Correspondence with Herbert Asquith [later 1st Lord Oxford and Asquith] on subjects including: ammunition trials; the resignation of 2nd Lord Tweedmouth [as First Lord of the Admiralty]; Violet Asquith [later Violet, Lady Bonham-Carter, then Lady Asquith of Yarnbury] knocking herself out; Austrian dreadnoughts; investigating Admiral Lord Charles Beresford's allegations that Britain was not prepared for war; the harmful effects of a leak to the Times on the constitutional conference, 1910; combined naval exercises for the Home, Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets, leaving home waters relatively unguarded.

Other correspondents include: Margot Asquith [later Margot, Lady Oxford and Asquith] on finding a place for a boy in the Navy and a discussion which could be harmful to Arthur Balfour, arising from fears that the Government would lose its majority; Vincent Baddeley [Private Secretary to McKenna] on McKenna's missing out on election to Trinity House.