Catalogue description Archive of A E Gabriel of Birmingham

In 1962 A E Gabriel of Birmingham, partner in a firm of brass and steel founders, brought a group of documents into Birmingham Reference Library. They were found to consist of three main groups - strays from the archive of the Roberts family of Boarzell in Ticehurst, title deeds of property in Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury and a settlement and copy wills of the Winfield family of Leicestershire and Birmingham. There are also two documents concerning rectors of Solihull and the probate of the will of Robert Foley, rector of Old Swinford in Worcestershire

Mr Gabriel was apparently descended from the Snepp family of Haremere in Etchingham, whose daughter Charlotte Snepp was the wife of John Roberts (1757-1810). In 1962 the family portraits, described by Viscountess Wolseley at Haremere in 1929 (Sussex County Magazine 8 510-514), were hanging in his office. The single deed relating to the Snepp family (AMS4666/69) has been presented at the beginning of this list

In two instances (AMS4666/43 and AMS4666/94), the Gabriel archive contains fragments of instruments of which the remainders are present in the Roberts archive (ESRO DUN 36/4 and 4/19 respectively). Most of the documents also display the filing-hole, trimmed edges and stains from melted was so characteristic of the Roberts archive

Mr Gabriel retained the documents, the Sussex elements which were microfilmed by Birmingham Reference Library on behalf of ESRO - see XA 12. A pedigree of the Roberts family (for notes from which AMS4666/93) was subsequently discovered, filmed and added to XA 12

Later in the year Mr Gabriel deposited the documents at Lewes, with the exception of the Roberts pedigree and two other items

In the following list, the Roberts of Boarzell documents are presented first, followed by the Shrewsbury deeds and concluding with those relating to the Winfield family. Three fragments of documents were not listed in 1962; these have now (1998) been added as AMS4666/94-96

The documents were numbered by Birmingham Refernce Library before deposit at ESRO. In order to present them in their correct sequence, some items do not appear in numerical order of reference

Documents deposited 13 September 1962 (ACC 518)