KENYON MSS

Gredington estate papers including: deeds, 1288-1952, for lands mainly in Denbighshire, Flintshire, Cheshire and Shropshire; estate papers, 1653-1968, including rentals, 1887-1935, accounts and vouchers, 1718-1965, valuations, particulars and surveys, 1676-1947, maps and plans, 1737-1950, sale plans and particulars, 1902-1920, sales, purchases and exchanges, 1809-1968, correspondence, 1653-1968, and papers relating to mines, 1803-1948; family papers including settlements, wills and testamentary papers, 1636-1976; legal and financial papers, including case papers, 1581-1903; taxation and general financial papers, 1606-1948; ecclesiastical papers, 1642-1915; and papers relating to charities, 1603-[18 cent]. The archive also includes a group of Tyrrell Trustees papers relating to London properties, 1866-1950, and to the Boreham estate, Essex, 1878-1931.

The Kenyon family settled in Wales when Lloyd Kenyon (1696-[1773]), son of Thomas Kenyon, married Jane, eldest daughter of Robert Eddowes of Eagle Hall, Cheshire, and Anne, daughter and heiress of the Rev. Richard Hilton of Gredington, Hanmer, Flintshire, in 1730. On the death of the Rev. Richard Hilton, vicar of Hanmer, Lloyd Kenyon moved to Gredington. The Kenyon family itself came originally from the parish of Winwick, Lancashire, but moved to Park-head, near Blackburn, before finally settling at Peel Hall. The mansion of Peel Hall is still in the possession of the Kenyon family. Lloyd Kenyon's second son and heir was Lloyd Kenyon (1732-1802), 1st Baron Kenyon, Chief Justice of Chester 1780, Attorney General 1782, Master of the Rolls, 1784 and Lord Chief Justice, 1788. He also served as M.P. for Hindon, Wiltshire, 1780-1784, and Tregony, Cornwall, 1784-1788. He was created a baronet in 1784 and was elevated to the status of Baron in 1788. He married Mary, third daughter of George Kenyon of Peel Hall, Lancashire, in 1773. He was succeeded by his son, George, 2nd Baron Kenyon, who married Margaret Emma, only daughter of Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bart., of Hanmer, Flintshire, by Margaret his wife, eldest daughter and co-heiress of George Kenyon of Peel Hall, Lancashire. Their son and heir, Lloyd (1805-1869), 3rd Baron Kenyon, succeeded to the estate and he in turn was succeeded by his son, another Lloyd Kenyon (1864-1927), 4th Baron. His heir was Sir Lloyd Tyrell-Kenyon (b. 1917). According to the 1873 return of owners of land, Lord Kenyon owned an estimated 7,191 acres in Flintshire and Denbighshire, with an estimated rental of £10,563.

Arranged chronologically into: Gredington Estate; deeds, minerals, estate records, family papers, legal and financial papers, charities and ecclesiastical; Tyrell trustees; and miscellaneous.

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Compiled by Mair James for the HMC/NLW Family and Estates project. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Flintshire Record Office, Kenyon MSS catalogue; Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (London, 1959); James, Brian, 'The Great Landowners of Wales in 1873', National Library of Wales Journal, XIV (1965-6).

Hard copies of the catalogue are available at Flintshire Record Office and the National Register of Archives.

Compiled by Mair James for the HMC/NLW Family and Estates project. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Flintshire Record Office, Kenyon MSS catalogue; Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (London, 1959); James, Brian, 'The Great Landowners of Wales in 1873', National Library of Wales Journal, XIV (1965-6).

Item level descriptions Input by Jane Swinton.

Usual copyright regulations apply.

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records deposited at Flintshire Record Office have been retained

Accruals are not expected

Further papers are Flintshire Record Office, D/KT; Lancashire Record Office, DD/Ke; and The Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine MSS 5296-5303.