TRANSPORT BOARD

For most of the eighteenth century separate sea transport services were maintained by the Navy Board, the Victualling Board, the Ordnance Board and the Treasury (for army victualling). A Transport Board, established in 1690 to support the army in Ireland, was abolished in 1717. In 1779 the Navy Board took over the victualling of troops overseas, reducing the transport services to three, and in 1794 the three were combined in a separate Transport Board. In 1795 this Board took over the responsibility for healthy prisoners of war from the Sick and Hurt Board, and on the abolition of that board in 1806 it inherited the management of the naval medical service also. The Transport Board was abolished in 1816, when the transport service was transferred to the Navy Board and the medical service to the Victualling Board. On the abolition of both in 1832 transports became the responsibility of the Controller of Victualling and Transport Services.

These records contain a single volume, ADM 1/3729, of letters from the first Transport Board, 1709-1706, followed by the reports of the second Transport Board to the Admiralty, 1794-1817 (ADM 1/3730-3769). These letters are chiefly concerned with transport business, but include some relating to prisoners of war. ADM 1/3770-3771 are the papers of the Transport Accounts Committee, which wound up the financial affairs of the Board, and ADM 1/3772 a collection of letters from Transport Agents ashore and afloat. ADM 1/3773-3774 contain further Transport Board reports, chiefly about prisoners of war. Papers concerning the abolition of the first Transport Board in 1717 and the redistribution of its business are in ADM 1/5114/16. In-letters from public offices, 1802-1807, are indexed and digested in ADM 12/29-34.

When using the ADM 12 indexes to search for papers in ADM 1, documents in this sub-sub-series have the following references: 'Trs. Bd.', 'T. Bd.', or 'Trans. Off.'