Papers of Dr. William Farrer
1484-early 20th cent.
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The papers form the bulk of his collection of original documents, and transcripts from public records and family muniments.
The original manuscripts consist chiefly of Farrer' s own family papers and those of the families of Clayton of Little Harwood, including Crook of Abram and Townley of Carr, Barrowford Booth and Mauleverer and Hodgkinson of Preston. Among Farrer's family papers are notebooks on the state of the poor of Marsden, 1819-1853, when visited by Ann Ecroyd, Treasurer and Correspondent of Marsden Society of Friends Poor Relief Committee and a bill for medicines supplied to The Duchess of Newcastle ending with the cost of embalming the Duke 16 July 1711.
Apart from deeds from all parts of the country miscellaneous documents in the collection include a charter of the chapter of the church of Zagreb, Yugoslavia, 1547, a terrier of the rectory of Bury, 1696, accounts of the greave of the Forest of Pendle, 1751-1824, a letter arid order hook re raising and maintaining the militia in the Hundreds of Lonsdale end Amounderness. 1625-1687 and documents re Preston election, 1713. Farrer purchased several of Christopher Towneley's transcripts of documents in 17th century muniment rooms and had copies made of those in the British Museum and Chetham's Library. Among the Towneley manuscripts is the original compoti of Whalley abbey, 1 Jan. 1484/5(?) - 1 Jan. 1537/8(?)
He also purchased several of Thomas Phillipps of Middlehill's collections of manuscripts, including 17th c. pedigree books and Sir Roger Bradshaigh's letter book, re military arrangements for Lancashire, 1662-1676.
The transcripts made by or for Farrer and Earwaker include public records relating to the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, deeds from private muniment rooms, ecclesiastical records, and miscellaneous transcripts and notes on places, subjects and families.
There is also a large amount of printed and pictorial material including pamphlets and engravings.The collection contains 1,271 letters to Farrer or Brownbill, Many from landowners and their land agents answering queries about their records and property. These illustrate the difficulties historians had to work under in the days before the existence of county Record offices, when they had to spend a lot of effort trying to gain access to muniment rooms-
There are also letters from nationally known historians - J. H. Round A.C. Fox-Davies James Tait. and W.G. Collingwood besides local historians like H.T. Crofton Robert Gladstone, W.F. Irvine, R.D. Radcliffe, J.P. Rylands, Giles Shaw, Edward W. Cox, J.P. Earwaker, Henry Fishwick, W.D. Pink, Henry Taylor, Win. Langton, John Harland, T. Heisby, T.D. Hibbert, George Ormerod, F.R. Raines and J. Hibbert Ware.
Language: English and Latin
This catalogued has been partly retroconverted from GB127.L1/1-45. A further 16 series are still to be retroconverted. A full list is available in search room and on the National Register of Archives web site - see url field.
Related Material:Works by Dr. Farrer in Manchester Central Library:
Court Rolls of the Honor of Clitheroe, 1897-1913 (352.042 C2)
Chartulary of Cockersand Abbey, 1898-1909, Chetham Society New Series volumes 38-40, 43, 56, 57, 64
Final Concords of the County of Lancaster, 7 Rich. I - Ph. and mary, 1899-1910, Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society, volumes 39, 46, 30 and 60
Notes on Domesday Survey of Land between Ribble and Mersey, 1899, Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, volume 16 (336.42 Fa4)
Domesday Survey of North Lancashire and the adjacent parts of Cumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire, 1901, Transactions of Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, volume 18 (LC 336.42 Fa1)
Court Rolls...of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster in the County of Lancaster, 17 and 18 Edw. II, 1901, Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society, volume 41
Lancashire Pipe Rolls and Early Charters, 1901 (942.72 L197)
History of the parish of North Meols, 1903 (f 942.72 N5)
Victoria County History of Lancashire, 1906-1914 (f 942.72 Fa7)
Lancashire Inquests, Extents, and Feudal Aids, 1205-1355, 1903-1915, Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society, volumes 48, 54, 70
Early Yorkshire Charters, 1914-1916, Yorkshire Archaeological Society (942.74 F8)
An Outline Itinerary of King Henry I, 1919, English Historical Review, volume 34 (942.023 F1)
Feudal Cambridgeshire, 1066-1317, 1920 (q 942.59 C39)
Honors and Knights Fees, 1923-1924 (321.3 F6)
Records relating to the Barony of Kendale, 1923-1924, includes obituary of Farrer by J.F. Curwen (942.88 K5)
Registers of the parish church of Burnley, 1562-16533, 1899, Lancashire Parish Register Society, volume 2 (929.3272 B22)
Registers of the parish church of Over Kellet, 1648-1812, 1911, Lancashire Parish Register Society, volume 42 (929.3272 B32)
See also Manchester Review (017.442 M62) volume 12, p.49 for article about this collection.
Full catalogue available on the National Register of Archives web site.
PDF catalogue available online
Title:
Papers of Dr. William Farrer
Date of work:
1484-early 20th cent.
Reference number:
GB127.L1
Level of description:
Fonds
Includes:
Custodial history:
William Farrer Ecroyd was born in 1861, the second son of William Farrar Ecroyd, stuff manufacturer and merchant, of Lomeshaye Mills, Marsden M.P. for Preston, and supporter of the Fair Trade Movementof the 1880s.
In 1896 in compliance with the will of his great uncle, William Farrer of Liverpool, he took the surname Farrer. In the same year he left his father's business to devote himself to the study of Lancashire history, having purchased in 1895, on the death of John Parsons Earwaker, the latter's collection of material for his projected history of Lancashire.
He published the first volume of The Court Rolls of the Honor of Clitheroe in 1897, and from then until his death in 1924, many other learned works. His most famous contribution to Lancashire history was his editorship, along with John Brownbill of the Lancashire volumes of the Victoria County History a volume of which appeared yearly from 1906 to 1914. For this work he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters by Manchester University and placed on the staff of Liverpool University as Honorary Reader in Local History.
Source:
The original documents were purchased by the Library, from Dr. Farrar's widow in 1931, and the transcripts donated at the same time. In Dr. Farrer's time they must have been the most comprehensive collection of documents relating to Lancashire, which were also readily available to historical students, in the area. William Gregson, Hon. Treasurer of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, suggests in a letter to Dr. Farrer in 1901, that he make his library 'a sort of Lancashire Record Office' '.
Access restrictions:
Unrestricted
Use restrictions:
Unrestricted
Record types:
COLLECTION
Language:
English
Record number:
7181640