| Description | Ancient deeds including copies of grants mainly made to the monks of Jervaulx 18th century, Carthorpe 13th century; Manfield and Cleasby (Clowbeck) 13th century-1425; Newton le Willows 13th cent-1524; Preston under Scar 1528.
Bruce family purchases including the manor and castle of Whorlton, and lands at Whorlton, East Witton, Jervaulx, Rookwith, Kilgram Howe, Finghall, High and Low Newstead, Elfahall, Ruswick, Thornton Steward, Ellington, Aikber, East and West Marrigorth, Heaning and Ellingstring, granted to Edward Bruce 16th century-1603; Dodderston Grange and property in Ellington, Ellingstring, Thornton Steward, Hutton Hang and Dodderston 1606; the manor of Newton Morker and Newton le Willows, Tortman Hall, and Brompton Mill 1560-1616; messuages in Newton le Willows 1584-1610; inquisition post mortem of Edward Bruce 1611; the manor of Newsham acquired through the marriage in 1630 of Thomas Bruce with Diana, Countess Dowager of Oxford, and daughter and co-heiress of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter 13th century-1610; the manors of West Tanfield, East Tanfield, Wath and Carthorpe 1623-1624; property in Manfield 1251-1382; property in Thornton Steward 1635-1807; property in Snape, Well and Masham 1566-1656; the first crops from land in Hesselton 1653; property in East Cowton 1666; the rectory of East Witton 1537-1756; a messuage at Thirn 1775-1776; land at Fearby 1777; land at Masham, Ellington, Ilton and Healey 1782; a fee farm rent from Newstead Grange in the parish of East Witton 1802; property in Newton le Willows and a pew in Patrick Brompton Church 1635-1810; property in Coverbridge 1713-1815; property in Fingall 1718-1827; land at Thornton Steward 1743-1830; land near Coverbridge 1834; land at Low Ellington and Ellingstring 1836; land in Newton le Willows 1762-1842; property in Newton le Willows 1769-1849; land in Carthorpe 1855-1856; property in Ellingstring 1872-1874.
Title deeds relating to the Cecil family including property at Newton Kyme and Hornington 13th century-1572; property at Sutton Grange in the parish of Ripon 1583; grant of the wardship of Christopher Danby comprising property in Yorkshire 1594.
Out county deeds relating to Leicestershire; Lincolnshire; Northamptonshire; Norfolk; Nottinghamshire; Somerset; Wiltshire; Yorkshire.
Other documents including letters of administration for the estate of George Cooper 1746; probate copy of the will of John Cooper 1765; "A schedule of leases, papers and writings relating to the Earl of Ailesbury's estate in Yorkshire" 1789; "A schedule of the Earl of Ailesbury's deeds, papers and writings in Yorkshire" 1804; a schedule of papers "sent to Mr Ward" n.d.
Sales of lands 1694.
Wills, settlements and mortgages including settlements of the Bruce estate prior to the marriage of Thomas, Lord Bruce with Diana Cecil 1613-1630; settlements relating to Diana, daughter of William, Earl of Exeter, prior to her marriage with Thomas Lord Bruce 1623-1629; wills and mortgages of the Bruce estate 1644-1889.
Manorial records including court rolls of Tanfield and Thornbrough 1319-17th century; with Airton 1454-1469, Applegarth 1453-1454, Bellerby 1469-1492, Carthorpe 1347-17th century, Cleasby 1453-1546, Clowbeck 1395, Cold Cotes 1475, Cotherstone 1546, Dalton Ravensworth 1468, Ellingstring 1475-1499, Fremington 1446-1474, Lartington 1546, Leeming with Exelby and Newton 1391-17th century, Manfield 1472-1629, Masham 1469-1475, Mickelton 1469-1472, Newsham by Barningham 1582-1735, Ravensworth 1445-1469, Richmond 1469, Ripon 1379-1475, Scorton 1410-1492, Seamer 1628, Sinderby 1431-1658, Staveley 1420-1499, Thornton Watlass 1392-1402,Wath 1382-17th century, Whashton 1469 and wapentakes of Hang East and West 1386.
Manorial accounts including the Marmion, Fitzhugh and St Quintin fees 1343-1597 including accounts for Ainderby Steeple, Aiskew, Airton, Askrigg, Applegarth, Barningham, Beighton, Bellerby, South Berwick, Binsoe, Bothamshall, Bradley, Brompton on Swale, Brandsburton, Carlton in Lindrick, Carlton in Ryedale, Carthorpe, Chapligarth, Cleasby, Clints, Clifton, Clowbeck, Cold Cotes, Cotherston, Coverham, Dent, Ellerby, Ellingstring, Ellington, Exelby, Great Fencote, Fremington, Garston, Gilling, Healey, Heworth, Hinton, Hipswell, Holwick, Hunmanby, Hunton, Ilton, Ingleby Barwick, Ingleton, Kingston, Knaith, Great Langton, Little Langton, Lartington, East Layton, Leeming, Luddington, Manfield, Mappleton, Masham, Mickleton, Middleton Quernhow, Newsham, Scabbed Newton, Nosterfield, Northumberland, Nunnington, Pallathorpe, Patrick Brompton, Preston, Ravensworth, Richmond, Ripon, Romaldkirk, Scorton, Scotton, Scruton, Sedbergh, Sinderby, Skelton, Stanton St Quintin, Staveley, Sutton, Swinton, East Tanfield, West Tanfield, Temple Hirst, Temple Newsham, Thirn, Thirleby, Thornbrough, Thorpe on Tees, Thorpe under Stone, Upsland, Wath, Watlass, Wensley, Whashton, Willingham, Wintringham, Woodhall.
Manorial records for the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire and Dyfed in Wales c1320-1640.
Surveys, valuations and terriers of Jervaulx estate including Akebar, Carthorpe, Ellingstring, Ellingtons, Fearby, Finghall, Hutton Hang, Ilton, Leeming, Manfield, Masham, Newsham, Newton le Willows, Nunnington, Patrick Brompton, Rookwith, Scorton, Sinderby, Sutton Grange, Tanfield East and West, Thirn, Wath, Whorlton, Witton East 1613-1907; [Bruce family property in Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire, Dorset, Surrey, Suffolk, Scotland, and leadwork in Teesdale Forest are included in 1647].
Vouchers to estate accounts 1813-1816 and rentals 1790-1831.
Leases covering Aikber, Carlton, Carthorpe, East Witton, Ellingstring, Fingall, Healey with Sutton, Hutton Hang, Jervaulx, Kilgram, Leeming, Marriforth, Masham, Newton le Willows, North Stainley, Patrick Brompton, Rookwith, Scorton, Sinderby, Snape, Sutton, Tanfield, Thirne, Thornton Steward, Thornton Watlass, Wath, Whorlton 1604-1915.
Estate papers 1478-1965 including an enclosure agreement for Watlass Moor 1753, correspondence relating to a tithe dispute in Tanfield 1758, gamekeepers records 1792, Manfield floods and embanking 1699-1781, Tanfield Hall 1747-1797, Tanfield timber sales 1782-1789, Swainby and Whorlton papers 1791-1833, River Ure embankment papers 1775-1806, Hunton enclosure records 1807, cattle plague rates 1867, mining 1856-1882, Bainbridge Roman camp excavation 1926-1931 and other papers.
Maps and plans of Hutton Hang, Fingall, Aikber, East Witton, Jervaulx Abbey, Snape, Tanfield, Sutton Grange, Carthorpe, Newton le Willows, Ellingstring, Thornton Steward, Sinderby, Manfield, Rookwith, Masham, Fearby, Ilton and Pickersgill, Wath, Thirn, Swainby estate, Burton cum Walden, Wykeham, Hutton Bushell, West Ayton, Startforth, Bellerby, River Ure navigation, Whorlton, Potto, Melberby to Masham railway, Bedale and Leyburn railway, Newton le Willows railway, Thorlton railway 1627-1915.
Historical, antiquarian and genealogical notes including extracts from Dugdale's Monasticon and a short account of Jervaulx Abbey by Thomas Brayshaw n.d. |
| Administrative history | The main estates of the Bruce family within the North Riding of Yorkshire were acquired by Edward Bruce in the early years of the 17th century. Edward Bruce, created Lord Kinloss in 1601, had accompanied King James VI and I to England in 1603, when he was granted the manor and castle of Whorlton, formerly belonging to Sir James Stragwaies, and lands belonging to the dissolved monastery of Jervaulx. These lands had been acquired by the Crown at the dissolution, and had been granted by Henry VIII in 1544 to Matthew, Earl of Lennox and his wife Margaret, of whom James I was the grandson and heir. A second royal grant in 1606 gave to Edward Bruce lands at Dodderston Grange, which had also been part of the estate of Jervaulx, while in that same year he purchased the manor of Newton le Willows from the Darcy family of Hornby Castle.
That Edward Bruce had estates not only in Yorkshire but also in Hertfordshire is shown by his inquisition post mortem, taken in 1611. As his eldest son Robert had already died without issue, Edward was succeeded as 2nd Lord Kinloss by his second son Edward, aged 20 years. Edward died on 28 August 1613 and was succeeded by his brother Thomas, aged only 13 years. Custody of Thomas during his minority, and the lease of the property at Whorlton and other property, including part of the Jervaulx estates, to the value of £100, were granted by James I to Thomas's mother, Magdalen Bruce, whilst the grant of livery, formally restoring to Thomas the lands which had devolved to the king through his minority was made (probably) in 1622.
Thomas Bruce was created Earl of Elgin in 1633, and Baron Bruce of Whorlton in 1641. He increased the Bruce estates considerable by his second marriage in 1630 to Diana, Countess Dowager of Oxford, and the daughter and co-heir of William, Earl of Exeter. By this marriage, Thomas Bruce became possessed of manors and lands in the areas of West Tanfield and Manfield, near his existing estates, as well as property in Lincolnshire and Middelsex all of which had been settled on Diana in 1624, following her marriage to the Earl of Oxford.
In 1646 Robert Bruce married Diana Grey, the niece of Diana, Countess Dowager of Oxford, his stepmother. He was created Earl of Ailesbury in 1664, and was succeeded by his son Thomas, who in 1676 married Elizabeth Seymour the heiress, after the death of her brother in 1671, to Tottenham Park and Savernake Forest in Wiltshire. The male line of the Bruce family failed after the death in 1747 of Thomas's son, Charles (the 3rd Earl of Ailesbury) whose two sons had both predeceased him. In 1746, the year before his death, Charltes obtained by patent the barony of Bruce of Tottenham, with remainder to his nephew, Thomas Brudenell, the youngest son of the 3rd Earl of Cardigan. Thomas Brudenell was created Earl of Ailesbury in 1776 and his son became the 1st Marquis of Ailesbury in 1821, after which, the Marquisate descended as shown in the pedigree.
The royal grants of 1603 to 1606, and the marriage to Diana, Countess Dowager of Oxford, account for the majority of the Bruce estates, but Edward, Thomas and Robert (the son of Thomas by his first marriage, to Anne Chichester in 1622) purchased or acquired through marriage small pieces of property in the areas of their existing estates. The title deeds give no evidence of purchases by the Bruce family between 1666 and 1756, and after that date the deeds again show purchase of exchange of small amounts of property in the vicinity of their estates. One such property was purchased in 1849 from Thomas Place of whom a deposition was made that his mother was a slave, and his father a planter on the neighbouring plantation in Jamaica, and that his freedom had been purchased prior to his inheriting land in Newton le Willows from his father. |
| Copies | Parts of this collection have been microfilmed [MIC 0911, 0912, 0913, 0914, 0915, 1025, 1085, 1086, 1089, 1090, 1092, 1093, 1094, 1095, 1096, 1097, 1098, 1099, 1100, 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, 1106, 1108, 1109, 1110, 1111, 1112, 1113, 1115, 1130, 1133, 1154, 1155, 1217, 1218, 1219, 1235, 1236, 1311, 1319, 1322, 1548, 1549, 1552, 1571, 1575, 1619, 1670, 1930, 1931, 1946, 1968, 2004, 2056, 2737, 4029, 4054]. |