THE CREWE COLLECTION

That portion of the Crewe collection described below consists of estate papers. The important series of nineteenth century letters (of which there is a list at the estate office of the late Marquis of Crewe, Imperial Chambers, Crewe) are now at Argyll House, London. All papers of political and general interest - such as government documents addressed to Mr. Crewe relating to estimates, expenditure etc. on the army navy, ordnance, expedition under Lord Cathcart to Minorca, Gibraltar, America, Greenwich Hospital, 1735 - 1741 (previously in Box 16), or an account of the voyage of the ship "Margarat" from London to Dansik (1596) - are now preserved with the letters, and are not, therefore, included in this report. Some of the deeds and estate papers were destroyed, owing to damage resulting from damp storage conditions, but, with the exception of a small number of paper documents, the collection which remain is in a good state of repair.

The collection as now constituted consists chiefly of expired life leases concerned with lands in the counties of Cheshire & Staffordshire, the extensive Yorkshire material has been separated and is not dealt with here. The bulk of the material listed and calendared dates from the late sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The bills and accouts relating to the household and estates have been destroyed, with the exception of occasional specimens. The rentals are now preserved at the estate office for administrative purposes and date from the sixteenth century.

In view of the early date at which the pedigree of the family begins, the mediaeval section of the collection is not large. The charters in this section relate to lands in Staffordshire and Warwickshire rather than to lands in the county of Chester. The places which occur most frequently in Staffordshire are Madeley and Whitmore, while the Warwickshire charters relate chiefly to Rodbourne and the free chap of Wolverhampton. These deeds, and the lands to which they relate, appear to have been acquired in the seventeenth century, by marriage with the Offleys (see the Crewe pedigree in Ormerod, History of Cheshire (Col. Helsby), III, 314.

One of the more interesting items is an early military indenture - dating back to 1297 - by which Philip de Hardeshull undertook to serve Sir Edmund Stafford, lord of Madeley for as long as the war continues between France and England. (Box 26, Bundle 3, Madeley 4, number 6. - now in Box 35). There is also an interesting series of early fourteenth century charters, which indicate the terms on which Edmund de Stafford, Lord of Madeley, was leasing land to his tenants in the early fourteenth century (see Box 35; most of the relevant deeds are among charters previously in Box 26, Bundle 3 and in the bundle marked Madeley Court Rolls, previously kept in Box 19.) The references to the free chapel of Wolverhampton similarly occur in charters preserved in Box 35.

The court papers are mainly for a late date. There are, however, a number of fourteenth century court rolls in Box 35. The majority of these relate to Rodbourne in Warwickshire, but two relate to Shukeburgh, Warwickshire.

The method in reporting mediaeval deeds varies according to their date. For all undated deeds and dated deeds, if the date given is before 1300, a full description, including the names of witnesses, is given. In the case of post, 1300 charters witnesses are not given in this report, though appearing in the originals.

Please note that DCR/37/1/1-39/29/2 have been transferred to Wiltshire Record Office

Acc. 1635