THE CHOLMONDELEY (HOUGHTON) PAPERS.

The Cholmondeley (Houghton) papers include working records of the Houghton estate office papers of the Pell family and collections relating to various generations of the Sir Robert Walpole family, including a large collection of political papers collected by Sir Robert Walpole first Prime Minister of Great Britain. The larger part of Sir Robert's papers consists of reports, memoranda and petitions. There are abstracts of all papers signed by the Lords of the Treasury, 1718-40, Sir Robert Walpole's own memoranda, and his notes for speeches. While many of the papers duplicate material in the Public Record Office anyone working on the period 1710-40 will find here, in the words of the historian Sir John Plumb, 'original material of value which is not found elsewhere. There can be no doubt that these papers constitute the most important single collection of this period for English political history.'

Arrangement:

1. Political Papers

2. Correspondence

3. Account Books

4. The Remainder of the Collection

1. Private papers of Sir Robert Walpole's predecessors and successors

2. Papers of the Pell family

3. Miscellaneous bound volumes

4. Working Papers of the Estate Office

• <persname>Walpole, Robert, 1650-1700, politician</persname>
• <persname>Walpole, Robert, 1676-1745, 1st Earl of Orford, statesman</persname>
• <persname>Walpole, Horatio, 1678-1757, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, diplomat</persname><famname>Walpole family of Houghton, Norfolk</famname>
• <famname>Pell family of Norfolk</famname>

Formerly held at Houghton, Norfolk, the bulk of these papers was deposited in the University Library by the Marquess of Cholmondeley in 1951. The collection was subsequently purchased by the Library.