The vast bulk of this collection consists of deeds and settlements covering the 13th to the 19thcentury. Most of the deeds relate to lands in Yorkshire but there are also deeds relating to NorthNottinghamshire and to other counties such as Cornwall, Cheshire and Lincolnshire. There are also anumber of manorial records relating to Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire including court rolls for SouthNewbald, Yorkshire.
The estate records consist of conveyances, surveys, rentals, accounts and correspondence andagain relate to Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, in particular Scrooby in Nottinghamshire and Caviland Pontefract in Yorkshire. Also amongst the estate papers are several items relating to electionsin Pontefract and elsewhere in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
The collection also includes a number of estate, personal and household accounts and the accountsof William Monckton, 2nd Viscount Galway (d 1772), as Receiver General of the Crown Lands. Legalpapers, ecclesiastical papers including registers, wills and items concerning tithes, householdinventories and genealogical papers are also present in the collection.
Of particular significance are the personal, political and diplomatic papers which include theEnglish Civil War memoirs and correspondence of Philip Monckton (c.1620-1679), and papers of RobertArundell (1696-1758), Surveyor General and Master of the Mint. There are items concerning a numberof notable political and diplomatic figures including Henry Pelham and his brother the Duke ofNewcastle, the Wentworth family, Earls Strafford, Sir John Goodricke and the Duke of Cumberland.Papers of George Vere Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway and Governor-General of New Zealand are alsopresent in this section. (See also GB 159 Ga 2G).
A final group of papers reflects the families coal mining interests and activities in Yorkshireand Nottinghamshire in the 19th and 20th centuries, centred upon the Hodroyd and MoncktonCollieries.