Papers of George Ormerod (1785-1873)

Reference and contact details: GB 237 Coll-333
Physical Location: Df.1.44/1-6
Title: Papers of George Ormerod (1785-1873)
Dates of Creation: 19th century
Held at: Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division
Extent: 6 volumes.
Language of Material: English.
Level of Description: fonds

Administrative/Biographical History

The Cheshire antiquary and historian George Ormerod was born in High Street, Manchester, on 20 October 1785. He attended King's School, Chester, then was educated privately by the Rev. Thomas Bancroft at Bolton-le-Moors, Lancashire. He studied at Brasenose College, Oxford. Early in his life he became interested in heraldry and topography, and from around 1808 he began to form large collections on the history of Cheshire. Ormerod's publications include The history of the County Palatine and City of Chester (1816), Parentalia: genealogical memoirs (1851), and Remarks on a line of earth-works in Tidenham, known as Offa's Dyke (1859). Later in his life Ormerod became blind and he died at Sedbury Park, Gloucestershire, on 9 October 1873.

Scope and Content

The papers consist of original sketches, mainly by Ormerod, of landscapes and buildings in Great Britain done during the first half of the 19th century.

Accruals

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.

Access Conditions

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

Archivist's Note

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of national biography, Vol. 14. Myllar-Owen. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1909.

Finding Aids

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Related Units of Description

The local Indexes show reference to letters from A. Rimmer to Ormerod and a note in reply, 1852-1853, at Df.1.44/1, f.(41), but check the Indexes for more details. In addition, the UK National Register of Archives (NRA), updated by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, notes: notes and papers relating to Cheshire, Lancashire, etc, and for the location of these papers see Irvine Gray, Antiquaries of Gloucestershire and Bristol, 1981; notes and papers relating to Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, Private, NRA 11956 Ormerod; author's copy of his History of Cheshire, with additions, in Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, and correspondence with Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1846-1863, Ref. MSS Phillipps-Robinson, NRA 26260 Phillipps; correspondence and miscellaneous papers relating to genealogy of Crompton family, Bolton Archive Service, Ref. ZCR/92, NRA 27114 Crompton; letters (11) to Thomas Hughes, 1856-1870, Cheshire and Chester Archives and Local Studies, Ref. CR60 NRA 30949 Hughes, and correspondence with Peter Leigh, 1846-1850, Ref. DDL NRA 5979 Leigh; and miscellaneous correspondence, British Library, Manuscript Collections, Ref. Add MSS 24873, 34568-69, 38514, Eg MS 28.