Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1541-1952 / (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
1.16 cubic meters (45 boxes, 4 vols, 4 rolls)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Lewis family can be traced back to Harpton Court to the mid 16th century when a Thomas Lewis, sheriff of Radnorshire in 1555 was living there. Towards the close of the ensuing century another Thomas Lewis owned the estate. He was succeeded by yet another Thomas Lewis (b. 1690) who represented Radnorshire boroughs in Parliament from 1715 to 1768. He was succeeded by his nephew John Lewis whose second wife was Anne, daughter of Admiral Sir Thomas Frankland.
Their heir was Thomas Frankland Lewis, 1780-1855, who married Harriett, daughter of Sir George Cornewall of Moccas Court, Herefordshire, and sister of Caroline who married Sir William Duff Gordon. Thomas Frankland Lewis was MP for Beaumaris in 1812 and MP for Radnor 1847-1855. He served as Chairman of the Poor Law Commission, 1834-1839, and, in 1843, he also chaired the enquiry into the Rebecca riots. He was made a baronet in 1846.
He was succeeded by Sir George Cornewall Lewis, 2nd baronet, who was MP for Herefordshire, 1847-1852 and Radnor boroughs, 1855-1863. He served as Poor Law Commissioner from 1839 until its abolition in 1847, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1855-1858, Home Secretary 1859-1861, and Secretary of State for War, 1861-1863. He was also editor of the Edinburgh Review, 1852-1855.
On his death in 1863, the estate passed to his brother, the Rev. Sir Gilbert Frankland Lewis, 3rd baronet (b. 1819). He was canon of Worcester 1856, rector of Gladestry in Radnorshire 1832-1860, and of Monnington-on-Wye in Herefordshire, 1832-1864. His heir was Herbert Edmund Frankland (b. 1846). Sir Henry William Duff Gordon, 6th baronet, is noted as residing in Harpton Court in 1951.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited by Sir Douglas F. Duff Gordon of Kington in 1953.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Deeds and documents relating to the Harpton Court estate in Radnorshire and Breconshire, 1564-1910, but mainly eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including deeds relating to the Forest of Radnor, 1635-1732, deeds concerning the rectory and tithes of Old Radnor, 1607-1876; cash and account books, 1856-1889, and rent books, 1820-1857; papers relating to the corporation of New Radnor, 1699-1833, produced to a Commission of Enquiry, 1833; papers relating to parliamentary elections, 1741-1910, in Radnorshire, Radnor boroughs, Herefordshire, and Peterborough, including poll books for Radnorshire, 1741, Herefordshire, 1852, and Peterborough, 1852; manorial records for manors in Radnorshire, 1541-1926; and personal papers of various members of the Lewis family including the correspondence of Thomas Lewis, MP, John Lewis, Anne Frankland (later Lewis), Sir Thomas Frankland Lewis, and in particular corespondence and papers of Sir George Cornewall Lewis, including papers relating to Malta, 1830-1855, the Poor Law, 1827-1855, the War Office and India, 1861-1866.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Action: All records deposited at NLW have been retained..
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
System of arrangement
Arranged into deeds and documents, correspondence, and title deeds.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Further details relating to manorial records within the archive can be accessed online from The National Archives Manorial Documents Register.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title supplied from contents of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Subject access points
- Elections -- Wales -- Radnorshire.
- Manors -- Wales -- Radnorshire.
- Manorial courts -- Wales -- Radnorshire.
- Administration of estates -- Wales -- Breconshire.
- Tithes -- Wales -- Old Radnor.
- Poor laws.
- Elections -- Wales -- New Radnor Boroughs.
- Elections -- England -- Herefordshire.
- Elections -- England -- Peterborough.
- Election districts -- England -- Peterborough.
- Election districts -- Wales -- Radnorshire.
- Election districts -- Wales -- New Radnor.
- Election districts -- England -- Herefordshire.
- India -- History -- 18th century.
- Malta -- History -- 1798-1964.
Place access points
Name access points
- Harpton Court Estate (Wales) -- Archives. (Subject)
- Corporation of New Radnor (Radnor, Wales) (Subject)
- Harpton Court Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Lewis, Thomas, 1690-1777 -- Correspondence. (Subject)
- Lewis, John, 1738-1797 -- Correspondence. (Subject)
- Frankland, Anne, d. 1842 -- Correspondence. (Subject)
- Lewis, George Cornewall, Sir, 1806-1863 -- Archives. (Subject)
- Lewis, Thomas, 1690-1777 (Subject)
- Lewis, John, 1738-1797 (Subject)
- Frankland, Anne, d. 1842 (Subject)
- Lewis, George Cornewall, Sir, 1806-1863 (Subject)
- Lewis family, of Harpton Court -- Archives. (Subject)
- Duff Gordon family, of Halkin, Ayrshire (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
This description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) Second Edition; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
May 2001.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Compiled by Mair James.
Archivist's note
The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959), Burke' s Landed Gentry (London 2 vols. 1846), vol. I, Thomas, Nicholas, Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales (London, 2 vols, 1872), vol. II, Debrett's Peerage (London, 1951), Debrett's Peerage (London, 2000);