Records of Davies-Cooke of Owston

DD/DC

Records of Davies-Cooke of Owston

13th century -1978

Apart from fine series of deeds, maps, surveys, rentals and account books dealing with the management of the estate, covering over 6,000 acres of land in the townships of Owston, Skellow, Carcroft, Burghwallis, Sutton and Thorpe-in-Balne from the 17th century to the 1970s, there are records relating to the enclosure and drainage of lands in these areas, papers relating to the rebuilding of Owston Hall, personal papers relating to the official positions held by members of the family, of Bryan Cooke as M. P. for Malton, J. P. for the West Riding and a Colonel of the 3rd West Yorkshire Militia, correspondence with other members of the influential Cooke family and of the Earl and Countess of Kingston.

DD/DC/A Manorial

DD/DC/A1/1-10 Manor of Owston 1617-1824

DD/DC/A2/1-2 Manor of Thorpe in Balne 1669-1807

DD/DC/A3/1-7 Manor of Barnby Dun 1779-1856

DD/DC/A4/1-3 Manor of Sherburn 1631-1705

DD/DC/B Business

DD/DC/B1/1/1-167 Railways: Correspondence 1821-1936

DD/DC/B1/2/1-8 Railways: Plans 1830-1909

DD/DC/B2/1/1-24 Coal Mining: Correspondence 1864-1967

DD/DC/B2/2/1-11 Coal Mining: Plans 1908-1960

DD/DC/C Estate Correspondence

DD/DC/C1/1-12 Agent's Copy Letter Books 1903-1946

DD/DC/C2/1-132 Subject Files etc 1912-1975

DD/DC/D Title Deeds and Leases

DD/DC/E Estate Administration

DD/DC/E1/1-7 Enclosure 1760-1907

DD/DC/E2/1-4 Drainage 1759-1972

DD/DC/E3/1-8 Field, Survey and Valuation Books 1723-1947

DD/DC/E4/1-6 Maps and Plans 1723-1854

DD/DC/E5/1-7 Rentals 1730-1977

DD/DC/E6/1-2 Wages Books 1812-1978

DD/DC/E7 Woods, Gardens and Park 1785-1963

DD/DC/E8 Game 1861-1948

DD/DC/E9 Cattle, Stock and Horses 1710-1863

DD/DC/E10 Auction Sales and other Catalogues 1793-1954

DD/DC/E11 Estate Accounts 1716-1955

DD/DC/F1-F7 Financial 1855-1978

DD/DC/G Genealogical, Heraldic and Historical 1612-1900

DD/DC/H Household

DD/DC/H1 Fabric 1783-1936

DD/DC/H2-H5 Furniture and Fittings; Food and Drink; Servants; Travelling 1763-1937

DD/DC/H6 Household Account Books 1749-1948

DD/DC/H7 Correspondence 1754-1854

Includes

Letters of Bryan Cooke M P 1795-1821

Letters of Earl of Kingston 1827-1829

Lady Isabella King [Ladies Association] 1816-1838

DD/DC/J1 J2 Literary and Artistic 17 cent-1828

Includes designs [2] by Robert Adam 1766

DD/DC/K Education 1809-1822

DD/DC/L Legal: Wills etc 1438-1911

DD/DC/M Military 1679-1886

Includes Letters of Bryan Cooke M P as an officer in the militia 1796-1810

Papers of Midshipman

Anthony Cooke 1819-1823

DD/DC/N National Affairs: Acts of Parliament 1761-1965

DD/DC/O Local Affairs 1725-1959

DD/DC/O1 Church and Living of Owston 1725-1956

DD/DC/O2 Tithes of Owston, Skellow, Thorpe 1567-1956

DD/DC/O3 Townships of Owston, Skellow, Sutton and Thorpe in Balne 1704-1872

DD/DC/O4 Carcroft National School 1843-1902

DD/DC/O5 Doncaster School of Industry 1809

DD/DC/P Political

DD/DC/P1/1-14 Bryan Cooke M P 1795-1812

DD/DC/P2/1-89 Third Earl of Kingston 1808-1830

English

• <famname>Davies-Cooke family of Owston, Yorkshire</famname>
• <famname>Cooke, Davies-, family of Owston, Yorkshire</famname>

15 Sub fonds

Open

The collection comes from three sources: records originally deposited in the Gwysaney MSS at the University College of North Wales, Bangor following the work of G.A. Usher on the history of the family which culminated in the publication of Gwysaney and Owston: A History of the Family of Davies-Cook... in 1964, records deposited in the Flintshire Record Office at Hawarden; and records transferred to the Doncaster Archives Department directly from Owston Hall prior to the sale of the estate in 1980.

Henry Cooke, second son of Sir Henry Cooke of Wheatley, Yorkshire, purchased the OWSTON ESTATE, near Doncaster in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1698 from John Adams. The Adams family had held the manor and estate for over a century, but the last two squires had indulged in great extravagance and the sale of the estate was apparently necessary to settle their debts. The Cookes continued to hold Owston despite the early deaths of several sons. In 1763 on the death of Anthony Cooke, the management of the estate devolved upon his widow, Mary, as Bryan the only surviving son was only 5 years of age. For the rest of her life, Mrs. Cooke devoted herself to safeguarding and increasing her son's inheritance, purchasing large areas of land in the adjoining parishes of Thorpe and Adwick-le-Street. She died in 1785 shortly after Bryan Cooke had returned home after a brief career in the Army. The following year he married Frances Puleston, the heiress of Hafod-y-Wern, Wrexham, and Gwysaney in Flintshire. Their son Philip Davies Cooke inherited all three estates. These the family retained until the sale of the Owston Estate in 1980 confined their holdings to the Welsh Estate.