Noel family, Earls of Gainsborough: estate and family papers

The papers are closed to research pending the completion of a detailed catalogue, but limited enquiries may be made in writing to the County Archivist.

The papers described in this Summary Report were deposited in Leicestershire Record Office by the Rt Hon the Earl of Gainsborough in 1987, with additional deposits in 1990 and 1991. A catalogue of the whole collection has been compiled on slips, but neither the slips nor the records themselves are yet in their final arrangement.

This summary was compiled from the slips during a visit to the Record Office on 20 November 1997. It aims to indicate the principal elements in the collection and items and groups of papers of particular interest, but does not follow the current arrangement of the slips in every respect.

The Commission is grateful to the County Archivist, Mr CW Harrison, for the opportunity to record the scope of the collection in advance of the completion of the catalogue, and the compilers of this report would like to add their own thanks to the Keeper of Archives, Mr Robin Jenkins, for his help and hospitality on the occasion of their visit.

Back to top

The Noel family and its estates

The Noels were prominent Staffordshire gentry in the Middle Ages. The fortunes of the Rutland branch of the family were founded by Andrew Noel or Nowell, third son of James Noel of Hilcote (Staffordshire), who was granted the manor of Old Dalby, or Dalby-on-the-Wolds (Leicestershire), formerly a property of the Knights of St John, in c1544, and Perry Barr (Staffordshire) in 1546. Perry Barr was not a long-lived possession, and Dalby was sold, to the Earl of Buckingham, in 1617. But in 1548 Andrew Noel began the landed connection of the Noel family with Rutland when he purchased the manor of Brooke, a former monastic property south-west of Oakham. Andrew Noel died at Dalby in 1563, leaving his Leicestershire and Rutland estates to his second son, Sir Andrew Noel, who built a house at Brooke in the late sixteenth century and died there in 1607. He bought Langham (Rutland) in 1600.

Sir Andrew Noel had greatly strengthened his position in Rutland by marrying c1577 Mabel, sixth daughter of Sir James Harington of Exton. She is described in Burke's Peerage as the heir of her brother, the first Baron Harington (d1613), but in fact no major landed property appears to have descended from her to the Noels, with the possible exception of the manor of Greetham (sold by the Noel family to the Marquess of Buckingham in 1623). The Noels did, however, benefit directly and indirectly from the break-up of the Harington estates, which were disposed of either shortly before or shortly after the death of the second Baron Harington in 1614. Ridlington was purchased in 1614 by Sir Edward Noel, son of Sir Andrew, who was created Baron Noel of Ridlington in 1617. Exton itself was purchased in 1613 by Sir Baptist Hicks, created Viscount Campden in 1628: on his death in 1629 it descended, with the viscountcy, to Lord Noel, who had married his elder daughter Julian in 1605.

Baptist Hicks was a Londoner of Gloucestershire yeoman origins who amassed a large fortune in trade, and acquired property in the City of London (St Lawrence Jewry), Middlesex (Campden House in Kensington 1609 and the manor of Hampstead 1620), Kent, Essex, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and elsewhere. His major purchase outside London was, however, the Chipping Campden estate in Gloucestershire, acquired in 1609. On his death the Chipping Campden and Exton estates (the last-named supplemented by the purchase of Whitwell in 1620), together with Campden House (Kensington) and Hampstead, passed to his elder daughter Lady Noel; and, at least in the case of Exton, the estate may well have been purchased with that descent in mind. Other estates (Ilmington (Warwickshire) and Cheltenham and Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire)) passed to Mary Morrison, another daughter and co-heir (and thence to the Capell family, Earls of Essex), whilst yet other properties appear to have been sold soon after 1629.

Baptist Noel, third Viscount Campden (1612-1682) married in 1639 Hester, third daughter of the second Baron Wotton, of Boughton Malherbe (Kent) and Paulerspury (Northamptonshire). She brought to her husband's family the Valle Crucis estate in Denbighshire, but this was sold not long afterwards.

Their son Edward Noel (1641-1689) succeeded as fourth Viscount, and was created Earl of Gainsborough in 1682. In 1661 he had married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Thomas Wriothesley, fourth Earl of Southampton, from whom in 1667 she inherited the Titchfield (Hampshire) estate. On the death of the second Earl of Gainsborough, however, in 1690 this estate passed to his daughters, who married respectively the first Duke of Portland and the second Duke of Beaufort. The Gainsborough papers contain very little material for this important but transient possession, which is documented chiefly in that section of the Portland papers kept by Hampshire Record Office. (The property was held jointly between 1690 and 1739 but managed by the Portland stewards.)

The third Earl of Gainsborough, who succeeded to the Exton, Chipping Campden and Middlesex estates in 1690, was Baptist Noel of North Luffenham, son of a younger son of the third Viscount Campden. North Luffenham, acquired by the second Viscount Campden in 1636, had been settled on a younger son: it was sold in 1729. Baptist Noel had also inherited the Cottesmore estate which, originally a Harington property, had been purchased in 1620 by Paul Ambrose (or Paulus Abrosius) Croke, and had since descended in the female line through the Heath and Fanshawe families. (Further records relating to the Heaths and Cottesmore may be found among the Willoughby de Broke papers in the British Library, Eg Ch 645-2116, Eg MSS 2978-3008, 3779, and Leicestershire Record Office, DG 8/69-146.)

Another junior branch of the Exton Noels came to be represented in the late eighteenth century by Thomas Noel of Walcot (Northamptonshire) (d1788). He was the son of John Noel, fourth son of the third Viscount Campden and cousin of Baptist Noel (later third Earl of Gainsborough), with whom he established the Exton pack of hounds in 1734. (It moved to Cottesmore in 1740.) He inherited the outlying Noel properties of Kinnoulton (Nottinghamshire) and Castle Bytham and Swayfield (Lincolnshire), and left them to the sixth Earl on his death, which accounts for the presence of papers relating to him and his properties in the collection. When, however, the sixth Earl himself died without issue in 1798 the Walcot estates were inherited by his brother-in-law HC Neville, who took the name of Noel.

The successor to the settled estates of the sixth Earl (the Exton and Campden estates) was his nephew Gerard Noel Edwards (1759-1838), who took the additional name of Noel. He was the son of Gerard Anne Edwards (d1773), of Welham Grove (Leicestershire), by Lady Jane Noel (d1811), sister of the fifth and sixth Earls. GN Noel's grandmother, Mary Edwards (d1743), had been the heiress of a London commercial family with extensive properties in London, Middlesex, Kent, Leicestershire and Ireland. GN Noel was therefore the heir to both the Edwards and (as life-tenant) the Noel estates, but he suffered acute financial difficulties, culminating in the failure of the Marylebone Bank in 1817. Between 1805 and 1840 all the Edwards estates were sold, including properties in Kensington and Dartford in 1809, the entire Welham estate, and the Islington estate mainly in 1840. In 1816 there was even a proposal to sell the Exton estate, to the Duke of Wellington.

GN Noel had married in 1780 Diana, daughter of Sir Charles Middleton, Bt, First Lord of the Admiralty 1805-6, who was created a baronet in 1781 and Baron Barham in 1805. On his death in 1813 his son-in-law succeeded to the baronetcy and his daughter to the Barham Court estate (near Maidstone, Kent) and the barony. She died in 1823 and was succeeded by her son Charles, who also succeeded his father in 1838 and, being a whig, was created Earl of Gainsborough in 1841.

In 1810 Exton Old Hall was badly damaged by fire, the muniments suffering some loss, and between 1813 and its sale in 1846 Barham Court was the family's principal seat. Soon after the fire, however, a start had been made on a new house at Exton, and the first Earl, after a few years at Chipping Campden, made the new Exton Hall his seat from the early 1850s. His eldest son became a Roman Catholic in 1851, and succeeded as second Earl of the second creation in 1866.

In 1883 his son the third Earl (1850 - 1926, succeeded 1881) held 15,076 acres in Rutland, lying mainly north-east and south-west of Oakham, 3,170 acres in Gloucestershire (the Chipping Campden estate) and small amounts of land in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, the first three being outliers of the Exton estate. (The Pickwell (Leicestershire) estate, purchased in 1637, had been mostly sold in 1868.) The Campden estate was reduced by sale in the late nineteenth century and again in the early 1920s, when the Exton estate was also reduced by the sale of the properties lying beyond Oakham.

Back to top

Summary report

Deeds

Rutland
Large quantity 12th-19th century (c180 medieval) as follows: Belton 19th century, Bisbrooke 17th-18th century, Braunston 13th-19th century (3 medieval), Brooke 16th-18th century, Burley-on-the-Hill 17th-18th century, Cottesmore and Barrow 16th-19th century, Edith Weston 16th-19th century, Exton and Horne

13th-19th century (110 medieval), Ketton 17th-19th century, Langham 15th-19th century, Lyndon 14th century (1 item), Manton 16th-19th century, Morcott 18th century, North Luffenham c1200-19th century (124 medieval), Oakham and Flitteris 16th-19th century, Ridlington c1165-19th century (26 medieval), Seaton 1382, 1512 (2 items), Slawston (near Uppingham) 18th-19th century, South Luffenham 1285, 1306, Uppingham 15th-19th century (1 medieval), Whissendine 19th century, Whitwell 13th-19th century (11 medieval), Wing 18th century, Forest of Leighfield 16th-17th century.

Leicestershire
Deeds 12th - 19th century (85 medieval), small quantities except for Mowsley, Pickwell, Thorpe Langton and Welham, as follows: Barrow-on-Soar 1632, Dadlington 1375, Drayton 1338, Foxton 1713, Frisby-on-the-Wreake 1694, Glooston 14th century (2 items), Goadby 17th-18th century, Halstead 18th century, Houghton-on-the-Hill 17th century, Kibworth Beauchamp 18th century, Kirby Bellars 17th-18th century, Knossington 16th-17th century, Launde 16th-17th century, Little Dalby 1782, Long Clawson 17th century, Mowsley 16th-19th century, Nether Broughton 16th-17th century, Pickwell and Leesthorpe late Henry II - 19th century (81 medieval), Rolleston 17th-18th century, Scraptoft 1782, Slawston 18th - 19th century, Smeeton Westerby 17th-18th century, Thorpe Langton 17th-18th century, Welham 17th-19th century.

Gloucestershire and Worcestershire
Deeds 15th-20th century (1 medieval) as follows: Chipping Campden (not numerous) 15th-20th century, Berrington 16th-19th century, Westington 17th-19th century, Broad Campden 16th-18th century, Charingworth 16th-18th century, Foxcote 1508, Weston-under-Edge 17th century, Clowerwall 1757, Blockley and Draycott (Worcs) 16th-18th century.

Kent
Deeds 16th-19th century (fairly miscellaneous) as follows: Canterbury 17th century, Stone, Darenth and Dartford 16th century - 1809, Crayford 1772, Isle of Harty 1640, Ospringe, etc 16th-17th century, Lympne 16th-18th century Margate 1769, Milton (near Sittingbourne) 16th-17th century, Minster in Sheppey 1599-1605, Newchurch (Romney Marsh) 17th century, Plumstead (Heath family of Cottesmore) 17th century, Teston etc (Middleton family) 18th-19th century, Wye, etc 1635.

London
St Lawrence Jewry 13th-16th century (23 medieval), All Hallows (Fanshawe family) 1626, St Mary Lothbury 1705, Throgmorton Street, etc (Edwards family) 17th-18th century, St Mary Bow (Edwards) 16th-18th century.

Middlesex
St Pancras 17th century, Finchley 17th-18th century, Fulham 18th century, Hackney 16th-18th century, Hampstead (lease of Hall 1631, sale of manor to Sir William Langhorne of Charlton 1707), Islington 16th-18th century, Kensington 16th-19th century, Stepney 17th century, Westminster (Edwards houses) 18th century, Marylebone (9 Cavendish Square: Gainsborough town house) 19th century.

Lincolnshire
Castle Bytham, Swayfield, Wykeham (near Spalding), Stamford etc 16th-19th century, with 1 deed mid-13th century.

Northamptonshire
Barnack, Walcot, Wilburston, etc 17th-18th century, with 1 deed (Lilburn) 1433.

Other English counties
Small quantities or individual items for Bedforshire 1420, 1547, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire (Croke family) 1621, 1627, Cambridgeshire (Fanshawe family) 1633, Cheshire (sale of Hicks property) 1630, Derbyshire c1131-19th century (11 medieval : collected by Thomas Blore?), Dorset 1730, Essex (Hicks and Fanshawe) 16th-17th century, Hampshire 18th-19th century (including Basing leases late 18th century and lease of Midenbury estate by RW Baker 1842), Hertfordshire (Noel family) 1616, Huntingdonshire 1758, Isle of Wight 1764, Nottinghamshire (Kinnoulton : Noel family) 17th-18th century, Oxfordshire (Croke family) 1609, Staffordshire 15th-16th century (1 medieval), Surrey (Edwards family) 18th century, Warwickshire 1413 (2 items), Yorkshire 16th-17th century (including sale of Hicks property 1629), with 1 deed 13th century.

Wales
Denbighshire (Valle Crucis, etc) 15th-17th century, including Valle Crucis Abbey leases 1455-1536.

Ireland
Various properties in County Cork, County Kilkenny, Queen's County, Tipperary etc (Edwards family, including estates acquired from the Hollow Sword Blades Company) 17th-18th century.

Miscellaneous
Bonds 17th-19th century.

New River Company shares (Edwards family) 17th-18th century.

Hope Plantation, Demerara, Guyana 1803; Belmont estate, St Christopher 1837.

Back to top

Trust and legal papers

Wills 16th-19th century, mainly Noel and Edwards families, including Andrew Noel of Dalby 1563 (with inventory), Sir Andrew Noel of Brooke 1605 (proved 1608, with inventory 1607), Viscount Campden 1629, Paulus Ambrosius Croke 1631 and Sir G N Noel 1837 (with related papers).

Executorship papers 18th-20th century, including vouchers for 4th Earl deceased 1751-3 (with letter from L F Roubilliac relating to busts of Isaac Newton and G F Handel - some items returned to depositer 1993), Lady Anne Noel deceased 1825-6, Sir G N Noel deceased (mainly 1838-57, but including a rental for Brooke 1698 and other papers 1814-37), 1st Earl deceased (funeral bills 1866), 2nd Earl deceased 1881-5 and 3rd Earl deceased 1925-7.

Settlements 16th-19th century, mainly Noel and Edwards, including marriages of Andrew Noel and Mabel Harington 1576-7, Sir Edward Noel and Julian Hicks 1605, Edward Heath and Lucy Croke (of Cottesmore) 1630-1, Henry Noel and Susanna Howland 1637, Edward Noel and Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley 1661 (manor of Hampstead, etc), Mary Noel and the Earl of Northampton 1662-3, Viscount Campden and Katherine Greville 1686 (Titchfield (Hants) estate), Gerard Anne Edwards and Lady Jane Noel 1754, and other settlements 18th-19th century.

Trust papers 17th-20th century, including papers relating to Leighfield (settled on marriage of Lady Elizabeth Noel and Richard Norton) 1631-1746, Immingham (Lincs) (sold to raise portions under the will of the 3rd Viscount Campden) c1682, Ilmington (Warwicks) (lease only) 1629, the guardianship of G A Edwards 1733-74, the guardianship of the 6th Earl 1751-64, Sir G N Noel's life interest in the Exton estates c1801-34 and trust business 1904-24.

Schedules and abstracts of title 17th-20th century, including alienated Noel and Hicks estates in Rutland (Greetham, Burley), Lincs (Aslackby, Immingham, Cressy Hall in Surfleet), Denbighshire (Valle Crucis), Cheshire, Essex (Upminster), Kent (Canterbury), Warwicks (Ilmington), Gloucs (Cheltenham rectory), Staffs (Perry Barr), Notts (Kinnoulton), Middlesex (Hampstead), etc, and Edwards estates in London, Middlesex and Ireland c1790, 1806.

Legal papers (Noel family) 18th-20th century, including draft deeds 18th-19th century (proposed sale of Exton to the Duke of Wellington 1816, etc), bills of costs c1800-1917, and correspondence 19th-20th century relating to tithes, sales, etc; correspondence and papers relating to the Edwards estates and their disposal, including papers relating to Islington 1767-1841 (sale particulars 1840, etc), Kensington and Dartford 1809 and Irish estates mainly 1830s. (See also ESTATE RECORDS, all estates.)

Papers relating to an annuity for William Shaw of Belvoir, huntsman, 1813-39.

Case papers 16th-19th century, including Noel v Pole 1580-9, Hicks v Banning (manor of Chipping Campden) c1621-5 and Payne v Noel (Campden estate) 19th century.

Evidences relating to Valle Crucis Abbey 1400 (mid-15th century copy); extract from Receiver - General's accounts for North Wales (Wrexham rectory, etc) 1575; volume relating to the Duke of Buckingham's estates in Rutland 17th century; abstract of Cottesmore deeds made for P A Croke 1620; inquisition post mortem, 2nd Baron Harington 1616.

Back to top

Manorial records

Rutland
Brooke Priory court roll 1410.

Court rolls for Exton, Barrow, Cottesmore, Langham and Ridlington 1744-8.

Exton extent and custumal 1365, list of pains 1757.

Ridlington survey 1592.

North Luffenham extent or rental (fragment)?early 14th century.

Volume of copies, Oakham court rolls (extracts relating to Langham) 1486-1546 (copies made c1550).

Leicestershire
Pickwell court rolls 1391, 1452, 1482-3, 1494, 1498, 1515-1662 (non-consecutive).

Gloucestershire
Chipping Campden court roll 1555; Campden and Berrington court books 1544-67.

Essex
West Tilbury extent 1390-1 (mid-16th century extract).

Middlesex
Islington prebend, fragment of court roll 1573.

Wales
Valle Crucis (previously Llynegwestle), with Wrexham and Stansty: court rolls 1537, 1577, 1585-96; compotus or rent roll 1536-7, 1566-7 (1 item); rentals 1587, c1590, with note of rents 1590.

Back to top

Estate records

All Estates
Particulars and valuation of Col Noel's estates 1799; valuation of Sir GN Noel's estates in Rutland, Gloucs, Leics, Middlesex, Somerset, Lincs, Northants, Hants and Worcs 1813.

Rentals and accounts, whole estate 1761-81 (6 volumes).

Rentals and accounts, Exton and Campden estates 1759-67, 1796-8; cash book 1784-5.

Rental of Lord Barham's estates in Rutland, Leics, Gloucs and Kent 1838-40.

Exton and Campden rentals 1844-7, 1852-5, 1864-7 (3 volumes).

Exton and Campden estate vouchers 1751 - c1793.

Exton and Campden audited accounts 1883-1918.

General ledgers 1843-60 (3 volumes).

Estate memoranda (Exton and Campden estates) c1829-75.

Agents' correspondence c1810-1929, including Thomas Dain c1810-26, WM Dollin 1826-8, RW Baker mainly 1834-57, George Loch 1842-6, A Frisby 1862-76, Collingwood and Hyland c1875-83, GO Formby 1885-8 and PC Chichester 1897-1929.

Presentations to livings (Noel family) 16th-17th century.

Legal correspondence relating to estate business c1792-1863, mainly letters from London, Stamford and Oakham solicitors to Sir GN Noel.

Back to top

Exton estate (Rutland, Leics and Lincs)
Ridlington leases 17th-18th century (listed with deeds).

Tenancy agreements c1796-1859, 1888, 1908-56; notices to quit 1798-9, 1815-37, 1851-78; surrenders 1851-82; tenant - right valuations c1799-1903; alterations books and lists 1813-1901; applications book 1860-75; miscellaneous tenancy papers 19th-early 20th century, including papers relating to rent dinners 1816-1903.

Terriers, surveys, valuations and reports 17th-20th century, including survey of Ridlington and Whitwell 1592, detailed survey of Harington estates in Rutland, Leics and Lincs 1610, survey and valuation of Cottesmore and Barrow 1619-20, terrier of Cottesmore (for Edward Heath) 1650, survey of Cottesmore 1759 and Rutland, Leics and Lincs estates 1760 (both based on maps by T Badeslade 1730), valuations of Exton estate 1805-14, survey of Exton estate 1840, report and valuation (for mortgage) 1901, and terrier of Swayfield (Lincs) 1761 (compared with terrier of 1683).

Maps 17th-20th century, including Cottesmore and Greetham 1614, Langham 1624, Ridlington and Leighfield 1624, Exton, Horne and Whitwell 1633, Brooke 1679, Exton Park c1700 and 1709, Pickwell 1736 and Swayfield c1797 (pre-enclosure), with drawings and plans of buildings mainly 19th - early 20th century.

Rentals 17th-20th century, including Pickwell rental 1651, Exton rent rolls 1666, 1691, rent book 1689-92, rentals 1798-1836 (10 volumes), Rutland and Leics (Pickwell) half-yearly rentals 1816-17, 1820, 1824-33, Rutland, Leics, Lincs and Northants rental 1845-6, Rutland, Leics and Lincs rentals 1860, 1881-2, Exton half-yearly rentals 1941-59, Uppingham and Preston rentals 1748-9, 1782-93, 1800, 1825-6, 1828-74 and Stamford rentals 1811-28.

Estate accounts 18th-20th century, including account 1797-8, audited accounts 1919-20, 1927-8, monthly abstracts 1848-52, 1863, 1865-9, 1877-1922 and vouchers 1763-1947 (mainly from 1793).

Stewards' accounts 17th-19th century, including receipts and disbursements 1683-4, accounts 1751-8, 1770-3 and cash books 1782-1858 (non-consecutive).

Stewards' memorandum books 1764-8, 1772-7, 1861-7 (Hon HL Noel) and 1870 (A Frisby).

Estate diaries 1935, 1940-1, 1943, 1949, 1953, 1957.

Estate correspondence 1817-1962, including BJ Bunbury 1915-45 and Bard and Evans 1927-62.

Wood accounts 1620, 18th-20th century.

Granary accounts 1768-97; corn books 19th century; farm accounts 1824-7, 1851-1974; stock accounts 18th-20th century, including stock books 1764-82, 1789-93, 1929, sheep books 1801-21 and Exton Park agistment books 1809-37.

Lime and brick accounts 18th-19th century.

Ironstone mining papers late 19th - mid-20th century.

Wages books and labour sheets 18th-20th century.

Game and fishing account and papers 18th-20th century, including gamekeepers' reports.

Copies of Leics and Rutland enclosure acts 1763-1821; Swayfield (Lincs) enclosure act 1797; papers relating to the proposed enclosure of Greetham by the Earl of Winchilsea 1764.

Tithe papers 16th-19th century, including Noel v Rev Heneage Finch (tithes of Langham, Brooke and Flitteris) 1818-41.

Canal papers 18th-19th century, including the Melton Mowbray and Stamford Canal 1780s-'90s.

Papers relating to improvements and repairs 18th-20th century, including Braunston church 1729-30, Exton church restoration (RC Carpenter architect) 1844-8, Exton church monuments (under the direction of JL Pearson) 1853, the Stamford Hotel 1825-36 and the Falcon Hotel, Uppingham (CA Buckler architect) 1877.

Stamford estate papers early 19th century, including building plans and sale papers 1841.

Papers 17th-20th century (mainly 19th-20th century) relating to land tax (1663, 1809-87), rates, tithes, insurance, water supply and drainage, land value duties 1909-23, etc.

Sale particulars 19th-20th century, including Pickwell and Whissendine (1,377 acres) 1868, Falcon hotel, Uppingham 1882, estates in Langham, Brooke, Ridlington, etc (3,500 acres) 1925 and remaining outlying estates in Oakham, Uppingham, Brooke, Ridlington, etc (c1,290 acres) 1926.

Back to top

Campden estate
Chipping Campden, Broad Campden, Berrington and Westington leases 17th-18th century (listed with deeds).

Tenancy agreements c1742-1883; notices to quit c1816-75.

Particulars and valuations 1799 - c1927, including valuation of property proposed to be sold 1857.

Maps and plans 18th-19th century, including manor of Campden 1722, Charingworth c1799, Broad Campden post 1815 and Chipping Campden gardens 1830s.

Rentals and rent accounts 1665-6 (including Draycott, Worcs), 1739, 1802-88, 1921-32 (non-consecutive).

General estate accounts c1820-1927; abstracts of accounts 1858, 1884-5, 1892, 1917-21; vouchers 1739-1882.

Stewards' accounts 18th-19th century, 1923.

Correspondence late 18th-20th century, including letters about the sale of a farm to Lord Coventry 1799 and about the repair of the monument in the Hicks chapel, Chipping Campden church 1924-5.

Estate memoranda 18th-20th century.

Wood accounts 1795-1882; quarrying accounts (including Westington quarry) 1895-1922; wage accounts and labour books (a few only) 1849-79.

Papers relating to buildings and repairs 19th-20th century, including St Catherine's RC church c1890-1914 and Noel Arms, Chipping Campden 1853.

Papers relating to Oxford and Wolverhampton Railway and Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway 19th century, including surveyors' notebook, 1845 and plan 1853 (Oxford and Wolverhampton line through Chipping Campden).

Allotment papers c1830-1921.

Papers relating to roads, water supply, insurance etc 19th-20th century.

Sale particulars 19th century - ?1922, including annotated particulars and plans 1869 and statement of sales 1882-9; sale papers 1922-5.

Papers relating to Chipping Campden almshouses c1822-1912.

Papers relating to Campden ploughing meeting 1841-2.

Vouchers of Francis Haines (to Sir Baptist Hicks) for serving the vicarage of Ebrington 1618-24.

Back to top

London (Noel) estates
Lease of Hicks Hall (Middlesex Sessions House), St John Street, Clerkenwell 1630. (Listed with deeds.)

Lease of Campden House, Kensington by Hon Baptist Noel 1684, with schedule of contents. (Listed with deeds.)

(For town houses 19th century see Houses and households.)

Denbighshire (Wotton) estate
Rental of Edward Wotton's estates (Valle Crucis, etc) 1587. (Listed with manorial records.)

Welham (Edwards) estate
Map 1823.

Rentals (Welham, Slawston, Kibworth, Goadby, Smeeton, Thorpe Langton, etc) 18th-early 19th century.

Accounts 1758-1836; steward's rough account; accounts and papers relating to the sale of the estate 1816-25.

Other Edwards estates
Papers relating to Blacksoles Farm, Dartford (formerly Tooke family) 1773-93; sale papers 1809. (And see also Legal papers.)

London estate rental 1787 and vouchers 1780-5. (And for the Islington and Kensington estates see also Legal papers.)

Ketton, Oakham and Barleythorpe (Rutland) estate papers 1781-1868 (mainly early 19th century), including rentals 1808-17, steward's account 1789-90, vouchers, correspondence and sale papers late 1820s.

Irish estate papers c1751-1839, including rent rolls 1751-63, rental c1817-21, correspondence, papers relating to the sale of the Kilkenny estate 1805 and further sale papers 1828.

Barham Court estate
Papers c1803-48 (mainly 1813-46), including surveys and valuations c1821-42, maps 1682 - c1839 (Yalding, West Farleigh, house property in Maidstone, etc), rentals 1829-46, accounts and vouchers 1821-43, wood accounts 1840, 1842, wage accounts 1833-42, steward's memoranda books 1839-46, insurance papers, sale particulars 1845, and miscellaneous correspondence and papers.

Somerset estate
Papers relating to property in Bath and Bathwick 1809-43, including 93 Sydney Place and 14 Lansdown Crescent.

Thomas Noel of Walcot
Papers relating to estates in Northamptonshire (Walcot and Southorpe), Rutland (Luffenham), Nottinghamshire (Kinnoulton) and elsewhere c1626-1801 (mainly 18th century), including Kinnoulton map ?early 18th century, Walcot and Southorpe rentals c1626-30, 1719-31, Kinnoulton rentals 1690-1, 1695, 18th century, Castle Bytham (Lincs) rental 1724, Notts and Lincs rental 1769, estate accounts 1768-98, day book (Thomas Noel deceased) 1789-1801, vouchers 1756-87, labour book 1772-85, memorandum book 1743-51, correspondence relating to the Halstead (Leics) estate 1754-5, etc.

Back to top

House and household

Drawings and related papers for Exton Hall c1823-68, including drawings c1823-41 (some used for work by Henry Roberts 1851-3), drawing for great hall, etc by Pilkington of Stamford 1848 and drawings for chapel by CA Buckler c1868 (with bills 1869); drawings for Fort Henry, Exton Park 1785-8 (by William Legg of Stamford), and for gardens and park 19th century.

Exton Hall inventories of contents (plate, china, linen, etc) 1701-1931.

Exton Hall household accounts and vouchers 18th-20th century, including accounts 1761-82, 1788-91, 1812-1961.

Building and household vouchers for Sir G N Noel's London house 1810-37, and for Catmose Lodge (Rutland) c1781-1829.

Papers relating to London houses (Chandos Street, Cavendish Square) 19th century, including catalogue of books, ? Chandos Street, c1820, accounts for alterations to Gainsborough House, Cavendish Square 1838-40 (by [George] Valentine), leases and inventories (Gainsborough House) and tradesmen's accounts 1849-59.

Papers relating to Campden House (Chipping Campden) 1834-81, including papers about alterations 1844-6, letters from R C Carpenter 1849-50, 1852, bills for alterations by CA Buckler 1859-63 and household accounts 1834-44, 1873-81.

Ketton household accounts (Lady Jane Edwards) early 19th century.

Barham Court household accounts 1813-46; plan of greenhouse 1823.

Walcot household vouchers 1759-65.

Back to top

County and local papers

Rutland
Lieutenancy and militia papers 17th-19th century, including papers relating to the Rutland Fencible Cavalry 1794-9 (design for riding school in Oakham 1794-5, etc).

Shrievalty papers 16th-19th century, including account and quietus rolls for Sir Andrew Noel 1587-8 and accounts 1595-6.

Magistracy papers 16th-19th century, including witchcraft examinations 1587 and recusancy commission papers c1591-2 (Sir Andrew Noel).

Appointment as Recorder of Stamford 1676.

Leighfield Forest : royal letter to Sir Edward Noel 1616.

Rutland turnpike papers 1778-95.

Rutland War Agricultural Executive Committee : account book 1917-20 (RC Chichester).

Account book, Lady Ann Harington's gift to the poor of Exton 1621-1761; vouchers, Lady Harington's Dole, Burley 18th century; Ketton charity school papers 1820-8; Cottesmore almshouse papers 1806-26.

Papers relating to Oakham and Uppingham schools 19th-20th century.

Papers relating to Exton parish, village hall, clothing club and cricket club 19th-20th century.

Gloucestershire
Chipping Campden borough charter 1605.

Chipping Campden Hospital foundation deed 1635.

Other counties
Miscellaneous papers relating to the Leicestershire Yeomanry 1855-78.

Papers relating to the Pinley (Warwickshire) charity of PA Croke 17th-mid-19th century, including accounts 1747 and papers about the sale of a farm in Pinley 1844.

Appointments of the 1st Earl as Captain of Portsmouth and Warden of the New Forest 1685.

Royal warrant to raise troops against the Scots 1549.

Back to top

Political papers

Rutland election papers 1710-1847, including the contest of 1841.

Stamford election papers 1734-1830, including the contest of 1812.

Papers relating to Gloucestershire politics c1842-3 (?1841 election), with 1 item relating to the county election of 1763 and list of Chipping Campden freeholders 1775.

Correspondence of GN Edwards (later Sir GN Noel) as MP for Maidstone 1783-93, including letters about Bishop's distillery.

Political notes (for speeches, etc) of Sir GN Noel 1781-1826.

Notes relating to the borough of Leominster 1785-97.

Correspondence of Viscount Campden relating to the Cork election of 1860.

Business papers

Papers c1760-1856, mainly of Sir GN Noel, relating to the London and Middlesex Bank (Noel, Templer and Co, later (by 1807) Alexander Davison, Noel, Templer and Co) and its failure, including accounts 1792-1835, papers relating to individual clients (Joseph Shaw, Receiver-General for Surrey, etc), papers relating to debts and securities, case papers (Noel v Middleton, Noel v Hoare), the Swansea Canal, the Wanstead tontine, etc.

Back to top

Family correspondence and papers

Correspondence mainly 18th century
Letters to the 4th Earl 1736-42 (miscellaneous), Elizabeth Countess of Gainsborough c1763-6, the 5th Earl c1754, 1759 (2), the 6th Earl c1761-97 (c20 letters, including some from the 9th Earl of Exeter), Lady Elizabeth Noel c1760-95, Lady Anne and Lady Mary Noel 1768 - c1793, Thomas Noel of Walcot c1751-68 (including 4 from the 9th Earl of Exeter), Mary Edwards 1731-3 (concerning the Irish estates), Gerard Anne Edwards 1752-64(4), Lady Jane Edwards (formerly Noel) 1747- [1801] (significant quantity), Anna Margaretta Edwards c1783-92, and Sophia Edwards ?1784-1793.

Sir Gerard Noel Noel, 2nd Bt (1759-1838)
Extensive business, political and personal correspondence (and see also political papers and business papers relating to the Marylebone Bank); family correspondence, including letters from his sons-in-law Thomas G Babbington and Stafford O'Brien; correspondence about the sale of the proposed sale of Exton to the Duke of Wellington 1816.

Correspondence 19th - early 20th century
Letters to Lady Barham 1790-1820, Harriet Noel 1810 - c1812, the 1st Baron Barham 1788-1807 (6), the 1st Earl of Gainsborough c1791-1842 (family, business and political), the 2nd Earl c1834-81, the 3rd Earl c1882-1908 and others.

Miscellaneous correspondence
A few items 18th-19th century.

Grants of arms, etc
Patents, etc, Hicks, Noel and Middleton families 17th - early 20th century. (Some 17th century items returned to depositor.)

Family papers
List of pictures purchased by the 4th Earl 1733-47.

5th Earl, vouchers 1758-9.

Vouchers for Lady Campden and her daughter Blanche on the Continent 1862-6.

Miscellaneous naval papers late 18th - early 19th century (5 items, mostly Lord Barham?).

Miscellaneous military papers late 19th - early 20th century (?3rd Earl).

Religious papers 15th-20th century, mainly mid-19th century onwards and relating to the Roman Catholic Church, but including recusancy papers for Sir andrew Noel 1591-3, a dispensation 1487 and licences to eat flesh in Lent 17th century.

Hunting papers (mainly vouchers) 1755-89.

Diaries and journals 18th-19th century including a journal of a continental tour 1728-9.

Personal accounts 19th-20th century; bank books 19th-20th century (Sir G N Noel, 3rd Earl, etc); investment accounts 1875-1911.

School exercise books, etc 18th-19th century.

Invitations 19th-20th century.

Addresses and subscriptions 19th century.

Volume of historical and genealogical notes c1610-20.

Miscellaneous literary MSS 18th - 19th century, including two 18th century plays.

Drawings, sketches and printed items.

Back to top

Miscellaneous papers

Thomas Blore (1764-1818), antiquary
Historical and genealogical notes for his History and Antiquities of the County of Rutland (1811), under the patronage of Sir GN Noel, including notes on sources in the Public Records and the Gainsborough muniments, abstracts of Ketton deeds destroyed in the fire at Exton Old Hall in 1810, and letters from Sir GN Noel c1809-13.

Similar notes for a projected history of Derbyshire late 18th - early 19th century (2 volumes and unbound papers), including the Gell family of Hopton (see also below) and the Manor House, South Wingfield.

Legal and estate papers 18th century, mainly of Blore as steward to and executor of Philip Gell (d1795), including loose papers from a survey of the Hopton estate 1795, and Hopton and Bakewell rentals 1795.

Miscellaneous Gell family papers 1543-1663, including warrant concerning a muster against the Scots 1543, cypher 1645, account of Thomas Gell as receiver for the honour of Tutbury 1646 and Wirksworth wapentake subsidy roll 1663.

Middleton family deeds 15th-17th century (and see Deeds, Derbyshire).

Richard Westbrook Baker (d1859)
Papers as steward to and executor of Sir GN Noel, including papers relating to the Exton estate, tithes, etc (and see also Estate records).

Papers relating to Rutland allotments 1830s, Rutland Agricultural Society c1830-63, Rutland General Friendly Institution 1831-57, etc.

Private business papers, including papers relating to his own properties and to John Noon of Burghley deceased (d1831); notebook relating to Lord Churchill's estates 1845 (RW Baker as valuer?).

Maps and plans
Plans of buildings, etc 18th-19th century, including some by PC Chichester late 19th century (not Gainsborough estates); printed maps and plans, including OS sheets.

Ecclesiastical MSS
Account book (fees, etc) of the registrar of the diocese of Lincoln 1515-16; declaration of accounts of spiritualities, diocese of Lincoln 1526; valuation of former ecclesiastical properties ?Lincoln diocese mid-16th century.

File of chantry certificates, with inventories and valuations, Manton, etc 1548-9.

Back to top

Summary report on estate and family papers 12th-20th century

NOEL FAMILY, EARLS OF GAINSBOROUGH

(reference: GB-0056-DE 3214)

Table of Contents

NOEL FAMILY,
EARLS OF GAINSBOROUGH