| Description | This collection largely consists of draft and copy title deeds drawn up by Eddowes, Simm and Waldron, solicitors of Ashbourne, and predecessor firms, acting for local landed families. Although the documents were not in any discernable order on arrival at Derbyshire Record Office (apart from D7213/2/1 and D7213/2/3, which appear to be original bundles), there was a clear division between documents relating to the Spencer/Evans/Greaves families, and those relating to the German/Johnson/Bolton families.
The collection also includes deeds relating to other clients in the Ashbourne area, a sample of letter books illustrating the scope of the business of Eddowes, Simm and Waldron and plans relating to a housing development in Mapleton and an industrial development in the former Ashbourne aerodrome. |
| Administrative History | Spencer/Evans/Greaves families
John Spencer of Wyaston left his estate in Mayfield, Staffordshire, to his daughter Elizabeth, who married William Evans in 1777. Both died in 1826, leaving the estate to their daughter Sarah, who had married Dr William Greaves (d.1848), a widower, in 1809. Dr Greaves' first marriage, in 1798, had been to Anne Lydia Greaves, daughter of Charles Greaves of Ingleby, and their children included the barrister Charles Sprengel Greaves QC (1801-1881). The children of William Greaves by his second marriage included Revd Talbot Aden Ley Greaves (1826-1899) who inherited the Mayfield estate.
German/Johnson/Bolton families
Edith Ann Johnson German (d.1929) was the only child of Dr Joseph German of Derby, surgeon (d.1872), and Ann Johnson, one of the beneficiaries of the 1863 will of Francis Johnson of Osmaston. In 1880, Edith married Captain (later Major) William Edward Bolton (d.1917) and they moved to Madeira, with her mother. On the latter's death in 1892, Edith inherited the Johnson estate in Ipstones, Staffordshire. In the same year, she formally separated from her husband and moved to the Transvaal. |
| Custodial History | These records were deposited in Derbyshire Record Office in November 2009 |