MORE MOLYNEUX FAMILY OF LOSELEY PARK: HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUMES

The correspondence of the More, (later More Molyneux), family of Loseley House is one of richest surviving sources for Tudor and Stuart Surrey. The most significant portions of the correspondence are those from the time of Sir William More (1520-1600) and his son Sir George More (1553-1632), both of whom held many important local and national offices, but some of the later letters are also of great interest, for example throwing light on the experiences of south-west Surrey during the Civil War.

Alongside successive monarchs, bishops of Winchester and the leading gentry of Surrey (such as Carew, Howard, Slyfield, Browne, Weston, Bray and Stoughton) and neighbouring counties, correspondents include such luminaries of the Tudor state as William Cecil (1520-1598), Lord Burghley, Robert Dudley (1532-1588), Earl of Leicester, Charles Howard (c.1536-1624), Earl of Nottingham, Sir Francis Walsingham (1530-1590), Edward Clinton (d.1585), Earl of Lincoln and Anthony Browne (c.1528-1592), Viscount Montague.

Summary biographies of the principal owners of Loseley and other main correspondents are as follows.

I. Sir Christopher More (by 1483-1549)

Purchaser of Loseley. Knighted 1540/41
Married: (1) Margaret, daughter of Walter Mugge of Guildford; (2) Constance, daughter of Richard Sackville of Withyham.
Main offices held: King's Remembrancer; ulnager of Surrey and Sussex; subsidy commissioner; muster commissioner; verderer of Windsor Forest; surveyor of lands for Margaret, Countess of Salisbury; justice of the peace for Surrey; sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, 1532-3, 1539-40.
Member of Parliament: Surrey, 1539, 1547

II. Sir William More (1520-1600)

Son of the above. Knighted 1576.
Married: (1) Mabel, daughter of Marchion Dingeley of Wolverton, IOW; (2) Margaret, daughter of Ralph Daniell of Swaffham, Norfolk.
Main offices held: chamberlain of the Exchequer; justice of the peace for Surrey; sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, 1558-9, 1579-80; provost marshal for Surrey, 1552; ulnager of Surrey and Sussex; subsidy and loan commissioner, Surrey; treasurer of the lottery in Surrey; muster commissioner, Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; commissioner for church goods, Surrey; commissioner for recusants and seminaries, Surrey; ecclesiastical commissioner; deputy master of the swans, Surrey; vice-admiral, Sussex; verderer of Windsor Forest; constable of Farnham Castle.
Member of Parliament: Reigate, 1547; Guildford, 1553, 1554, 1555, 1572, 1589, 1597; Surrey, 1563, 1571, 1584, 1586, 1593; Grantham (Lincolnshire), 1559.

III. Sir George More (1553-1632)

Son of the above. Knighted c.1598.
Married: (1) Anne, daughter of Sir Adrian Poynings of Burnegate, Dorset; (2) Constance, daughter of John Michell of Stammerham, Sussex.
Main offices held: chamberlain of receipt in the Exchequer; treasurer and receiver general to Henry, Prince of Wales; chancellor of Order of the Garter; lieutenant of the Tower of London; justice of the peace for Surrey and Sussex; sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, 1597-8; provost marshal for Surrey, 1589; subsidy and loan commissioner, Surrey; muster commissioner, Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; commissioner for recusants and seminaries, Surrey; verderer of Windsor Forest; constable of Farnham Castle.
Member of Parliament: Guildford, 1584, 1586, 1589, 1593, 1604, 1624; Surrey, 1597, 1601, 1614, 1621, 1625, 1626.

IV. Sir Poynings More, bart (1606-1649)

Grandson of III above, son of VIII below. Created baronet 1642.
Married: Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Fitch of Woodham Walter, Essex, widow of Christopher Rous of Henham, Suffolk.
Main offices held: justice of the peace for Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; defence commissioner, Surrey; assessment commissioner, Surrey; militia commissioner, Surrey.
Member of Parliament: Haslemere, 1624, 1625, 1626, 1640; Guildford, 1628.

V. Sir William More, 2nd bart (1643-1684)

Son of IV above.
Married: Mary, daughter of Sir Walter Hendley, 1st bart, of Cuckfield, Sussex. No children.
Main offices held: justice of the peace for Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; assessment commissioner, Surrey; commissioner for recusants; cornet of volunteer horse, 1660; lieutenant of militia horse, Surrey.
Member of Parliament: Haslemere, 1675, 1679, 1679-80, 1681.

VI. The Rev Nicholas More (1615-1684)

Son of VIII below; brother of IV above.
Married: Susan Saunders.

VII. Robert More (1664-1689)

Son of VI above. Died unmarried. Succeeded by his sister Margaret (1660-1704) and her husband Sir Thomas Molyneux (d.1719) of Westhoughton, Lancs.

VIII. Elizabeth More (1552-1600), usually referred to as Elizabeth Wolley

Daughter of II above.
Married: (1) Richard Polsted (d.1576) of Albury; (2) Sir John Wolley (d.1596), XI below; (3) Thomas Egerton (1540-1617), Viscount Brackley, XII below.

IX. Sir Robert More (1581-1626)

Eldest son of III above but predeceased father. Knighted, 1601 x 1604.
Married: Frances, daughter of Sampson Lennard of Knole, Kent, and Hurstmonceux, Sussex.
Main offices held: justice of the peace for Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; constable of Farnham Castle.
Member of Parliament: Guildford, 1601, 1614, 1621, 1625; Surrey, 1604, 1624.

X. Anne More (1584-1617)

Daughter of III above.
Married: John Donne (1572-1631), metaphysical poet and (later) dean of St Paul's

XI. Sir John Wolley (d.1596), of Thorpe and Pyrford

Married as his second wife Elizabeth Polsted, nee More (VIII above) ?by 1577. Knighted, 1592.
Main offices held: Latin secretary to Queen Elizabeth, justice of the peace, Surrey; Privy Councillor, Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, keeper of the records of the Court of Augmentations and Clerk of the Pipe, member of the Court of High Commission
Member of Parliament, 1571-1596, including for Surrey, 1593.

XII. Thomas Egerton (1540-1617), Viscount Brackley

Married as his second wife Elizabeth Wolley nee More (VII above) in 1597, no children; married Alice Spencer, widow of the Earl of Derby, after Elizabeth's death in 1600.
Knighted 1594, created Baron Ellesmere, 1603, and Viscount Brackley in 1616.
Main offices held: Attorney General, Master of the Rolls, Lord Keeper, Privy Councillor, Lord Chancellor

XIII. James Gresham (c.1617-1689) of Haslemere

Son of Thomas Gresham of Fulham by Judith, daughter of Sir William Garrard of Dorney, Bucks. Married Anne More (1620-1700), daughter of VIII above.
Main offices held: justice of the peace, Surrey; commissioner for charitable uses, Haslemere; commissioner for recusants, Surrey.
Member of Parliament: Haslemere, 1661, 1679.

XIV. Sir Thomas Cawarden (by 1514-1559) of Bletchingley

Son of William Cawarden of London. Friend of II who acted as his executor.
Married: Elizabeth. A prominent Protestant who was repeatedly under suspicion during Queen Mary's reign.
Master of the Revels and Tents; served in the 1544 French campaign; many stewardships and keeperships including manor of Bletchingley, palaces of Nonsuch and Hampton Court; commissioner for church goods, Surrey; subsidy and loan commissioner, Surrey; muster commissioner, Surrey; justice of the peace, Surrey; sheriff, Surrey and Sussex, 1547-8.

XV. Anthony Browne (1528-1592), 1st Viscount Montague

Son of Sir Anthony Browne (d.1548) of Battle Abbey and Cowdray Park, Sussex, and West Horsley, Surrey. Created Viscount Montague in 1554. A Roman Catholic.
Envoy to Flanders, 1565-6, and France, 1572; keeper of Guildford Park and Hampton Court Chase; subsidy commissioner, Surrey; muster commissioner, Surrey; justice of the peace, Surrey.

The following is a detailed summary of the contents:

A detailed summary of the volumes is below:

6729/1/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME 2 1544-1740
Containing letters numbered 1-112. 19th century binding, with bound in at at the front (now partially detached) a flyleaf stating 'Letters from eminent persons and many gentlemen of Surrey to Sir William More alphabetically arranged ... time of Queen Elizabeth' [in fact covering 1544-1740, and not all to William More] and an index by William Bray to the letters arranged by surname of the writer. A further note by Bray on the flyleaf states 'at the end are 2 [letters] from Dean Swift [Jonathan Swift, satirist, 1667-1745] to his cousin Thos. [Thomas] Swift Rector of Puttenham' but these are now lacking. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/1.

6729/2/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME 3 1442-1632
Containing letters and papers numbered 1-79. Described on fly-leaf by William Bray as 'Autographs in the time of Henry VIII, of Privy Counsellors in the time of Queen Mary etc and of many eminent men'. 19th century binding, with list of contents by Bray bound at front. Despite Bray's description, the volume includes letters and papers covering a longer period and may incorporate strays from other collections of papers which passed through Bray's hands, eg. 6729/2/14, a letter from Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick, to his 'cousin' Sir William Beauchamp of 1442, which appears to have no connection with the More family. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/2.

6729/3/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME V 1553-c.1684
Containing documents numbered 1-184. The volume was originally bound by Bray in two parts, the second of which (entitled 'Cawarden, Popish Recusants, etc') was sold some time between 1912 and 1939; most of its contents are now in the Folger Library, Washington (for which see Z/407/-). A Century of Persecution by S George Kieran Hyland (1920) reproduces many of these recusancy papers. Bray's part 1 was rebound at the Public Record Office in 1939 into the present two parts. Several documents were subsequently removed from these for sale, but many of them were returned to Loseley and bound into a new volume, no.2014 (see 6729/13/-). Bound at the front is a typescript list of documents giving cross references to entries in the Historical Manuscripts Commission report or in Kempe's book and the original list of contents in Bray's hand. The volume begins with a rare example of a letter issued under by Lady Jane Grey as queen (6729/3/4). The majority of the first part is compilations of letters to William and George More from members of the Howard and Cecil families and from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. The second part is principally family correspondence, apparently selected for their theme of debt, but also includes letters from Sir John Wolley, Latin Secretary to Queen Elizabeth (d.1596), to his father in law William More, including political news and references to the Queen's great trust in More (in particular 6729/3/169). This is a full list of the contents of the volume (now in two parts: 6729/3/1-110 are bound in part 1, and 6729/3/112-184 in part 2). There are no documents with the references 6729/3/1-3, 6-11, 13, 22-25, 27-28, 31-32, 38-45, 57, 60-61, 64-66, 68-69, 75, 77, 81, 86, 89-90, 101-103, 108-109, 111, 114-129, 134-138. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/3/.

6729/4/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME VI 1544-1684
Containing documents numbered 1-175, chiefly relating to musters and other military affairs in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Originally bound, the items numbered and roughly indexed by William Bray, c.1800. The contents were repaired and rebound into two volumes (nos.1-94 in the first, 95-175 in the second) at the Public Record Office in c.1939. Several items were removed for sale by the owner, but subsequently withdrawn from sale and rebound in a volume numbered LM/2014 (for which see 6729/13/-). These are items 1, 3, 5-6, 8-10, 24, 40, 45-7, 49, 55-6, 59, 61, 63-8, 71, 74-5, 77, 86, 88-90, 94, 98, 103, 105, 115, 118, 121, 123/1, 124 and 145-6 which are thus missing from the descriptions below. Bound at the front is a typescript list of documents giving cross references to entries in the Historical Manuscripts Commission report, in Kempe's book or in the Surrey Record Society's Surrey Musters volumes (published 1914-1920); Bray's original list of contents is divided between the two parts. For transcripts of the papers, see Zg/109/3/4.

6729/5/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME VII 1536-1684
Containing letters and papers numbered 1-20, relating to musters and other military matters. Repaired and rebound at the Public Record Office following 'the arrangement made in the early 19th century by the late Mr W Bray FSA'. The typescript note at the front of the volume goes on to state that 'A series of documents numbered separately by Mr Bray which may at one time have been bound up with these is now listed and bound as Vol. XII [6729/10/-] of this Correspondence'. A number of the papers have been published by Surrey Record Society in the series of volumes entitled Surrey Musters (1914-1920) and the typescript note includes a table of numbers and cross references to the Surrey Record Society volume and Historical Manuscripts Commission report. 6729/5/19-20 are two accounts relating to Sir Anthony Browne's campaign to suppress the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 which probably came to William More with the papers of Sir Thomas Cawarden who served with Browne (see Folger Library MS Lb.336, of which a copy is held as Z/407). There are no documents numbered 7 and 8. For transcripts of the other papers, see Zg/109/3/5.

6729/6/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME 8 1564-1628
Containing letters and papers numbered 1-110. 19th century binding, entitled on spine as 'Letters from Archbishops, Bishops, and many noblemen to Sir William More'. There is a list of correspondents in William Bray's hand bound in at the front of the volume. The volume begins with a group of letters (6729/6/1-12) from successive archbishops of Canterbury; thereafter it contains a number of letters (6729/6/13-30) from bishops (chiefly Winchester) and this group is followed by letters (6729/6/31-60, 62-110) from nobles arranged alphabetically by title. Despite the volume title a number of letters to Sir George More are included and Bray has also made errors in dating and identifying correspondents. Item 61 has been removed. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/6.

6729/7/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME 9 (1420)-1642
Containing documents numbered 1-150. 19th century binding, entitled on spine 'Papers of Sir Christopher and Sir William More'. The volume was bound in c.1819 (dated watermark on interleaved paper). Bound in at the front of the volume is a table of contents by William Bray. Despite the title suggesting that all the contents date from the 16th century, the volume include a small number of 17th century documents. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/7.

6729/8/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME 10 1557-c.1595
Containing documents numbered 1-130. 19th century binding entitled on spine 'Letters from Lord Viscount Montague [Anthony Browne (1526-1592), 1st Viscount Montague] to Sir William More'. At the front of the volume is a note on Montague by William Bray dated 1822. The volume also includes a detailed list of the letters (items 1-79 at the front of the volume items 80-130 at the back) by the Rev Charles Kerry, curate of Puttenham, largely based on Bray's endorsements, which was completed in 1874. At the back of the volume Kerry has added 'As Montague's writing is so difficult to decipher, I have made copious extracts from his letters - omitting nothing of topographical or general interest'. Anthony Browne, a Roman Catholic, came to political prominence during Mary's reign, being created Viscount Montague in 1554 and appointed to the Privy Council in 1555. Although he was ejected from the Council on Elizabeth's accession, he succeeded in remaining prominent in political life. He was lord lieutenant of Sussex in 1558 and 1569, and among other positions he sat as a commissioner at the trial of Mary Queen of Scots. Queen Elizabeth visited Montague at Cowdray Park in 1591. He had inherited estates including Battle Abbey and Cowdray Park, Sussex, and the manors of Send, Jury and East Clandon from his father Sir Anthony Browne in 1548. Aside from the Surrey estates recorded in this group, Montague at his death owned the manors of Clayton and Stockwell, the Great House at St Mary Overies, Southwark, and the manors of Pyrford and Pirbright, as well as considerable estates in Sussex (see his will, PROB11/81, Prerogative Court of Canterbury, register Neville, 22). See LM/1316-1317, section B.2.3.3, for dispute with the Bishop of Winchester concerning fishing rights. Montague's seat at Cowdray made him a neighbour of William More, and he appears to have been a close friend. Montague is known to have attempted unsuccessfully to use his influence over More to obtain the release of his son-in-law Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, who stayed at Loseley under house arrest while suspected of treason for his catholicism (see Hyland, A Century of Persecution op. cit.). Sir George More is known to have acted as a trustee on behalf of Montague's widow Magdalen in a minor lease assignment (LM/348/281, section G.9.12), and became a trustee under a private act for settling of certain manors and lands of the Right Hon Anthony Viscount Montague, towards the payment of his debts and raising of his daughters' portions in 1624: More commented that the More family owed 'much to that House for benefits and alliance' (see Munden, op. cit.). Further correspondence with Montague will be found in LM/COR/3/- [database available]. For records relating to Montague's commissions in Surrey, see also: LM/1488 (section B.1.12) for subsidy collection, LM/1330/11 for musters (section B.1.8). For pay books relating to Thomas Cawarden's service with Montague's father Sir Anthony Browne in the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536, see LM/1330/2-3 (section E.4.4), LM/25/6-8 (section E.4.1) and 6729/5/19. Further deeds relating to Montague's manor of Waverley and stewardship of the manor and hundred of Godalming are in section G.9.11. For Montague's career, see the Dictionary of National Biography (London 1908), RB Manning 'Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montague: the influence in county politics of an Elizabethan Catholic nobleman', Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol 106 (1968), and Send and Ripley History Society, Surrey People: Sir Anthony Browne and Sir Anthony Browne, First Viscount Montague, statesmen, courtiers and Catholic lords of the manor of Send and Ripley…(1982). Subjects of the letters include: the musters, matters relating to the royal parks (Guildford, Witley, Windsor), building and garden at Montague's house at Cowdray, the business of Commissioners of the River Wey, reports of war in the Low Countries and attacks of the Turks on Malta and Italy, a dispute at Montague's iron foundry, the inclosure of Horsley Common, Montague's embassy to Paris, 1572; the involvement of Montague's son Anthony in 'disorder' at Guildford; the commission of the subsidy and other county business. The modern spelling of Montague has been used throughout the following calendar, in preference to the variant 'Mountague' frequently used in the original documents. For transcripts of the letters, see Zg/109/3/8.

6729/9/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME XI c.1535-1642
Containing documents numbered 1-184. Green leather binding, later in date than the preceding volumes, bearing the title on the spine 'Letters etc from Bishops and Statesmen'. The manuscript list of contents is not in William Bray's hand. The endpapers bear the watermark 'Van Gelder'. Like 6729/10/ below, it was probably bound for the first time at the Public Record Office, 1909; it does not appear to be a rebinding of one of the volumes bound by William Bray. The volume chiefly contains letters from successive Bishops of Winchester, John Watson and Thomas Cooper, and from noblemen including Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, Thomas Sackville, Duke of Dorset, William Cecil, Lord Burghley, William Brooke, Lord Cobham, Thomas Egerton, Viscount Brackley, Sir Christopher Hatton, Edward Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, and his wife Elizabeth. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/9.

6729/10/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME XII 1548-(1680)
Containing letters and papers numbered 1-149. Green leather binding, similar to 6729/9/-, bearing the title on the spine 'Orders in Council, etc 1548-1680'. The manuscript list of contents is not in William Bray's hand. The endpapers bear the watermark 'Van Gelder'. Like 6729/9/-, it was probably bound for the first time at the Public Record Office, 1909; it does not appear to be a rebinding of one of the volumes bound by William Bray. There is no document with the reference 6729/10/69: it is described in the index to this volume and in HMC p.645a as a copy of a Council warrant of 27 Jun 1588 to call out 1,800 men immediately (missing, presumed sold). For transcripts see Zg/109/3/10.

6729/11/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME XIII 1532-1677
Containing letters and papers numbered 1-114, mainly relating to purveyance. Rebound and repaired by the Public Record Office according to William Bray's arrangement. A typescript list gives cross references to the report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, to Kempe's book and to Surrey Record Society's Surrey Musters volumes. Pencil annotations indicate that a number of letters were removed and bound in with Volume 2014 (6729/13/-): nos.17-19, 26-28, 99, 101. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/11.

6729/12/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME LM/2013 c.1547-1629
Containing letters and papers numbered 1-43. Bound by the Public Record Office (perhaps for an anticipated sale in the United States) and containing documents numbered LM/1922, LM/1991 and LM/2013/5-43. A loose list at the front is headed 'Historical Manuscripts Commission: list of Mss taken from Loseley, 3 March 1939, for an estimate from the PRO for repair and mounting'. According to a pencil list on the inside front cover, documents originally numbered LM/2013/1-4, 15-16, 22, 24 and 39 are not now in this volume but are to be found in 6729/13/- (originally LM/2014). The item numbers here assigned, other than for the first two documents which were originally numbered LM/1922 and LM/1991, and are now 6729/12/1-2, are the original LM/2013 numbers; thus there are gaps in the sequence. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/12.

6729/13/ HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME LM/2014 1533-1620
Containing letters and papers numbered 1-109. Bound and repaired by the Public Record Office. The contents of this volume were removed from some of Bray's original volumes, chiefly volume V (6729/3/-), volume VI (6729/4/-) and volume XIII (6729/11/-), with a view to sale which did not take place. No list of contents. 6729/13/1 and 2 are out of sequence and will be found after 6729/13/3, the first letter in the volume. 6729/13/98, a receipt signed by John Donne, 6 Jul 1602, is missing. For transcripts, see Zg/109/3/13.

6729/14/ INDEX TO HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME I LATE 19TH CENT
Volume I itself no longer exists. The handwriting of this volume has not been identified: it is not that of Bray or Kempe.

The More family established itself in Surrey in 1508 when Christopher More (before 1483-1549, knighted 1540), the son of a London fishmonger, originally from Derbyshire, completed purchase of the manor of Loseley outside Guildford. More was an Exchequer official and in 1505 purchased the office of ulnager of cloth in Surrey and Sussex. He subsequently obtained a formal legal training and secured offices in the households of several members of the nobility, including Margaret Countess of Salisbury. More continued to enhance his standing in Surrey through further purchasess and consequently was appointed to a large range of offices in county government including those of justice of the peace (from 1522), subsidy commissioner (from 1515) and sheriff of Surrey and Sussex (1539-40). He was clearly seen as dependable by Thomas Cromwell and was returned as one of the two Members of Parliament for Surrey in 1539, being again returned in 1547.

More's son William (1520-1600, knighted 1576) consolidated the family's political and material fortunes. He enlarged the estate considerably and rebuilt the house in the 1560s and his reliability and loyalty were clearly valued by Queen Elizabeth, who visited Loseley on several occasions, as well as many by important politicians such as William Marquess of Northampton, Charles Lord Howard of Effingham, William Lord Burghley and Robert Earl of Leicester. He held almost every office in county government and was assiduous in fulfilling his duties as is testified by the bulk of the surviving papers in collection LM. More was also an active member of the House of Commons from 1539 and served in every Elizabethan Parliament, representing Grantham in 1559 and thereafter either Surrey or Guildford. He sat on numerous Commons committees, and showed himself a zealous Protestant in his activities in Parliament and in local affairs, while retaining the friendship of the Catholic Lord Montague.

An important friendship in the early part of his career was that with Sir Thomas Cawarden (by 1514-1559) of Blackfriars and Bletchingley, who was Master of the Revels and Tents and Keeper of Nonsuch Palace from 1544, and an important local figure who enjoyed the favour of Henry VIII and Edward VI although his Protestant leanings made him an object of suspicion under Queen Mary. More acted as Cawarden's executor and as a consequence many of the latter's papers were held among the Loseley manuscripts. More also purchased Cawarden's Blackfriars property.

More's son George (1553-1632, knighted c.1598) shared his father's religious convictions and philosophy of public service. He held many county offices from 1580, and succeeded his father as chamberlain of receipt in the Exchequer; the support of Sir Robert Cecil and of More's brother in law Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere, Lord Keeper and Chancellor (1596-1617), ensured that More enjoyed royal patronage under James I. James appointed him chancellor of the Order of the Garter (1611-30) and lieutenant of the Tower of London (1615-17) and he served as treasurer and receiver general to the King's eldest son, Prince Henry, from 1610 until the Prince's early death in 1612. Even so, George felt he had received inadequate reward by James for his service and support for the government in Parliament, feelings which intensified after the accession of Charles I. More extended both Loseley house and the estate, in particular by securing the grant of the royal manor and hundred of Godalming in 1601, which obtained for the family a measure of control over the parliamentary borough of Haslemere. He achieved good marriages for four of his five daughters but was appalled by the celebrated union of Anne with the poet John Donne.

Sir George More was succeeded by his grandson Poynings in 1632, his son Sir Robert More having died in 1626. Poynings More (1606-1649, baronet 1642) cut a far less impressive figure than his grandfather and great-grandfather. He appears to have been something of a spendthrift and a reluctant supporter of Parliament in the Civil War although he was named as a Presbyterian elder in the Godalming classis in 1648. The surviving Loseley manuscripts contain little relating to his activities and stewardship of the estate. His son Sir William More, 2nd bart. (c.1644-1684) sat as MP for Haslemere from 1675, serving on the committee of privileges, and was an active justice of the peace particularly against conventicles. He died indebted and childless and his death marks the end of the involvement of the family in national affairs for many years.

Sir William was succeeded by his uncle Nicholas More (d.1684), rector of Fetcham, and shortly after by the latter's son Robert who died without heirs in 1689. Thereafter the estate passed to Robert's sister Margaret (1660-1704) who married Thomas Molyneux of Westhoughton, Lancs (d.1719, knighted 1716). Their son William (1690-1760), took the name More Molyneux, often being referred to as Sir More Molyneux. He was an active justice of the peace, chairing the Michaelmas sessions in Guildford for many years. His eldest son James More Molyneux (1723-1759) who again represented Haslemere in Parliament from 1754, predeceased his father who was succeeded by his second son Thomas, a soldier who served with the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1761, and who succeeded his brother as MP for Haslemere, generally supporting the government.

Thomas died unmarried and his sisters Cassandra (d.1777) and Jane (d.1802) inherited Loseley. The quantity of the surviving records suggests Jane was an indefatigable steward of house and estate. After her death her nephew James (1760-1823), her brother James' (d.1759)' illegitimate son, succeeded. The subsequent descent of the estate can be traced in LM/section F and in the family tree.

For archival management purposes the volumes have been assigned sequential series references 6729/1-13. Their original volume references are provided as series titles. Individual letters should be cited as sub items to the new volume references.

The antiquary William Bray (d.1832), who was the More Molyneux' agent, was given access to the manuscripts in the 'evidence room' at Loseley Park. He made a selection from the manuscripts of those he considered of particular interest, and had these bound into volumes. These volumes came to be known as the 'historical correspondence'. The volumes were subsequently variously broken up and re-bound, and some of the contents were sold. The surviving volumes bear references of a mixture of Arabic and Roman numbers: these are Volumes 2-3, V-VII, 8-10, XI-XIII; volumes bound at a later date known as '2013' and '2014' contain letters from the original bound selection, from various volumes. Volumes I and 4 no longer exist but a 19th century name index to the contents of volume I is held as 6729/14/1. Bray's endorsements appear on most of the letters identifying the author, contents of letter and date.

Many of the letters were calendared in JC Jeaffreson, Historical Manuscripts Commission: Appendix to 7th Report (1879): where this is the case, the page number is cited after the description, prefixed as HMC ('a' and 'b' indicating the left and right hand columns). Some letters were also published (not always accurately) in A J Kempe, The Loseley Manuscript: Manuscripts and other rare documents, illustrative of some of the more minute particulars of English History, Biography, and Manners, from the Reign of Henry VIII to that of James I... (John Murray, 1835), cited after the descriptions as Kempe.

The descriptions of each letter in these volumes, together with those of all the remaining loose letters between c.1450 and c.1689 excluded from the volumes and held as LM/COR/1-6 & 8-9, have been loaded onto a searchable and indexed database. This facilitates searching within date ranges, by author or recipient, by business to which the letter relates, or by subject. It also permits letters relating to the same subject but hitherto split between volumes, or between volumes and the loose correspondence, to be reconnected. The database is available at Surrey History Centre.

There are no access restrictions.

Deposited by Mr and Mrs M More-Molyneux in October and December 1999.

An item level description of the archive is available on the Surrey History Centre online catalogue

For the main body of records of the More and More Molyneux family and Loseley estate see LM/-, the introduction to which gives an account of the family, their offices and estates; for loose correspondence which Bray did not select for binding see LM/COR. The letters to 1689 have been calendared and the descriptions added to the searchable database referred to above.

For microfilm and transcripts of records from all three deposits, see Zg/109/-.
For microfilm of related letters and papers in the possession of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC, see Z/407.

AJ Kempe, The Loseley Manuscripts, Manuscripts and other rare documents, illustrative of some of the more minute particulars of English History, Biography, and Manners, from the Reign of Henry VIII to that of James I...(John Murray, 1835), cited as Kempe

JC Jeaffreson, Historical Manuscripts Commission: Appendix to 7th Report (1879), cited below as HMC ('a' and 'b' indicating the left and right hand columns). A copy of the HMC report with marginal notes of the relevant document references (including many documents which are now in the Folger Shakespeare Library) is available in the Surrey History Centre searchroom.