Showing 981 results

This Series covers the domestic life and running of the household of the Byron’s at Coulsdon Court. It includes a wages book covering the appointment, length of service and other information on all the core domestic staff appointed between 1890-1921. There are receipts and other papers relating to a wide range of domestic purchases and household items. Edmund Byron was a collector of fine art, furniture, and artefacts and many of these purchases are detailed, including how they were hung and distributed around the house.

There is a set of receipts detailing nursing expenses during Edmund’s final illness in 1921.

There is a valuation of the furniture and contents of Coulsdon Court, listing items room by room, produced for insurance purposes in 1905.

There is overlap between this item and AR1057/10, which covers the sale of the estate, including that of Coulsdon Court itself including more inventories and sales particulars of the contents of Coulsdon Court, with lists room by room. These documents together give an insight into the house itself and how it was furnished, both in the domestic spaces as well as the more public rooms.

This Series covers documents concerning Edmund Byron’s involvement in public offices, with some items which reveal aspects of his philanthropy within the Coulsdon community. The strength of the Series lies in detailed documentation of his candidature in the Surrey County Council elections from 1888, when he was elected as a County Councillor, through to 1898, when he initially stood for election but withdrew when opposed by a late-entry and strong alternative candidate.

There are also documents relating to St. John’s church, Coulsdon, and Edmund’s appointment as a Justice of the Peace. Contributions to the church are also recorded in AR1057/3/163/11 – Domestic and Family Expenses and Accounts.

There is significant overlap with AR1057/1 – Personal Correspondence and AR1057/6 – Journals and Memoirs. Together with these other sources, a full picture of the family’s public and philanthropic roles in Coulsdon and the wider county community may be acquired. Researchers are particularly referred to AR1057/6/112 – Journal kept by Charlotte Emily and Edmund Byron, 1867-1875.
 

This Series covers transactions regarding properties on the estate before the death of Edmund Byron in 1921 and the sale of the entire estate. It covers properties in Golders Green and Hendon as well as Coulsdon. Sales particulars, correspondence illustrating the associated negotiations and valuations of the entire estate are included in the Series.

There is overlap with AR1057/14 – Solicitors Accounts; these itemise the fees charged by solicitors from which transactions regarding property can also be gathered.

This Series comprises a substantial and varied volume of documents that provide detailed insight into the running of the Coulsdon estate, enabling a close examination of the nature of nineteenth century mixed farming.

Items in this Series include running rentals covering a succession of years from the large farms through to cottages and small holdings, account books covering maintenance and repair costs, sales of timber cuts and farm account books with running records of expenditure, sales, income and profitability. The account books cover a range of years from 1833 to 1922. An account book for 1916-1922 and a set of estate accounts/valuations for 1922 capture the very last years when the estate was intact through to the period when the estate was in the process of being sold.

AR1057/12 is complemented by items in AR1057/8 on the bailiffs and staff employed on the Coulsdon estate.

This Series covers the accounts rendered by the Byron’s solicitors, predominantly Tylee & Co.

The records in this Series are highly detailed and comprehensive, recording all the substance of all contacts and time spent in dealing with the family’s affairs and the fees charged. It amounts to a substantial quantity of documentation which provides insight into the family’s business and personal life, for example, legal advice and services provided for the purchase and sale of land, for a range of business transactions and disputes, for settling wills and handling trusts.

There is particular strength for the period following Edmund Byron’s death, with advice by Tylee and Co, the executors, to the trustees of the will, Eric Byron and Theodore Hall Hall (husband of Lucy Byron) concerning the sale of the estate. This includes information on the actual sales options available to the family, the decision making on these land sales and the pricing of individual lots, distribution of the contents of Coulsdon Court amongst family members, handling family trusts arising from the will and dealing with the queries of the trustees about the whole complex process. Handwritten marginalia throw light on Eric’s private response to some of the issues raised.

This Series provides additional sources of information for a good part of the archive, notably AR1057/2, 3, 8-13.

The Vestry was the governing body of the parish, largely concerned with civil (non-ecclesiastical) matters. It comprised an assembly of all male ratepayers. The `Select Vestry' (technically a Parish Committee) was a smaller and more manageable committee of 5-20 householders, which dealt with matters relating to the poor. It was established at the Vestry meeting of 9 June 1819, under powers granted by the Sturges Bourne Act 1819, 'for the care and management of the concern of the poor'.

Initially referred to as the Meeting of Churchwardens and Overseers, but, after the first meeting, as the Parish Officers. The meetings dealt mainly with matters relating to the setting and collecting of parish rates, and the appointment of officeholders. From 1April 1899 onwards, the volumes contain minutes of Parish Overseers' meetings only. F or Overseers' Accounts, see PR1/1/3/1/1-9 and PR1/1/3/2/1-5.