Records of the Anson Family of Shugborough, Earls of Lichfield

Deeds, manorial and estate records for Staffordshire estates.

Estate maps 18th - 19th century.

A system of classification had been adopted which arranged the records according to the territorial division of the estate but it was not an original order and had in any case become so fragmented by the time the documents arrived at Stafford that it was not practical for the next part to follow it and the basic classification has therefore been thought out de novo.

The system adopted was to divide the collection into three main groups; deeds, estate papers and personal papers. The first includes all muniments of title, mortgages, settlements, etc. both of the Anson and of related families. The second represents the archives of the estate administration in all its facets including the running of the household and the activities of the estate solicitors. The personal section consists of the correspondence of various members of the family, diaries, personal accounts, political papers and also records of a business nature which derived from persons other than the Ansons themselves; e.g. some of Wyatt's own office records were left at Shugborough and these have been classified as personal. In addition to these three there are sections for maps and plans (M) and printed and miscellaneous material (X).

The Anson family originated in the Dunston area and the first member whose activities are recorded in the collection is William Anson (d.1644) a successful lawyer who purchased an estate at nearby Shugborough from Thomas Whitby in 1624. From that date Shugborough was the principal residence of the family and the house there was rebuilt after 1693 by William Anson III (1656-1720) who married Isabella Corvier of Wirksworth. Their children included Janette (1690-1771) who married Sambrook Adams of Sambrooke (1701-1734), Thomas (1695-1773) and George (1697-1762). The latter became the famous Admiral Anson but as a younger son dying before his brother his contact with Staffordshire was tenuous and there is very little concerning him amongst the collection at Stafford.

Thomas Anson was a typical 'man of taste' of the 18th century and Shugborough owes most of its basic form to his work on the house and park in which he employed James 'Athenian' Stuart, Nicholas Dahl, Scheemakers, and other well known artists. Nor did he neglect the other parts of the estates and these were extended by purchase throughout the period. On his death the estates passed to George Adams the son of his sister, Janette. George Adams (1731-1789) assumed the name of Anson as a result and from this date there is a virtually complete series of estate records. His son Thomas (1767-1818) acquired considerable electoral interests in Lichfield, as the result of transaction, well represented in the collection and was created Viscount in 1806. His son Thomas William (1795-1854) continued the political activity on behalf of the Whigs was made Earl of Lichfield in 1831 and held the office of Postmaster General from 1835-1841. There are however no official papers in the collection.

In spite of this rise in fortune the estate fell on difficult times in the late 1830's, a heavy mortgage had to be raised and the contents of Shugborough were sold. The successors in title made long and eventually successful attempts to recover the situation of their predecessors. Thomas George, 2nd Earl (1825-1892) made considerable efforts to buy back the contents of Shugborough. He also took an interest in politics, his most important activity probably being membership of the Royal Commission on Trades Unions. There are however not many items relating to this subject in the collection. His son Thomas Francis 3rd Earl (1856-1918) continued the work and made attempts to arrange the MSS and deeds. The collection bears many works of his interest and there is a quantity of notes in his hand on the house and family, notably the Admiral. He was an active member of the House of Lords on the Liberal party side and was fairly prominent during the Parliament Act crisis. He also took over the running of the estate before the death of his father and the effects of his organisation are reflected in the archives.

The collection was transferred to the County Record Office between 1960 and 1965 from Shugborough. The bulk appears always to have been there although some items had been brought in from sub-agencies at various dates in the previous hundred years. A group of legal and estate papers had also been transferred to Shugborugh from the offices of Messrs. Broughton and Broughton the London solicitors for the Lichfield agency.