Powell-Cotton Manuscripts

This collection consists mainly of title deeds to property in Thanet, principally the estates of Quex in Birchington, Dandelion in St. John, and Kingsgate in St. Peter.

In addition to the Thanet documents the collection contains some deeds of other parishes, notably a few dozen medieval and early modern deeds of Maidstone and district. These were presumably brought into the collection about the time of Edwin Wiat of Maidstone, who acquired the Quex estate in 1682.

• <famname>Cotton, Powell-, family of Quex Park, Kent</famname>
• <famname>Powell-Cotton family of Quex Park, Kent</famname>

Deposited by C. Powell-Cotton, Birchington, 6th February 1964

These three estates were acquired at the end of the eighteenth century by Henry Fox, Lord Holland, and his son, Charles James Fox, who mortgaged them in 1770 to John Powell of Fulham, Middlesex, and sold them to Powell in 1777. Hasted's History of Kent contains articles on Quex and Dandelion.

Quex: John Quek died possessed of the estate in 1449. It was conveyed in marriage to John Crispe early in the reign of Henry VII. The present collection contains documents of the estate from 1562. It was conveyed to Edwin Wiat of Maidstone in 1682 by the Crispe family, and Richard Breton, who had married Maria Adriana, eldest daughter of Thomas Crispe. Thereafter the principal conveyances were as follows: Edwin Wiat to John Buller of Morvall, Cornwall, 1700; trustees of the will of John Buller to Sir Robert Furnere, bart., 1718; marriage settlements of Catherine, daughter of Sir Robert and (1) Lewis, Earl of Rockingham, 1736, (2) Francis, Lord North, afterwards Earl of Guildford, 1751; trustees of late Catherine, Countess of Guildford to Henry Fox, Lord Holland, 1766, 1767.

Dandelion. This estate was acquired by the Pettit family in the mid fifteenth century. Captain Henry Pettit died 1661, leaving five sons his co-heirs in gavelkind. The several proprietors conveyed their shares in the shares in the estate to Lord Holland 1763-1768.

Kingsgate. Lord Holland and Charles James Fox purchased various small properties 1764-1773. See article in Archaeologia Cantiana vol. LXXI, 1957, The Follies of Kingsgate, by Ronald Jessup.