The Wadsworth Collection of Manuscripts relating to the Charlton family, Nottinghamshire, 1601-1833

This is an artificial collection which includes original documents and copy papers on a variety of subjects. Many of the items concern the legal affairs and property rights of the Charlton family of Nottingham, referring to lands in Beeston, Chilwell and Attenborough, and including assessments for taxes, mining rights and an agreement concerning the failure of a framework knitting firm.

An historical interest may lie behind a number of nineteenth-century copies of earlier documents about local properties and their disposal, apparently made for Charlton by George Freeth, a Nottingham solicitor, although it is possible that there was a more practical concern behind the extracts. Some original documents of general local significance are also present, such as a petition of 1667 of the parishioners of St Peter's Nottingham concerning a presentation.

A number of the papers have been in poor physical condition, and the most fragile have been conserved.

Frederick A. Wadsworth was a Nottingham solicitor who from 1918 held the office of Registrar of the Archdeaconry of Nottingham. He had an active interest in local history, holding office in the Thoroton Society, contributing to its Transactions and preparing for publication the extensive marriage bond series in the Archdeaconry records. He had a particular interest in cartography and genealogy. He collected material about local history and his extensive library held many significant works. It is not known how he acquired the documents in the present Collection, which bears his name.

The Charlton family, the original creators of these records, held land in Chilwell, Beeston, Bramcote and Attenborough, Nottinghamshire, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. With the exception of Thomas Charlton, who was Sheriff of Nottingham in the eighteenth century, the family was not generally prominent in local life.

The collection of 61 items has retained a simple chronological order.

ACCESS: Accessible to all registered readers.

REPROGRAPHIC: Photocopies and photographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents.

NOTE: Copyright on all Finding Aids belongs to the University of Nottingham.

• In the Reading Room, University of Nottingham Library: Typescript Catalogue, 6 pp
• At the National Register of Archives, London: Typescript Catalogue, 6 pp

COPYRIGHT: Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk ). The Department will try to assist in identifying copyright owners but the responsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the reader.

LANGUAGE: English.

The manuscripts were donated to the University Library in the 1930s by Frederick A. Wadsworth.