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Ashley-Cooper family, Earls of Shaftesbury

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 Cooper family had estates in Hampshire, Sussex and Somerset in the 16th century. John Cooper of Rockbourne (Hampshire) married Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir Anthony Ashley of Wimborne St Giles (Dorset) and was created a baronet in 1626. Their son, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, was created Earl of Shaftesbury in 1672. The Somerset estate passed on the death of the 5th Earl in 1811 to his daughter Barbara, Baroness De Mauley, but the Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire estates passed to his brother, who succeeded him as 6th Earl. Estates in northern Ireland were inherited in 1883 through the marriage of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, later 8th Earl, to Harriet, only daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Donegall, but by that date much of the valuable Belfast property had been sold.

In estate 1883 the Ashley-Cooper estates comprised 17,317 acres in Dorset, 3,250 acres in Hampshire, and 1,218 acres in Wiltshire, worth £16,083 a year. The Donegall estates comprised £14,617 acres in Antrim, 8,155 acres in Donegal, 193 acres in Londonderry and 31 acres in Down, worth £41,649 a year.
Places:
  • Belfast, County Antrim
  • Lydiard Millicent, Wiltshire
  • Pawlett, Somerset
  • Rockbourne, Hampshire
  • Swine, Yorkshire
  • Wimborne St Giles, Dorset
Sources of authority: Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996, pp. 5-6
Name authority reference: GB/NNAF/F83291 (Former ISAAR ref: GB/NNAF/F2429 )
Collections
Number Description Held by Reference Further information
1
12th cent-20th cent: Dorset, Hants, Somerset, Wilts and Yorks deeds, manorial records, family and estate papers
Collection held privately: enquiries to The National Archives, Archives Sector Development
See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4a]
2
16th cent-19th cent: Ashley-Cooper legal and family papers
The National Archives
PRO 30/24
See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4k]
3
17th cent-19th cent: Dorchester (Dorset) deeds 17th-19th cent and Dorset and Hants surveys, maps and rentals 1788-1851
Dorset History Centre
D/DOR
NRA 16912 Cooper

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4b]; Accessions to Repositories 1962
4
1604-1930: Irish deeds (copies), legal papers, leases and estate papers
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
D 811
NRA 28831 Ashley-Cooper

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4c]
5
17th cent-20th cent: Irish deeds, rentals and estate papers
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
D 652, 835, 971/5, 1326, 1769, 2083, 2338
NRA 28831 Ashley-Cooper

See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4d]
6
17th cent-20th cent: Irish legal papers 1608-1857 and leases 17th-20th cent
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
D 389, 509
See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4e]
7
1830-1845: Irish legal papers
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
D 1255, 2223
See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4f]
8
1799-1905: County Antrim deeds, leases, testamentary and legal papers
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
D 3402
See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4g]
9
1810-1860: Belfast (County Antrim) estate papers
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
D 1798
See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4h]
10
1706-1804: Belfast (County Antrim) estate accounts 1706-15 and sales papers 1800-04
The National Archives
C 107/16, 153
See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [4i]