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Cholmondeley family, Marquesses of Cholmondeley

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: 1100-2000
History:

The Cholmondeley family was established at Cholmondeley (Cheshire) in the 13th century, and acquired further estates in Cheshire, Denbighshire and Flintshire by marriage and purchase. The Vale Royal (Cheshire) estate was acquired through the marriage of Sir Hugh Cholmondeley to Mary Holford in the late 16th century but passed to a more junior branch of the family (later Barons Delamere). In 1661 Robert Cholmondeley was created Viscount Cholmondeley in the Irish peerage and his son, Hugh Cholmondeley, was created Baron in 1689 in the English peerage and Earl of Cholmondeley in 1706. On the death of the Hon. James Cholmondeley in 1775 the Clifton or Rocksavage estate near Runcorn (Cheshire), which he had acquired through his first wife, heiress of the Savage family, Earls Rivers, passed to his great-nephew the 4th Earl (later 1st Marquess) of Cholmondeley.

The first Marquess of Cholmondeley (so created in 1815), whose grandfather the 3rd Earl had married Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745), 1st Earl of Orford, inherited the Walpole estate of Houghton (Norfolk) on the death of the 4th Earl of Orford in 1797. The Walpole family, settled at Houghton since the 13th century, had acquired property in Norfolk by marriage and purchase, including the Pell family's Dorsingham and West Winch estate, bought in 1697. Hessett and Rougham (Suffolk), acquired through the marriage of Robert Walpole (d. 1700) and Mary, daughter and heir of Sir Jeffrey Burwell of Rougham, had been sold by the 1st Earl of Orford, who, however, had extended the Norfolk estate by purchase and built Houghton Hall.

Property in Dorset (Puddletown), Devon and elsewhere in the west country was acquired by the 2nd Earl of Orford (d. 1751) through his marriage in 1724 to Margaret, Baroness Clinton, daughter and heir of Samuel Rolle of Heanton Satchville (Devon). On the death of the 3rd Earl of Orford in 1791 the barony of Clinton and a portion of this estate devolved upon the Trefusis family, Barons Clinton of Heanton Satchville, but Puddletown passed to the 4th Earl of Orford and on his death to his cousin, Horatio Walpole, Baron Walpole of Wolterton, who was created Earl of Orford in 1806.

Estates in 1883: 16,992 acres in Cheshire; 16,995 acres in Norfolk; 4 acres in Devon; worth a total of £41,228 a year.

Places:
  • Cholmondeley, Cheshire
  • Houghton, Norfolk
  • Rocksavage, Cheshire
Sources of authority: Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996, pp. 34-35.
Name authority reference: GB/NNAF/F81792 (Former ISAAR ref: GB/NNAF/F9519 )
Collections
Number Description Held by Reference Further information
1
12th-20th cent: Cholmondeley and Rocksavage (Cheshire) and Welsh estate deeds, family and estate papers, with misc deeds for Suffolk, Yorks, etc
Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
NRA 38142 Cholmondeley

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [22a]
2
1923-1941: misc Cheshire deeds and papers
Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
NRA 23743 Smith Whittingham

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [22b]
3
late 19th cent: Cheshire estate trust papers
Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
NRA 30085 Tollemache

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [105e]
4
1509-1600: book of Cheshire, etc, tenures from family inquisitions
Chetham's Library
NRA 17002 Chetham's L

See Handlist of MSS p66
5
14th-20th cent: Houghton (Norfolk) deeds, family and estate papers, incl papers of the Walpole family, Earls of Orford
Houghton Hall
NRA 37395

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [22c]
6
14th-19th cent: Houghton (Norfolk) deeds, family and estate papers, incl papers of the Walpole family, Earls of Orford
Cambridge University Library: Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
NRA 7114 Walpole

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [22d]
7
1657-19th cent: misc Norfolk manorial records
Norfolk Record Office
NRA 34852 Standley

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [22e]
8
18th-20th cent: Norfolk manor court minutes and misc estate papers
Norfolk Record Office
NRA 34853 Pounder

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [22f]
9
13th-19th cent: misc Norfolk deeds and estate papers
Norfolk Record Office
NRA 27666 Bradfer-Lawrence

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [22g]
10
12th-18th cent: Norfolk and Suffolk deeds
British Library, Manuscript Collections
11
1807-1851: family corresp
Collection held privately: enquiries to The National Archives, Archives Sector Development
See Held by Elizabeth Bennett