Dashwood family of Kirtlington Park and their estates

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Dashwood family of Kirtlington Park and their estates

1160-1954

The Dashwood family were extensive landholders in Oxfordshire for well over 200 years, principally in Kirtlington and Northbrook, the manors of which were acquired in 1682 by Robert Dashwood by his marriage to Penelope Chamberlayne.
Robert Dashwood (who was created a baronet in 1684) also inherited through his marriage, or he and his descendants purchased, estates and property in Banbury, Bicester, Bloxham, Swalcliffe, Oddington, Deddington, Duns Tew, Barford St John, Bletchingdon, Stoke Lyne, Tackley, Sandford St Martin, Wolvercote and Yarnton.
The family seat was at Kirtlington Park, where the house was built by Sir James Dashwood, Robert’s grandson, between 1742 and 1746. James was succeeded by his son Henry (a long-standing Member of Parliament for Woodstock) in 1779. His eldest son, George, the 4th baronet, succeeded in 1828, followed by Henry Watkin in 1861, and George in 1889.
The estates and house at Kirtlington were sold by the family in 1909, by which time it consisted of more than 3,000 acres.
This collection, mainly transferred in two instalments by the family in the 1935 and 1963, consists of court rolls and other manorial records for Kirtlington, Bicester Kings End, Deddington and Tackley, title deeds for estates held by the family in Oxfordshire and other counties, as well as correspondence, legal and financial papers.
Many of the documents pre-date the period when the Dashwoods held the properties. Among these records is a mid-12th century grant of land to the church of Glympton.
Smaller additional transfers of papers were made by family members between 1970 and 1980.