Rylands Charters

Date range: c.1130-1906

Medium: Archive

A miscellaneous sequence of several thousand deeds, charters and other documents acquired by gift or purchase from various sources. Most counties in England and Wales are represented, with particularly good coverage of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire and Lincolnshire.

Items include charters, deeds of conveyance, settlements, mortgages, leases, wills, rentals, manorial records, accounts and miscellaneous papers. Although documents are numbered consecutively, the separate provenances of collections have been respected. Among the larger collections are:

• Deeds relating to the island of Jersey, comprising grants, sales, and agreements made before the King’s Bailiff in Jersey, or his representative, 1469–1815 (Rylands Charters RYCH/65–162);
• A collection of deeds relating to over one hundred and fifteen places in Lancashire, including Bolton le Sands, Farington, Goosnargh, Lancaster, Manchester, Singleton and Tottington, 1593–1843 (RYCH/285–700);
• Deeds relating to Cheshire presented by Lord Stanley of Alderley, 1271–1650 (RYCH/776–913);
• Deeds mainly concerning the Salusbury family, acquired with the Thrale-Piozzi Manuscripts from Mrs R. V. Colman, the vast majority of which concern property in Flintshire and Denbighshire, 1490–1837 (RYCH/914–1262);
• Deeds chiefly concerning properties in Cheshire, particularly townships on the Wirral such as Higher and Lower Bebington, Bromborough, Eastham, Hooton, Mollington, Storeton and Tranmere, and also properties in Flintshire and Denbighshire, purchased from the Rev. P. G. Langdon, c.1130–1857 (RYCH/1263–1942);
• Deeds and manorial records relating to the Aston family of Aston by Sutton in Cheshire, acquired from R. H. Linaker esq., 1536–1836 (RYCH/2012–2130);
• Deeds relating to the Hadfield family of Hadfield in Derbyshire, and to properties in Cheshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire, mid-13th century to 1877 (RYCH/2245–2477);
• A collection of deeds, rentals, ‘particulars’ and other documents relating to Lincolnshire, and to the interests of the banker Sir Robert Clayton MP and his partner alderman John Morris, 1314–1747 (RYCH/2478–2808);
• Deeds relating to the Rochdale and Rossendale areas of Lancashire, particularly Bacup, Brandwood, Haslingden, Newchurch in Rossendale, Rawtenstall, Todmorden and Whitworth, presented by G. Calvert esq., 1534–1867 (RYCH/2891–2976);
• Business and legal papers associated with Sir Robert Clayton (1629–1707), MP for the City of London, and his fellow apprentice and partner, Alderman John Morris (c.1625–82), 1563–1778 (RYCH/3632–3849); see also the Clayton and Morris Papers(English MSS 899, 906, 943, 959, 986);
• Over 400 leases from Dean Row and Styal and manorial records relating to the manor of Bollin cum Norcliffe in Wilmslow, Cheshire, presented by the 10th Earl of Stamford, 1647–1833 (RYCH/3850–4317);
• Records of the township of High Legh in Cheshire, including settlement and removal orders, apprenticeship indentures, constables’ accounts, and records of the overseers of the poor and surveyors of highways, 1687–1906 (RYCH/4318–4510);
• A collection of miscellaneous deeds with a wide geographical spread, presented by the executors of Miss Janet Fishwick, 1541–1822 (RYCH/4613-4702).

This extensive collection is important for medieval and early modern studies, landscape and environmental history, agricultural history, and social, economic and industrial history, as well as for local and family history.

Further information:

Catalogue available via ELGAR.

Location:

• The John Rylands Library, Deansgate  [Map]
• Find out how to use the reading rooms in the John Rylands Research Institute and Library