This material is very limited but complements the Spanish Land Grant records held in microfilm edition in the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History. This section is comprised of instancias , or individual petitions, to the governor, usually one page in length. The governor wrote his response to the petition in the left-hand margin. If other officials were called upon, their comments followed the governor's notation in the margin and continued on subsequent pages. In some instances a petition might generate a considerable volume of correspondence.
Petitions are sometimes out of chronological order and occasionally undated.
The memorials provide useful information on the details of daily life in East Florida. Papers on Various Subjects, 1783-1821. This chronologically arranged section contains important material which, for unknown reasons, were removed from other sections of the East Florida Papers. Its letters and documents concern many aspects of life in East Florida. Much of the material involves civilian problems of property, administration of justice, etc.