Egerton Family Papers: Finding Aid
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8mw2nvw Online items available Egerton family papers: Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Huntington Library staff and Diann Benti. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Manuscripts Department The Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org © 2017 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved. Egerton family papers: Finding mssEL 1 Aid Overview of the Collection Title: Egerton family papers Dates (inclusive): approximately 1150-1803 Bulk dates: 1580-1803 Collection Number: mssEL Creator: Egerton (Family) Extent: approximately 13,000 pieces Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org Abstract: This collection contains the official, semi-official, and personal papers of six generations of the Egerton family of Great Britain. Also known as the "Ellesmere Collection," the papers span from 1150-1803 and include approximately 13,000 pieces with particular strengths related to domestic management, religion, politics, literature, law, and diplomacy from the late 16th through 18th centuries. The geographic scope of the collection includes all of the British Isles, the British Atlantic, and early colonial America, and foreign relations with Western Europe. Language: English. Publication Rights The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher. Facsimile material: Researchers must apply for permission to publish or quote these materials from the owners of the originals. Please contact: Estate Administrator. Mertoun Estate. St. Boswell’s, Melrose, Roxburghshire. SCOTLAND TD6 0EA. Preferred Citation [Identification of item]. Egerton family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Provenance Purchased with the Bridgewater library from John Francis Granville Scroop Egerton, 4th Earl of Ellesmere, through the agency of George D. Smith and Sotheby's of London, 1917. When the collection was purchased in 1917, the Egerton family chose to retain some 1,600 manuscripts of personal or literary interest or value, but facsimiles of these items were subsequently provided to the Huntington and have been integrated into the original collection. Access Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services. Historical Note Descendants of Sir Thomas Egerton, Baron Ellesmere and Viscount Brackley (1540?-1617), a noted jurist, statesman, and patron of the arts and literature, the Egertons were known as a politically and socially influential family. John Egerton, son of Sir Thomas Egerton, obtained earldom, and John Scroop Egerton was made the 1st Duke of Bridgewater. With the death of Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, the dukedom became extinct. The childless duke left the Bridgewater House in London, together with its famous library to his nephew George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland. His son Francis Egerton Ellesmere (1800-1857) who assumed the name of Egerton, was created Viscount Brackley and 1st Earl of Ellesmere. He was known as a poet, collector and patron of scholarship, the first President of the Camden society. He retained the services of John Payne Collier, the literary critic and notorious forger. Collier published a catalog of selected items from the Bridgewater Library. He also acquired the collection of plays of John Larpent, Examiner of Plays, which he sold to the Earl in 1853. Bibliography Guide to British Historical Manuscripts in the Huntington Library (San Marino, Calif. : Huntington Library, 1982). View online version in Hathi Trust Digital Library. Egerton family papers: Finding mssEL 2 Aid Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Huntington Library (San Marino, Calif. : The Library, 1989). View online version in Hathi Trust Digital Library. Scope and Content This collection contains the official, semi-official, and personal papers of six generations of the Egerton family of Great Britain. Also known as the "Ellesmere Collection," the papers span from 1150-1803 and include approximately 13,000 pieces with particular strengths related to domestic management, religion, politics, literature, law, and diplomacy from the late 16th through 18th centuries. The geographic scope of the collection includes all of the British Isles, the British Atlantic, and early colonial America, and foreign relations with Western Europe. The papers include the personal letters and papers of the family (although there are relatively few household and estate accounts), literary manuscripts, and the official and semi-official papers relating to offices held by various members of the family, particularly those accumulated by Sir Thomas Egerton, 1540?-1617, Baron Ellesmere and Viscount of Brackley, Solicitor-General (1581-1592), Attorney-General (1592-1594), Lord Keeper (1596-1603), and Lord Chancellor (1603-1617); Sir John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater, 1579-1649, President of the Council of Wales (1631-1649); John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, 1622-1686, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire (1660-1686); John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater, 1646-1701, President of the Board of Trade (1696-1699), First Lord of Admiralty (1699-1701), Speaker of the House of Lords (1697 and 1700); John Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, 1681-1745, a Whig courtier under Anne and George I, and Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, 1736-1803. Included are literary manuscripts (many of them presentation copies), which comprised the library at Bridgewater House. Also included are the papers of the Stanley family, earls of Derby related to the Egertons, through the marriage of Sir Thomas Egerton to Alice, widow of Ferdinando Stanley, the 5th Earl, including some material concerning the Isle of Man, of which the earls of Derby were hereditary lords. As well, the women in this family are well documented and represented within the papers, including Alice Spencer (1559-1637), Countess of Derby; Frances Stanley Egerton (1583-1636), Countess of Bridgewater; Elizabeth Cavendish Egerton (1626-1663), Countess of Bridgewater; Elizabeth Cranfield Egerton (ca. 1627-1663); Jane Paulet Egerton (ca. 1656-1716), Countess of Bridgewater; Elizabeth Churchill Egerton (ca. 1687-1714), Countess of Bridgewater; and Rachel Russell Egerton (ca. 1700-1777), Dowager Duchess of Bridgewater. The collection also contains photocopies of some 1,600 manuscripts that the Egerton family chose to retain in their possession. Calendar of the Bridgewater and Ellesmere Manuscripts Prior to the purchase of the collection by Henry Huntington, a ten-volume handlist entitled "Calendar of the Bridgewater and Ellesmere Manuscripts" was compiled at Bridgewater House by London historical researcher Mary Trice Martin (ca. 1868-1925), the daughter of the assistant keeper of the Public Record Office Charles Trice Martin (author of The Record Interpreter) and a student of his colleague Dr. Hubert Hall. These volumes contain typed itemized lists of the 13,000 manuscripts in this collection, with additional handwritten notes added by various scholars and curators. These volumes have been digitized and are available as downloadable PDFs. • Volume 1: Before 1617 Part 1 (EL 1-1923) • PDF version • Volume 2: Before 1617 Part 2 (EL 1924-6308) • PDF version • Volume 3: 1617-1649 (EL 6309-8007) • PDF version • Volume 4: 1649-1686 (EL 8008-8596) • PDF version • Volume 5: 1687-1803 (EL 8597-10439) • PDF version • Volume 6: Undistributed bundles and various undated and unclassified manuscripts and title deeds (EL 10440-12044) and list of dockets in the collection • PDF version • Volume 7: Subject Index, A-E (pp. 1-128) • PDF version • Volume 8: Subject Index, F-O (pp. 129-232) • PDF version • Volume 9: Subject Index, P-Z (pp. 233-330) Egerton family papers: Finding mssEL 3 Aid • PDF version • Volume 10: List of Bridgewater Manuscripts in Separated Volumes • PDF version Unlocated items Approximately 1600 items listed in the Calendar of the Bridgewater and Ellesmere Manuscripts were never received by the Huntington Library. Facsimiles of most of these items were provided in the 1960s and integrated into the collection, though a small group of approximately forty items listed in the Calendar remain unlocated. In addition, five other items have been identified as missing. Items not received • EL 994 Genealogical tree showing the descent of Egertons and other families (before 1617) (listed in Calendar vol. 1, page 117a) • EL 2406 Notes of leases of customs, 1 Jas. 1 (listed in Calendar vol. 2, page 329) • EL 6616a Letter from Lord Bridgewater to Arthur Swannicke, John Carlton and Maurice Griffith, 1639 (listed in Calendar vol. 3, page 543) • EL 6644e List of townships in Cheshire belonging to Lord Bridgewater and their values (listed in Calendar vol. 3, page 546) • EL 6856 (34/B/55) Volume containing copies of sermons by various persons. 1. A Sermon on the 72 Ps. v. 18. ... 26. Mr. Shute, on Luke 17: v. 29 (listed in Calendar vol. 3, page 575-756) • EL 8216a Note of leases of lands in High Leigh (listed in