Manuscripts collected by John Wilson of Broomhead

The collection consists of original deeds, court rolls, manorial records, and other material, dating from the 13th century onwards and almost exclusively Yorkshire in character. It includes: (1) Papers, accounts and correspondence of the Wilson family, and of those families with whom they intermarried; (2) Documents relating to the churches, parish and castle of Sheffield; (3) Manorial records of Sheffield, Midhope, Rotherham, Gunthwaite, Almondbury, Cawthorn, Bolsterstone, Hallamshire, Penistone, etc.; (4) Parochial records of Bradfield, Ecclesfield, etc., and many abstracts of deeds relating to other Yorkshire parishes; (5) Papers in law suits, mainly of the 16th century; (6) Copies of genealogies of Yorkshire families; (7) Miscellaneous copies of medical receipts, epitaphs, sermons, folklore, and other antiquarian notes, collected by Wilson, or copied by him from printed works

John Wilson was an antiquarian who lived at Broomhead Hall in the parish of Bradfield, near Sheffield. The Wilson family had lived in the same area for several centuries and extensive family archives formed the original basis for the collection, which was supplemented by acquiring or copying the papers belonging to other local families, such as the Kayes of Woodsome and the Bosvilles of Gunthwaite

Access is unrestricted

Acquired for the Brotherton Library through the generosity of S. H. Burton, 1966

In English

Contents listed in Handlist 1. Detailed card-indexes of place and personal names are also available for consultation in the Special Collections department.

Wilson's original collection was sold to Sir Thomas Phillipps in 1843, subsequently repurchased by the Wilson family towards the end of the nineteenth century, and finally sold by them in 1953