| Administrative History | In the Middle Ages the manor of Snelston belonged to the Montgomery and Okeover families. By the mid-17th century, the manor had come into the possession of Gervase Bennett, who made other purchases of land in the area. After his death, the manor was purchased in 1682 by Robert Doxey or Docksey (died 1704), a sugar baker of London. It remained in the Doxey/Docksey family until it was purchased by William Bowyer of Marston Montgomery (died 1769) possibly in the mid- 18th century. The Bowyer family held the estate until the death of Margaret Langley nee Bowyer in 1821. After a court case, Langley v Sneyd, the ownership of the estate was established as passing through a female line to Elizabeth and Sarah Evans. Elizabeth Evans (c1787-1875) was married to John Harrison, who was the person responsible for ensuring the case came to court. John Harrison (c1782 - 1871) was a businessman from Derby, whose family originally came from Stretford, Lancashire and, later, from Bromyhurst, Cheshire. He seems to have acquired a lot of land and greatly expanded the size of the estate, and he was the one who built the "Gothic" Snelston Hall which was later demolished. His son, also called John, died a bachelor in 1906, and the estate passed to his daughter Juliana Bowyer, and then to the Stanton family by virtue of her marriage to her cousin Henry Stanton of Greenfield in Thelwall, Cheshire.
In 1828 a mansion on a grand scale was built for John Harrison. It incorporated part of a smaller house of older date, probably one referred to as Upper Hall in 1729. The mansion was designed by the architect L N Cottingham in the "perpendicular style of Gothic". There are several plans and elevations drawn by Cottingham in the collection. The reference numbers to be checked for these drawings are D157/MT/3021-3069 and D157/MT/4051-4126. Because of the high maintenance costs, the building was demolished in 1951. |
| Custodial History | Deposited in Derbyshire Record Office in 1952. Added to the online catalogue as part of the FindersKeepers project, by Elissa Rowe. |