Catalogue description Donne family estate papers
This record is held by Somerset Heritage Centre (South West Heritage Trust)
Reference: | DD\MR |
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Title: | Donne family estate papers |
Description: |
The records which survive in this holding reflect the property owned and the interests successively of the related families of Merefield, Donne, Donisthorpe and Donne again, from the point of view of the Donne family. The estate owned, the family seat from the 16th century and their business interests were all at or centred on Crewkerne, and the first section of the catalogue deals chronologically with the main Crewkerne title. The earliest deeds are of 1557 and relate to the purchase by Robert Merefield of property at Hewish in Crewkerne [DD/MR 7], probably that which was subsequently known as the manor of Hewish. Family tradition [DD/MR 71] has it that the seat in East Street was built by a Robert Merefield in 1589 and this is very probable. There is an incidental reference to the house in 1599 [DD/MR 7]. The Merefield family continued in sole ownership through the 17th century, until the deaths in quick succession of Robert Merefield (1685) and his eldest son, John, without issue (1694) compelled the family to seek an Act of Parliament to settle the estates without further wrangling [DD/MR 2, 82]. A brief pedigree (stored in box 1) is necessary to understand the disposal of property between 1699 and 1744. For a wider understanding of the complex family relationship and the reason for the survival of certain records, it is fortunate that the family accumulated a considerable quantity of genealogical material in the 18th century for purposes of litigation and brought this up to date in the present century out of general interest [DD/MR 71]. Briefly, under the Act the beneficiaries fell into three groups, Lydia, the widow, and her son Robert, Alice and her husband, John Donne, and Susanna and her husband William Merefield. They received (inter alia) one third shares in the manor of Hewish and, subsequently in 1744, this was physically partitioned between the three representatives of the next generation - John Donne, William Merefield and Matthew Merefield (underlined in the pedigree above). The disposal of the house in East Street is not absolutely clear, but it seems to have been held in moieties by Donne and Merefield in the 18th century until in 1742 William Merefield sold his share to John Donne. Thereafter, the records reflect the state of affairs from the Donne interest. This last named John Donne (d. 1768) was the most important member of the family locally and his professional activities as an attorney, as clerk of the peace for Somerset and as a manorial steward are all represented in the surviving documents. John's grand-daughter and heiress, Anna Maria Susanna, married the Reverend George Donisthorpe and inherited the estate at the end of the 18th century. She died in 1856, having adopted as her heir, Benjamin J.M. Donne, who was descended from a younger brother of the above John Donne and finally, to bring matters up to date, these documents were deposited by Benjamin's grand - daughter. The reason for the existence of other smaller groups of documents here can be briefly explained as follows: the Martock inheritance reached the Merefield family by way of Alice Colston (see pedigree), as niece and heiress to Robert Wills and in the early 18th century was jointly held by Donne and Merefield, subject to the life interest of Joan Knight (see pedigree); Donne of Puckington, John Donne, although not closely related to the Crewkerne family, (James Donne describes him as 'his friend' in his will [DD/MR 66]) was executor to James Donne and guardian to his daughters during their minority; Quantock of South Petherton, Mary Donisthorpe (? the mother of the Rev. George), was the sister and heiress of James Quantock. |
Date: | 1557-1947 |
Arrangement: |
1 - 74 PROPERTY TENURE AND PERSONAL ESTATE 1-32 Deeds of main properties: Crewkerne 33-39 Deeds of main properties: Martock 40-62 Deeds of other Somerset parishes, arranged alphabetically 63, 64 Deeds of Devon and Dorset properties 65-74 Documents relatung to personal estate, testamentary matters and genealogy (Merefield, Donne and Donisthorpe families) 75 - 98 ESTATE MANAGEMENT 75-81 Crewkerne rentals 82-88 Crewkerne maps, etc. 89, 90 Maps of South Petherton and Halstock (Dorset) 91 Crewkerne estate papers 92-98 Martock estate papers, etc. 99 - 110 BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL PAPERS 99 Robert Wills, as manorial steward 100 John Donne, as clerk of the peace 101-107 John Donne, as attorney 108, 109 John Donne, as manorial steward 110 James Quantock, as surveyor 111 - 115 LITIGATION PAPERS 116 Miscellaneous items |
Held by: | Somerset Heritage Centre (South West Heritage Trust), not available at The National Archives |
Language: | English |
Creator: |
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Physical description: | 9 boxes |
Immediate source of acquisition: |
C/1481 |
Subjects: |
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Link to NRA Record: |
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