales [later King George V] on subjects including his voyage to Canada (2); King Edward VII on the launch of HMS Vanguard; Sir Charles Frederick [Master of the Household]; Sir Dighton Probyn [Extra Equerry to King Edward VII]; Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn. 1 file. Jun 1908-Mar 1911.

MCKN/3/3

Correspondence with members of the Cabinet. Correspondents include: John Sinclair, Secretary of State for Scotland [later 1st Lord Pentland] on complaints from fishermen about destroyers mooring in the Hamble river and on trained dogs supplied to the Admiralty (3); Sir Edward Grey [Foreign Secretary] on subjects including the Conference of Naval Powers and the visit of British warships to the Chilean coast (3); Winston Churchill [President of the Board of Trade] on subjects including the Austrian Dreadnought programme (2); Richard Haldane [Secretary of State for War] on the Field Service regulations and Admiralty orders for the Woolwich Arsenal (4); 1st Lord Crewe [Secretary of State for the Colonies] on colonial visitors to the Naval Review and asking for a ship for the West Indian Commission (2); Sydney Buxton [Postmaster-General] on shipbuilding in the Thames and proposed terms of the Fair Wages Advisory Committee (3); Lewis Harcourt [First Commissioner of Works] (2); Walter Runciman [President, Board of Education]; Herbert Asquith [Prime Minister, later 1st Lord Oxford and Asquith] on the [?] Naval Conference. 1 file. Apr 1908-Dec 1910.

MCKN/3/4

Correspondence with 1st Sea Lord. Correspondence with Admiral of the Fleet 1st Lord Fisher on subjects including: naval estimates; submarine numbers and distribution; American warships; economies to the naval manoeuvres; the attitude and proposed dismissal of Admiral Lord Charles Beresford; Germany's accelerated shipbuilding programme and its effect on the British naval estimates; defence policy; reorganisation of the Home and Channel Fleets; King Edward VII's visit to Russia; Brazilian dreadnoughts; relations with Turkey and Germany; turbine development; an engineers' strike; HMS Indomitable; the success of 12-inch shrapnel; Admiral Sir Percy Scott; Winston Churchill [President of the Board of Trade] and the naval estimates; Beresford's naval enquiry; efficiency of the Home Fleet; Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson's appointment as 1st Sea Lord; Fisher's own departure from the Admiralty. Other correspondents include: Rear-Admiral Alfred Winsloe [4th Sea Lord]; Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson on servicemen's facilities for voting in the General Election. 1 file. Apr 1908-Dec 1910.

MCKN/3/5

Correspondence with other members of the Board of Admiralty. Correspondents include: Sir [Charles] Inigo Thomas [Permanent Secretary] on subjects including destroying Admiral Sir Arthur Moore's resignation letter and settlement of the Archer-Shee case (3); Thomas Macnamara [Financial Secretary] on subjects including a visit to shore establishments and the debate on the naval estimates (4); Admiral Sir William May [2nd Sea Lord]; Vice-Admiral Alfred Winsloe [4th Sea Lord] on the detention barrack system, the report of the Beresford Committee and promotion of Captain David Beatty to Rear-Admiral (2); George Lambert [Civil Lord of the Admiralty]; Vice-Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman [Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet] on increasing fleet personnel, an officer shortage, appointing Rear-Admiral Francis Foley to a command and recommending Vice-Admiral Sir Frederic Fisher (3); Rear-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe [Controller of the Navy] on payment for Arthur Pollen's gunnery system. 1 file. Aug 1908-Nov 1910.

MCKN/3/6

Correspondence with Admiralty officials. Correspondents include: Sir Philip Watts [Director of Naval Construction] on building battleships for the Chilean Navy; James Porter [Director-General, Medical Department] on care of the Fleet Surgeon Home; Vice-Admiral Thomas MacGill; Rear-Admiral Alexander Bethell [Director of Naval Intelligence] on appointing his new assistant director (2). 1 file. Jan 1909-Oct 1910.

MCKN/3/7

Correspondence with officials outside the Admiralty. Correspondents include: Sir George Murray [Permanent Secretary to Treasury] on the naval estimates, Coast Guard Committee report and expenses of the Naval Review (3); Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Ottley [Secretary, Committee of Imperial Defence] (5); Joseph Pease [later 1st Lord Gainsford]; 5th Lord Desart [Solicitor to the Treasury, earlier Hamilton Cuffe]; Lord Althorp [Lord Chamberlain, later 6th Lord Spencer]; Sir Gerard Lowther [British Ambassador to Turkey]; Sir [James] Rennell Rodd [British Ambassador to Italy]; Sir Rufus Isaacs [Attorney-General, later 1st Lord Reading]. 1 file. Oct 1908-Nov 1910.

MCKN/3/8

Correspondence with flag officers. Correspondents include: Rear-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe on advances on 12-inch guns, accepting the post of Controller of the Navy and the shipbuilding programme (3); Rear-Admiral Sir Sydney Eardley-Wilmot on advances on 12-inch guns; Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Poore [Commander-in-Chief, Australian station] on the American Fleet's visit to Australia (2); 1st Lord Crewe [Secretary of State for the Colonies]; Rear-Admiral George Egerton, accepting the post of 2nd in command, Channel Fleet; Admiral Sir Reginald Custance; Vice-Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman [Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet]; Admiral Sir Gerard Noel [Commander-in-Chief, the Nore] on docks for dreadnoughts, the duration of his appointment and the inadequacy of defences at Harwich [Essex] and the Thames (3); Admiral Lord Charles Beresford [Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet] on subjects including Sir Percy Scott and the Court of Enquiry, shipbuilding policy, his relations with the Admiralty and Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Fisher [1st Sea Lord], the duration of his appointment and termination of his command (7); Vice-Admiral Sir Wilmot Fawkes [Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth] on subjects including the press paying officers for news and commercial views on Australian defence (4); Vice-Admiral Sir Hedworth Lambton [Commander-in-Chief, China Station, later Sir Hedworth Meux] on relations between Japan and the United States, one calibre armaments and the value of Wei-hai-wei [Weihai]; Rear-Admiral James Startin, accepting the post of Rear-Admiral, Channel Fleet; Vice-Admiral Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe [Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet]; Rear-Admiral Sir George Warrender [Commander-in-Chief, East Indian Station] on the work of the station and extension of his appointment. 1 file. Apr 1908-Dec 1908.

MCKN/3/9

Correspondence with flag officers. Correspondents include: Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Poore [Commander-in-Chief, Australian station] on subjects including the new Australian ministry and a coal strike (5); Vice-Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg [Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] (3); Vice-Admiral Sir Wilmot Fawkes [Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth] on subjects including employing Australians in the Royal Navy and training; Rear-Admiral Arthur Farquhar [4th Cruiser Squadron]; Rear-Admiral George Egerton [Commander-in-Chief Cape of Good Hope] on subjects including dock building and the transport of gold from South Africa in wartime; Vice-Admiral Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe [Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet] on subjects including disturbances at Lemnos (2); Admiral Sir William May [Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet] on subjects including orders to concentrate the Fleet without arousing suspicion, the report of the Naval Enquiry, fleet tactics and practice, speed of dreadnoughts and Home Fleet appointments (7); Vice-Admiral Sir Hedworth Lambton [Commander-in-Chief, China Station, later Sir Hedworth Meux]; Rear-Admiral Sir James Goodrich [Admiral Superintendent of the Gibraltar Dockyard]; Vice-Admiral Sir John Durnford [Admiral-President, Naval College, Greenwich]; Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Seymour (2); Rear-Admiral Ernest Simons, accepting the appointment of Admiral Superintendent Malta Dockyard; Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson, accepting the post of 1st Sea Lord; Rear-Admiral [Frederick] Doveton Sturdee, accepting the post of Rear Admiral 1st Battle Squadron; Rear-Admiral A Galloway; Rear-Admiral Charles Cross (2); Vice-Admiral Alfred Winsloe [4th Sea Lord]. 1 file. Mar 1909-Dec 1909.

MCKN/3/10

Correspondence with flag officers. Correspondents include: Admiral Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe on subjects including his appointment as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth and the health of ships under his command in the Mediterranean (4); Vice-Admiral Sir Edmund Poe, accepting the appointment of Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean (3); Admiral Sir Arthur Fanshawe; Vice-Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg [Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] (2); Vice-Admiral Sir John Durnford [Admiral-President, Naval College, Greenwich]; Rear-Admiral Lewis Bayly; Vice-Admiral Sir [Archibald] Berkeley Milne on subjects including the extension of his command of the Second Division, Home Fleet (2); Vice-Admiral Sir Wilmot Fawkes [Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth] on subjects including Australian and New Zealander recruits and the amalgamation of the Marine Artillery and Light Infantry (2); Vice-Admiral Sir George Neville (2); Rear-Admiral Frederic Brock; Rear-Admiral Sir Alfred Paget [Senior Officer, Coast of Ireland]; Rear-Admiral Arthur Farquhar [4th Cruiser Squadron]; Rear-Admiral Edmond Slade [Commander-in-Chief, East Indies]; Rear-Admiral George Egerton [Commander-in-Chief Cape of Good Hope] on subjects including a Japanese naval visit to the Cape (2); Admiral Sir William May [Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet] on subjects including appointments, recommendations and exercises (7); Vice-Admiral Sir Alfred Winsloe [Commander-in-Chief, China Station] on subjects including station business (3); Rear-Admiral [Thomas] Martyn Jerram, accepting the appointment of Second in Command Mediterranean Fleet; Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Jackson; Rear-Admiral George Patey, accepting the appointment of Rear-Admiral 2nd Division Home Fleet; Rear-Admiral Sir Douglas Gamble, on command of the 6th Cruiser Squadron (2); Rear-Admiral Sir George Warrender on his appointment to command the 2nd Cruiser Squadron; Rear-Admiral Arthur Limpus on his appointment as Rear-Admiral, Home Fleet; Rear-Admiral Paul Bush, accepting command of the Cape of Good Hope station; Vice-Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman (3); Rear-Admiral Cecil Burney, accepting command of the 5th Cruiser Squadron; Rear-Admiral Edward Bradford, accepting command of the 4th Cruiser Squadron; Admiral Sir Charles Drury; Rear-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe; Vice-Admiral Sir Alfred Paget, relinquishing his command as Senior Officer, Coast of Ireland; Vice-Admiral George King-Hall [Commander-in-Chief Australia Station] on Australian opinion towards schemes for naval defence and the presence of Japanese in Australia. 1 file. Feb 1910-Mar 1911.

MCKN/3/11

Correspondence with Lord Cawdor. Correspondence with 3rd Lord Cawdor [former First Lord of the Admiralty] on subjects including: repairs; increase of the fleet in home waters; shipbuilding policy; enlisting dockyard men in the Territorial Army. 1 file. Nov 1908-Mar 1909.

MCKN/3/12

Correspondence with members of Parliament. Correspondents include: Sir Charles McLaren [later 1st Lord Aberconway] on subjects including shipbuilding (3); George Wyndham on the docks at Dover [Kent] (2); Edmund Lamb (2); Ernest Pretyman on subjects including oil fuel and restoring good feeling in the Navy (4); Sir Christopher Furness on the negotiations for the trials and purchase of new torpedo boats; John Seely [Under-Secretary for the Colonies, later 1st Lord Mottistone] (2); Sir Hudson Kearley [Chairman of the Port of London Authority, later 1st Lord Devonport] on the construction of docks at Tilbury [Essex]; [Charles] Roden Buxton. 1 file. Apr 1908-Jul 1910.

MCKN/3/13

Miscellaneous correspondence Related Material. Correspondents include: Alfred Deakin [Prime Minister of Australia] on Britain's naval agreement with Australia and Australian naval policy (2); Vice-Admiral Georg von Muller [Chief of the German Naval Cabinet]; Admiral Sir Day Bosanquet (3); Canon Edward Lyttelton, advising on pamphlets against immorality in the Navy; James Garvin [Editor of the Observer] on a proposed article; Sir Charles Dilke on McKenna's appointment as First Lord of the Admiralty; James Thursfield on an allegation by Admiral Lord Charles Beresford that he had written a naval article for the Times, inspired by Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Fisher [1st Sea Lord]; Margot Asquith [later Lady Oxford and Asquith]; 8th Lord Granard (2); Gertrude Tuckwell; Rear-Admiral Douglas Gamble on his terms for acting as Naval Adviser to the Turkish Government; Arthur Pollen on his gunnery system and relations with the Admiralty. 1 file. Apr 1908-Dec 1908.

MCKN/3/14

Miscellaneous correspondence. Correspondents include: Lord Graham (2); Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Ottley [Secretary Committee of Imperial Defence] on the Krupps works in Germany; Admiral Andrew Bickford, applying for a colonial governorship; Arthur Pollen on his gunnery system (4); 2nd Lord Nunburnholme [earlier Charles Wilson] on the Navy League (2); Ishbel, Lady Aberdeen on using coastguard stations as consumption sanatoria; William Rees-Davies; [Arthur] Trevor Dawson on a report on the German Navy and alloy experiments (2); Robert Glendinning; 1st Lord Brassey; Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge; Rear-Admiral Victor Montagu on espionage in the Navy; Whitelaw Reid [American Ambassador to Britain] asking for facilities for obtaining information on the Royal Dockyards; 1st Lord Northcliffe [owner of the Times, earlier Alfred Harmsworth] on the value of German assurances on their construction programme; Sir Andrew Noble, Chairman of Armstrong, Whitworth, and Company, Limited] on his company's relations with the Admiralty; Colonel Albert Gatliff (2); Sir Thomas Bramsdon; 2nd Lord Esher [earlier Reginald Brett] with a suggested circular to the Fleet on naval officers criticising the Admiralty in the press and on resigning the presidency of the Aerial League (2); Mary, Lady Lyell; Dorothea, Lady Glasgow; Violet, Lady Loreburn; Admiral Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, on the selection of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson as the next 1st Sea Lord; Commodore Archibald Moore accepting his appointment as Director of Naval Ordnance; Hugh Wood on his appointment as Honorary Chaplain to King Edward VII; Colonel Justin Foxton on the passing of the Naval Loan Bill in Australia. 1 file. Feb 1909-Dec 1909.

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