Catalogue description Knollis family, Earls of Banbury

Family papers of the Knollys family, Earls of Banbury, mainly re descendants of the 4th Earl, and in particular Thomas Woods Knollis of Winchester, 7th Earl, and family

Includes: letters and papers of Lady Wallingford, nee Catherine Mary Law, wife of William Knollis, Viscount Wallingford, (1694-1740); letters and papers of the 7th Earl to his wife, son and daughters, 1761-85; papers re military career of Thomas Woods Knollis, and miscellaneous, 1757-93; account and memoranda books of the 7th Earl, 1763-89; letter books of the 7th Earl, 1777-93; letters of the 7th Countess, 1770-98; letters and accounts of the daughters of the 7th Earl, 1777-1836; papers of the 8th Earl and family, late 18th century; papers re Winchester properties of Knollys family, 18th-19th centuries, accounts and papers re Yorkshire estates, and miscellaneous items, 18th-19th centuries

A related series of papers came to the Record Office in 1969 from Miss AV and Miss D Carroll, descendants of the Knollyses, and is listed as 21M69. Other Knollys family papers are in the Kent Archives Office; there is a list in 'Records in other repositories: Kent Archives Office' There are also photocopies in the office of a small collection of papers about Sir Francis Knollys (1837-1924) and Charlotte Knollys (1835-1930), listed as Photocopy 440.

Knollis family, Earls of Banbury

Knollys family of Winchester, Hampshire

This collection was 'discovered' in the county buildings when the Record Office was opened in 1947, with no indication of its provenance. It had presumably been placed with the County Council for safekeeping. At least one item within it (168) seems to have been at one time with the Winchester City Archives, when extracts were copied into a volume now among the Jacob papers (102M88W/16)

• Winchester, Hampshire

The Earldom of Banbury was created in 1626, but doubts were cast from the outset on the paternity of the 1st Earl's sons, the 2nd and 3rd Earls. The 3rd Earl sat in the Convention Parliament in 1660, but thereafter neither he nor his successors received writs to attend, despite a series of appeals. These culminated in a long and expensive case brought by the 8th Earl in 1806, at the end of which it was resolved in 1813 that he was not entitled to the title. The title was accordingly not used after this date. At the same time the family adopted the spelling Knollys in place of the earlier Knollis for their surname. There are many papers in the collection about the peerage case, and the matter is extensively covered in The Complete Peerage.

With the exception of a single document relating to the 3rd Earl (1), the collection relates to the descendants of the 4th Earl, and most particularly to the 7th Earl, Thomas Woods Knollis (1727-93), who after an early army career lived in Winchester, and his family. The first substantial section comprises the papers of Lady Wallingford, born Mary Catherine Law, daughter of the financier John Law, wife of William Knollis, Viscount Wallingford, (1694-1740) son of the 4th Earl. Lady Wallingford survived her husband by 44 years, and had a particularly close relationship with her nephew the 7th Earl and his family. This collection includes many letters from her to the latter; many letters addressed to her are in the other collection of Knollys/Banbury papers in the Record Office, 21M69.

Thomas Woods Knollis succeeded his brother to become 7th Earl of Banbury in 1776. He was a prolific correspondent, meticulously recording his out-letters in a series of letter books. In addition, the originals of many of his letters to members of his immediate family have survived. His father the 5th Earl married Martha Hughes of Southampton, which seems to have been the first Hampshire connection for the family; though the 5th Earl himself lived in Burford where he was vicar until his death in 1771. Thomas Woods Knollis himself married a Winchester girl, Mary, daughter of William Porter, an attorney. It is not clear when he settled in Winchester or where he acquired his Winchester property. The family lived in Staple Gardens, but owned various properties in the High Street as well as the White Hart and the Black Swan (see 151). He also owned property in Yorkshire, at Kilnwick and Cawkeld in the East Riding. In his early married life he was active in the army, writing a fascinating series of letters home from Portugal and elsewhere in the 1760s. Later he became much involved in county business, serving as Chairman of Quarter Sessions. He was also troubled with family problems. His elder brother, the 6th Earl, went mad and periodically escaped from his custody; a major concern was that he would marry a 'low woman' on one of these occasions. There were disputes with his two younger brothers, Revd Francis Knollis and Major Samuel Knollis, arising from this and other matters, and also concern about the unreasonable behaviour of their sister, Lady Mary.

The 7th Earl's son William (1763-1834) also followed an army career. After the peerage case was decided against him in 1813 he dropped the title and was known henceforth as Gen Knollys. His eldest son (of eight children) became General Sir William Knollys and amongst other offices was Treasurer and Comptoller of the Household of the Prince of Wales and Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. Of his ten children, Francis was Private Secretary to Edward VII and George V and was created Viscount Knollys; Henry was Comptroller and Private Secretary to Princess Charles of Denmark, afterwards Queen Maud of Norway, and was knighted; and Charlotte was Lady in Waiting to the Princess of Wales, later Queen Alexandra.

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