Catalogue description LEIGH OF WEST HALL, HIGH LEGH

The collection consists mainly of mediaeval deeds and is split into various groups (for the origins of these divisions see note on the history of the collection). There are typescript lists of nos. 1-4 in this table of contents, possibly drawn up by the College of Heralds in the 1920s or 1930s.

1 "Jodrell charters": 40 deeds and papers relating to the Jodrell family of Twemlow and elsewhere 1341-1715. The Ms book, "Family records of the Jodrells" by Frances Maria Phillips, noted on the list, is not with the collection.

2 "Twemlow: Knutsford and Booth deeds": 56 deeds and papers mainly of the Knutsford families relating to Twemlow, Knutsford and elsewhere in Cheshire, c.1240-1739.

3 "Leigh family charters": 214 deeds and papers of the Leigh family of Westhall in High Leigh c.1250-1825. The numbering of the list runs to 217, but nos. 204 and 205 are not with the collection, and the number 208 is unused.

4 An untitled group of 150 deeds and papers of the Legh, Davenport and other families in Cheshire, 13th Cent-1821. The numbering of the list runs to 153, but nos. 6, 31 and are not with the collection.

5 Papers of the Leigh family of Westhall, bound into 7 volumes, and relating to management of estates, the parsonage of Lymm, various public offices held by members of the family, pedigrees, inventories, etc 1383-c.1850. These volumes were calendared by the Historical Manuscripts Commission (see no. 11 below).

Leigh family of West Hall, Cheshire

Report on documents received on temporary deposit from Mr C.V.C. Booth-Jones, Hill Barn, Monkton Deverill, Wiltshire on 28th October 1986. (Cheshire R.O. ref. T395)

It is clear that the Leigh family charters (no. 3 above) and some at least of the untitled group (no. 4 above) were known to, and used by Sir Peter Leycester, the 17th Century antiquary and historian of Cheshire. Several of the Westhall deeds are calendared in Sir Peter's manuscript books drawn up between 1664 and 1666 which are now in the Cheshire Record Office (ref. DLT/B2 and 3). Interestingly, his notes include various deeds which were then at Westhall which are now no longer in the collection. Unfortunately, his interests concentrated on Bucklow Hundred, and there is no evidence that he saw or used the Jodrell deeds or those of the Knutsford and Booth families. In the early years of the nineteenth century, the collection was extensively used and calendared by the Rev. Peter Leigh, second son of Egerton Leigh of Westhall; many of the deeds have his initials endorsed. He also corresponded with George Ormerod, the historian of Cheshire, in the 1840s.

The Twemlow:Knutsford and Booth deeds presumably passed to the Leighs of Westhall when Egerton Leigh bought the Booth family estate in Twemlow in 1862. The Jodrell deeds, on the other hand, can probably be traced to the marriage of Egerton Leigh and Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Francis Jodrell of Yeardsley in 1778. In 1881, Egerton Leigh entrusted his records to J.P. Earwaker, who had a particular interest in the history of Cheshire and Lancashire, and acquired a large collection of books and manuscripts on the subject, as well as making extensive notes on the records of others. (His papers are now in the Chester City Record Office). Earwaker appears to have been responsible for sorting, arranging and endorsing them. In his report, dated 27th February 1883, he writes: "The Deeds were in a state of great confusion when they reached me ... By far the greatest number of the deeds were without any endorsement, and these had become mixed up with the few that were endorsed [by Peter Leigh], and had then been roughly stored away in the various boxes of all shapes and sizes, in which they reached me". The report divided the collection into four sections: "1. Deeds relating to the family of Leigh of the Westhall, High Leigh; 2. Deeds relating to the family of Leigh of the Easthall, High Leigh; (sic); 3. Miscellaneous deeds relating to Cheshire; 4. Miscellaneous Deeds relating to Lancashire and chiefly to Manchester". The first group appears to be the "Leigh family charters" (no. 3 in the list of contents); the second group was transferred by Egerton Leigh at Earwaker's suggestion to the Cornwall-Legh family of Easthall and is presumably among the records deposited in the John Rylands Library in Manchester in 1951; the third group is the untitled group of deeds ( no. 4 on the list of contents) and the Jodrell charters (no. 1 on the list of contents); the fourth group was given to Mr Earwaker by Egerton Leigh. Earwaker also had various family papers bound up into the seven volumes now in the collection. He also saw the Calico bag containing Peter Leigh's notes, and the collection of family pedigrees (including a pedigree of the Jodrell family, now not with the collection). The deeds of the former Booth family estate in Twemlow (no. 2 on the list of contents) were not lent to Earwaker until after he had completed his report; but he quoted from them in his "History of the ancient parish of Sandbach," published in 1890. By 1889, it appears that most of the collection as we now see it was back at Westhall, where it probably remained until the house was sold in 1924.

The collection is unusual in that it contains, almost exclusively, mediaeval material, and fewer of the seventeenth and eighteenth century leases and accounts which one would expect to find in a complete estate archive collection. This process of selection can also be attributed to Earwaker who, in a letter dated 20th Dec. 1882, refers to "sorting out those [documents] to take with me", and states that "Most of the later leases etc were left behind".

By 1932 the collection was in the possession of Major T.V. Booth-Jones, a descendant of the Booths of Twemlow, and it was probably he who had the deeds listed at the College of Arms. (Col. Malet of the National Register of Archives, in a letter written in 1951, refers to "the lists made at the Heralds College".)

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