| Administrative History | The context to the creation of this letter is unknown. The donor bought this letter in a mixed lot at Keys Auction in Aylsham, Norfolk, in 2023. The letter was part of a mixed collection apparently of a Norfolk dealer called Brewer. It is not known when or how they acquired the letter.
The Agard family held various offices of the Honor of Tutbury in the Duchy of Lancaster, including those of feodary, coroner, bailiff and escheator. It is not known exactly when the family acquired this franchise, known as Prima Pars Agard. However, when Henry Agard petitioned the Duchy of Lancaster in 1635, the court issued a decree ruling that the family had held it ''time out of mind'' (i.e. since before the accession of Richard I in 1189). The family continued to hold the franchise until 1731, when it passed to Charles Stanhope, as representative of his mother Dorothy Stanhope (nee Agard).
Arthur Agard (1540-1615) was born at Foston and was chamberlain of the exchequer and a member of the society of antiquities. The Agards were also the Lords of the Manor of Scropton, a title purchased from Charles I in 1629. In 1675, the John Agard sold the subordinate lordship of Foston and Scropton to Richard Bate, the son of Colonel William Bate, a royalist who had fled to Barbados during the civil war and become wealthy as a planter of sugar cane. In 1679, Richard Bate purchased the seignory of Scropton itself. Brownlow Bate sold both titles to John Broadhurst in 1784. Foston Hall was destroyed by fire in 1836. |
| Custodial History | This record was donated to Derbyshire Record Office by member of the public in March, 2024. |