| Description | Papers of the Colvile family of Lullington, and their connections by marriage.
Includes papers of Major-General Henry Edward Colvile re military activities in Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, Nigeria and re Boer War, late 19th-early 20th cent; publications by John Asgill on the constitution; account of Captain Asgill's imprisonment and release after American War of Independence; 'A record of the Voluntary Cavalry' by Lt Col C R Colvile 1868; family pedigrees, title deeds, 17th-20th century.
The deeds relate to property mainly in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Cambridgeshire between the 17th and 20th centuries. The Colvile family came from Newton Colvile in Cambridgeshire. Much of the property in these deeds, particularly in and around Duffield, belonged to the Bonell family and came to the Colviles on the marriage of Sir Charles Henry Colvile to Harriet Anne Bonell in 1818. Their son, Charles Robert Colvile, bought Lullington in 1840 from the executors of Sir Roger Gresley.
The papers of Major General Henry Edward Colvile of the Grenadier Guards, son of Charles Robert Colvile, relate to his military activities in Egypt, Sudan, Uganda and the Boer War. They include intelligence material, diaries, photographs and publications. |
| Administrative History | Henry Edward Colvile (1852-1907) was the son of Charles Robert Colvile and joined the Grenadier Guards in 1870, serving as Department Assistant Adjutant General Intelligence Department during the Nile expedition, 1884-1885. He was appointed by the War Office to write the official history of the Sudan campaign in 1886 (published HMSO, 1889). He served with the Intelligence Department, Burma in 1893 and was Acting Commissioner of Uganda, 1893-1895, commanding the Unyoro [Buganda] expedition, of 1894. He was promoted to Major-General in 1898, and became commander of the Infantry Brigade at Gibraltar in 1899. He served in the Boer War, commanding the Guards Brigade and later the 9th Division in South Africa, 1899-1900. He retired in 1901.
John Asgill (1659-1738), MP for Bramber, Sussex, was a writer who was expelled from House of Commons for blasphemy related to Asgill's belief that entry into heaven ('translation' in his terminology) was possible without death. He was connected to the Colviles through the marriage of Robert Colville and Amelia Asgill in 1786.
Charles Asgill was the only son of Sir Charles Asgill and his wife Sarah Theresa Pratviel. He joined the 1st Foot Guards in 1778 and became Captain in 1781. He surrendered with twelve other officers at Yorktown in 1782. George Washington, in retaliation for the hanging of American Captain Huddy, ordered the captured officers to choose lots for the execution of one of their group. Asgill selected the 'unfortunate' [death] lot and was imprisoned for six months pending execution. A petition from Queen Marie Antoinette and others led to the decision of the American Congress to release him. He served in Flanders and in Dublin during the rebellion in 1798 and was promoted to General in 1807. |
| Custodial History | These papers were donated by members of the Colvile family in 1967 and 1973. |