Tenison, Thomas (1636-1715)

Correspondence and papers of Thomas Tenison (1636-1715), Archbishop of Canterbury 1695-1715.

These form part of the Archbishops' Papers. These in turn form part of the archives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, which also comprise: Bishops' Meetings records (BM), Cartae Antiquae et Miscellaneae (Lambeth Charters) (CM), Convocation records (Conv), Court of Arches records (Arches), Faculty Office records (F), Lambeth Conference papers (LC), Temporalities records (ED and T), including correspondence on the Archbishops' estates (TR 8-36), and Vicar General records (V).

The provenance of the Early Modern Archbishops' Papers, including the Tenison papers, is complex. This is an artificial collection which was brought together between 1982 and 1984 (see the Library's annual reports). It comprises for the most part papers acquired in the 18th century (which relate to other papers which had been placed long ago in the MSS series), but also selected papers from the archive of the Vicar General which were transferred in at this time to accompany them. There is a considerable overlap with other series in the Library, notably the records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

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New description by Richard Palmer, 2014

Earlier catalogue descriptions based on M. Barber, 'Early Modern Archbishops' Papers: list of papers, 1664-1828' (typescript) are available on the National Archives Discovery site < http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk>.

There is a considerable amount of correspondence of the Archbishops, particularly before the 19th century, scattered throughout the Manuscript Series. Much of this material is very summarily noted in H.J. Todd, A Catalogue of the Archiepiscopal Manuscripts in the Library at Lambeth Palace, 1812, and attention is drawn in particular to the following manuscripts:

MSS. 929-943 Gibson Papers include correspondence of Archbishop Tenison.

MSS. 1078-83c Coronation Services, 1702-61.

MSS. 1122/1-4 Foreign Protestants, 1699-1768.

MSS. 1123/1-3 American and West Indian colonies, 1641-1768.

MSS. 1130/1-2 Royal Papers, 1711-66.