Catalogue description The Marquis of Ailesbury

Ailesbury of Savernake

There is a wealth of material relating to the administration of Savernake Forest, from the charter of King John in 1200 (1300/12) to the agreement with the Forestry Commissioners in 1938 and minutes of a meeting of the Savernake Forest Committee of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England in 1948 (1300/4827, 4828). There are records of the Lord Protector Somerset's vast possessions. His Esturmy predecessors, however, made rich gifts to the church, especially to their own foundation of Easton Priory (1300/30). From the early 17th century onwards the correspondence is voluminous and revealing: politics, national and local, Court, social and family life, the administration of estate and household, health, medicine and education, foreign travel, sport - light is thrown on all of these. Some of the wills contain informative lists of pictures, jewellery and other personal possessions. Of these the will of the Lord Protector's widow (1300/165) is the earliest; that of Frances Duchess of Somerset, who died in 1674 (1300/202) mentions various pictures by Vandyke and others, some of which have been identified, as well as a "great rich bed with fittings, formerly Queen Jane Seymour's" given to her husband by the late King, and the fine Seymour Pedigree, (a photograph of which is now1300/376/A); that of Sarah Duchess of Somerset, who died in 1692 (1300/299) gives the minutest details of her furniture, plate, jewellery and even clothing, as well as precise instructions regarding her numerous charitable bequests, which included the Duchess of Somerset's Almshouses at Froxfield.

The 17th century letters are largely concerned with a long family dispute about the settlement of the estates. In this the redoubtable Mary Duchess of Beaufort, mother of the Lady Elizabeth Seymour who married Thomas, Lord Bruce, was a protagonist, and some remarkably plain and vigorous speaking was used on both sides. Honours on the whole were easy, though the Duchess had the mortification of seeing her wishes thwarted by the House of Lords. (1300/271-279, 681-830, 856.)

The exile of the same Lord Bruce, then Earl of Elgin and Ailesbury, in Brussels, brought numerous letters from him which afford much information about social and economic conditions in the Low Countries in the early 18th century (1300/681-696, 831-839, 2431). The letters of George Lord Bruce (who died soon after his twenty-first birthday in 1783) and his brother Charles Lord Bruce, later first Marquess of Ailesbury, reveal the details of a young man's life on the Grand Tour (1300/5373-5436). In the latter case it is curious to note that although Lord Bruce married in 1793 and became a father in 1794, the tutor remained in close attendance until the whole party returned to England in 1795. The exiled Earl had married a second wife in Brussels, and the daughter of this marriage, who in her turn married the Prince de Hornes, became the grandmother of Louisa de Stolberg, wife of Prince Charles Edward. This lady, usually known as the Countess of Albany, was eager to claim kinship with her English relations, and she appears often in the correspondence. She was disappointed at not having been invited to Lord Bruce's wedding in Italy, so he thought it advisable to ask her to be godmother to his twins.

The correspondence of Thomas Bruce Brudenell, Earl of Ailesbury, includes many letters from Queen Charlotte and her daughters which throw a rather unexpected light on the Queen's character (1300/3108-3143). They are friendly, informal, almost affectionate, and her feeling was extended to the younger members of his family. Many hundreds of his Lordship's own letters have survived, with countless notes, drafts and memoranda. For a time there was daily correspondence between Lord Ailesbury and his son Charles, and throughout the reader will agree with the sorely tried agent Charles Bill: "When your Lordship chooses to write with a brush instead of a pen, it takes some time to decipher".

There is ample material for a study of 17th and 18th century methods of electioneering, as exemplified at Marlborough and Bedwyn. The latter was a remarkably fine specimen of the "pocket borough", and Lord Ailesbury bought in the burgages there from Lord Verney with the avowed object of saving the trouble and expense of a contested election (1300/1673-1687). Civic affairs in Marlborough figure largely (1300/197, 198, 224-226 1688-1716), and the "Agistment Deeds" contain the signatures of residents who depastured their horses in the Forest (1300/357, 382, 1856-1869, 2684-2697).

Although the conflict with Napoleon is reflected in numerous documents concerning the Wiltshire Militia, war overseas comes very little into the earlier material. There is a contemporary copy of a long letter written by John Culley of the Royal Dragoons from Flanders about 1793 (1300/3102) which might just as well have been written in 1914 or 1940, even to the place names.

There are some letters from the present Marquess written during the South African war, when he was in Ladysmith during the siege (1300/6378 - 6436), together with note books and printed ephemera (1300/6556-6558).

There is a certain amount of genealogical material, mostly relating to the Bruce and Brudenell families, but nothing to compare with the magnificent Seymour Pedigree which has been already mentioned. This was compiled in 1604 to the order of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, and has received later additions, a photograph is in the collection (1300/376/A).

There are numerous maps and plans. A large volume on vellum (1300/372) contains details maps in colour and surveys made about 1719 by Charles Price and Thomas Atkinson. The former's maps have been compared with the modern ordnance maps and found to be perfectly accurate as to scale. The plans mostly refer to the rebuilding of Tottenham House by the first Marquess. There is also, however, a set of plans and elevations for suggested alterations to Bagden Lodge, later renamed Savernake Lodge. Each sheet is signed and dated by Sir John Soane and there is a covering letter from him (1300/2834), while a letter from the agent John Ward (1300/4594) throws some light on Soane's methods of working. There are, of course, many inventories and lists of furniture, picture, plate and clothing, mainly 18th century, but of no less interest are the inventories prepared when Tottenham house was requisitioned in 1941 (1300/ 6536 - 6545). The collection also includes material about the provision of an Evidence Room to hold the archives (1300/1617-1620, 1910).

Esturmy (Sturmi) family and early Savernake forest material

Savernake forest and estate material

Seymour family trust deeds and papers

Bruce family

Brudenell family

Savernake Forest Estate

These documents were retained by the earl of Cardigan after the gift to the Record Office of the archives of the Savernake estate (WSRO 9) because they were predominantly of family or forest interest. They were reported on by the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts in 1898 (15th Report. Appendix Pt. VII pp. 152-306).

This catalogue is an edited version of the description list produced by Edith S. Scroggs in 1948 when the archive was in Sturmy House, Savernake. A copy of this with detailed index is available.

• Brudenell-Bruce family, Marquesses of Ailesbury
• Bruce, Brudenell-, family, Marquesses of Ailesbury

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