Papers cover 1632-1637 and 1639-1644 and consist of letters, notebooks and miscellaneous documents. Significant for information on Lowther family, early history of Whitehaven and its coal industry, Irish economic history, English internal and overseas trade in 1630s, early industrial developments and the role of the gentry in commerce and manufacturing, especially the part played by younger sons of gentry families. Christopher Lowther's commercial papers throw light on the development of Whitehaven - salt making, coal mining - and other family commercial speculations in Cumberland. Market: Economic history, 17c