Catalogue description Deeds for Various Properties

Amongst the usual title deeds are family papers and letters of the Garton and Bedell families, who inter-married. Correspondence in these papers includes letters to Benjamin Bedell, inspector general of HM Customs at Bristol at the time of the riots in the city in the autumn of 1831, triggered off by the opposition of Sir Charles Wetherall, attorney general and recorder of Bristol, to electoral reform.

Sir Charles had opposed both Reform Bills in the House of Commons and went to Bristol on 29 October 1831 for the usual gaol delivery. He was escorted by special constables and mounted troops. A few hours after his arrival, a mob attacked the mansion house where he was staying and the following morning it was sacked. The magistrates and the troops' commanding officers lost their nerve and allowed the mob to break into the prisons and burn down the Bishops Palace, Town Hall and Customs House.

There is also a letter (3 May 1832) to Bedell, when he was working afterwards at Goole customs office, detailing a fight between two doctors attending a Cholera Board meeting. They were arguing over an article in The Lancet

Also present are letters and papers relating to Rev. George Garton, rector of Brimfield in the late 19th century, including correspondence from his daughter Emily, highlighting her education in London. This included music lessons from Sir Julius Benedict. Emily also describes bomb explosions at the Home Office (March 1883) and at several railway stations caused by agitators for Irish Home Rule.

Humfreys and Symonds, Hereford, solicitors

The following documents are thought to be records of Humfreys and Symonds, solicitors, when the business was situated in Bridge Street, Hereford.

• Garton family of Hereford
• Bedell family of Hereford
• Herefordshire

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