| History | At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, Chesterfield was only a berewick of the manor of Newbold, but it was given shortly afterwards to William Peverel. It later escheated to the Crown after the attainder of William Peverel in c.1154. King John granted the manor of Chesterfield (with Brimington and Whittington and the hundred of Scarsdale) in 1204 to William Briwere, by whose co-heiress it passed to Baldwin Wake. After the death of Thomas Wake in 1349, it passed to his sister, Margaret, whose second husband had been Edmund Woodstock, Earl of Kent (executed in 1330). His heir was Joan, Countess of Kent, who married William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury. It passed to Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury and Warwick. After his death at the Battle of Barnet in 1471, it came into the possession of King Edward IV (as part of an exchange with one of Neville’s co-heiresses, Anne, Duchess of Gloucester). It remained with Crown until 1513, when it was in the possession of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury (daughter of another of Neville’s co-heiresses, Isobel, Duchess of Clarence). She exchanged it with George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1531. It remained with the Talbot family until the death of the 8th Earl of Shrewsbury in 1618, when it passed to William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (married to Mary Talbot). In 1631 it was purchased from the 4th Earl of Pembroke, by William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle It passed to his son, William Cavendish (created Earl of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1628, later Duke of Newcastle in 1665) and then in 1676 to his son, Henry, 2nd Duke of Newcastle. On the death of Duke Henry in 1691 it devolved on daughter Margaret, wife of John Holles, Earl of Clare (later himself Duke of Newcastle). Their daughter, Henrietta (died 1755), married Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford (died 1741), and their daughter, Margaret, married William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland in 1734. In 1792 the manor was came into the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, as part of an exchanged with the Duke of Portland. The Dukes of Devonshire remained lords into the mid-20th century.
Nature of Jurisdiction
Chesterfield was a seignorial borough from 1204. Although nominally a ‘free borough’, the lords of the manor largely retained control of the market and rents, and the borough courts were the lord’s court, meeting every three weeks, with a great court twice a year. The court leet continued to deal with public health issues into the early 19th century, with the establishment of Chesterfield as a municipal borough in 1835 finally took away its powers. |
| Source | A History of Chesterfield Vol. 1 by J.M. Bestall (1974), Vol. 2 Part 1 by P. Riden (1984)
Magna Britannia: Volume 5: Derbyshire by Daniel and Samuel Lysons (1817) p. 75
The History, Topography and Directory of Derbyshire by T. Bulmer (1895) p. 60
The History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Derby, by S. Glover, Vol. 2 pp. 262-263 (1833)
Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 76 (1956), pp. 27-33, “The Court Leet and Court Baron of Chesterfield, 1763-1841” by J.M. Bestall
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