| Biography | The Mundy family were based at Markeaton Hall in the parish of Mackworth, and Allestree Hall. The estate had been bought in the early sixteenth century from the Touchet family by Sir John Mundy, Lord Mayor of London 1522-1523, who claimed Derbyshire family connections. In 1729, Edward Mundy (1706-1767), the son of Colonel Robert Mundy (1675-1709) of Allestree married Hester Miller (d.1767), the only daughter of Hester Leche and Colonel Miller. The Shipley estate had been acquired by the Leche family through the Strelley and Vavasour families in the sixteenth century, and was inherited by Hester Leche; and then her daughter Hester Miller. It was Hester Miller’s father, Colonel Miller, who built Shipley Hall in about 1700.
Hester and Edward’s eldest son was known as Edward Miller Mundy, as were his son and grandson. To avoid confusion, they are commonly referred to as Edward Miller Mundy I, II and III. Other members of the family sometimes used the surname Mundy, and sometimes Miller Mundy.
Edward and Hester had four children: Hester Margaretta (d.1800) who in 1776 married Sir Roger Newdigate; Nelly (1739-1813) who died unmarried; Millicent (b.1744) and Edward Miller Mundy I (1750-1822). After both his parents died in 1767, Edward Miller Mundy I inherited Shipley, although the estate was managed by his older sister Hester (later Lady Newdigate) until he reached his majority.
In 1772 Edward Miller Mundy I married Frances Meynell (1753-1783), the eldest daughter of Godfrey Meynell, with whom he had six children: Frances (1773-1797), who in 1795 married Lord Charles Fitzroy, second son of the 3rd Duke of Grafton; Edward Miller Mundy II (1775-1834) who inherited the estate; General Godfrey Basil Miller Mundy (1776-1848) whose son, Admiral Sir George Rodney Miller Mundy (1805-1884) had a distinguished naval career in the Americas, Baltic, Mediterranean and China Seas; Admiral Sir George Mundy (1777-1861), whose naval career included service under Lords Collingwood and Nelson during the Napoleonic war; Rev Frederick Mundy (1778-1846) who became Rector of Winston, county Durham, and Henry (1779-) who by the time of his father's death was living in Patna, India.
Shipley Hall was rebuilt in 1788 and in the same year Edward Miller Mundy I married his second wife Georgiana Middleton (d.1789), nee Chadwick, the widow of the 4th Lord Middleton, with whom he had one daughter, Georgiana Elizabeth (1789-1822) who married Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle in 1807. In 1811 he married his third wife, Catherine Barwell, the widow of Richard Barwell MP, with whom he had one son, Robert (1813-1892) who became a colonial governor in the West Indies and Central America.
Edward Miller Mundy I was active in local politics, serving as High Sheriff and as MP for Derbyshire for thirty-nine years. In 1803 he was appointed Colonel of the 2nd Derby Regiment of Militia and in 1817 he was a member of the Grand Jury at the trial of the men involved in the Pentrich Rebellion. His eldest son Edward Miller Mundy II, who inherited Shipley, did not follow in his father’s political footsteps but his grandson Edward Miller Mundy III (1800- 1849) served as MP for South Derbyshire. Edward Miller Mundy III was succeeded by his brother Alfred Miller Mundy (1809-1877) who had been Colonial Secretary for South Australia in the early 1840s. He and his son Alfred Edward Miller Mundy (1849-1920) both served as High Sheriff of Derbyshire.
The family’s main source of income was from property including collieries in Shipley, Heanor, Allestree and Mapperley. There was extensive coalmining in Shipley and in Heanor where the Miller Mundy and Charlton families were the main proprietors. The family also had property in Over Mayfield, Staffordshire, Sandon, Hampshire, Loxley, Warwickshire, London and other counties. Alfred Edward’s son Godfrey Edward Miller Mundy (b.1885) sold most of the estate to Shipley Collieries Ltd in 1923 and made his home in Hampshire. Shipley Hall was demolished during the Second World War. |