Papers of the Holles Family, 1571-1728

The papers of John Holles, 4th Earl of Clare and 3rd Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne are mostly in the form of correspondence, supplemented by series of miscellaneous records which includes a number of estate papers. Almost seventy letters to his wife, Margaret Cavendish Holles are present. The estate records include some reference to the Cavendish Northumberland estates, together with correspondence of Ralph Gowland, the Northumberland agent. The few Nottinghamshire estate references include several documents concerning forest rights and bounds.

The Collection also contains papers of other earlier family members, including John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare, Denzel Holles, younger brother of the 2nd Earl and Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare. These in part reflect the Holles associations with London, including for instance a petition of the tenants of Clare Market. Other miscellaneous items include references to pictures and other household furnishings.

The Collection is divided into two series, reflecting its arrangement on acquisition from Welbeck. The first consists of correspondence. The second series, a category of miscellaneous papers, also contains some correspondence.

<span class="wrapper"><p>Portland (London) Collection (P1)</p> <p>Correspondence with Francis Molyneux (GB 0159 Molt)</p> <p>Also within the Portland (Welbeck) Collection, but located in the Literary</p> <p>Papers, are personal copy letters, commonplace books and literary works of Denzil Holles, John Holles, and Gervase Holles (GB 0159 Pw V)</p> <p>Papers of Henry Walter of Haughton, Agent to the Earls of Clare in Nottinghamshire, 1666-1696 (GB 0159 NS)</p> <p>The Newcastle of Clumber Collection at Nottingham includes a number of significant Holles materials, particularly records of Holles property holding in London and Nottinghamshire (GB 0159 Ne)</p> <p>Within the Correspondence and Political Papers of the Dukes of Newcastle are two letter books of John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare (c.1565-1637) and a commonplace book of John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare (1595-1666) (GB 0159 Ne C)</p> <p>Several collections of Holles papers are in Nottinghamshire Archives Office British Library</p></span>

• <famname>Holles family, Dukes of Newcastle upon Tyne</famname>
• <famname>Cavendish-Bentinck family, Dukes of Portland</famname>
• <famname>Holles family, Earls of Clare</famname>
• <famname>Bentinck, Cavendish-, family, Dukes of Portland</famname>

Photocopies and photographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purpose only depending on the condition of the documents.

Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email: mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk). The Department will try to assist in indentifying copyright owners but the responsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the reader.

Accessible to all registered readers.

These papers constitute part of the Portland (Welbeck) Collection (GB 0159 Pw) and were received from the 7th Duke of Portland in the first deposit from Welbeck Abbey in 1949. A second deposit was received in 1968. By the Duke's express wish the family archives were divided between The University of Nottingham (political and family correspondence); Nottinghamshire Archives Office (Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Northumberland estate papers); British Library (Harley family papers); Hampshire Record Office (papers relating to the Dukes' Hampshire estate) and the Bodleian Library (Civil War papers of Reverend John Nalson). The entire Portland archive from Welbeck was accepted by the state in lieu of estate duty in 1986.

The presence of the Holles papers in the Portland of Welbeck Collection is the result of a series of marriages and inheritances in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. John Holles, 4th Earl of Clare (1662-1711), married his cousin Margaret Cavendish (1661-1716), daughter of the 2nd Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne, through whom much of the Cavendish inheritance descended. The 2nd Duke died without male heir and in 1691 Holles became the 3rd Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne. Their daughter, Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles (1694-1755), who inherited the bulk of the Cavendish estate after litigation, married Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford (1689-1741). When, in 1734 their daughter Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley (1715-1785) was married to William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland (1709-1762) the Holles papers passed into the Portland Collection.

The papers particularly reflect the activities and contacts of John Holles, the 3rd Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and his wife, Margaret Cavendish. He was an able politician, whose local influence and properties gave him considerable power during elections. In 1705 he was appointed Lord Privy Seal, and was an influential figure in the discussions which ultimately led to the Treaty of Union (with Scotland) in 1707.