This collection relates to the family of Rev. Thomas Sparke, who died just before the English Civil War. His son Arthur Sparke (1628-77), became the town clerk of Hertford in 1651, a barrister of the Middle Temple and MP for Hertford in 1660. Arthur developed commercial interests in the Caribbean during the late 1640s, which were managed in Barbados by his brother Gabriel. Matters were sufficiently promising for Arthur to send out another brother, Charles, ‘citizen and fishmonger of London’, in the early 1650s, and the collection holds six letters written by Charles to his relatives describing his affairs. A fourth brother, Christopher, remained in England, and also joined the legal profession. Charles and Gabriel fell out, and Charles blamed his failing commercial ventures upon his brother. In desperation he joined the army raised to attack Spain’s Caribbean colonies and participated in the conquest of Jamaica in 1655. Charles remained on the island, sharing the privation of the garrison which was ravaged by disease and starvation, and attempted new trading activities. In 1658 and 1659 he wrote to his family reporting his great distress. He sought their aid in obtaining permission to return to England if possible, otherwise to send goods he might sell in Jamaica. Charles’s final letter from Jamaica is dated 1660 and suggests that his fortunes had improved. There are several commercial documents relating to him from the early 1660s, indicating that he resumed contact with his family, but his ultimate fate is unknown.