This volume transcribes the decisions of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland for the period 1798-1803 from the Court’s Minute Books, and contains all the decisions of Chief Justice Richard Routh, Chief Justice Jonathan Ogden, and the decisions of (Chief) Surrogate Judge Thomas Tremlett.

Volume I also contains a representative sampling of memoranda and correspondence between Chief Justice Tremlett and Governor Gambier, as well as colonial letterbook correspondence between Governor Waldegrave and the Duke of Portland, which throw light on the administration of justice on the island during these formative years.