Out-Letters: 1799-1807

There have been various administrative bodies heading the Royal Navy, including the Board of Admiralty, secretaries of state, and the Navy Board. The Board of Admiralty was the body in command of the Royal Navy for most of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and consisted of members known as Lords Commissioners or Sea Lords, headed by the First Lord of the Admiralty. The Admiralty as a board acted as the political representatives of the Navy, and its members were mostly politicians. The Navy Board initially was responsible for the administrative affairs of the naval service and advising the Board of Admiralty. After the mid-17th century its role was gradually reduced until its responsibilities focused largely on the building and repairing of ships, running the dockyards, and administering supplies.

Greenwich Hospital was created in 1694 with the principal aims to relieve and support seamen serving on board ships belonging to the Royal Navy who by reason of age, wounds, or other disabilities which prevented further service and the ability to maintain themselves. Also included sustaining widows of seamen, and maintenance and education of children of seamen.

ADM 66 as a whole (157 volumes) contains entries of letters from the commissioners, the governor and his secretary, the controller of estates, the secretary, deputy treasurer and cashier, the school, the receivers of the northern estates and others, with letters relating to lighthouses and light dues between 1685 and 1715.