JERSEY FAMILY AND ESTATE

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 ACC/0510
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: JERSEY FAMILY AND ESTATE
Date(s)	: 1696-1865
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 0.53 linear metres.
Name of creator(s)	: Jersey | family | of Osterley Park Child | family | bankers

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Manor of Osterley in Heston was purchased by property developer Nicholas Barbon in 1683. Barbon conveyed the Manor to two co-mortgagees including the banker Sir Francis Child the elder (1642-1718). Child took possession of the Manor on Barbon's death in 1698, while his son Robert Child (d. 1721) bought out the co-mortgagee, so that the Child family owned the whole estate. The family expanded the estates by purchasing nearby Manors and commissioned Robert Adam to redesign the house.

The estates and Child's Bank were inherited by Sarah Anne (1764-1793), daughter and sole heir of Robert Child (d. 1782). Under the terms of Robert Child's will the estates passed to Sarah Anne's daughter Lady Sarah Sophia Fane (1785-1867), who was said to have an income of £60,000 a year. Lady Sarah married George Villiers, the fifth Earl of Jersey (1773-1859) who took the name Child-Villiers in 1812. Sarah was a prominent society hostess; while her husband preferred to stay on the family estates and breed horses.

Osterley Park stayed in the Jersey family until 1949 when it was sold to the National Trust.

For more information about Osterley Park and Manor see 'Heston and Isleworth: Osterley Park', and 'Heston and Isleworth: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 100-111 (available online). For biographies of the Earls of Jersey see the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Family papers of the Child and Jersey families of Osterley Park, including:

ACC/0510/097: volume of transcripts of the letters of Edward, Viscount Villiers (later 1st Earl of Jersey), then ambassador at The Hague and envoy to the peace conference at Rijswijk (Ryswick), to Richard Hill, an envoy in Brussels, 1696-1704;
ACC/0510/157-190: correspondence between William, 3rd Earl of Jersey, and Lady Anne Egerton, Duchess of Bedford, his wife, 1733-1750;
ACC/0510/191-234: correspondence of Thomas Villiers (brother of William, 3rd Earl of Jersey) envoy to the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, 1739-1746;
ACC/0510/235-256: correspondence and journals of George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, while on Grand Tour in Europe, 1746-1798;
ACC/0510/257-272: correspondence of George Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, relating to estates at Southall and Staines, 1822-1847;
ACC/0510/273-332: correspondence between George Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, his wife Lady Sarah Sophia and their children, 1793-1847;
ACC/0510/333-698: correspondence of Lady Sarah Sophia, the wife of George Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, with various members of the British and European Royal families and notable figures of the day including Lord Byron and the Duke of Wellington, 1812-1865;
ACC/0510/702-718: Child family wills, 1694-1793, including Francis Child, Samuel Child and Robert Child;
ACC/0510/719-726: Robert Child's household accounts, 1775-1790;
ACC/0510/727-739: Jersey household accounts, 1720-1726, including receipt books of William, 3rd Earl of Jersey.

PLEASE NOTE: Items ACC/0510/001-096 (original letters of Viscount Villiers to Richard Hill) and ACC/0510/098-156 (correspondence of Matthew Prior) were withdrawn by the depositor in March 2009.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The papers have been divided into 17 sections.

Conditions governing access:

Access only to holders of a History Card. Please see staff if you require a card. Access by written permission only.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Records deposited in October 1953.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The LMA holds a large number of Jersey family papers, catalogued in 13 collections with the following reference codes: ACC/0331; ACC/0405; ACC/0435; ACC/0436; ACC/0506; ACC/0510; ACC/1128; ACC/1275; ACC/1401; ACC/2839; ACC/3076; LMA/4195; LMA/4446.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
January to May 2011.