| AdminHistory | The Earls of Stamford and Warrington were by far the single largest land holding family in the area which is now Tameside. The lands were inherited from Sir Ralph Assheton
The Stamford Estate collections are extremely important to the local heritage of the Tameside area. The records provide an historical context for a large part of the borough, the estate having covered the townships of Ashton, Hattersley, Matley and Staley, with tracts of land also held in the neighbouring townships of Droylsden and Quickmere. The collection consists of a large number of deeds and plans which trace the development of the area before, during and after the industrial revolution. Although well-known as an important Lancashire cotton town, Ashton is less well-known as a fine example of a Georgian and Regency planned town. The fifth earl of Stamford is credited as the man behind this development. The planning of Ashton is particularly interesting because it retained the original medieval core of the town and added a modern, grid pattern of streets to the west of the town. The George Harry Booth, the 7th Earl, provided the site for the new Ashton Infirmary (now Tameside Hospital), and other important buildings such as the old Ashton baths.
On the death of the 7th Earl, the earldom passed to the Reverend Harry Grey, descendant of the fourth earl. |
| Related Material | Related records are held in other collections at Tameside Local Studies and Archives, and also at other institutions.
Records at Tameside include:
DD273 - Records of James Newton, Constable of the Stamford Estate. This collection includes his work books, diaries, notebook, list of tenants, list of Court officers, receipt, all relating to the administration of the Stamford Estate, dated 1850-1905.
DD333/1 - Lease dated 22 Jul 1791between the Earl of Stamford and George Williamson of Ashton under Lyne, clothier for house and shop at the Fields, Ashton under Lyne.
DD52/27 - Family tree, The Grey family, Earls of Stamford, nd
DD46/2 - Undertaking by W H Hall on behalf of the Earl of Stamford to flag, pave and sewer that part of Stockport Road "coextensive with the land of Mr Henry Lees" dated 4 Jun 1873
DD13/22/4 - Newspaper cuttings, Earl of Stamford and John Astley of Dukinfield, and pictures of Francis Dukinfield Astley, nd
DD104/1/27 - Conveyance in fee dated 20 Sep 1855 between the Earl of Stamford and Warrington and Thomas Mason and Hugh Mason for 6028 square yards of land at John Street, Ashton under Lyne subject to payment of a yearly chief rent of £43.19.0. Including plan
DD104/1/30 - Conveyance in fee simple dated 1 May 1897 between the Trustees of the will of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington and Rupert Mason and Sydney Mason of 982 square yards of land between Stockport Road and John Street, Ashton under Lyne, subject to a payment of a yearly chief rent of £7.3.2. Includes plan. Enclosed letter regarding building on the land.
DD104/1/31 - Copy release dated 5 May 1909 between the Trustees of the will of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington and Rupert Mason and Sydney Mason. Copy release of rent from land in Audenshaw. Including two copies made 27 April 1927.
DD201/9 - Sale dated 27 Jul 1797 between Joshua Wrigley and John Buckley, Isaac Worthington and George Harry, Earl of Stamford and Warrington. Sale of land at Rassbottom to Neddy Hall
DD201/24 - Conveyance dated 31 Oct 1797 between Joshua Wrigley, John Buckley, Isaac Worthington, the Earl of Stamford, John Hilton, Neddy Hall and the Rev Robert Harrop. Land and buildings at Ridgehill, Ashton under Lyne
DD201/26 - Mortgage dated 20 Jul 1793 between John Judson, the Earl of Stamford and Thomas Judson. Land and buildings at Rasbottom, Ashton under Lyne
DD201/27 - Lease dated 19 Jul 1793 between John Judson and the Earl of Stamford. Land at Rasbottom, Ashton under Lyne
There are some copies of plans from the Stamford Estate Office which were used in the research for "A History and Archaeology of Tameside", volumes 1-5. Plans numbered ESRCA 1-13 are in the Ephemera Collection at L906. Plans numbered ESRCA 14-23 are in the map cabinet in the search room, stored in date order. Please note that ESRCA 15, 17, 19 and 21 were never supplied and can only be consulted at the Stamford Estate Office. All orginals are at the Stamford Estate Office.
Ephemera relating to the Court Leet is kept in the Ephemera Collection at L347
Records held elsewhere:
The Grey (Stamford) of Dunham Massey papers are held at John Rylands University Library Special Collections (Deansgate Library). The deeds and other papers in this collection relate to properties in Altrincham, Ashley, Ashton upon Mersey, Bollin Fee (Wilmslow), Bollington, Bowdon, Carrington, Dunham Massey, Hale, Hattersley, Matley, Millington, Partington, Pownall Fee (Wilmslow), Sale, Stayley, Thornton-le-Moors and Timperley in Cheshire, and Ashton-under-Lyne and Warrington in Lancashire. An online and a published catalogue are available for consultation. Amongst these records is the Ashton-under-Lyne market charter. They include:
EGR1/5/1/1, Letters Patent of Henry VI (13 Feb 14 Hen [?4] [1412/3] ) Granting to Sir John de Assheton permission to hold two fairs annually in the town of Ashton under Lyne on the eve, feast-day and morrow of the feast of St Swithin [1-3 July] and on the eve, feast-day and morrow of the feast of St Martin in the winter [10-12 November], and a market every Monday, and to receive the profits from those fairs and markets in perpetuity.
EGR1/5/1/2, Exemplification of: i) Letters patent EGR1/5/1/1 above; ii) writ dated 24 November 1607 directed to the Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster, instructing him to direct a writ to the sheriff of Lancashire ordering him to make a proclamation that Sir George Booth (1566-1652) is not to be hindered from enjoyment of his markets and fairs. |
