| Administrative History | The Earl Stanhope was lord of both manors. Dale Abbey was also an ecclesiastical peculiar and exempt jurisdiction with the power to prove wills and issue marriage licences. The courts ceased to be held after 1860.
By the middle of the sixteenth century the Stanhope family was established at Elvaston and Bretby as well as in Nottinghamshire. The estates were separated at the death of Sir John Stanhope in 1611. His Elvaston estate was inherited by his son by his second wife, John, ancestor of the Earls of Harrington. His Bretby and Nottinghamshire estates were inherited by his elder son Philip (died 1656) who was created Earl of Chesterfield in 1628. Philip married twice and the earldom of Chesterfield passed to his son by his first wife. Through his son Alexander by his second wife, Philip was the ancestor of the Earls Stanhope. Alexander’s son James (1674-1721), a soldier and diplomat, was created Baron Stanhope and Viscount Mahon in 1717, with a clause passing the title in default of male heirs to the male heirs of his cousin John Stanhope of Elvaston. James was created Earl Stanhope in 1718.
James married Lucy Pitt, aunt of William Pitt the elder, 1st Earl of Chatham, and bought the estate of Chevening (Kent) where he rebuilt the house. He was succeeded as 2nd Earl Stanhope by his son Philip (1714-1786). Philip’s son Charles (1753-1816), 3rd Earl Stanhope, married Lady Hester Pitt, sister of William Pitt the younger, Prime Minister of Britain. The 3rd Earl was a radical in politics, supporting the French Revolution. He was also an inventor, credited with an early type of computer for multiplication and division and with an iron printing press. His daughter Lady Hester Stanhope (died 1839) spent her adult years in Lebanon in an eccentric lifestyle.
The earldom passed in direct male line to Philip Henry (1781-1855), 4th Earl, Philip Henry (1805-1875), 5th Earl, Arthur Philip (1838-1905), 6th Earl and James Richard (1880-1967), 7th Earl. In 1952 the 7th Earl Stanhope succeeded to the title of Earl of Chesterfield. On his death in 1967 both titles became extinct but the viscountcy of Mahon and baronetcy of Stanhope reverted to the Earl of Harrington under the terms of the 1717 creation.
This branch of the Stanhope family had little direct connection with Derbyshire other than as lords of the manors at Stanton by Dale and Dale Abbey. The manorial records for Stanton by Dale include court roll headings 1752-1799, jurors’ lists 1753-1851, suit rolls 1753-1860, presentments 1749-1860, fines etc 1755-1860. There are also papers relating to an exchange of land 1840-1849 including a survey 1840 and plan 1849, papers about tithes 1702-1844 and leases of coal and ironstone mines 1841-1846. The Dale Abbey manorial records include court roll headings 1752-1799, jurors’ lists 1752-1804, suit rolls 1721-1860, presentments 1733-1860 and other papers 1755-1861. Dale Abbey was an ecclesiastical peculiar with probate jurisdiction and the right to grant marriage licences. The records include wills 1819-1856, inventories 1841 and 1856, other probate papers 1840-1863 and marriage licences 1860-1871. |
| Custodial History | Deposited in the 1950s. The records were deposited by the County Court in 1963. |