CHAPEL BOOKS

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SHROPSHIRE

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Overseas customers will be charged Surface or Airmail as requested
Items marked * are post-free in UK

Citation re Probate of Samuel Bagnall of Coptivinney, Ellesmere
This very unusual document was issued in 1863 by the Shrewsbury Probate Registry revoking a grant of probate made to Coptivinney farmer James Bagnall the previous year.  The document mentions an 'alleged will' of Samuel Bagnall - presumably the father of James - but on the affidavit of Samuel's widow Mary it appears the will may have been a forgery - certainly there was something wrong with it.  James Bagnall was given 8 days in which to return the grant of probate.  Manuscript on parchment, signed by the court registrar.  (ref 323/54)  *£15.00  Not for export

[Bridgewater family of Clungunford]  Part of Family Document
This single page from an 1852 Bridgewater family document bears what we take to be (the handwritings are different) the signatures of 5 members of the family, the senior member Mary Bridgewater was Mary Wellings before her marriage to John Bridgewater in about 1827.  Manuscript on large parchment sheet, seals missing.  (ref 54/27)   *£6.00  Not for export

[Alveley deed]  Lease of House, Cottage anmd Land
This 1762 lease for possession, between Jermyn Grove and Henry Jermyn Grove, is for 'All that messuage wherein Richard White heretofore and Humfrey White lately did and now one Richard Pitt doth inhabitt and dwell and all houses outhouses barns stables buildings gardens orchards courts curtilages and foldyards.....and also all that toft.....and ground whereon a messuage or house.....in the occupation of one Henry Brown did stand now or late in the occupation of the said Richard Pitt and also.....the parcel of land called Barn Close.....'.  There follow details of other plots of land identified by such names as The Great Foxleys, Scawtons, Etheridge Meadow etc.   Manuscript on paper, signed Jermyn Grove, rather crumpled at the main fold which with care can be flattened out.  Nice and clean and would look good in a frame.   (ref 270/12)  £15.00 post-free Not for export

[Baschurch]  Sale Particulars for the Stanwardine Estate
Printed particulars for the 1869 sale of the 240 or so acre Stanwardine Estate tenanted by John Pembrey 'or his undertenants' which probably meant he didn't occupy all the 240 acres.  Accompanying the particulars is a large hand-coloured multifolding plan showing this rather fragmented estate.  (ref 3734)  £15.00 post-free within UK

[Bucknell document]  Scheduling of Property under the Land Improvement Act
This is an official copy of an 1897 Order by the Board of Agriculture concerning Turkey Hall and the 91 acre Lower House Farm, tenanted by A M Matthews.  Little else in the way of detail is given concerning the property - about half the document consists of a table of half-yearly payments over 25 years.  Manuscript on large parchment sheet, multifolded, bears the seal of the Land Loan and Enfranchisement Company.  (ref 103/14)  £12.00 post-free  Not for export

The Register of Church Preen
Shropshire Parish Register Society, nd. 32pp, front paper cover missing, separate index loosely inserted. Unbound copy. Covers the period 1680-1812. (ref S175/42) £4.00

[Clugunford document]  Lease of Beckjay Watermill
This is the counterpart copy of an 1836 21 year lease of 'all that messuage or tenement with the water corn mill, outbuildings.....now in the possession of.....Samuel Urwick.....'.  Manuscript on large parchment sheet, bears signature Samuel Urwick.   (ref 54/26)  *£15.00  Not for export

[Deuxhill & Glazeley - see Middleton Scriven]

[Drayton in Hales document]  Mortgage of 3 Newly Built Houses
This 1812 mortgage records the borrowing of £100 by Thomas Pugh on a plot of land (part of Little Field) in Tinker's Lane leading from Staffordshire Street on which he'd recently built three cottages 'now in the several tenures of Thomas Sillitoe, Sarah Ward and John Mountford', and another small plot of land in Tinker's Lane on which he'd recently built a cottage 'now in the occupation of the said Thomas Pugh'.  Manuscript on large parchment sheet (approx 31"x25"), bears the signature Thomas Pugh.   Worn along old folds (though not worn through) and rather grubby, but no more than most other parchment deeds of this age.  (ref 6808)  £15.00 post-free  Not for export

[Hopton]  Horse and Cart Days
Memories of a farm boy by A B Tinsley. A5 size in salmon card covers, 68pp, several drawings by the author. Author was brought up in the years 1910 to 1925 at Stone House Farm. There are several Hoptons in Shropshire - this one is a hamlet just off the A53, NE of Shrewsbury. VG. (ref 8153)  *£5.00

Index to Llanyblodwel Registers
Shropshire Parish Register Society, 1913.  23pp printed index of names and of places in green card covers, a very nice clean copy (ref 0000)  £6.00 UK post-free

Another copy, also VG.  (ref 6926)   £6.00 UK post-free

The Register of  Llanyblodwel
Shropshire Parish Register Society, nd but c1913.  A disbound section from one of the large multi-parish volumes of registers produced by the Society - thus the front printed paper cover is missing but at least the back one is present.  Pp1-179 covering the period 1599-1812.  (ref S175/47)  £10.00

The History and Antiquities of the Town of Ludlow
Thomas Wright, 1972 facsimile rep of 1826. Small 8vo, 276pp inc index, several ills. "This compendious account....is presented to the Public for the purpose of supplying in a cheap and portable form, such particulars as will be found contributary to the amusement and information of the occasional visitant, or the inquisitive inhabitant". Fep missing o/w F in G d/w. (ref 0000)  £8.00

[Ludlow document]  Odd Page from Document
This is from a once multi-page document concerning a small property [Lyme Close Garden] in Corve Street, the principal parties being Humphrey Child and John Taylor.   Early-mid 19c, parchment, no signatures.  (ref 54/29)  *£2.00   Not for export

[Ludlow]  Solicitor's County Court Record & Ledger
A massive ledger (pp are approx 10"x15") used to record court judgements on debt cases, mainly claims by traders for money owed them for work done or goods supplied.  Printed pages with manuscript insertions, shows names of plaintiffs and claimants, amount awarded by the court, and details of payments made - often in instalments.  This is the equivalent of what we today would call the Small Claims Court.  The ledger details 600 cases during the period 1910 to 1913, the plaintiffs and defendants coming from the surrounding area including Shrewsbury, Craven Arms, Leintwardine, Bromfield, but predominantly Ludlow.  Some people paid up straight away, others paid in instalments over several years, others appear to have got away without paying anything.  At the front of the ledger is an alphabetical index of claimants giving an idea of the frequency of debt-chasing - for example Ludlow grocer Gaius Smith took 33 people to court for goods supplied but not paid for.  A fascinating and unique slice of life shortly before the 1st World War unobtainable elsewhere.  Covers very grubby, back board bears all the hallmarks of having been stored on a cold floor - damp affected [from cold moist air rather than from liquid], cloth loose and the final few leaves also show this evidence of former dampness - the rest of the contents are clean enough, though.  Only the front board bears any text [CC Record and Ledger], the calf spine appears always to have been blank.  Books of this size and weight often suffer from weakness at the hinges - however this ledger was made with nice strong hinges and there is no damage to either hinge, both inside and out.   (ref 2184)  £190.00 

[Mainstone documents]  Deeds to Hetfield [Farm?]
An 1832 lease and release and an 1855 conveyance which between them chronicle an Oakeley family association with Hetfield from 1785 through to 1855 when it was bought by Rev Arthur Oakeley.  These 3 deeds between them fill 8 large parchment sheets.  Inevitably there's much repetition of detail due to the legal nature of the deeds, nevertheless there's much Oakeley info to be gleaned.  The outsides of the 2 main deeds are grubby with age.  The three deeds (ref 103/25)  £35.00  post-free  Not for export

Market Drayton Then and Now
Keith Pybus and Gordon Dickins, 1995.  Odd size [pp are approx 8"x7"] in pictorial card covers, 88pp most of which contain captioned photos specially commissioned or hitherto unseen.  VG.  (ref 525/33)  £4.00

[Melverley]  Court Case Brief etc
In January 1893 George John Morgan, a Kinnersley surgeon, was driving his gig along the highway at Cae Lloy. In the dark he damaged the gig on a pile of stone brought in by barge to raise the level of the road which flooded regularly. These 4 little documents give us a vivid insight into the trials & tribulations of a vicar (Rev H H Howard) whose enthusiasm & enterprise landed him at Shrewsbury County Court accused of negligence. It would be interesting to know the outcome. (ref 198/12) *£10.00   Not for export

The Parish Registers of Middleton Scriven and Deuxhill & Glazeley
Shropshire Parish Register Society, 1906. 18+20pp, indexes loosely inserted. Covers the periods 1728-1812 [Middleton Scriven] & 1718-1812 [Deuxhill & Glazeley]. Nice clean unopened copy, F. (ref S175/31)  *£8.00

[Much Wenlock Insurance Policy]  Fire Insurance Policy for Chapel in Much Wenlock Cemetery
1902 policy insuring the chapel for £900 and its contents for £100.   Paper, manuscript entries on printed form, approx 15"x19", multifolded but would flatten out & look good in frame.  (ref 37/1)  *£8.00   Not for export

Munslow Parish Registers - Index
Shropshire PR Soc, 1912. 36pp, original printed paper wraps. VG unopened copy. (ref 6277)  £3.00

Another copy - as above.   (ref S175/26) £7.50 UK post-free

[Oswestry Parish register]  Prelims and Index to Vol 1 of the Oswestry Registers
Shropshire Parish Register Society, 1909.  Familiar buff printed card covers enclosing pp i-vii (title and introduction) and pp i-cx (index of places & names).  Covers the period 1558-1669.  Covers sunned, nevertheless VG and an unopened copy.  (ref 2117)  £10.00

Oswestry Parish registers 1558-1593
Shropshire Parish Register Society, 1904.  Familiar buff printed card covers enclosing pp1-160.  Covers worn and sunned but contents nice and clean.   (ref 2118)  £11.00

[Oswestry]  Sale Particulars - Houses and Lands
Printed particulars for the 1839 sale of a house, stable, coach house, malthouse etc in Salop Road, two adjoining houses, 4 newly built houses in Salop Road, together with vacant plots of land.  Occupants are variously shown as Mrs Fox, Mr Lewis, Mr Wood, Mr John Williams or their undertenants, and Rev R Clark, Mrs Rogers, Mr James, Mrs Bishop, and John Howell who is described as a gardener and seedsman.   Accompanying the particulars is a large hand-coloured folding plan.  The outside (as folded) is very grubby.  Printed particulars of this vintage are relatively scarce and it's even more unusual to find one with the detailed site plan.   (ref 3713)  £24.00 post-free within UK

St Bartholomew's Church and Richard's Castle
Anon, nd 4to roneo'd pamphlet of 10pp of text with 5 ills. (ref 0000) *£1.50

[Shipton & Stanton Lond document]  Scheduling of Lands by the Land Commissioners
Official copy of an 1888 order by the Land Commissioners scheduling 925 acres owned by MP Robert Joseph More of Linley Hall.  The schedule breaks the 925 acres down into 7 lots, mostly farms or cottages but including the Feathers Inn at Stanton Long.   The tenants of 6 are identified (the 7th appears to have been vacant at the time) and the surnames are Allen, Blakeway, Childs, Howard, Jandrell, Lloyd and Boughton - do by all means email us if you think your ancestor might have been one of them.   Manuscript on single parchment sheet approx 20"x15" and ideal for framing.  Bears the embossed seal of the Land Commissioners.  (ref 438/3)  £15.00 post-free  Not for export

Memories of Shrewsbury
Alton Douglas, 1987.  A4 format in red pictorial card covers, 112pp jam-packed with captioned photos.  G.  (ref 3683)  £3.50

[Shrewsbury]  Part 2 of the Index Vol to the Registers of St Chad
Shropshire Parish Record Society, 1918.  Pp cxiii-ccxc in the familiar printed paper covers.  Without the index vols, searching through the registers of busy parishes such as St Chad's is time consuming.  This part of the index covers names from Gittins to Zamony - there's also 4pp of corrections to entries in previous St Chad's vols.  Paper spine torn along edges, but of course it was never designed to be kept in as-issued condition.  (ref 1164)  £12.00

[Shrewsbury]  Registers of St Chad's
Shropshire Parish Record Society, 1913.  Pp 705-1056 in the familiar printed paper covers.  This vol covers the period 1717/18 to 1741.  Partially unopened copy in VG condition considering the as-issued flimsy printed paper covers.   (ref 2570)  £20.00

[Shrewsbury]  Notes Relating to the Abbey Parish Church Estate
Compiled from ancient deeds and documents preserved in the parish chest by Rev William Allport Leighton, nd but c1880.  Pp15-98 probably taken from a Shropshire antiquarian society journal  and bound in plum cloth boards with gilt-on-calf title on spine.  Earlier deeds (13c-15c) are transcribed in the original Latin.   Includes lists of churchwarden from 1260, 20pp of extracts from the churchwarden's accounts from 1565, and there are 23pp of extracts from the parish registers.  Author was a renowned Shropshire botanist and antiquary - and a friend of Charles Darwin.   Boards fresh, contents clean.  (ref 1678)  £10.00

[Westbury]  Important Group of 17c/18c Deeds concerning Vennington and Whitton
An impressive group of 12 deeds concerning these hamlets, as follows:
1606 grant of The Vron;  William Spencer to Thomas Gough
1609 mortgage, Whitton;  Alexander Topp to Thomas Lingen
1623 conveyance, Vennington & Whitton;  Sir William Owen to Alexander Topp
1627 21-year lease of Upper Carwell, Vennington;  Alexander & Lingen Topp to William Randle
1628 settlement of the Manors of Vennington and Whitton on the marriage of Lingen Topp and Mary Calcott
1670 final concord, Whitton & Vennington; Edmund Perrie, Lingen and John Topp
1671 final concord, Vennington;  Lingen Topp, William Ford
1674 lease for possession, Vennington;  Lingen Topp to Robert Topp
1679 mortgage transfer, Vennington;  Lingen Topp, William Ford, Thomas Hawkes
1716 lease for possession, Vennington;  Earles & Powell
1716 release, Vennington;  Earle, Topp and Powell
1748 lease for possession, Whitton;  Topp and Chambre
Successive members of the Topp family are so inextricably linked with all but a couple of the deeds we will not split them.  All are on parchment, and they come with a couple of related paper items.  The group (ref 366/1)  £245.00 post-free   Not for export

[Woolstone document]  Lease of Woolstone Farm
This 1848 lease for 3 years is of the near-150 acre Woolstone Farm to local farmer Thomas Venables.  The lease contains a schedule of the various plots of land, their acreages and state of cultivation.  Manuscript on large parchment sheet, bears signature Thomas Venables.  (ref 54/25)  *£12.50  Not for export

The River Severn
Keith Kissack, 1982.  4to in pictorial card covers, 150pp inc index, over 70 ills - mostly photos.  Very nice clean copy, F.  (ref 8195)  £10.00

Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting Houses - Shropshire & Staffordshire
Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1986.   Pp191-224 in pictorial card covers, descriptions of 118 Shropshire and 109 Staffordshire buildings, many of which are ill'd (inc 59 photos).  VG copy (ref 1899)   *£5.00

Shropshire County Records vol 8 - Plans and Documents relating to Roads, Bridges, Railways, Canals, Water, Gas, &c &c
Published 1902.  Pale blue paper covers enclosing 54pp containing details of 640 lots of plans & documents, the contents preceded by a 7pp index of places.   Very nice clean condition, single oval rubber stamp at base of title-page and inked ref no on the back cover doesn't affect the overall grading of VG.  (ref 252/184)  *£6.00