Robert Plumer Ward, a politician and novelist, was a long-time friend of Benjamin and Sara Austen. Sara Austen was influential in the publication of his first novel, 'Tremaine' in 1825. This novel is credited as being one of the first of the 'silver fork' genre and had a great impact on the production of 'Vivien Grey' by Benjamin Disraeli, another good friend and protégé of Sara Austen.

The letters of Ward cover many topics of interest, including information relating to his publications, his family, mutual acquaintances (including numerous mentions of the D'Israeli family), opinions of other published works, business, politics and general gossip. Included in the letters to Sara Austen there are also some letters of Julia Ward, the daughter of Robert.

In addition to the letters, there is a handwritten catalogue detailing the letters of Robert Plumer Ward to Sara and Benjamin Austen. This was compiled by Sara Austen and gives a useful overview of the content of the letters in this sequence.