Pares family of Leicester and Hopwell Hall The collection falls into three general sections. The first section comprises title deeds, leases, mortgage deeds, rentals, surveys, valuations and associated papers connected with the ownership of land by the Pares family and by their predecessors in title. Many series include documents dating back many years before the Pares family came into possession, and which were passed to them along with the purchased estates. The earliest document is a deed dated 1306, perhaps associated with Shropshire (D5336/1/43/1), but this is an isolated survival and the bulk of the items date from the late 16th century to the 1820s. The series would appear to end at about the time of the death of Thomas Pares II in 1824, and the whereabouts of later title deeds are at present unknown. A number of rentals and estate accounts from 1815 to 1855 (D5336/1/44/1-9) form part of this series but are not fully comprehensive. The largest collections of title deeds are for the Pares estates at Hopwell, Ockbrook, Borrowash, Dale Abbey, Spondon and Weston upon Trent in Derbyshire, and at Brascote, Cosby, Cotes-de-Val, Glenfield Frith, Kilby, Leicester and Narborough in Leicestershire. The sale of the Hopwell Hall estate to Thomas Pares I in 1786 is particularly well documented. There are, however, many gaps. Many of the 16th and 17th century deeds do not seem to have any obvious connection with the Pares family but were presumably acquired along with the land later in the 18th or early 19th centuries. Besides the principal Derbyshire and Leicestershire series, the collection also includes 18th century leases of London property (D5336/1/39/1-5), a map of an estate at Lenton in Nottinghamshire dated 1736 (D5336/1/41/1),and title deeds and administrative papers from an estate at Prescott in Oxfordshire and Appletree in Northamptonshire (D5336/1/42/1-20). A sub-series relating to Ashby Magna in Leicestershire consists of copies of manorial court papers from 1685 to 1729, including suit rolls, jury lists and lists of fines (D5336/1/15/1-33). The second group of Pares papers is a more miscellaneous assortment of business, political, financial and personal documents. This includes a small number of family wills and a larger number of papers relating to trusteeships and executorships undertaken by members of the Pares family. Some business records from Pares Leicestershire Banking Company have survived including one business account book dating from 1829 to 1832 (D5336/2/6/8). Other papers include accounts of Thomas Pares III as Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1845-46 (D5336/2/7/1-12) and a small number of items illustrating the charitable interests of certain members of the family. A much larger series is formed from a scrapbook and many loose handbills and newspaper cuttings illustrating the election campaigns of Thomas Pares III, MP for Leicester 1818-1826 (D5336/2/9/1-32). Further groups of papers illustrate the local areas in which the Pares family were prominent, especially with regard to the parish. Some papers relating to church affairs were collected by the Reverend William Pares, Rector of Narborough and Vicar of Selston, and include references to his parishes. Others were acquired by the owners of Hopwell Hall in the course of their dealings with the church. The parish of Ockbrook is particularly well documented, with poor law and other parish papers dating back to 1652 included in this collection. Many of the Ockbrook papers are associated with the Piggen family, owners of part of the parish, and it would appear that many 17th century papers relating to the family and to the area were acquired by the Pares family along with their Ockbrook estates. Other papers include numerous small bills and receipts, some for repairs to property, others for purchases made by members of the Pares family, and others still being part of the estate accounts. Some of the receipts may relate to purchases of paintings and other artwork advertised in the numerous sale catalogues from London auction houses attended by Thomas Pares II until his death in 1824 (D5336/2/25/1-102). Finally, a section of personal papers and items collected by the Pares family includes such items as Thomas Pares II's' travel diary from 1773-1774 (D5336/2/24/1) and an inventory and valuation of paintings at Hopwell Hall from the 1820s (D5336/2/24/11) The third group of items in the Pares archive is an extensive collection of correspondence dating predominantly from the late 18th century to the mid 19th century. The letters were collected on the whole by three separate people: Thomas Pares I, Thomas Pares II and Thomas Pares III. The series ends in around 1860, although there are one or two stray letters from after this date. The correspondence of Thomas Pares I includes a vast amount of letters between himself and his son Thomas Pares II, and letters relating to the purchase of Hopwell Hall. Thomas Pares II's correspondence reflects his work as a lawyer, involved with many family trusts, and also includes many personal letters from family and friends. The correspondence of Thomas Pares III, MP, includes letters relating to political affairs from the 1810s to the 1830s, and also many family and personal letters. Finally, the series includes correspondence between the male family members and relatives involved in the Pares Leicestershire Banking Company in the mid 19th century. 1306-1901