| Description | Title deeds re properties in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Berkshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Northampton, Surrey, Warwickshire, Yorkshire 12th-20th cent but chiefly 15th-19th cent; Manor court records including court rolls for Seale, Overseal and Netherseal 1350-1839 and working papers 17th-19th cent; rentals 1514-1825; personal papers 17th-20th cent; other estate and business papers including apothecary’s account books 1709-1734 and John Banys' late medieval notebook re chiromancy, physiognomy and choreographies of dances with some music; photographs of family members and Drakelow Hall 19th-20th cent; maps and plans, predominantly of Seale Hall 18th-19th cent; legal papers; parish papers re parish of Seale 16th-20th cents and parish of Gresley c1739-c1802
References to "Jeayes" in the Former Reference field are to Isaac Herbert Jeayes's "Descriptive Catalogue of the Charters and Muniments of the Gresley Family in the Possession of Sir Robert Gresley, Bart., at Drakelow" (London: Chas J Clark, 1895). |
| Administrative History | The Gresley family of Drakelow traced their ancestry from the Norman de Toeni family who settled in Gresley in the late eleventh century, moving to Drakelow in the thirteenth century. The family acquired property South Derbyshire, often as the result of marriages with other local families. Many members of the family served as members of Parliament and sheriffs for Derbyshire and Staffordshire and some were knighted.
Sir George Gresley was created a baronet in 1611 and supported Parliament in the Civil War when he served with Sir John Gell (see D258). The family estates were divided between the two elder sons of Sir Thomas Gresley, 2nd Baronet, with the title and Drakelow estates descending through Sir William, 3rd baronet, to Sir Nigel Gresley (died 1787), 6th baronet, a former Royal Navy captain who inherited Bowyer property in Staffordshire and supported the construction of the Gresley Canal. His son Sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley (died 1818), 7th baronet, established a porcelain factory at Gresley but it was not successful. The Seale estates descended through Sir Thomas Gresley's second son, also Thomas (1668-1743). The two estates were reunited after the death without issue of Sir Roger Gresley, 8th baronet, in 1837. It is the Seale estates and the papers of the descendants of Thomas (1668-1743) that are primarily represented in this collection.
Sir Roger Gresley (1799-1837), 8th baronet, sold part of the Gresley estate to finance his political ambitions. He was MP for Durham/County Durham 1830, New Romney/Kent 1831-1835 and South Derbyshire 1835-1837. He died childless and was succeeded as 9th baronet by Revd Sir William Nigel Gresley (1806-1847), rector of Seale, who was descended from the second son of the second baronet and the daughter of the sixth baronet. He sold the Lullington estate to the Colvile family (see D461) and his son Sir Thomas Gresley (1832-1868), 10th baronet, sold lands in Coton Park, Church Gresley and Linton. His son Sir Robert Gresley (1866-1936), 11th baronet, made many improvements to Drakelow Hall and gardens but was forced to sell the estate in 1933 and the Hall was demolished. The collection also includes a number of papers of the Spencer-Churchill family, following the marriage of Sir Robert to Lady Frances Louisa.
The antiquarian Revd John Morewood Gresley (1816-1866), rector of Seale and later Master of Etwall Hospital (see D3377), was the half-brother of the ninth baronet. He appears to have spent much time working on various elements of the collection, and many of the 19th century notes on the documents are in his hand. The railway engineer Sir Nigel Gresley (1876-1941) was a nephew of the tenth baronet. |
| Custodial History | The records were deposited by the family's solicitors in 1955, 1960, 1974 and 1979. A further item was donated in March 2021. |