ARCHIVE OF THE PORTMAN FAMILY OF BUXTED PLACE

Summary of contents

SUSSEX

Buxted, etc SAS-PN/1-118

Allington SAS-PN/119-123A and SAS-PN/742

Barcombe SAS-PN/124-225 and SAS-PN/732

Bexhill SAS-PN/226

Buckhurst SAS-PN/227, 228

Chalvington SAS-PN/229-232 and SAS-PN/742

Claverham in Arlington etc SAS-PN/233-250 and SAS-PN/742

Ditchling SAS-PN/251, 252

Eastbourne SAS-PN/253-271

East Grinstead SAS-PN/272-274 and SAS-PN/733

Fairlight and Pett SAS-PN/275-296 and SAS-PN/547-615

Fletching SAS-PN/297-303

Folkington SAS-PN/304, 305

Framfield SAS-PN/306-310

Friston and Eastdean SAS-PN/311-373

Guestling SAS-PN/374-409 and SAS-PN/547-615

Hailsham SAS-PN/410-45, 735-737 and SAS-PN/1456

Hamsey SAS-PN/455-501

Hellingly, Warbleton, etc SAS-PN/737, 738

Herstmonceux, Heathfield, etc SAS-PN/735, 736

Langney SAS-PN/502-509C

Laughton SAS-PN/510-512

Lewes SAS-PN/513, 514

Mayfield and Wadhurst SAS-PN/515-546

Mersham, Pett, Fairlight, Westham, etc SAS-PN/547-615 and SAS-PN/740-756

Meeching (Newhaven), Plumpton, etc SAS-PN/616, 617

Milton manor in Arlington SAS-PN/618

Ovingdean SAS-PN/619

Pevensey SAS-PN/620,621

Ringmer SAS-PN/623-637 and SAS-PN/742

Rotherfield SAS-PN/638-645A

Sharnden manor in Mayfield SAS-PN/646

South Malting SAS-PN/647-665

Tarring Nevill SAS-PN/666-713

Trewley manor in Edburton, Henfield, etc, and Sutton Sandore manor in Seaford, etc SAS-PN/714-722

West Firle SAS-PN/734

West Hoathly SAS-PN/739

Westham SAS-PN/723-731

BERKSHIRE SAS-PN/761, 762

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE SAS-PN/763-776

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Hawksbury SAS-PN/777-1183 and SAS-PN/1431-1455

Thornbury SAS-PN/1184-1256

Icombe SAS-PN/1385

KENT

Maidstone SAS-PN/1260-1296

Ash and Woodnesborough SAS-PN/1297

Lynton SAS-PN/1298, 1299

Brenchley SAS-PN/1300

Plumstead SAS-PN/1301

HERTFORDSHIRE SAS-PN/1301A

LONDON SAS-PN/1302-1329

MIDDLESEX

Tottenham SAS-PN/1330-1351

SURREY SAS-PN/1352

Limpsfield SAS-PN/1353

Croydon SAS-PN/1354-1358

Godstone SAS-PN/1359-1362

Horne SAS-PN/1363

Tooting Graveney SAS-PN/1364

HAMPSHIRE SAS-PN/1365, 1366

LEICESTERSHIRE SAS-PN/1367, 1368

LINCOLN SAS-PN/1369

OXFORDSHIRE SAS-PN/1370-1376

SHROPSHIRE SAS-PN/1377

WARWICKSHIRE AND NORTHAMPTONSHIRE SAS-PN/1378-1383

WILTSHIRE SAS-PN/1384, 1385

IRELAND SAS-PN/1386

JENKINSON FAMILY PAPERS SAS-PN/1387-1410

PAPERS OF OTHER FAMILIES SAS-PN/1410-1430

Deposited in 1928 by the Viscount Portman with the Sussex Archaeological Trust and transferred in 1982 to East Sussex Record Office

Introduction

The present whereabouts of the many component parts of the Portman archive were very usefully summarised by Richard Olney in the Annual Review for 1988-89 of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (HMSO, 1989), pp 25-27.

In 1928 Lord Portman, the owner of the estate, deposited several hundred deeds with the Sussex Archaeological Society, which were listed by the rev Walter Budgen as SAS-PN/1-756 (Sussex estate) and SAS-PN/761-1430 (supposedly out-county, but including settlements and wills relating to the whole estate). In 1939, at the request of Lord Portman, the deeds relating to the parish of Buxted (SAS-PN/1-118) were handed to Basil Ionides, the then owner of the estate. Although it was thought that the deeds had been destroyed in the fire at Buxted Place in February 1940, in 1971 a number were found on the site of the demolished offices of Waltons, solicitors, in Leadenhall Street, who had acted for Mrs Ionides, and returned. Two further deeds were recovered in 1986.

Evidence for three previous systems of arrangement appear on the documents. The earliest consists of a large number, written in ink, at the top-left-hand corner of the document, with occasional references to boxes identified by letter. The second system consists of a letter followed by a number in brackets, all written in violet ink. The third is a sequence of small pencil numbers.

In 1912, a list of the contents of the evidence-room at Buxted was compiled by the Rev James Harvey Bloom, a genealogist and at that time rector of Whitchurch in Warwickshire (for whom see J A Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses); it is listed as SAS-PN/1457. Bloom listed 1339 documents in two alphabetical sequences, irrespective of county, with a running numerical reference; the small pencil numbers identified in the last paragraph are his.

The list of Sussex deeds compiled by the Rev Walter Budgen originally comprised SAS-PN/1-739; the numbers 740-760 were allotted to a group of documents relating to the manor of Hawkesbury in Gloucestershire; the numbering of the remaining out-county deeds began with 761. Further Sussex documents were however found and numbers 740-756 allotted to them; although the list of the out-county deeds remained intact, the Hawkesbury manorial documents were forgotten and not included in the list. In 1996 they were relocated at the end of the boxed sequence and given the numbers SAS-PN/1431-1457.

The antiquary William Burrell visited Buxted Place in the course of his studies (see SAS/ME 22, Burrell to Charles Gilbert, 27 June 1794), and most of the documents in the archive are endorsed with his initials. The antiquarian collections of Henry Towner of Uckfield (AMS 5896) and Charles Leeson Prince of Crowborough (AMS 5897), who were collecting in the opening years of the 20th century, consist almost exclusively of documents from the Buxted Place archive, and the implication must be that standards of custody at that time were less than strict.

In 1987 a large group of documents, which had been bought at the sale of the contents of Buxted Place in 1930, was purchased; it is listed as Add Mss 6270. The documents are not included in the list compiled by Bloom in 1912.

Other documents relating to the estate were deposited with the Sussex Archaeological Society by the owner's land-agent in the 1970s, and were transferred in 1996 (ACC 3712).

An extended pedigree showing the descent of the Buxted estate was published in Sussex Archaeological Collections vol 47 (1904) opposite p 108;

Budger's cross-references within the catalogue have not been changes. For example, 'see No. 186' should be read as 'see SAS-PN/186'