L21

Lucas Estates in various counties. The documents in this supplement are connected with the estate collection deposited in the County Record Office at Bedford by the late Lady Lucas over a period of years. The main additional points of interest are as follows. Deeds. There are deeds for the house in St. James' Square built by Nicholas Barbon and bought by Anthony, 11th Earl of Kent, in 1678. This house was burnt down and rebuilt in the time of his son, the Duke. The rebuilt house, with the history of the surrounding area, is covered in vols. 29-30 of the Survey of London, 1960. The Robinson house in Whitehall is also covered. Estate General. There were so many additional settlements for marriage and other purposes that this section had to be completely recast. It was not found practicable to renumber the documents already received, and the additional documents have been numbered in sequence. To facilicate reference however they have been inserted in the catalogue in their chronological sequence. Thus, although the catalogue numbers do not follow seriatim, the documents are set out in their historical order. Legal. A few of these documents relate to lawsuits already catalogued, but on the whole this section is clear as containing a number of additional cases of the C16 & C17. Many of the papers are in the hand of Giles Blofield, whom the 6th Earl (d.1615) addressed as his, 'loving solicitor'. A bill for Blofield's doublet and hose in 1599 is with the papers (see also his account-book, 26/1270. A sidelight on this Earl - of uncertain reliability- (24/654) alleges that with 30 servants on the queen's highway he drew his dagger on Newdigate and said that he would make Haynes ,'to whotte' for him; he does in fact seem to have liked his own way (cf. 24/700-13); but Newdigate is alleged to have undervalued for the subsidy purposes his home town of Haynes and put up assessments elsewhere. Estate Administration. In the main these are odd items supplementary to the large number already catalogued. Of special interest is account-book for Blunham parsonage, 1538-9 (26/1407), which with L254 and 26/232 throws a spotlight on this parish on the eve of the Reformation. Another item of interest is an incomplete account of Henlow Lanthony for 1481-2 (26/1431). A third unusual document is a survey of houses on the Grey estate in Thurleigh in 1604 (26/1442). Finally, nos. 26/1454-5, though late , 1820-37, are a welcome additon to the fragmentary survivals of what must once have been a great series of estate accounts."

1397-1918

From: 1397 To: 1918

sub-fonds