Secretaries of State: State Papers Domestic, George I

Mainly in-letters addressed to, and papers assembled by, the Secretaries of State in their domestic capacity during the reign of George I and left in the State Paper Office. Several volumes are devoted exclusively to the Atterbury Plot, 1722-1723. The remaining volumes consist of undated material; the Prince of Wales' establishment records; Jacobite insurrection material, 1722-1723; petitions and law reports; and other miscellaneous documents. The series also includes papers relating to early Cabinet meetings and the South Sea Bubble, as well as draft bills and orders in council. Much correspondence between the Under Secretaries survives.

Bids for reprieve from convicts are less numerous than in Queen Anne's reign, but there is more material about complaints against the newspaper press, pamphlets and seditious ballads. There are intercepted letters and the warrants that secured them, together with covering letters from the Postmaster General. There is some material about highwaymen.

The main series of letters and papers are in chronological order. Undated material was, if possible, placed at the end of the month or year it was attributed to.

The records of the Secretaries of State were steadily increasing in volume during George I's reign as less material was removed by outgoing secretaries and the department became more of a clearing house for all business of state. The domestic duties of the secretaries included Secret Service work, management of gaols, committal of prisoners after arrest on a secretary's warrant, delivery upon demand, petitions to be adjudicated, reprieve and pardon, obtaining the law officers' advice, examination of inventions and projects, appointments to posts, processing warrants for offices of state, or documents required by the House of Commons from government departments, and attending Cabinet council.