The earliest correspondence includes several letters of the Earl of Rosebery to members of his family and a group of letters to him from Edward Cheney of Badger Hall, one of his close friends. Papers of 1878-1880 deal chiefly with the Midlothian Campaign in which Rosebery played a leading part. There are letters from the organisers and participants in the campaign. Most of the letters date from Rosebery's years as Prime Minister, 1894-1895, but a later section concerns his association with the Liberal League from 1901 to 1910.