These papers were purchased from a dealer in 1959 by Oxfordshire Archives, and given the Accession Number 357.
The papers previous history is unknown. The Ashhurst family can be traced back to Lincolnshire, A branch moved to Oxfordshire, and one of them, Sir Henry Ashhurst, BT., bought Waterstock manor in 1691. His son died childless in 1732, and the property descended to a cousin, Thomas Henry Ashhurst. The property Stayed in this family until the death of the last direct heir in 1949, when it passed to a nephew.
This collection of documents concerns chiefly William Henry Ashhurst (1778-1846), who was M.P. for the county in 1815-1830, and chairman of the Oxfordshire Quarter Sessions on 1822-1846, and his sons William Henry (d.1843), John Henry Ashhurst (1813-1885). There is also a document concerning William's father Sir William Henry Ashhurst (1725-1807), a prominent judge in his time.
The collection P145 was deposited by the Ashhurst family themselves.
Recatalogued in September 1994.
Bibliography :
Burke's Landed Gentry (1937 ed.) p.57.
The Victoria County History of Oxfordshire Vol VII: Dorchester and Thame Hundreds (Oxford 1962), pp 220-224.