Egerton of Tatton Papers

Date range: 14th-19th centuries

Medium: Archive

A collection of letters, papers and allied documents belonging to the Egerton family of Tatton, Cheshire. They chiefly relate to Samuel Egerton (1711–1780) and his uncle Samuel Hill (1691–1758) of Shenstone Park, Staffordshire. Hill was a noted art collector, and served as MP for Lichfield and Registrar to the Court of the Admiralty. He acted in loco parentis to the sons of John Egerton (1679–1724), directing their education and using his wealth and influence to establish them in successful careers. The second son, Samuel, inherited Tatton on the death of his elder brother John in 1738. He was master of Tatton for the next forty-two years, and became one of the leading figures in Cheshire society.

The archive includes:

• Egerton family accounts and receipts, 17th and 18th centuries;
• Correspondence, deeds and legal papers of the Pickering family of Thelwall and Hatton, Cheshire, 17th and 18th centuries;
• Miscellaneous accounts and receipts, 18th century;
• Records of the court leet and view of frankpledge for the manors of Knutsford and Tatton, c.1700–58;
• Over 100 constables’ and burleymen’s presentments to the court leet of Bucklow Hundred for various townships, 1703–15.

Although modest in scale, the archive is relevant to studies of elite taste, connoisseurship, collecting and the domestic economy in the 18th century, as well as to the local history of Knutsford.

Other archives of the Egerton family are held at Manchester Archives and Local Studies and at Cheshire and Chester Archives and Local Studies.

Further information:

Catalogue available online 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