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Leigh family, Barons Leigh

This page summarises records created by this Family

The summary includes a brief description of the collection(s) (usually including the covering dates of the collection), the name of the archive where they are held, and reference information to help you find the collection.

Date: 1200-2000
History:

The London merchant Sir Thomas Leigh (d. 1571) acquired estates in Bedfordshire (Cranfield), Gloucestershire (Adlestrop, Longborough), Warwickshire (King's Newnham, Fletchamstead and Stoneleigh) and elsewhere. The Gloucestershire property passed to his son Rowland Leigh, ancestor of the Leighs of Adlestrop. King's Newnham (Warwickshire) passed to another son, William Leigh, from whose descendant the Earl of Chichester (d. 1653) it passed to the fourth Earl of Southampton (see Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Dukes of Buccleuch and Queensberry).

Sir Thomas Leigh’s Stoneleigh estate was acquired by his second son Thomas (d. 1625), who bought Hamstall Ridware (Staffordshire) in 1601 and was made a baronet in 1611. His grandson and heir Thomas (d. 1671), created Baron Leigh in 1643, was succeeded as 2nd Baron by his grandson, who acquired property in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Kent through his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Richard Brown of Shingleton (Kent). Fillongley and Maxstoke (Warwickshire) entered the family on the marriage of the 3rd Baron (d. 1738) to the daughter and heir of Thomas Holbeche. The 3rd, 4th and 5th Barons purchased property in Warwickshire (Watergall, Wibtoft), Leicestershire (Claybrooke) and Staffordshire (Yoxall). Estates at Leighton Buzzard (Bedfordshire) and Stewkley (Buckinghamshire), acquired on the marriage of the first baronet's son to the heiress of Sir Christopher Hoddesdon, were settled on Charles Leigh, second son of the 1st Baron, and subsequently on Charles Leigh (d. 1749), second son of the 2nd Baron, who bought Bradenham (Buckinghamshire) in 1734 and Little Leigh (Cheshire) c.1737. They were inherited by the 5th Baron and descended with his other estates after his death in 1786.

On the death of the 5th Baron the barony expired, and his estates passed successively to his sister the Hon Mary Leigh (d. 1806), the Rev. Thomas Leigh (d. 1813) and James Henry Leigh (1765-1823) of Adlestrop, whose son Chandos Leigh (d. 1850) was created Baron Leigh in 1839. The Leighs of Adlestrop had augmented their Gloucestershire estates in the 18th century through marriages with the Lord family, which brought property in Kent and Surrey, and the Brydges family, Dukes of Chandos, which brought Holborn (Middlesex) property. Sales took place in the earlier part of the 19th century (including Egham and Leighton Buzzard) and after the First World War (including Holborn and parts of the Warwickshire estate).

Estates in 1883: Warwicks 14,891 acres, Staffs 2,350 acres, Gloucs 2,232 acres, Cheshire 1,198 acres, Leics 294 acres, worth £32,013 a year.

Places:
  • Adlestrop, Gloucestershire
  • Bradenham, Buckinghamshire
  • Claybrook Magna, Leicestershire
  • Egham, Surrey
  • Fillongley, Warwickshire
  • Hamstall Ridware, Staffordshire
  • Holborn, Middlesex
  • Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire
  • Kensington, Middlesex
  • Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
  • Little Leigh, Cheshire
  • Longborough, Gloucestershire
  • Maxstoke, Warwickshire
  • Milton-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire
  • Offlow, Staffordshire
  • Orsett, Essex
  • Plumstead, Kent
  • Standon, Hertfordshire
  • Stewkley, Buckinghamshire
  • Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
  • Tysoe, Warwickshire
  • Watergall, Warwickshire
  • Westminster, Middlesex
  • Wibtoft, Warwickshire
  • Yoxall, Staffordshire
Sources of authority: Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Principal family and estate collections L-Z, 1999.
Name authority reference: GB/NNAF/F85163 (Former ISAAR ref: GB/NNAF/F10561 )
Collections
Number Description Held by Reference Further information
1
13th cent-20th cent: Warwicks (Stoneleigh, etc), Beds (Leighton Buzzard, etc), Bucks (Stewkley, etc), Cheshire (Little Leigh, etc), Gloucs (Adlestrop, etc), London (Holborn, etc), Staffs (Hamstall Ridware, etc) and Surrey (Egham, etc) deeds, manorial records, family and estate papers, with misc deeds and papers for Essex (Orsett, etc), Herts (Standon, etc), Leics (Claybrook Magna, etc), Northants (Kelmarsh, etc) and Oxon (Milton-under-Wychwood, etc)
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
2
1863-1970: Stoneleigh (Warwicks) charity records (Thomas Southern's Charity) from the Leigh family archive
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 4523 Shakespeare misc

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
3
c1950-1990: Warwicks (Stoneleigh, etc) legal and estate papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 4523 Shakespeare misc

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
4
1800-20th cent: Stoneleigh (Warwicks) estate maps and plans 1800-09 and Leigh family accounts and papers 19th-20th cent, incl papers rel to Gloucs, Staffs and Warwicks charities
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60c]
5
1861, c1938: Stoneleigh (Warwicks) estate map c1938 and marriage settlement of Sophia Leigh and GWG Leveson-Gower 1861
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 4523 Shakespeare misc

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60d]
6
c15th cent-19th cent: Beds (Leighton Buzzard, etc) and Bucks (Bradenham, etc) deeds, manorial records and estate papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
7
14th cent-19th cent: Beds (Leighton Buzzard, etc) and Bucks (Stewkley, etc) deeds, manorial records and estate papers
Bedfordshire Archives
NRA 231 Stockgrove estate
8
16th cent-20th cent: Cheshire (Little Leigh, etc) deeds, manorial records and estate papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
9
19th cent: Cheshire (Little Leigh, etc) estate maps and papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 33911 Jones

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60f]
10
16th cent-20th cent: Gloucs (Adlestrop, etc) deeds, manorial records and estate papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
11
1738-1930: Gloucs (Longborough) deeds and estate papers
Gloucestershire Archives
See Handlist 1998 p226
12
1898: Adlestrop (Gloucs) park plan
Gloucestershire Archives
13
17th cent-20th cent: London (Holborn, Westminster, etc) deeds and estate papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
14
18th cent-20th cent: London (Holborn) estate leases
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60d]
15
1929: London (31 Grosvenor Square) household inventory
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60e]
16
13th cent-20th cent: Staffs (Hamstall Ridware, Yoxall, etc) deeds, manorial records and estate papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
17
c16th cent-19th cent: Surrey (Egham, etc) rentals and estate papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60a]
18
1882-1918: Yoxhall (Staffs) manorial papers
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 21856 Leigh

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60b]
19
1741-1934: Yoxhall (Staffs) manorial records
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service: Staffordshire County Record Office
NRA 19798 Yoxall estate

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60h]
20
1812-1919: Leigh family and trust deeds
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 4523 Shakespeare misc
21
1749-1766: Leigh family trust and agency papers
Warwickshire County Record Office
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [60g]
22
1698-1706: Leigh family settlement and trust papers
Warwickshire County Record Office
NRA 11903 Campbell
23
1654-1788: Leigh of Adlestrop family corresp
Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections
24
18th cent-19th cent: volume of poetry of the Leigh family archive
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
NRA 4523 Shakespeare misc