Madresfield Court Archives Derbyshire

[pathar505]

     Earl Beacham of Madresfield Court was allocated land at Newhaven near Hartington in Derbyshire during the Enclosures.  He later sold the land to the Bateman family I think ?
     My 4 x great grandfather farmed the land from the early 1800's and I am trying to find out if he was a tenant of the Earl in the Heanor area before that ?

[spendlove]

Hi,
 The Newhaven, Derbyshire enclosure of 1798 awarded land to William Lygon (1747-1816),
who in 1815 became 1st Earl Beauchamp, the 512 acres of land awarded to Lygon as improprietor
of the Great Tithes.

Lysons suggests that by 1817 this land, now a Farm known as Hartington Moor Farm, had been
sold to Sir Hugh Bateman.

I can find no land holdings in the Heanor area held by William Lygon, who originated from Worcestershire - do not mean to say there were none just cannot find at present.

Can you say when in the 1800's your ancestor lived at Hartington Moor Farm, would it be after
1817?.  As you can see this is important in order to know which family estate records to look for.

Spendlove

[pathar505]

Hi,
Thank you for your reply re Newhaven Lodge etc.
The Wiltons were definitely farming there in 1810 and the family was there for at least three generations. Earl Beauchamp sold the land to Batemans who in turn sold it to the Duke of Devonshire in 1815. I assume that the Wiltons were tenants. Joseph Wilton's sons and grandsons had various farms in the area too, but never Hartington Moor farm.
The parcel of land allocated to the earl was shaped a bit like a triangle covering an area between Newhaven and Parsley Hay along the turnpike ( now the A515) which is where the Lodge is situated. The  other two sides of the triangle cover an area to the west almost to the village of Hartington, which accounts for the extra acreage you mentioned.
Hartington Moor Farm is about a mile as the crow flies from the Lodge and is more or less in the centre of the triangle. Newhaven Hotel was built in the 1790s, so I looked on the enclosure maps for the Lodge but there were no buildings marked. Family tradition tells me that the lodge was built to house people (staff, coachmen & etc) who could not stay in the hotel, which was a main stop for the Manchester to London stagecoach, but the Lodge is 2 miles north of the hotel which had its own stables and outbuildings.
In all the census returns, Joseph Wilton stated that he was born in Heanor and indeed, one of his sisters, Elizabeth of Newhaven Lodge, married in Heanor in 1810. I cannot find a birth for the family in Heanor.
 The reason I ask about him being a tenant of the earl, is that I cannot imagine him arriving in the middle of the Derbyshire hills from a mining town and taking over the 288 acres of farmland without having some connection with the owner/ proprietor. I believe, but have no proof whatsoever, that the Joseph Wilton who was buried in Hartington in 1830s aged in his 80s was the first of the Wiltons to arrive and farm there and as Joseph was a family name, I think he must have been my 5 x gr. grandfather. 
I hope I haven't bored you with all this and hope that you can see something that I have missed!

Pathar

[spendlove]

Hi,

From the little info you gave in your original post, I obviously went for the wrong piece of land, Sorry.

My only thoughts are that Joseph Wilton giving Heanor as his place of birth may actually mean
"Heanor Parish", in any case there would have been lots of farms not just the coal mines.

Only have on line access to Heanor church records, but the first Wilton/Whilton I can find is the
marriage 2nd January 1775/6  John Whilton, sojourner = Ann Portar of Heanor Parish.

Birth of a Jane Wilton 1780 and Sarah Wilton 1790 bpt Heanor, the actual entry for each states
place of residence is Langley (Mill).  Which is where Elizabeth Caley, nee Wilton, was living in 1841.

The Chatsworth Estate Archives will have details of when the property was built, tenants, rents etc., however this is expensive.  Cannot see an actual cost but when last I visited it was £50 a day.

Would try asking the question.

Spendlove

[goldie61]

Hi
Just to say that I visited the Chatsworth Archives at Chatsworth House in July this year, and the charge was 25 pounds for the day in the archives reading room (sorry, no pound sign on this antipodean keyboard!).
Don't know if you live in England Pathar, but it was great to be able to see the archives there. Well worth a visit if you have Derbyshire ancestors associated with the Dukes of Devonshire.
Added:
Just found the right page on the Chatsworth site - it is 25 pounds a day. You have to apply in writing on their form, and then they see when they can fit you in. Only 4 people allowed in the small reading room. Don't try and just turn up! 
http://www.chatsworth.org/attractions-and-events/art-archives/art-and-archives-collections/access-the-collection/archives-and-works-of-art

Good luck

[pathar505]

To Spendlove and Goldie61
Thank you for your replies to my query. You have been very helpful.
Pathar505