Potter, John (1674-1747)

Papers of John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury 1737-47

These form part of the Archbishops' Papers. These in turn form part of the archives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, which also comprise: Bishops' Meetings records (BM), Cartae Antiquae et Miscellaneae (Lambeth Charters) (CM), Convocation records (Conv), Court of Arches records (Arches), Faculty Office records (F), Lambeth Conference papers (LC), Temporalities records (ED and T), including correspondence on the Archbishops' estates (TR 8-36), and Vicar General records (V).

The provenance of the Early Modern Archbishops' Papers, including the Potter papers, is complex. This is an artificial collection which was brought together between 1982 and 1984 (see the Library's annual reports). It comprises for the most part papers acquired in the 18th century (which relate to other papers which had been placed long ago in the MSS series), but also selected papers from the archive of the Vicar General which were transferred in at this time to accompany them. There is a considerable overlap with other series in the Library

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New description by Richard Palmer, 2014

There is a considerable amount of correspondence of the Archbishops, particularly before the 19th century, scattered throughout the Manuscript Series. Much of this material is summarily noted in H.J. Todd, A Catalogue of the Archiepiscopal Manuscripts in the Library at Lambeth Palace, 1812.