The first section (29 items), named Janson Family Deeds, is mainly concerned with properties in Darlington, Co. Durham, which were acquired by John Janson, a linen manufacturer in Darlington, between 1799 and 1801. The last three documents in this section are a lease of a moiety of Black Boy Colliery in Coundon by Joshua and the above mentioned John Janson in 1821, and Probates of Joshua and his wife Ann in 1843 and 1856 respectively.
No connection has been established between the Janson Family Deeds of the first section and the documents of the second section which contains 23 items relating to the Umfreville and Askew families and their properties in Whitechapel, Stepney and Southwark, Mitcham Enfield and Ewell in Surrey, Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, and Southweald in Essex from 1656- 1768. The collection is unusual in that many of the most important deeds for establishing title are missing. There is, for example, a high proportion of Indentures of Fine without an accompanying Bargain and Sale or Release, and although we have documents for at least four transactions associated with the marriage of Hannah Askew and Henry Umfreville, the settlement itself is absent.