Catalogue description STANDISH PAPERS

They comprise a splendid collection, covering a period of some 650 years

Of particular note are the Standish Plot papers (D/D St. M1-3) which were hidden in a garden wall for over 60 years; the title deeds (D/D St. T1-240), dating back as far as 1230, and which contain some royal documents and the earliest documentary reference to coal in the Wigan district (1350); the family papers (D/D St. C) are of great interest to the social historian, while the miscellaneous papers (D/D St. M4-53) include an inventory of Standish Hall (1756), some 18th century political documents (naturally with a Jacobite bias) and a British passport of 1815

The catalogue is arranged as follows

Title deeds (T)

Family papers (C)

Estate (E)

Standish Plot (M1-3)

Miscellaneous (M4-54)

The reader should also refer to the collection of Witham, Weld and Co., solicitors, who acted as agents for the Standish estate (D/DX Wel)

These papers were presented by Madame Helene de Standish after the death of her husband in 1920

• de Standish, Madame Helene, fl 1920
• Land tenure

THE STANDISH LINE OF SUCCESSION

William Standish inherited the Standish estate from his father, Edward, in 1682. He had married Cecilia, daughter and heir of Sir Robert Bindloss of Borwick in 1660. He died in 1705 and his second son, Ralph Standish, succeeded him - the eldest son, Edward, having died in infancy. In 1698 Ralph had married Lady Phillippa Howard, daughter of Henry, Duke of Norfolk

The estate was then intended to pass to the only son, Ralph Standish Howard, who married and had a son, Edward Standish Howard. Both these last named died before they could take possession. In 1738 Ralph Standish married a second time, Lady Phillippa having died in 1732, to Mary Hodshon, daughter of Albert Hodshon of Leighton. There were no children from this marriage, and when Ralph Standish died in 1755 the estate passed to his daughter Cecilia, wife of William Towneley of Towneley, who was married in 1736

Her eldest son, Charles Towneley, held the Towneley estate and Ralph Towneley Standish was intended to have the Standish lands. He died without having been in possession and when Cecilia Towneley died in 1778, the third son, Edward Towneley Standish, succeeded to the estate. He died in 1807 leaving no heir, and his sister Cecilia's son, Thomas Strickland of Sizergh, inherited the estate

Thomas was succeeded by his son, Charles Strickland Standish, who held the estate for exactly half a century. It then passed to Charles' eldest son, Charles Henry Widdington Lionel Standish, who, in fact, spent most of his time on the continent; so, too, did his son, Henry Noailles Widdington Standish, who succeeded him in 1883. He died in 1920, leaving no children

For further information on the Standish family, and a detailed family tree see E. Johnson - The Standish Family, which is available in the Record Office library

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