Bromley Davenport Muniments
Date range: 12th-20th centuries
Medium: Archive
Significant family papers of the Bromley Davenport family of Capesthorne near Macclesfield, Cheshire.
The Bromley Davenport family claim descent from Ormus de Davenport, who lived during the reign of William I, and have been associated with eastern Cheshire since the eleventh century. Originally the Davenports had their estate at Marton, near Capesthorne, which was acquired in 1166. The Bromleys and the Davenports came together in 1594 with the marriage of John Davenport of Woodford to Mary, daughter of Hugh Bromley. Capesthorne, although situated close to the existing Davenport estates, was not acquired until 1721 when Davies Davenport of Woodford and Marton married Mary, daughter and heiress of John Ward of Capesthorne.
The collection contains correspondence, family papers, muniments of title (including large numbers of medieval deeds and charters), estate accounts, rentals, surveys and associated documents. As well as the Davenports of Capesthorne, three other branches of the family in Cheshire are also represented: the Davenports of Calveley, the Davenports of Davenport, and the Davenports of Woodford, as well as the Wards of Capesthorne and two Warwickshire families, the Bromleys of Baginton and the Throckmortons of Haseley.
The properties represented lie in many counties but primarily in Cheshire (especially in Nether Alderley, Calveley, Capesthorne, Davenport, Gawsworth, Henbury, Heswall, Macclesfield, Marton, Siddington, Somerford, Swettenham, Upton and Woodford), Staffordshire (especially Ellastone and Wootton), Warwickshire (Baginton, Churchover, Finham, Haseley, Hatton, Oxhill, Shrewley and Southam), Worcestershire (Bordesley Abbey) and Buckinghamshire (Great Marlow).
The extensive papers of Edward Davies Davenport (1778-1847) include political and personal correspondence with Thomas Attwood, Richard Cobden, Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquis of Westminster, Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta, Harriet Martineau, Sir Charles Napier, Lord John Russell and Sydney Smith.
Other material includes the Crimean War diary of William Davenport Bromley, who was attached to British forces as a freelance observer/soldier, and papers relating to Sir William Bromley Davenport’s service in the South African War (Boer War), 1899-1902.
Further information:
- Catalogue available online via The National Archives Discovery portal.
- See also Evelyn Lord, 'In Love and War: Episodes in the Life of a Country Gentleman' [re Crimean War diary], Archives, vol. 20, no. 89 (1993), pp. 42-7.
Location:
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