RADNOR MANUSCRIPTS

In the main, the collection comprises huge quantities of manorial records and deeds relating to the manors and properties of the Barony of Folkestone, which was (and indeed still is) held by the Earls of Radnor. The archive largely comprises papers relating to the family most closely associated with the estate, the des Bouverie family, but some papers also survive from the Dixwell and Herdson families' period of ownership (the Folkestone estate was bought by Jacob des Bouverie in 1697 from Sir Basil Dixwell, who in turn had acquired the estate from the Herdson family).

The archive also includes a significant number of estate papers and correspondence with the local railway companies relating to their projects for developments at Folkestone which affected the estates or privileges of the Earls of Radnor.

In the following, current catalogue, the deeds of the main estate have been taken first (T1-T6) and for convenience they have been arranged in order under the various owners (Herdson, Dixwell and Bouverie). The deeds of the lesser manors, the main farms and all other Folkestone properties follow (T7-T154), concluding with three miscellaneous bundles of properties which are either not named or not described (T155-T157). Deeds of other Kent parishes follow in alphabetical order of parishes. T233-T235 contain deeds of Rainden Wood which was in the Hundred of Folkestone, but was extra parochial. T237-T250 contain the bundles of counterpart leases for the whole estate, T251-T259 the deeds of counties other than Kent, and T260-T281 family settlements and testamentary papers arranged as far as possible by families. T282-T284 comprise an additional deposit of deeds relating to Folkestone, Orlestone, Bircholt and Brabourne.

Separate Introductory Notes will be found at the beginning of the Estate and Legal sections.

<span class="wrapper"><p>For other archives of the Earls of Radnor concerning their main seat at Coleshill, see Guide to the Berkshire Record Office (1952), pp. 67-68.</p> <p>The estate office has retained the bulk of archival plans. However, some transcript copies are held under reference EK-TR 270.</p></span>

• <famname>Robartes family, Earls of Radnor</famname>
• <famname>Bouverie family, Earls of Radnor</famname>
• <famname>Pleydell-Bouverie family, Earls of Radnor</famname>
• <famname>Bouverie, Pleydell-, family, Earls of Radnor</famname>

These were received as follows:

July 1948: Book of manuscript survey maps, 1782, 1825

Donated to Folkestone Library by Mrs. R. J. Haines

Catalogued by C. M. Russell, July 1999

Accession Number: EK 1999/15 (part)

EK-U270/P 1

May 1950 & January 1953: Manorial documents, deeds and other papers of the Barony of Folkestone, 1280-1933

Deposited by the Right Hon. the Earl of Radnor per Messrs. Smith-Woolley & Co., Manor Office, Folkestone

Catalogued by D. M. M. Shorrocks, October 1954

Accession Numbers: CKS/270 and CKS/349

EK-U270/M 1-321; EK-U270/T 1-281; EK-U270/C 1-8; EK-U270/E 1-E6/1, E7-64; EK-U270/A 1-7; EK-U270/L 1-39; EK-U270/O; EK-U270/Q1-5; EK-U270/Z 1-7

June 1955: Court rolls, c1555-c1579

Deposited by the Right Hon. the Earl of Radnor per Messrs. Smith-Woolley & Co., Manor Office, Folkestone

Accession Number: CKS/501

EK-U270/M 322-323

May 1957: Court rolls, 1858-1896

Deposited by the Right Hon. the Earl of Radnor per Messrs. Smith-Woolley & Co., Manor Office, Folkestone

Accession Number: CKS/611

EK-U270/M 324-325

July 1970: Title deeds, c1700-1878

Deposited by Wiltshire County Council

Catalogued by D. Gibson, July 1970

Accession Number: CKS/1530

EK-U270/T 282-284

July 1999: Survey maps and book of reference, 1782

Found at Folkestone, provenance unknown

Catalogued by C. M. Russell, July 1999

Accession Number: EK 1999/15 (part)

EK-U270/E 6/2; EK-U270/P2

All of the above items were transferred to the East Kent Archives Centre, Whitfield, from the Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone and Folkestone Library in December 1999

Two previous catalogues of the Radnor Manuscripts have been compiled. The first was prepared by Charles Devon in 1840. He listed the bundles by box and shelves, the court rolls and rentals filling the first box and the first shelf of the second box, and the deeds and other papers occupying the remaining boxes. Whether he found the deeds loose or in these bundles is not made clear, but it is clear that the greater number were not original bundles. Deeds relating to one particular transaction concerning one property (grant and letter of attorney, for example) have been found in separate bundles. Accordingly, such bundles have been broken up, but the new Kent Archives Office (K.A.O.) references have been added in the margin of the original catalogue. Devon gave the date, parish and parties of the deeds he listed, but did not list all the documents in each bundle. Devon's catalogue can be found under reference EK-U270/Z6.

The second catalogue was compiled by the National Register of Archives (N.R.A.). The main catalogue exists only in rough draft and no attempt has been made to relate this to the present catalogue. All medieval deeds, however, were calendared in date order irrespective of parish or property and a typescript copy of this Calendar is available at the Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone. Marginal additions of the new K.A.O. references have been made throughout.